I.Maker.365.

(039) visiting makers

Since just after the holidays our friend Emily was visiting from Ottawa, and on the twelfth day of Christmas she returned to the frozen tundra. She was a big collaborator on Burning Man with us last year, and is looking to play a big role again this year. One of my favorite maker friends it’s been great having her around for more than a weekend or week on the playa.

 There was a lot of discussion of reengineering shade structures, We like the design we have but it requires a lot of upkeep of guy ropes throughout the week. Additionally I would prefer some that it has more architectural shape. We’ve been building the camp over a period of years and don’t want to scrap it and start over. The design challenge is to include as much of the existing emt into the new design. Details to come.

Emily was also a big collaborator on costumes last year, she made the complimentary red riding hood to go with the wolf vest I made to give to Henri and Suzanne as a set. When she’s in town there is the omnipresent pass through 38^th street to pick-up costume and hat making bits, Garment supplies stores like these used to litter lower Broadway now they seem to be confined to a few blocks in the fashion district. None-the-less walking up and down the upper thirty’s between 7^th and 8^th Aves. is like fantasy shopping for the avid maker.

 My favorite part of having Emily around though were the meals.

 Wow, can that woman cook. From the lovely coco vin on New Year’s day, to the homemade ravioli with squash and garlic filling. There were a couple of fantastic soups I recall too, a French onion that was one of the best I’ve ever tasted, and lentil soup on Saturday night. I think it had so much bacon in it by the time I was done it might as well be called bacon soup.

 She’s promised me a couple of maker posts for the blog.  One thing I do want to note. Last time Emily was here she got us a pasta maker. When she went to use it to make the ravioli it was the second time it had been used. She had of course used it the first time when so bought it for oh so many months ago.

(034) holiday break

I've been away for a few days visiting friends and family for the holidays. I got to say hello to some babies for the first time, and sadly said good by to others for the last. The holidays bring out emotions for every family. Birth and death are the things that keep the pettiness in check.

I will give a little more documentation of the process later, but in the spirit of the holidays one of the gifts we gave this holiday was a Creché set to Michael's sister. It was made of mahogany blocks with simple hardware fixtures. In this picture is the ox and the ass. We were both really please with the way it turned out and happy with the way we each contributed bringing it together. I think she really appreciated the craftsmanship, and really loved the gift.

So on this 6th day of Christmas I realizing what my true love really gave to me  was one hell of an awesome collaborator. A gift that luckily gives all year.

I've got lots to write about now that all the gifts are out from under wraps so to speak. Plus tons of new arduino projects ont he way, santa was good. And have I mentioned maker space Saturday yet?

....more soon.

(026) testimonies on making. Kirsten Weisenburger; Mile End Cookie Swap

I met Kirsten at Burning Man in 2011. She's been in my life practically evey day since. Here's to swapping, both then and yet to come!

When I was four, my station wagon driving mom somehow got involved in a cookie swap. She came home one day and filled the freezer with dozens of cookies: shortbread, rum balls, chocolatey things… It was miraculous. That 1970s cookie swap may have been my first, mild exposure to diversity: different cookies, made in a variety of households, all blended together.

 Fast forward 12 years. At 16, I took a part time job making pies. An immense amount of patience went into my training: patience that taught me to work quietly and meticulously alone for hours with sugar, eggs and flour.

 I worked in bakeries and kitchens for a dozen years. I folded, baked and whipped all manner of things. It put me through college, and sustained me during the years in between. I was supposed to go to cooking school and become a chef. It was all I cared about.

 And then I got into journalism school and never looked back. (Well, ok. Sometimes I looked back.)

  All this to say: I don’t bake much anymore. But I take baking very seriously. When the second annual Hags and Fags Cookie Swap came up, it gave me an anxiety-inducing thrill. Baking! And lots of different kinds of cookies. And intriguing people. Heaven.

 You see, the cookie swap ladies and gents are about as far away from your gossiping Betty-Drapers-who-lunch as you can get. None of us actually has any time to sit around and bake cookies. But we did it.

 We gathered at the Dépanneur le Pick Up , a repurposed corner store for punk gourmands near Montreal’s Little Italy. I let my six-year-old stay up past her bedtime. She leaned on the lunch counter and drank something fizzy while we drank something hard.

One at a time, we unwrapped our cookies and comically explained what they are and how they came to be. We sampled and swapped: grandmother’s shortbread, truffles, chocolate pretzels… and the notorious crack bars.

And then we went home and filled our freezers. It was, indeed, miraculous.