What I Want To Know More About
THE KARA WALKER SHOW AT THE WHITNEY - I'm a Kara Walker fanatic, and the artist's show at The Whitney, through February 3, doesn't disappoint. But see it less for Walker's famous silhouettes, most now over a decade old, and more for mesmerizing new films.
PERFUME THAT SMELLS LIKE YOU - I ordered $11 mini-vials of perfume that smells like old books and the beach 1966 (think Coppertone and lifeguards) for everyone on my list, but the ultimate individualized gift from CB I Hate Perfume is scent custom-blended just for you.
THEATRE FOR GROWNUPS - In a Broadway landscape that increasingly resembles Disney World and television reruns, a grownup play like Tracy Letts' August: Osage County wouldn't even have to be that great to get me to buy a ticket. But it's the best thing to hit any stage in years.
REALLY FABULOUS BUSINESS CARDS - Start off the new year right with business cards people will keep just because they're so fabulous - or have some made as a spectacular gift. My favorite are the minicards, 100 for $19.99, from the British company Moo.
POP-UP STORES - There are lots of stores, let's face it, that you want to visit only once and then forget they ever existed. The pop-up store - here today, vanished tomorrow - fills that need, offering Halloween costumes, designer samples, flea market finds, and now, at Home Candy at 139 Norfolk Street in Manhattan, housewares for Christmas shoppers.
CHOCOLATE IN A CLOUD - The only cookie I want to eat now and through the holiday season is the Chocolate Chip Meringue. I could eat a hundred of them right this very minute. One recipe for this Cookie That Has Everything:
Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (or even M & Ms)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. With electric mixer on high, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly, whipping until stiff but not dry peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by the teaspoonful 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
3. Bake until completely firm and dry, but still white, about 35-45 minutes; you should be able to lift cookies from pan. You can turn off oven but leave meringues in oven for an hour if you like crunchier meringues.
What I Want To Know Less About
OVERPRICED HOLIDAY GIFTS -- $1,600 sequined throw pillows and $8,000 fur hammocks? Whoever buys this stuff should be institutionalized.
CARDIO POLE DANCING - Takes multi-tasking to new lows.
FIVE-INCH HEELS - Thank God these abominations seem to have vanished as instantly and completely as they appeared last spring. Madonna may be able to dance in them, but after a single outing, most women have to take to their beds.
SUPERFAT FOOD - Some chic eateries are taking counterintuitive fat content too far, as at the Belgian restaurant Resto the other night, where the special was Fried Chicken with Bacon Waffles and Gravy. Could I make that up? I decided to eat light and ordered the Short Ribs and Fries.
Pamela Redmond Satran is a novelist and non-fiction author. Find out more about her work at pamelaredmondsatran.com.
For more holiday season tips , click here for more from Huffington Post's Living!
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