Modular geometric furniture

Pretty much the way to my heart. T.shelf by J1studio. via SeeSaw Designs

Hauntingly gorgeous

Abandoned asylums perfectly captured by Christopher Payne. More here via LENS

Kevin Appel

Some of Kevin Appel's work from 2009. via all the mountains...

Wedding invitation by Jason Killinger

Jason Killinger.

This game is seven-card stud

So. Epic. In every sense of the word.

Somehow, I always return to this

Au Revoir Simone - Shadows

AESA

AESA'S MACHINE DE TERRE collection. (via Frances May)

Carly Waito's mineral series

In awe of this series of paintings by Carly Waito. The paintings are OIL ON MASONITE (!!!) and part of a group show at Narwhal Art Projects in Toronto. via Design*Sponge

Carly's blog is also a new favorite with nuggets of inspiration around every corner.

Michael Johansson

Swedish artist, Michael Johansson. Reminds me a bit of Helga Steppan's work, maybe? via The Scout

HBR Classics

A handful of books from the Harvard Business Review Classics collection.

The natural future

Scientific illustrations by Cornelia Hess-Honegger documenting insects found in nuclear and radiation contaminated areas. Gives me the chills, but can't stop looking. via but does it float

Oh heck

Very much addicted to Friends of Type.

Houseplants

Guess I have a soft spot for independently published pictures of houseplants. This book and poster from MINIATUREGARDEN.

Diamonds, squares, ships, robots

Illustrated patterns by Allison Cole. via design work life

Xavier Veilhan by The Selby

The photography by The Selby of Veilhan's work at Versailles is everything

Banana Bread with Chocolate

This is a very majestic banana bread. The photo may not encapsulate that as well as I hoped -- perhaps due to my continued bad habit of smothering every baked good with Greek yogurt and Sarabeth preserves, then taking the picture. But believe me, it's good. I was hoping the entire cake would last me a week of breakfast but I only got by on a few days. Still, not bad for having passed a half of it on to Kat, my baking partner, and a slice stolen here and there from a boy on his way out early in the morning.

Recipe notes:

Instead of chocolate chips Kat cut up a bar of dark chocolate. I don't like too-sweet baked goods, so the bitterness of the dark chocolate was perfectly off-set against the bread. We discovered that a good way to cut a bar of chocolate up without it crumbling is by heating the bar slightly so that it's just a tad soft, then proceed to cut into pieces.

Instead of regular yogurt, I used Greek yogurt since that's all I had. It turned out just fine, but I noticed the bread was very dense, perhaps denser than the author of this recipe may have intended.

Banana Bread with Chocolate
Adapted from A Homemade Life's "Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger" as posted here. I did not use the crystallized ginger because I didn't have any on hand, and also because I wanted a more traditional banana bread this time.

6	tablespoons unsalted butter
2	cups all-purpose flour
3/4	cup sugar
3/4	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup semisweet chocolate chips
2	large eggs
3	large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4	cup well-stirred whole-milk plain yogurt (not low or nonfat)
1	teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Set a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350F. Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan or an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or butter. (note: I used a round cake pan. It was my first time baking banana bread in a round cake pan and it was truly great. I will do it this way from now on. I cannot explain why.)

2. Melt the butter on the stove or in a microwave and set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla and stir to mix well. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter with be thick and somewhat lumpy, just make sure all the flour has been incorporated. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top.

5. Bake into the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 mins to an hour. If the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, tent with foil.

6. Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then tip out onto the rack, and let it cool completely before slicing. The loaf freezes well wrapped in plastic wrap and again in foil to protect from freezer burn.

Uta Barth

The quiet genius of Uta Barth. via Black*Eiffel and simply photo