A elegância no comportamento

Martha Medeiros



Existe uma coisa difícil de ser ensinada e que, talvez por isso, esteja cada vez mais rara: a elegância do comportamento. É um dom que vai muito além do uso correto dos talheres e que abrange bem mais do que dizer um simples obrigado diante de uma gentileza.

É a elegância que nos acompanha da primeira hora da manhã até a hora de dormir e que se manifesta nas situações mais prosaicas, quando não há festa alguma nem fotógrafos por perto.

É uma elegância desobrigada.

É possível detectá-la nas pessoas que elogiam mais do que criticam. Nas pessoas que escutam. E quando falam, passam longe da fofoca, das pequenas maldades ampliadas no boca a boca.

É possível detectá-la nas pessoas que não usam um tom superior de voz ao se dirigir a frentistas.

Nas pessoas que evitam assuntos constrangedores porque não sentem prazer em humilhar os outros.

É possível detectá-la em pessoas pontuais.

Elegante é quem demonstra interesse por assuntos que desconhece, é quem presenteia fora das datas festivas, é quem cumpre o que promete e, ao receber uma ligação, não recomenda à secretária que pergunte antes quem está falando e só depois manda dizer se está ou não está.

Oferecer flores é sempre elegante.

É elegante não ficar espaçoso demais.

É elegante você fazer algo por alguém e este alguém jamais saber o que você teve que se arrebentar para o fazer...

É elegante não mudar seu estilo apenas para se adaptar ao outro.

É muito elegante não falar de dinheiro em bate-papos informais.

É elegante retribuir carinho e solidariedade.

É elegante o silêncio, diante de uma rejeição....

Sobrenome, joias e nariz empinado não substituem a elegância do gesto.

Não há livro que ensine alguém a ter uma visão generosa do mundo, a estar nele de uma forma não arrogante.

É elegante a gentileza; atitudes gentis falam mais que mil imagens...

Abrir a porta para alguém? É muito elegante.

Dar o lugar para alguém sentar? É muito elegante.

Sorrir, sempre é muito elegante e faz um bem danado para a alma...

Oferecer ajuda? Muito elegante.

Olhar nos olhos ao conversar? Essencialmente elegante.

Pode-se tentar capturar esta delicadeza natural pela observação, mas tentar imitá-la é improdutivo.

A saída é desenvolver em si mesma a arte de conviver, que independe de status social: é só pedir licencinha para o nosso lado brucutu, que acha que "com amigo não tem que ter estas frescuras".

Se os amigos não merecem uma certa cordialidade, os inimigos é que não irão desfrutá-la.
Educação enferruja por falta de uso.

E, detalhe: não é frescura.

Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I Started Cooking

I wasn’t sure I heard her right.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“What’s up with the flat bags?”

I heard her right. The question came from the photographer’s assistant during the DALS Book photo shoot a few weeks ago. She was in her twenties, hailed from Williamsburg. I didn’t get a peek at her iPod, but I feel certain it would be loaded with songs by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the New Pornographers. In other words, bands I’d never heard before. She was referring to the bags of chilis and soups in my freezer — I always freeze dinners in flattened Ziplocs. When you do it that way, you save time (by thawing whatever is frozen under running water for 60 seconds) and you save space. (After your soup or stew is frozen, you can file the bag in your freezer like a book in a bookshelf.) How did she not know this?

Most likely because she hadn’t spent six years of her life at Real Simple or four years editing the food pages of Cookie. I need to remember that not everyone is a former magazine editor walking around with a mental catalog of time-saving, money-saving, energy-saving, sanity-saving, life-saving, surefire, guilt-free, guaranteed fool-proof, plan-ahead, stress-free, problem-solving shortcuts, tips and tricks. (And yes, in case you are wondering, all those words consistently scored the highest with the focus groups.) I need to remember that not everyone out there feels comfortable with recipe-writing language that calls for a “handful of beans” or a “pinch of cayenne.” (Don’t literally pinch cayenne, especially if you are using those same pinchers to remove contact lenses an hour later.) I need to remember that calling for lemongrass in a recipe is a potential deal-breaker and that calling for a  ”large” can of whole tomatoes is going to elicit this comment from my book editor, Lee: “Ounces please! Lord, define large!” This is why she is so awesome. Not only because I can hear her southern drawl through the most miniscule of notes, but because she yells at me now so you won’t have to later.

