Treasure hunt! Thanksgiving edition

There’s just so much freaking goodness in the world, and with The 11 Project being my work, I get to stumble on it all the time. That’s why every once in a while I do a Treasure Hunt post as a roundup of some of the goodness I’ve stumbled onto lately.

With Thanksgiving happening this week in the US, we’re kicking off the season for three of my favorite things in life: gratitude, food, and giving gifts! So what better than a treasure hunt edition dedicated to all three.

Gratitude:

• I’m grateful for the technology- the web, blogs, social media, etc- which allow me to both find so much of the amazing stuff that humanity is up to, and also allows me, and so many others, to create whatever the hell we want without having some middleman bless it as worthy before anything happens (i.e. book and magazine publishers, film producers, hander outers of things like MBA’s and other degrees). Viva la revolution!
• I’m grateful to you guys for being here reading! This is a brand spanking new project, so I’m exceptionally grateful for those of you who are already reading along and interacting with me and the project. That’s the whole reason to do this work, so thank you.

Food:

Alas, this will be my first gluten-free holiday season after nearly a year of going through all the stages of grief over my allergy. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression- I’ve met them all. Good thing I’ve made it to the final stage- acceptance- by now! That means I can dive in and eat lots of deliciousness anyway.

• I’m a baker people. Baking is one of my favorite activities, especially come the holidays. Fortunately, there are is a recipe like this triple chocolate mousse cake to keep me from crying into my pillow. The recipe I use comes from Cook’s Illustrated, and since it’s meant to be g-free anyway, I don’t have to start fretting over substituting weird flours. A bottom layer of flourless chocolate cake, a middle layer of milk chocolate mousse, and a top layer of white chocolate mousse. Oh yes.
• There is one holiday family tradition that is worthy of me mucking around in weird flour substitutes: that would be Cookie Day. Since before I was born my father and his best friend have set aside the 24 hours after Thanksgiving to compete with themselves on how many cookies they can possibly bake in that limited time span (the record is… drumroll please… 4389 cookies). This year my Dad is out of town, so the family exercise in pointless, yet delicious, mania falls to me. I’ve been tinkering with gluten free cookie recipes and I’m all about Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour. In fact, I’ve already passed off chocolate chip cookies on unsuspecting test subjects- er- friends and family. Once they devoured them happily without a word, I knew I had found my flour substitute.
• Speaking of life as a gluten free baker, the blog Canelle et Vanille makes me weep with its gorgeousness. The writer/baker has celiac and so doesn’t eat gluten. However, that doesn’t mean all of the recipes are gluten free- so if you’re sick of me prattling on about flour substitutes, this blog is even for those of us who can eat flour. Her work is stunning. Oh that I wish I could bake this well.
• In other baking news, everyone needs some ass-kicking cookies around at holiday time, so ditch the played ginger bread men and make yourself some Ninjabread men!
• This one doubles as inspiration for both your holiday meal and gift-giving. I was eating brunch at a friend’s house recently and she pulled this little gem out: A Platter of Figs by David Tanis. It’s a gorgeous cookbook with recipes that are simple, seasonal, and amazing- and photography that will make you want to have a love affair with a pile of greens. For the foodie friends in your life, this one would make a great gift this holiday season.

Gifts:

Well that segued nicely into gifts. Here is some of the good stuff that my loved ones (who have sworn not to read this post- right guys? remember? now shoo!) will be receiving this holiday season.

• You can’t beat Etsy for holiday shopping that makes you feel good. Why support your local big box store, when you can support an artist who will make you something by hand? What I’m coveting most on Etsy right now is this hat/scarf combo from Pixiebell.
• If you have someone in your life who is a sparkling water junkie, and who cares about reducing environmental waste, Sodastream is the perfect gift. I’ve had one for a year now and I adore it. You can make your own seltzer, or flavor it and make soda at home. They deliver the CO2 canisters right to your door when they run out, which gives it a charming old-timey milkman vibe.
• Another one of my favorite places to support artists: Threadless! This online t-shrit shop is as famous for its business model as for its t’s. It works by designers submitting new t-shirt designs to the Threadless community, who then rate and vote on which designs will be worthy of printing. I know my son and nephew are getting some cute t’s from them this year. Check out this one with Godzilla hitchhiking to Tokyo, or this one with a giraffe working in tandem with elephants to put a fire out.
• You can also buy this stunning tea pot- the Sorapot- directly from the designer Joey Roth. Have you ever seen a tea pot this beautiful? I think not.
• You can never have too many artists that you want to support come holiday time. Marc Johns is a long time fave. I love his quirky prints. My current favorite (though it’s tough to choose just one): Runaway Cubicle.
• John and Kira’s chocolate has become my go-to gift box for holiday time. Oh how I love them! You know exactly what farm they sourced their ingredients from, and they are so, so delicious and beautiful. Their chocolate figs will blow your mind.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!