Thing-a-day.com

Some months ago, I ordered the deluxe Helvetica film DVD pack. It finally arrived this week, oh joy! We watched it on Saturday night and wow, it was good… It’s a full-length feature documentary on the Helvetica font, it has a great soundtrack, some bits were slow, but altogether informative and refreshing. I truly didn’t realise how ubiquitous the Helvetica font really is. I enjoyed the different perspectives of various designers; geez, some of them are really font-geeks to a level that I don’t understand, yet admire at the same time because the work produced is so… beautiful, rhythmic, visual poetry really.

My Helvetica film DVD pack is a limited-edition package with the retail DVD, three letterpressed mini-posters (I think I will frame them and hang them in a row), a color C-print of a still from the film (street scene of a LADIES toilet sign in helvetica) signed by director Gary Hustwit, two love/hate Helvetica buttons, and the letter n/u of actual Helvetica metal type.

Pictures below of my Helvetica DVD pack

My bad…. Playing weekend catch-up with Thing-A-Day.

Day 10: Robert’s Sunday breakfast/brunch of poached eggs with thyme-infused extra virgin olive oil on Pugliese bread slice. Sprinkled with black pepper and flat-leaf parsley.

Day 9: we’re on the hunt for a new apartment to live in. So on Saturday we decided to walk around a random Milan neighbourhood and find those “Affitasi/For rent” signs on building doors and gates and make a list to call those people up.

Day 8: Friday night sandwiches for dinner. *sorry about the lighting*

Staying a few days with Kathya has inspired me to come up with a list of yummy recipes and try to make at least 50% of the recipes listed by the end of the month and post a photo for Thing-A-Day.
Here goes:
1.  Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Fontina, Artichokes, And Sun-Dried Tomatoes   

2.  Chicken Breasts With Pistachio-Cilantro Pesto

3.  Grilled Chicken Breasts In Spiced Yogurt

4.  Farmers’ Market Salad With Spiced Goat Cheese Rounds

5.  Frisee Salad With Goat Cheese Croques-Monsieurs

6.  Spicy Green Salad With Manchego And Pears

7.  Spicy Curry Noodle Soup With Chicken And Sweet Potato

8.  Spicy Soba Noodles With Shiitakes And Cabbage

9.  Spicy Sesame Noodles With Chopped Peanuts And Thai Basil

10.  Spicy Lamb With Charred Eggplant Puree And Pita

11.  Spicy Spinach Linguine With Olive Oil And Garlic

12.  Palline di ricotta fritte - Sweet fried balls of ricotta 

 

Mmmmm I love cookies! Kathya and I made this today using a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. She packed the cookies for me, since I am returning to Italy tonight.



Some mixer action…



Next photo by Kathya as I scooped the cookie dough onto the baking sheets…



Me sneaking a cookie before dinner…

Sorry about the light.Kathya and I made this (well, the burger was mostly her, but I did remind her to put an egg in it)… Burger and a salad.


Burger instructions: In a bowl, mix together freshly ground beef (we went to a butcher in Wiesbaden city center), salt and pepper, chopped mushrooms, garlic and 1 egg yolk. Use your hands to shape the meat mixture into patties. Seal the burger patties by searing both sides quickly on a grill pan, then place in the oven/broiler to cook for 10-15 minutes (we like ours rare inside).

After 10-15 minutes, brush the patties with barbecue sauce and add slices of Swiss Emmenthal cheese on top of the burger patties. Return to broiler/oven to melt the cheese. Once it’s melted, place on burger bun. Serve with side salad.

Buon appetito!

It was way past 10 a.m. Actually, it was past 1 p.m. But it’s Germany, not Italy, so I can have a latte macchiato if I want to… without getting weird looks from the barista P.S. In case Francesco or other Italians want to comment: I live in Italy and when I ask for latte macchiato, what arrives is a tall glass,  with a shot of coffee at the bottom, topped with milk and a foam of frothed milk. Several times, it came without the coffee shot, so just a hot glass of milk + frothed milk. So I don’t know… maybe it’s just random…

I brought some burrata and taleggio from Italy to Germany.Tonight Kathya and I decided to use some of the taleggio for a simple Sunday dinner.Quick recipe for 3 servings:Heat oven to 180C. On an aluminium-covered oven tray, place 3 chicken breasts, season with pure extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until done.Chop up 1-2 handful of basil leaves. In a small pot, make a syrup using sugar and water, stirring often. When the syrup mixture thickens, add the chopped basil leaves. Leave over small fire to infuse for 5 minutes.When the chicken is cooked, take the tray out and add pear slices (we used 2 pears, 3-4 slices each chicken breast) on top of the chicken breast, and layer with a slice of taleggio cheese. Turn on your oven grill and place the tray underneath until the taleggio bubbles and melts.On 3 separate plates, layout 1-2 handful of mixed salads: rucola, songino (lamb’s lettuce), chioggia (beet leaves, I think), endives. Place the chicken breast on top, and add 1-2 teaspoons of the basil syrup+leaves. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the salad if you like.