We created a company to fight dirty (in the home and in the world), and we figured people should know what they’re up against when you fight dirty. There was a lot to say, a lot of scary things you probably didn’t even know about, so we wrote a book. Made for the home, Squeaky Green is a room-by-room guide that uncovers dirty little secrets about the nasty things that might be lurking in your house. And who doesn’t like knowing a dirty little secret? (Actually, maybe you won’t when you hear some of these things.) More importantly, the book offers easy, affordable solutions to get rid of the dirt so you can create a healthier, happier home. We wanted Squeaky Green to be as enjoyable as possible, because we think it’s easier to take care of business – even dirty business – when you’re having a little fun.

Eric Ryan & Adam Lowry, founders of Method

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The Pillow Book signing, Toronto

Hello Chronicle blog fans! Shannon Okey here, sometimes better known as Knitgrrl. I’ve just gotten back from Toronto, where I signed copies of my latest creation, The Pillow Book, at In the Loop Café. I was in town to teach at the Creativ Festival, and Chronicle’s Canadian publicist set up this event at a yarn shop I hadn’t yet visited. (Which is saying something: every year, I go to Toronto in the fall to do the Run for the Cure with Team Knitty, and inevitably, I come home with a lot of wooly goodness from Lettuce Knit and our other favorite shops).

Here’s the front door at In The Loop. It’s located in a lovely neighborhood with a lot of Italian shops, but the parking is madness, as they’re currently tearing up the streets for streetcar work.

They made such a gorgeous sign to promote the event, don’t you think? Well, then again, it all comes back to the design elements my book’s designer used, and they’re amazing. Do you see the embroidered stitching right above the title? If you have a copy of the book, look at the pattern opener pages. All that embroidery was hand-done by the book’s designer, who thought the pages needed a little extra “oomph.” Amazing, no? There should be an Above and Beyond the Call of Duty book designer award.

Yay! Welcome me! I wish I had a giant chalkboard like this – can you imagine the fun? I’d never leave the house. This board takes up a large portion of one wall in the café.

In the Loop owner Elayne (far right) chats with my friends Denny and Laura (left to right). If you knit in Toronto, chances are you know Denny. She currently works at our friend’s knitting shop in Kensington Market and is also a talented weaver/fiber artist/you name it. Laura sells hand-dyed yarn and knitting patterns at her website Cosmic Pluto.

You want classes? Oh, In The Loop’s got you covered. Right down to monkey-making! And let’s not forget the “Café” part of their name – they have fantastic coffee, butter tarts (Canada’s favorite pastry, judging by my friends’ reactions to the mere mention of them), and the night I was there, Elayne’s sister-in-law catered some mouthwatering Mexican fusion cuisine plus margaritas. Really, really good margaritas. What’s better than crafts and coffee? Crafts and margaritas, of course!

Thanks, Toronto, for a fantastic time, and to all the SSK knitters (sip, sip, knit) who came out for the signing. If you missed me this time, no worries – I’ll be back in the fall to teach at the Creativ Festival again. Keep up to date with this and all my other adventures at my blog, knitgrrl.com.

Thanks!
Shannon Okey, author of The Pillow Book

Check out more Handbound posts.

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Cinnamon and Chips Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cakes combine the best of two cake worlds. They have the qualities of a light angel food cake and a moist, oil-enriched sponge cake all in one. Chiffon cake bakes in an ungreased tube pan and one that does not have a nonstick finish. Unlike most cakes, the cake should stick to the pan. The batter climbs slowly up the sides of the pan as it bakes and then the cake clings to the pan as it cools, maintaining its high, light structure.

Makes 12 servings

Mixing time 10 minutes
Baking 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour

2 cups cake flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
6 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Garnish
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Have ready a 9 1/2- or 10-inch fixed-bottom tube pan with at least 3 3/4-inch-high sides. Do not use a nonstick pan.

