Klosekraft: Weekend randomness

1. Sunday, Anna and I went to the Brooklyn Flea and wandered around, marveling at all of the pretty, pretty people and the fact that neither of us were at all tempted to buy anything. The only thing that really stood out to me was this fantastic vanity from RePop made from old steamer trunks (check out our yin/yang trenchcoats in the mirror):

I like the idea of unabashed girliness that goes along with a vanity table, but most of the examples I've seen don't do anything for me. This is the first one I've ever seen that I really coveted.

2. I got to the waist on my handspun raglan.

I'm thinking that I'm going to have to redo the neck to put some front and back shaping in. Originally, I chose to do a reversible boatneck to, I don't know, save wear on the elbows or something, but I'm finding myself tugging at it just to take these pictures. Actually wearing it like this would be kind of a drag. I'll go back after I finish the body and sleeves, snip off a couple of inches and add the shaping then.

3. I made a batch of brownies on Saturday. I had excellent intentions of making a fancy scallop and mushroom soup from one of the Jean-Georges cookbooks, but couldn't be bothered to go anywhere that sold good scallops. I'll do it some other time. In the meantime though, here's the recipe I use for a small batch of brownies, which is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. If you need a 9x13 pan's worth, the recipe on the back of the Baker's chocolate box is great. I'm doing this from memory, so I can't swear absolutely that it's right, but I'll check tonight and correct if need be.

Brownies
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 scant c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. instant espresso powder (not in the original recipe, but it's a nice addition)
1/2 c. flour
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8x8 pan. Melt chocolate and mix with butter until smooth. Add sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and espresso powder. Add flour and salt. Bake 20-25 minutes.

They're especially good with ice cream.