what goes around, comes around

Sunday morning is a time for procrastinating in our house, there are people we should be calling, articles we should be reading, plants we should be rebuking, dinners and trips to plan...  and yet, when I should be improving the shining hour, the results of random clicks have a wicked and tempting appeal. And this morning, feeling guilty about a vague sense of disappointment that the dramatic weather passed us by -- wouldn't you like to see a tornado? just once? aren't you just a little curious?  of course, once seen, it should fizzle out harmlessly, but still -- anyway, I was looking for pictures of the tornadoes that hit places a little west of us, and came up with that Lifestyle Tornado, Miss GP, wearing a jacket that looked familiar.
Last Spring, a picture of our heroine, role model and Best Friend Forever, Gwyneth Paltrow, wearing a woolen jacket from J.Crew, was circulating. The World's Greatest Expert on Everything That Money Can Buy was getting off a plane, effortlessly wheeling an apparently weightless suitcase. My guess was that someone had steam-pressed the jacket for her before she started to get off the plane, because trust me, the majority of  J.Crew jackets suffer from fear of flying.

I have a version of this jacket in Piped Linen (bydand!), and I love my jacket so much that even the fact that a late adapter was seen in the woolen version hasn't spoiled it for me. I believe it's safe to continue to wear my jacket in a world of Gwynnie-mockers because, unlike TWGEETMCB, I wear things more than once or twice. I also believe that those who seek styling advice from TWGEETMCB may lack the fashion savvy to connect the linen version to the wool version in a different color, so I am safe from having to deal with comments about TWGEETMCB, positive or negative. And yet, and yet....

 TWGEETMCB really likes piping on jackets. This clip from SheFinds.com (above, at least I hope it's above on your screen) shows TWGEETMCB effortlessly reclining on a stairway, wearing the exclusive result of a collaboration between GOOP and rag & bone.

lining of my sleeve
(after alteration)

lining of GOOP sleeve

Ordinarily the fact that more than one manufacturer has thought of making a jacket, even a jacket with piping, wouldn't surprise me. This one, however, priced at $495, struck me as more than coincidence. In case you didn't notice the coincidental details, TWGEETMCB makes it easy for you by describing the jacket as "a grown-up take on the school jacket... ."

I've seen any number of J.Crew pieces that are so eerily like those produced by manufacturers aiming at higher price points, that the JC knock-offs versions no longer annoy me, and frankly, some are actually nicer than the originals. I shrug. There are bright plaids all over the place this fall, some shaggy, some satiny, some vintage, and I love the JC Collection blouse that I bought the other day. In olden times it would have been called a "suit blouse." In fact, it might fill in the gaps on this vintage number that I saw on Etsy. Sadly, while I was trying to translate sizes into Moi, it vanished.

So, anyway, back to TWGEETMCB and the interesting thought that someone has done an overpriced knockoff of J.Crew. What I think? It's Karma.

a seasonal recipe in honor of St.Pat.

4pm. quiet and dignified parade, as usual. Here is my soda bread. After it was in the oven, I read the fine print on the bottom of the baking soda box and learned that the sell-by date was, um, well, over. Then I looked in the oven. Guess what? It didn't seem to matter. The thing was rising like it hoped for heaven. Was delicious with whipped butter, too. Hope you enjoyed your day!

Oh, and instead of ending at East 86th Street as usual, today's parade ended at East 79th Street, only a few steps away from the private townhouse of our mayor...

foodbuzz led me to this seasonal recipe, which I hope to try sometime today. After the Parade. Love pipers, love pipe bands, can't miss them today. That's what the terrace is for! (and why, may I ask, is there no green in the JCrew catalog? real green, that is, not the strange brown-ie colors the military pixies prance around in).

Anyway, news from New York. You may have read that our Mayor, generally an intelligent and soft-spoken type, recently made a non-PC joke about St. Patrick's Day and its occasional aftermath. Umbrage was taken. You may also have read that New York City is feeling budget crunches, just like other municipalities, and one of the money-saving measures put into effect is the shortening of parade routes, thereby saving on police and sanitation costs. Guess whose house is at the new (shorter) end of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Oh, guess who didn't know Karma is Gaelic for "we don't forget

." Maybe I'll make soda bread - quicker and quieter. This could be a long day. Expecting thirsty company. Let me know if you try this recipe. Me, I'm going to drink the drinkable ingredients and leave the rest in the fridge where they'll impress any stranger looking for potables.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup Guiness
1 stick, plus 1 tbs unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Cupcake Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350; line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Combine the Guiness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter.
3. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
4. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream and the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture.
5. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold in the batter.
6. Pour into muffin molds and bake or 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from muffin tin, and cool completely on a rack.

Frosting Ingredients:
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar
Bailey's Irish Cream AND
Jameson Irish Whiskey

Frosting Preparation:
1. Put the stick of room-temperature butter in a large mixing bowl and beat at medium-to-high speed for a few minutes.
2. Add a few short glugs of Bailey's and a dash of Jameson, and mix at low speed.
3. Gradually spoon confectioners' sugar into the bowl, mixing on low speed.
4. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

By the way, if you're interested, discussion of cashmere fuzz, its uses and international implications, in the March 7th post below. Couldn't figure out how to create a link.

Blogger knows all

So I was on the jcrewaficionada blog and glanced at the comments space and this is a copy-and paste exact copy of the word verification that I was offered. How, oh how, do they know?

WORD VERIFICATION