Sift the cake flour, 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Use a large spoon to make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the oil, egg yolks, water, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the mixture until it is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

In another large bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves. Beat on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the movement of the beaters forms lines in the beaten whites. If you stop the mixer and lift up the beaters, the whites should cling to the beaters. Slowly beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, then beat for about 1 minute to firm, glossy peaks. Stir about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.

Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain.

Scrape the batter into the tube pan and gently smooth the top. Bake until the top of the cake feels firm when you gently press it and any small cracks in the top look dry, about 1 hour.

Invert the pan onto a narrow-necked bottle (a full wine bottle is stable and works well) and let cool for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the bottle and run a thin knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the cake from the pan by inverting it onto a flat serving plate, then place a wire rack on the bottom of the cake and invert the cake onto the rack, so the cake is right side up. Cool the cake thoroughly on the wire rack.

Mix the powdered sugar and cinnamon together, put the mixture in a small strainer, and dust it evenly over the top of the cake. Dust the powdered sugar mixture lightly with the cocoa powder. Slip a large metal spatula under the cake and slide it onto a serving plate. (Once cooled, the cake is sturdy and easy to move.) Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into slices.

The cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Purchase The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook.

Click here for more great recipes.

Peter Perez
Senior Marketing Manager

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We’re pleased to announce that we have partnered with Benefit Cosmetics and Mommytrackd.com to promote the release of the Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer in a unique two-parted sweepstakes!

Looking for something to freshen up your beauty cabinet?
Click here to enter to win a $500 shopping spree on Benefitcosmetics.com or one of five $50 runner up prizes.

Need to fill up your bookshelf?
Check out the giveaway at Benefit Cosmetics for a chance to win a copy of the Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer and a $500 shopping spree on Chroniclebooks.com grand prize or one of 10 runner up prizes of a copy of Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer.

Good luck Mama!

Nancy Deane
Senior Marketing Manager

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Each season of the year is special in its own way, but there’s nothing like spring when our planet bursts into song. Just last month I listened eagerly for the first migrants, one of my favorites being the eastern phoebe where I live in the Northeast. Fee-bee, fee-bee, fee-b-be-bee, he sings, never failing to offer his two song forms, but it’s his temperament that I’m so eager to hear. Which of his two songs does he favor, and in what sequence and rhythm does he sing them? I don’t know what it all means, but he knows, and it’s good to pay attention to friends even if you don’t understand all they have to say.

This time of year I sleep with the window open, the early morning spring air bringing news of the latest overnight arrivals. I don’t expect too much in April, but May is something to hear. Ah, the first wood thrush. I listen to the two loud parts of his song, the melodious prelude and the more percussive flourish, knowing he has perhaps six preludes and a dozen flourishes that he mixes together; successive songs are always different, and I can never know what’s coming next. And how I wish I could hear the detail in his songs as he hears them, as each song is a marvel of precision guided puffs of air through his two voice boxes, the duet he sings with himself just stunning.

I await the warblers, to know whether the ovenbird who settles in our small patch of forest is the same bird as last year, and to hear the ecstatic flight song of this ground dweller high in the canopy during the night. And all the other warblers, dozens of species passing through—males of most have two different songs, one for “love,” one for “war,” and what fun it is to read his mind by what he sings.

Flycatchers, chickadees, orioles, sparrows, tanagers, wrens, vireos, buntings, grosbeaks, blackbirds, and yes, even starlings and cowbirds, all “good birds.” What a joy it is to listen to them, to listen to the variety of expressions among these fellow beings on our planet earth.

It has been my goal in writing the Backyard Birdsong books to share that joy with you, to help you listen in ways that you never imagined possible. Go ahead. Find your favorite singing bird in your backyard or local park, read the text in the book, and then listen to the sounds that are provided with the book. Listen then with new ears to your singing bird and you’ll be astounded at all he has to say. You’ll be eager to find the next bird, of course, and the next, all the while becoming far more attentive to what is on the minds of our feathered friends.

Happy Listening!
Don Kroodsma, author of the new Backyard Birdsongs guides

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