the simple things in life: spicy cherry tomato pasta sauce.
Namrata Singh//this entire series was shot by me, obviously
unlike those of you poor brave people in the northern hemisphere, it is spring here in south africa and a lot of interesting fruits and vegetables (a lot of which aren’t available at higher lattitudes and therefore new to me) are just starting to hit the markets. but today isn’t about exotic fruits or veggies, it is about enjoying the simple tastes of ingredients you probably have lying around your home or growing in your garden no matter what hemisphere. i whipped up this pasta sauce and took lots of pictures…the recipe i used is a summer twist of an old favorite around here, mark bittman’s minimalist tomato sauce and some additional ingredient ideas from epicurious. this is for two people with maybe some left over for a small lunch the next day. obviously, the main ingredient is cherry tomatoes -about one pound. i got an array of colors:
the tomatoes are accompanied by 4 cloves of garlic, half an onion, a green chilli, an african bird’s eye chilli because we like things spicy around here, half a cup of white wine, a big ol’ bunch of basil, oregano and italian parsley, salt, pepper, and a good dose of parmigiano reggiano at the end. obviously the chillies are optional depending on your tastes. i used 8 oz of spaghetti for two. if you don’t have a counter top food scale, you should consider getting one…it will make your cooking life easier and may do wonders for your waistline.
diy retail therapy.
via oh joy! for hygge and west
my need desire to exact aesthetic control over my surroundings started in berlin. in nyc i couldn’t even be bothered to unpack all of my boxes. in fact, my mom had to fly in a year into it and literally unpack about a third of them for me. srsly. anyway, it might be silly to put so much effort and dollars/euros/rand into decorating spaces i rent and only live in for a few years. nevertheless it is a creative outlet, it creates a haven from the outside world and i can feel proud of it. in the fantastically democratic sphere of the internet there are tons of bloggers who i hit like an addict on a crack pipe take inspiration from on a daily basis. one person whose design aesthetic, style, and general bad-assery i obsess over admire is Joy D. Cho at oh joy!. let me tell you, that b*tch got talent. one of the millions of things that she does is design wallpaper (available at hygge and west). well, it sells for something like 125USD per teensy roll (get down girl, go ‘head…). when i did some rough calculations i found it would cost something like 800USD to cover the walls of our tiny entry way which has FOUR doors that dont even need covering. well i am a ridiculous person but not 800-bucks-for-a-rental-entryway ridiculous. imagine my ecstasy when some clicking around later i found her ‘stones throw away’ wallpaper (above) for 10, yes TEN USD per roll in the ‘wallpaper by the yard’ section at hygge and west in the champagne color. well i ordered ten rolls of that before p even knew what was happening. i can’t wait to show you what it looks like in the end. here’s hoping the shipment makes it!
11th october, 2011
Rhiney has a new home…
for those of you who never visited the berlin place, the beloved rhiney the rhinoceros used to hang in the old apartment on a little side wall….now she has a place which fits her regal personality. we painted the little display area above the fireplace a light sky blue and hung her up. i think she will be quite happy watching the happenings from her spot. i posted it from my hipstamatic app because 1) i wanted to celebrate the fact that my iphone (after 4, FOUR visits to vodacom) is up and running so i’m a real person again and 2) i didn’t want to show you too much of the living room until it is finished.
9th october, 2011
painting + unpacking…a teensy sneak peak
Namrata Singh//our house in joburg
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we moved into our permanent place on saturday and this is a preview of our unpacking progress!! i painted directed the painting of the kitchen ceiling and the dining room. we still need to add a few things to the walls, and it will look more ‘styled’ (barf) with buds and succulents in those hanging vases but this is proof that we worked all weekend! now i need to motivate myself to unpack things which are not wedding gifts. srsly who gives a sh*t about crusty ikea utensils from berlin when your brand new le creuset paraphernalia are beckoning at you sexily from their perch on your kitchen countertop? god bless america and its wedding traditions.
also the windows in this house are huge and currently sparkling clean and curtain-less. so p stuck boxes and packing paper in the bedroom windows to cover them because it freaks him out at night so when i wake up i’m like oh i’m so glad we decided to MOVE INTO A SQUAT. especially because it’s still FREEZING in the mornings because the houses here have no real insulation (it’s the southern hemisphere, duh). oh well, at least if i ever have to live in a real squat p will feel obligated to come
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3rd october, 2011
