Spotted at the Outdoor Cafe

"Cups made from plants make a difference."

This Greenware cold drink cup is not only environmentally-friendly, it's made in the USA.

P.S. See more in the Spotted... photo series.

The American Pastime

My wife's Boston Red Sox baseball hat

 

Today's post is courtesy of my husband, Dan, the Yankees fan. (Yes, you read correctly.)

 

What's more American than baseball? My thoughts exactly. An American sport calls for an American-made hat.

From Farm to Table

Rabbit, served up in Heath Ceramics

Last week, a few girlfriends and I went out to eat at Print Restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. This restaurant is not original in the growing trend of farm-to-table dining, however, it is NYC's first to have a full-time staff member solely devoted to seeking out local and seasonable items to put on the menu. My girlfriends and I had a great night, and Print didn't disappoint.

American-Made Halloween Candy

Are you all set for Halloween trick-or-treaters? In my neighborhood, we don't get to pass out candy. Most children go early to parade around in their costumes and get treats from the local businesses. I kind of miss the tradition of scaring little children passing out candy. If you do get candy for your neighborhood kids, here are five great options for American-made candy for Halloween:

Banana Bread Muffins

Banana bread muffins fresh from the oven in vintage EKCO muffin tins

Maybe it's a sacrilege to mess with a recipe from James Beard, but that's how I roll sometimes. The original banana bread recipe was originally published in Beard on Bread 40 years ago and it makes the best banana bread I've ever tasted. I got my own copy of this cookbook from my mom 10 years ago (probably after calling for the recipes from hers too many times) and this is the recipe that is the most used from this book. It's a great way to make use of overly-ripe bananas and I bet James Beard would approve of my rendition.

Stripes and Plaid

Just a quick selfie to show off some things I've been loving lately, including the combination of plaid flannel and navy stripes:

Store Spotlight: Red Wing Shoes

The other night, I was on my way to dinner with my husband and a couple of friends. We had a few minutes to kill before our reservation so I decided to have a peek inside the Red Wing Shoe store in Sunnyside, Queens. The displays beautifully show off their shoes as well as photos of some of the U.S. factories and workers.