Birthday Cake

I took a little time off in August.  Because of my mother's poor health I gave up on the idea of a summer vacation and decided to stay put here in Brooklyn.  At one point in early August my brain stopped working and I struggled to get anything done.  Guilt and worry set in, that good old Protestant work ethic, until I realized that even if I wasn't going away I still needed a break.  I saw a few clients, hosted a private party and filled orders but other than that I've tried to let go and have a staycation.  It hasn't exactly been fun.  I filled my days taking care of things I've been putting off, namely big cleaning jobs and doctor's appointments.

The end of the month, tho, is birthday time.  I have a very good friend who's birthday is the day before mine (we were born mere hours apart) and we've never had the chance to celebrate together. Hers was this past Friday, mine on Saturday.  The plan was to bake a cake on her birthday and make dinner for friends and serve the birthday cake on mine.

After a lovely lunch at a local trattoria on Friday we went to the market (our local food coop) and bought supplies.  We decided on Vanilla Malt Cake.  The recipe we were using called for malt powder but when we looked at the ingredients label filled with preservatives and additives we decided for the simpler barley malt syrup.  This meant doing a little tweaking with the recipe, making sure we had the correct proportions of wet and dry ingredients.

I must confess that the batter was incredibly delicious and couldn't keep my fingers out of it.  Cleaning the bowl was sublime. The cake itself was a little heavy. We looked at recipes for honey cake and most of them were made of multiple layers. I think that would work well for this cake as well. The barley malt made it quite dense.  It was wonderful and everyone had seconds (so I know it was good!).  Still, I'd like to tweak the recipe and try again with more layers, less barley malt, more vanilla and maybe more baking powder.  Cake is a science and experiments are necessary.

We whipped up a special blush colored buttercream and I had a wonderful time playing floral designer and decorating it with flowers. It got quite a lot of oh's and ah's when it was served.  Final recipe forthcoming.

Fougere Workshop

Create the scent of the forrest floor.

There has been some interest amongst a small group of students in doing another Fougere Workshop.  I'm so happy to teach this class again on Sunday, April 12th, 1-4pm.

Fougere is a fragrance family that came into fashion towards the end of the 19th C.  The word means fern, which makes it a fantasy category seeing how ferns don't really have a fragrance.  Fougere's are meant to smell like the forrest floor and, to my understanding, must have three ingredients:  lavender, oakmoss and a coumarin note (found in tonka bean, hay, sweet clover, etc.).  Often herbs like geranium, linalool rich rosewood and more assertive notes like patchouli are added but it's the careful consideration of the other ingredients that makes the fougere your own.

In class we'll explore the genre and sample many perfumes including the original Fougere Royale and Jicky - the vanguards of the classification -  along with samples from some of the best natural perfumers working today. You'll be choosing from materials like tonka bean, sweet clover, concretes of lavender, geranium and clary sage, several lavender absolutes and essential oils, cedarmoss, cassia and ho wood.  You'll have the opportunity to create two perfumes.  $25 extra to make a third, time considering.

Sunday, April 12th, 1-4pm.  You can register here.

You can see the coumarin crystals forming on these tonka beans.

Once oakmoss is harvested it rests for seven years to develop it's wet forrest scent.

Clover also contain coumarins.

Lavender, one of the key ingredients in a fougere, also contains coumarins.

Interview in the Park Slope Food Coop's Linewaiter's Gazette

Laugh if you want but my food coop is badass.  We have 16,000 members working cooperatively to run a store based on good politics, good value and great food.  We members of the Park Slope Food Coop all work a two and a half hour shift every four weeks and with the help of our paid staff we run the coop. We are a model for cooperation and sustainability.

The coop has its share of critics.  There are people who think there are too many rules and find it punitive.  There are only two rules I'm aware of.  One is to show up for your assigned shift, or at least call and let them know you're not coming.  That seems reasonable considering we're trying to run a store.  If you don't call in you have to do a second make-up shift.  This is also reasonable - there has to be a deterrent to not showing up or finding someone to cover your shift.  The other rule is don't shop in line. That just seems like common courtesy.

Every time someone from The New York Times writes about us they always make fun of our organic food and "all of those rules" and the way we check out or the long lines.  Every article is the same, let's make fun of the vegan hippies.  I'm waiting for someone to write an article about what a miracle it is that 16,000 people can work cooperatively to provide ourselves with sustainable organic food at reasonable prices.  There's the real story.