Anyway, in honor of all of you out there who don’t know to store your folded garbage bags inside the garbage can (so you can conveniently grab a replacement as soon as you discard the full one –classic Real Simple tip ) or that adding skim milk to boiling liquid is going to result in curdling (classic Jenny screw-up), here are a list of things I wish someone told me fifteen years ago, when I was the one with the loaded iPod (Sony Walkman?) who did not understand the kind of happiness that a quick-thaw might someday bring me.

1. Don’t ever make recipes (or trust cookbooks) that have overly cutesy recipe titles like “Struttin’ Chicken.” These kinds of dishes rarely have the kind of staying power that a good simple Roast Chicken will. (Grilled Chicken for People Who Hate Grilled Chicken is the obvious exception.)

2. Buy  yourself a pair of kitchen scissors. You will use them to snip herbs. You will use them to chop canned whole peeled tomatoes that have been dumped and contained in a 4-cup Pyrex. You will use them to snip spinach right in the skillet as the spinach wilts. Spinach! As long as we’re on the subject: always make more of it than you think you need. This way you will not find yourself in the position of having one cupcake-sized mound of sesame spinach for your whole family of four to share.

3. Some Type-A behaviors worth stealing: Do everything you can in advance when you are having people over for dinner. No matter how easy and tossed-off the task  may be. No matter how many times your partner-in-crime says, Why don’t we just do that later? Filling a sippy cup takes 30 seconds! If you forgo this advice and do nothing in advance, at least make sure you start off the evening with an empty dishwasher. You will thank yourself a few hours and a few cocktails later when staring at the mountain of greasy plates in the sink. Lastly, if at all possible, go to sleep with a fresh trash bag in the kitchen garbage can. I find it somewhat soul-crushing to see last night’s dinner scraps piled up before I’ve had my morning coffee. And I sleep better when I know it’s empty. (See: Type A.)

4. Brushing dough with a quick egg-wash is the secret to getting that shiny, lacquered, I’m-worth-something-after-all glow to your pies, breads, and cherry galettes (pictured above). This comes in especially handy when trying to pass off storebought crust as homemade. Whisk one egg with a fork, then use a pastry brush to cover every inch of the exposed crust before baking.

5. Meat will never brown properly if you add it to the pan when it’s freezing cold and wet. (And browning properly is where you’re going to get most of your flavor.) It should be patted dry and room temperature. Unless you have just walked in the door, it’s 7:30, the kids are screaming and the instruction to “bring it to room temperature” is the instruction that will make you swear off family dinner forever.

6. Add acid. A drizzle of vinegar, a spoonful of tangy buttermilk, a simple squeeze of lemon or lime will always add brightness to an otherwise boring and flat dish. I’ll never forget an interview I read with Mario Batali that reconfirmed this: He said the easiest way to pretend you know what you’re doing in the kitchen is to talk about the “acidity” level of a dish.

7. Never use the phrase “pun intended” or “no pun intended.” Oh sorry! That’s from my “Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I Started Writing” list.

8. Learn the correct way to slice and dice an avocado. You will not only save time, energy, sanity [insert up to 4 more Real Simple focus group words here] by doing this, but you will find yourself giving tutorials to awed, in-the-dark observers every time you make guacamole in front of them.

9. Ice in the cocktails, people. Don’t be stingy. Nothing worse than a lukewarm Gin and Tonic.

10. You won’t get arrested if you leave out an ingredient or replace it with something that’s not called for. That doesn’t mean leave the shrimp out of the shrimp and grits, but if you don’t have scallions for the chopped salad, or if you don’t have red wine called for in the braised pork, take a look around and see what else might stand in for what’s missing. Every time you do this and it works, you’ll be a little more confident in the kitchen. And every time you do this and it doesn’t work, you have one more good story to tell.

Edit New York + Little edit

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Esta loja localizada na Lexignton entre as Ruas 90 e 91 pode ser descrita como uma mini Bergdorf Goodman. Possui uma seleção incrível de marcas como Carven, Anndra Neen, Anya Hindmarch, Jason Wu, Proenza Schouler, Derek Lam, 3.1 Philip Lim, Rochas, Nina Ricci e Thakoon. Ótimo local e atendimento para fazer suas compras com calma, longe das áreas cheias de turistas.

A Little Edit possui marcas para crianças. Uma fofura as peças de marcas como Tartine et Chocolat, Baby Chloe, Baby Dior, Lili Gaufrette e Petit Maloles.