Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. This week, as part of our Summer Entertaining issue, we’ve turned it into a shopping list of items to make outdoor gatherings even more special. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday, along with monthly travel and beauty guides, and the latest stories from our print issues. And you can always reach us at tmagazine@nytimes.com. FREE REFILL Cold Brew Accessories for a Lively Brunch
Cold brew is one of summer’s great home projects: smooth, low-acid and significantly cheaper than a store-bought $7 cup (the going rate at my local cafe). Best of all, you can style your drink with accessories and add-ins that make each pour feel personal. Start with Oxo’s Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker, favored by coffee drinkers (and Wirecutter) for its simple setup and metal mesh strainer that yields rich, consistent concentrate. Then, dress it up: The MoMA Design Store carries playful glassware, such as these sturdy two-tone straws inspired by the museum’s colors. For serving a group, consider Erik Magnussen’s EM77 vacuum jug, with a stopper that opens automatically when tilted, or this sculptural terra-cotta-colored thermos, based on a silhouette by the Swedish designer Sigvard Bernadotte. And for “milk”: The California-based company Koatji tested more than 8,000 recipes before settling on its blend of oat and fermented rice, called koji. The goal was to create a dairy alternative that would behave like whole milk in hot beverages. But Maj Henriques, a founder, prefers it iced. “It brings out the flavors so well,” she says. UNDER COVER Sun Hats to Keep the Lawn Games Going
For garden parties and rooftops alike, a hat can make the difference between an enjoyable afternoon and a sunburn. The Italian fashion house Prada offers a stripy version in cotton and viscose yarns knit to look like woven raffia. The California-based brand Beklina makes a plaid one in a Japanese woven fabric with a wide brim and a scarf attached for additional protection. Arc’teryx, the Canadian maker of outdoor apparel and gear, sells a lightweight shade hat with a finish that repels water. The Spanish fashion house Loewe has a woven cotton fisherman’s hat in dark olive that’s attached to herringbone jacquard straps printed with the label’s logo. For those seeking adaptability, the French brand Lemaire makes a cotton bucket hat with a detachable neck protector. And for a bit of fun, look to the outdoor recreation outfitter the North Face. The brand offers a largely recycled nylon hat with a yellow brim that pops against its dark blue body, which features a toile print of the pines and rock faces of California’s Yosemite National Park. EASY DOES IT Durable and Disposable Dishes for Outdoor Dinners
With barbecue season in full swing, having a stack of lightweight, durable plates on hand is a smart move. The British enamelware brand Falcon offers a set of four deep plates, each coated with a layer of porcelain, ideal for containing chopped salads or glazed meats. Antonis Cardew, a Paris-based tableware designer specializing in hand-turned wood pieces, carves dinner plates from pear wood, a type of hardwood native to Europe. Sometimes, when you don’t want certain foods (and their respective juices or sauces) to mix, a divided plate is in order. Crow Canyon, a North California enamelware business founded in 1977, collaborated with Camp Wandawega, a resort in Wisconsin, on cafeteria-style plates with three compartments. For another colorful outdoor dining experience, consider the six-piece rainbow set of Hellerware plates, made from a food-safe plastic called melamine and designed by the Italian husband-and-wife team Lella and Massimo Vignelli in 1964. If all you’re looking for is a breezy cleanup, the sustainable serve ware company VerTerra makes dishes out of palm leaves, sold in sets of 25, that can be tossed in the compost at the end of the party. SPLASH ZONE Stylish (and Easily Stowable) Wading Pools
On a hot summer day, few things feel as luxurious as a private pool, a simple place for guests and their children to cool down and perk up. There are timeless infinity pools and freshwater swimming holes overlooking a meadow of wildflowers. For hosts with minimal outdoor space, there are also inflatable pools designed to delight even the most discerning eyes. “Some of the chicest people I know live in small spaces,” says Kris Myllenbeck, a former fashion stylist turned founder of Mylle, a maker of modern inflatable pools and outdoor accessories. Its signature pool, made to fit two adults or four children, comes in restrained colors and prints like earth brown, dusty rose and white with a windowpane grid. Designed especially for younger waders, Garbo&Friends’ Baby Pool reflects the founder and illustrator Susann Grabe’s childhood growing up on a farm in the Swedish countryside; she hand-draws each flora-and-fauna-inspired print. Equally sweet is the paddling pool from the Scandinavian brand Liewood, covered in images of tiny leopards. Other cool water options by way of Denmark include Konges Sløjd’s Dragon waterslide, a children’s splash pad that manages to avoid being an eyesore in minimalist shades of gray, and Petites Pommes’ striped Alice pool. For a bigger version (five and a half feet across), there’s also Hearth & Hand’s green-and-blue plaid pool. PETTING ZOO Animal-Shaped Soaps and Elevated Saucers
On a trip to Philadelphia earlier this year, I discovered Austrian fish-shaped soaps between Japanese sweaters and French barrettes at the Old City women’s wear shop Rennes. My plan was to put them out only for guests, but now I can’t go back to an average oval or square. For the shower, I also bought a sheep whose poppy seed-flecked surface offers a bit of exfoliation. Rennes’s owner, Julia Okun, first spotted the sheep at a gift shop while she was traveling in Europe. “There’s something about their facial expression that’s just really charming,” she says. Let a bright orange one graze on a green cut crystal dish for some contrast. For the fish, create an aquatic scene with a Majorca-inspired spiral design by the Portland, Maine-based ceramist Aimee McLaughlin or this rippling navy dish, a collaboration between the artist Matthew Raw, who specializes in glazed tiles, and the British beauty company Austin Austin. DRY GOODS Bright, Plush Towels to Dress Up the Pool Deck
When summertime rolls around, we don’t think twice about getting new sunglasses, swimsuits and beach bags — but one essential is often overlooked: the towel. Hermès offers an oversize cotton version in an array of summery hues like neon rose and orange geranium. In Belgium, Libeco makes an airy linen option with a camp stripe design that could easily transition from the beach to the hammock. If you gravitate toward patterns, Dusen Dusen sells a cotton towel with colorful, mismatched graphics that evoke summer anytime of year, while Baggu’s terry cloth towels come in playful prints featuring constellations or seashells. And earlier this year, the Brooklyn-based artist and designer Liz Collins — who often works with woven fabrics and is currently included in a textile exhibition at MoMA — turned one of her marker drawings into the Cracked beach towel that comes in a red and blue so vibrant you’re unlikely to ever misplace it. FROM T’S INSTAGRAM A Danish Midsummer Lunch That Ended With Cake on the Beach
To celebrate Scandinavian midsummer, the Copenhagen-based designer Sophie Bille Brahe gathered friends and family for a weekend in Vejby, a small seaside town an hour’s drive north of the city. “It’s a classic little piece of Copenhagen life, with small houses and lovely beaches,” Bille Brahe says. On the first day, after a morning spent traveling and gathering ingredients, the group came together in the kitchen, where Bille Brahe leaned into a communal approach to cooking lunch. The menu centered on locally sourced seafood — langoustines, oysters and grilled fish — complemented by abundant farm-fresh vegetables and piles of wild blackberries and raspberries from neighboring farms. “It wasn’t super controlled or planned. We just chose what was seasonally available,” Bille Brahe says. For dessert, she brought a cake from Copenhagen’s oldest patisserie, Le Glace, which everyone ate on the beach. Click here to read the full story, part of T’s Summer Entertaining issue, and follow us on Instagram. |
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