Poet and playwrite Pat Smith was kind enough to invite me to be interviewed, I'm chuffed by his kind words.  Check out page four of the March 5th, 2015 Linewaiter's Gazette to read the full article.

Nice Write Up in Crain's New York

I've been remiss in posting this lovely article about myself and my perfume business in Crain's New York.  I was lucky enough to be contacted by the magazine for the interview.  They sent over a photographer with more equipment than I thought would fit into my studio or that he and his assistant could possibly use.  They used every bit of it!

Moonrise

I gazed upon the cloudless moon,
And loved her all the night,
Till morning came and radiant noon,
And I forgot her light-


No, not forget-eternally
Remains its memory dear;
But could the day seem dark to me
Because the night was fair?


Emily Bronte





I'm so pleased to announce the latest perfume offering from Alchemologie, Moonrise.

When Pam Grossman of Observatory Room approached me to create a perfume for a group show based on the moon I agreed on the condition that she collaborate with me on it.  I walked away wondering, "Ok, now, what does the moon smell like".  When Pam and I sat down to begin she brought with her a list of plants that were historically said to be connected to the moon.  The most obvious place to start on that list was with an artemesia, inspired by the Greek goddess, Artemis, who represents the new moon.  Artemis is portrayed in the fragrance by a few spare drops of wormood in the top note, supported by bergamot and petitgrain.  The heart of the perfume is made of luminous jasmine, honey absolute and balanced with rose.  Sandalwood, frankincense and oak moss form the base chord.  The finished perfume, Moonrise, made it's debut at the opening of Lunation:  Art on the Moon on January 7th.  Two lunar inspired cocktails I created were served at the event, The Honeymoon (oat and honey soaked vodka with milk and sandalwood oil) and Dark Side of the Moon (tangerine spiked vodka with homemade creme de cacao and jasmine).

Two New Cocktails Inspired by the Moon

For the group art show, Lunation:  Art on the Moon, I've come up with two new lunar inspired cocktails.  The Honeymoon, a milk and honey concoction spiked with sandalwood oil, and Dark Side of the Moon, a chocolatey tangerine libation accented with jasmine oil.

The Dark Side of the Moon is made with homemade tangerine vodka which is incredibly easy to make.  The most difficult part is shaving the fragile fragrant peel of the fruit while not taking the bitter pith with it.   I used the skin of one Satsuma tangerine per cup of vodka.  Simply place the peel and vodka in a jar and give it a good shake every few hours and it should be ready in under 24 hours.  Strain out the peel and you're ready to tend bar.


The recipe also calls for homemade creme de cacao.  The store bought variety with it's synthetic chocolate flavor might work but once you've had the real thing you can't conceive of drinking the adulterated version.  

Creme de Cacao

one cup sugar

two cups water

one ounce unsweetened chocolate

one half teaspoon vanilla

one cup vodka

In a medium pan combine sugar and water.  Boil on medium high heat until the mixture is reduced to half its original volume, about 20 minutes.  About five minutes before the syrup is done melt chocolate in a two cup or larger container.  Immediately and very slowly pour hot syrup into the melted chocolate, stirring vigorously while pouring.  If mixture is not completely smooth and blended beat with a  mixer or in a blender.  Cool mixture for 30 minutes.  Add vanilla and vodka.  Blend well.  Immediately pour into a clean sterile bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid or cap.

The secret ingredient of Dark Side of the Moon is the drop of jasmine absolute, diluted to 5% strength.  Jasmine has long been associated with the moon and adds a narcotic floral body to the cocktail.

Dark Side of the Moon

one jigger tangerine infused vodka

one jigger creme de cacao

two drop jasmine absolute, 5%

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass, or serve over ice. 

The Honeymoon is made with homemade oat and honey vodka made by soaking rolled oats and honey in vodka for three weeks.  To make one cup of vodka use a half cup of rolled oats and a scant quarter cup of honey.  There are many varieties of honey so pick one you like, preferably a milder one.  Shake it all up in a clean sterile jar and macerate in a cool dark place and make sure to give it a good shake daily.  Filter through a paper coffee filter into a clean bottle.  Straining can be a little challenging so be patient.

The Honeymoon also calls for sandalwood oil in a dilution of 10%, and a teaspoon of Chamomile Water.

                                       

The Honeymoon

one jigger honey oat infused vodka

one jigger milk

one drop sandalwood oil, 10%

1/8 teaspoon chamomile water

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and pour over ice.

