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Minted English Pea Soup

Peas and mint are a traditional spring duo, here brought together with the slight tartness and body of the crème fraîche. Unless you or a friend grow your own peas or you can nab some as they come into the farmers’ market, good brands of frozen organic peas are often the better choice, as the sugars in fresh peas turn very quickly to starch. This soup serves about 1 cup per portion and can easily be doubled. For the peas, you will need about 4 pounds in the shell or two 10-ounce packages of frozen peas.

For an elegant match, try to find a lightly oaked or unoaked Chardonnay to complement the clean, fresh flavors.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion (about 4 ounces), cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or as needed
1/8 teaspoon white pepper, or as needed
1 quart shelled peas, fresh or frozen
16 mint leaves (8 roughly chopped, 8 reserved for garnish)
2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

1. In a large, deep skillet or stock pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and sweat them until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the stock, salt, and pepper, increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add the peas, chopped mint, and parsley to the stock and bring the liquid back to a simmer. Simmer until peas turn a bright green and are tender, about 5 minutes.

4. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. With an immersion or in a stand blender, purée the soup until smooth. You may need to do this in batches (see Chef’s Note). Pour the puréed soup into the sieve (you can batch this as well). With the back of a large spoon, push the liquid through the solids into the bowl.

5. Wipe clean the original pan. Pour the soup back into it and gently rewarm over medium-low heat. Add the crème fraîche and stir well to blend. Immediately remove from the heat, adjust seasonings as necessary, and pour the soup into small soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with 2 mint leaves and serve each bowl with 2 lemon wedges, for guests to squeeze into soup as desired.

Chef’s Note
When puréeing hot liquids in a stand blender, be sure to remove the plug from the blender’s top and cover the hole with a kitchen towel. This allows for the steam from puréeing hot liquids to escape.

Purchase Seasons in the Wine Country.

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Peter Perez
Senior Marketing Manager

Letterhead design used to be an integral part of identity design, one of the first steps in branding a business. The letterheads of Russian Constructivists and Bauhaus individuals are still studied in design textbooks today for their radical typographical innovation. In fact, custom letterhead also used to be popular for prominent or distinctive individuals. Electronic correspondence may have rendered this stationery tradition archaic but, in their rarity, letterheads hold a sense of design curiosity and nostalgia.

The website Letterheady features a vast collection of letterheads from the turn of the 20th century to the ’50s, including that of well-known individuals (including Hitler) and businesses of a bygone era. Think typographical eye candy married to historical ephemera.

Given how charming old stationery can be, it’s not surprising that electronic correspondence might seek to imitate it. Paperless Post (Beta) for example, is one of a few websites attempting to recreate the experience of receiving custom stationery. Their designs are clean and classic, with seamless navigation. It even appears that you can design your own stationery down to the color of your envelope liner. Although the experience of opening a card online may not really compare to its physical counterpart, at least it saves paper. And, design-wise, it’s vastly improved from the days when eGreetings and Blue Mountain were your only options. Chronicle Books also has the art from many of our favorite books available as free e-postcards (in addition to a vast collection of paper stationery designs of course.)

Letterheads, like visiting and dance cards, maybe a thing of the past, but at least we still have paper mail, well designed promos and invoices, and well, books.

Suzanne LaGasa
Designer

With a strong reputation for having an innovative approach to design, while retaining a solid foundation in the enduring classics, Paper+Cup is known and loved by paper lovers throughout the country. Their design work has been featured in publications such as Design*Sponge, Wallpaper*, Print, Martha Stewart Wedding, Real Simple, Domino, Lucky, InStyle, and The New York Times.

Paper+Cup founders Minhee & Truman Cho, are inspired by everything from vintage candy wrappers and antique industrial labels, to the detailed work of fine bespoke tailoring and the textures of old mill textiles. “Something old, something new…” captures their design aesthetic. “The opportunity to partner with Chronicle Books has enabled us to expand our perspectives on design to a wider market without losing our identity or boutique appeal,” says Minhee. “Working with a company with such great resources has been a rewarding experience and pushes us to continue evolving our brand.”

Chronicle Books is thrilled to release a new line of stationery by Paper+Cup:

Old School Ledger
This old-fashioned ledger features a variety of perforated pages that are perfect for notes, reminders, messages, and to-do lists.

Old School Letter Set
This deluxe stationery set features 24 writing sheets and envelopes, vintage schoolhouse-style gold foil stickers, and handy mailing labels.

Available now on Chroniclebooks.com.
Coming in Fall 2010: a book with Paper+Cup titled Paper+Craft.

Patti Quill
Marketing & Publicity Manager

Full disclosure: I have a personal stake in this. For starters, as an artist, I’ve created work exploring personal identity for the better part of two decades. In many ways, I’ve bet my career on the fact that we all have a need to tell our own stories, to define ourselves, and I’ve been fortunate enough to share this work with audiences of all ages all over the world. But this book is something more significant. On March 21, 2009, I became a father. My son, Jack, was born—named after my own father. And in this one moment, my life, and the meaning behind my entire work as an artist, shifted significantly. After two decades making art that questions the very idea of race, that explores the complications and consequences of choosing sides or affiliations (or worse, having them chosen for you), that argues against the concepts of compartmentalization, categorization, and conceptual laziness, my stakes have suddenly been raised.

Photographing each individual kid for this book was like that first summer day, over and over. Once we got past their holiday photo poses, past the strained smiles and attention-getting expressions, my job was essentially the same. Create a relationship between us without adult expectations and without adult barriers. Let them tell me who they are and show me who they are on their terms. And give them the opportunity to define themselves. Give them the opportunity I didn’t have as a child, and an opportunity I want my son to always have.

Kip Fulbeck, professor and artist, lives in Santa Barbara.

Read the full introduction in Mixed. If you’re in Los Angeles, make sure to stop by the Japanese American National Museum to see Kip’s exhibition, which is up until September 26, 2010. You can become part of the exhibition by stamping your unique handprint on the Mixed timeline or by adding your answer to the question “Who are you?” on to the exhibition’s interactive sculpture.

Kip also speaks eloquently about his work in this new video:

One of our favorite authors teamed up with one of our favorite crafting destinations, and created the brand-new Treasured Notions. We just love this video that Kaari and John created to tell the story of how French General and Tinsel Trading came together to unveil the vintage treasures in the basement of the store. The book turned out to be a little treasure itself, packed with photos and projects inspired by the ancient loot.

What’s your favorite place to go for crafting inspiration? Let us know in the comments and we’ll randomly pick one person who will receive a copy of the book.

Check out more Chronicle Craft posts.

Christina Loff
Craft Publicist