Design*Sponge » alissa and ryan

d*s book tour: vancouver event details!

Grace Bonney — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:50:52 +0000

Our final event and RSVP today is for one of the cities I’m most excited to visit: Vancouver! Some of my favorite designers and musicians are from this beautiful city, and I can’t wait to dive in headfirst. We’ll be holding a crafting event and book signing/celebration here, so I hope you’ll come join us. Details below. xo, grace

Event: Craft/Book Signing/Celebration at Anthropologie
Date: Saturday, October 1st, 2011
Time: 5–8pm (5–6pm craft workshop / 6:30–8:00pm signing + celebration)
Location: Anthropologie (2912 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC)

Details: We will be teaching all craft-event participants how to make their own custom wooden wax seal! Craft guests will watch a demo, make their own wax seal and leave with the seal they made, along with sealing wax and stationery to test on. Afterward, we’ll get together for the larger celebration of the book launch, where you can buy copies of the book and have yours signed! Drinks and treats will be served. Proceeds from this event will benefit the local arts charity Artsumbrella.

We will also have a custom backdrop designed by the amazing Jan of Poppytalk + Denise Liu and Linus Lam of Edison & Sprinkles and Artsy! Dartsy!, against which you can take photos (courtesy of Janis Nicolay) with your friends and fellow guests!

RSVP: The crafting event is limited to 35 people, so please RSVP HERE soon ($10 per person for the craft event). The main event will fill up quickly, so please RSVP HERE for that soon, as well.

*Illustration above by Julia Rothman

behind the bar: brian malarkey’s sage sucker

Ryan and Alissa Walker — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:00:40 +0000

What an honor it is today to be featuring this irresistibly delectable drink by famed Top Chef Brian Malarkey. For those of you not already familiar with Chef Malarkey’s accomplishments and numerous accolades, make sure to check out the bio below and a little information about his new restaurant, Searsucker [thanks Kristina!].

I don’t know about you but when I think “sage” visions of butternut squash ravioli with brown butter, sage and toasted pumpkin seeds seem to dance around in my head. It has never conjured images of croquet matches with summertime cocktails in hand. That is until today. This drink has completely changed my whole perception of what sage can be. Balanced perfectly with the lemon juice, lemon rind, Kettle One Citroen and honey, the sage is a subtle surprise at the end of a refreshing sip. I trust you will enjoy.

It’s Friday everyone… time to imbibe. Happy weekend. [Alissa + Ryan]

CLICK HERE for the full drink recipe after the jump!

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behind the bar: molly wizenberg’s americano

Ryan and Alissa Walker — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:00:59 +0000

Boy, do we have a treat for you today! Molly Wizenberg of Orangette and A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table fame is sharing her current favorite drink, the Americano, with everyone here at Design*Sponge. If you are not familiar with Molly, as I was only a few months ago, you are in for a double treat. Molly is a fantastically humorous, endearingly sweet but never sentimental writer and food blogger. Soon after I contacted Molly to contribute to our Behind the Bar column, I went out to Barnes & Noble and grabbed a copy of her book. I started right away on A Homemade Life, finishing it in only a couple of nights and LOVED it — recipes and all — and I don’t even like to cook!

After trying Tina Frey’s feature, the Negroni, which is way too strong for my delicate (read: uneducated) palate, I was reluctant to try the Americano. After a little coercing from Ryan, however, we got down to business (at two in the afternoon) and sampled the surprisingly refreshing Americano accompanied by Lay’s Garden Tomato & Basil Flavored Potato Chips (the commercial totally sucked me in). I probably added a little more club soda than most, but this really is a great drink for those of you with delicate drink preferences wanting to step it up a notch in your pre-dinner drink repertoire. And now enough of my babbling and on to Molly. — Alissa + Ryan

PS — To learn how Molly’s drink, the Americano, is intimately related to Tina Frey’s feature, the Negroni, read Tina’s post here.

CLICK HERE for the full drink recipe after the jump!

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behind the bar: andrew & carrie’s blackberry smash

Ryan and Alissa Walker — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:00:54 +0000

A little over a year ago we were fortunate enough to feature a Gin & Ginger drink as concocted by photographer Andrew Purcell and his lovely food stylist wife, Carrie Purcell (check out their in the kitchen with contribution as well). Months after their first post (and dozens of empty Gin & Ginger glasses later) Alissa and I still found ourselves engulfed in the world of their blog, Pictures and Pancakes, and just knew we had to ask them back for a repeat performance. Their drink of choice this month, Blackberry Smash, is an appropriate choice as most of us east-coasters are still trying to shake off the last bits of winter (yes, Southern California, we are all jealous of your beautiful year-round weather). We know you will definitely enjoy. Cin cin, Alissa & Ryan.

CLICK HERE for the full cocktail recipe after the jump!

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behind the bar: morris kitchen’s winter csa

Ryan and Alissa Walker — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:00:17 +0000

When I was just a little guy (we’re talking four or five years old), my younger sister and I spent many an afternoon stowed away in the pantry as we mixed, blended and concocted all sorts of interesting (read: inedible) food creations. For unknown reasons at the time, our mother tolerated these shenanigans even though she inevitably had to clean up our mess. After being introduced to today’s contributors, however, I am finally realizing that it was her small way of fostering our creativity in the hopes that we might some day end up with a company like Morris Kitchen (she is Italian, so cooking is a large part of her life and was probably in her hopes and dreams for all three of her children).

Brother and sister Kari and Tyler Morris founded Morris Kitchen in 2008. Tyler, a chef by day, and Kari, who works in the arts, thought to combine their two passions and start a company that organized fine-food events and bespoke dinners. After a short period of time, they realized they wanted a tangible element to complement their events. The pair set to work testing different syrup recipes and methods, and they boiled, juiced, pureed and blended until they found the perfect combination and ratio of ingredients. For their first production, they made 20 bottles of ginger syrup, which sold out within hours at a local food market in Brooklyn. Thus began their ginger-syrup journey. Morris Kitchen Ginger Syrup can be found at select stores in NYC, Brooklyn, and Canada and online at Hickoree’s. Today they have crafted a fine (and I do mean fine) cocktail called “The Winter CSA” (“community-supported agriculture”). A special thank you to Tyler’s fiance, Lauryn Bushman, for all of the wonderful photos. Now on to the tasty stuff from Kari & Tyler, and what to do with the abundant CSA squash! — Ryan & Alissa

CLICK HERE for the full recipe after the jump!

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behind the bar: enjoy cupcakes’ ginger lime margarita

Ryan and Alissa Walker — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:50:48 +0000

“Chardonnay cake over a buttery, fresh ginger graham-cracker crust, filled with lime curd and topped with lime frosting and sugared lime zest” is the new standard against which I measure all cupcakes. I am not even sure why I bothered to eat cupcakes before now. This tantalizingly tasty treat is one of the most popular cupcakes at Enjoy Cupcakes in Santa Ynez, CA, and also the inspiration for today’s drink. Alissa and I are both so excited to be featuring the Ginger Lime Margarita as created by Enjoy Cupcakes’ co-owners, Amber and Kevin. (By the way, Kevin’s official title at the bakery is C.E.T. or chief executive taster — I mean, come on, how sweet is that job?!). This family-run business sells baked creations at Saarlos & Sons in Los Olivos, CA, and they also do weddings and other private parties where guests get served cupcakes directly from their lovingly restored vintage Shasta trailer. Need a little icing on your cupcake today? The beautiful photos were taken by the incredibly talented Jose Villa, so you’re also in for a visual treat :) — Ryan & Alissa

CLICK HERE for the full drink recipe after the jump!

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