A New Perfume for Lunation: Art on the Moon

Observatory Room is hosting it's first ever group-curated show, Lunation:Art on the Moon. 

Artists and scientists have always been attracted to the moon…

Our closest celestial neighbor, the earth’s little sister, the moon creates the tides and illuminates the woods at night. For centuries, humanity believed the moon provided a key into the invisible realm: it called out the beast within us, freeing us to act as wolves, to run, to dance, to chant—and sometimes (as in Duncan Jones’ Moon) to split in two, to find our double, our changeling moon-self.

Is the moon home to life? Today we know it isn’t, but even as of 1830, speculation was rampant that the moon was inhabited by Christianized bat-people who worshiped in great ziggurats. (See The Sun and the Moon by Observatory alumnus Matthew Goodman for details.) Still, life comes to the moon. We know the moon contains frozen water, and we dream of using it as our jumping-off point for visiting even more alien vistas.

Down here, despite all the prowess and nuance of our latest telescopes, earthlings still look up naked-eyed with excitement at the full moon. Lovers and children gaze up at its slowly blinking façade in mute wonder. Artists portray the moon as a source of danger and power, and latter-day sorceresses and men of magic call up to that heavenly lamp, seeking to transcend the ordinary night. For them, the old myths have not changed so much: the moon is still a secret mirror, showing in pale light how the familiar contains always an element of the unexpected…

Herbal Alchemy will be participating in the show by offering up a new perfume for the occasion, Moonrise.  The Greek goddess, Artemis, who represents the new moon, is portrayed in this fragrance by the addition of wormwood (an artemesia) in the top note, supported by bergamot and petitgrain.  Luminous jasmine forms the basis of the heart along with honey and rose, and sandalwood and frankincense form the base chord.

Opening Party: Saturday, January 7th, 7–10 PM, FREE
Closing Party/Observatory’s 3rd Anniversary Fundraiser: Saturday, February 18th, 8 PM/$20
Show Viewing Hours: Thursday & Friday 3–6 PM, Saturday & Sunday 12–6 PM

I'll be serving two special cocktails at the opening party:  The Honeymoon, a sumptuous concoction of oat and honey vodka spiked with sandalwood, and Dark Side of the Moon, a chocolatey jasmine spiked libation.  Hope to see you there!

The Art of Collaboration: Rachelle Garniez and Her Signature Scent

A few years ago I decided that working collaboratively was going to be far more interesting than anything I could come up with on my own.  After years of insisting on working solo and rejecting any input I suddenly came around to the notion of how creative it could be to work with others.  I've always loved an assignment, someone suggesting a project that has to be worked within guidelines.  A blank white page can be thrilling but often intimidating and overwhelming.  Collaborating is more like working within the guidelines, testing how creative you can be within certain boundaries.  I also enjoy the chance to step outside of working in isolation and having another to share ideas with.

Rachelle Garniez

I met Rachelle Garniez a few years ago at a local music venue.  She was listed on the events calendar as "an accordionist and chanteuse extraordinaire" and I was intrigued.  I loved the show and kept coming back until we finally talked and became friends.  She expressed a love of perfume and as I warmed up to the idea of a collaboration I approached her with the idea of turning one of her songs into a fragrance.  She loved the idea and suggested "Tourmaline", off of her cd, Melusine Years.

After spending some time listening to the song we finally got together to start blending, not sure exactly how to put musical notes to fragrance but we knew we wanted the scent to be uplifting and spirited, like the song.  We loved the tobacco absolute and how it pared with peru balsam.  A touch of ambrette and guaicwood rounded out our bottom chord.  Linden and orange flower absolute became the basis of the heart note with honey absolute, neroli and carnation giving it a bit more edge.  Rosewood and bitter orange top out the fragrance.

I made a limited edition of the perfume for a pair of shows that Rachelle was doing at the locally famous Joe's Pub in Manhattan.  It was a joy for me to dab perfume on the many outstretched wrists after the show.  I mingled with the crowd afterward and got a chance to really smell how the perfume interacted with each woman's particular chemical make-up.

I recently sold the last bottle of Tourmaline.  After seeing Rachelle perform again last night I've decided to make another batch.  Working with those particular oils again transports me back to that long afternoon spent blending while a lost butterfly fluttered around my studio.  Trish at Scent Hive has written a lovely revue of Tourmaline which you can read here.

Rachelle is releasing her new cd, Sad-Dead-Alive-Happy, at Dixon Place in Manhattan on Friday, November 11th at 8:30.  I'll be there dabbing wrists after the show.