Monday, November 29, 2010

thanksgiving highlights

table setting inspired by the barefoot
 

sausage-stuffed mushrooms (comment for recipe!)...too good.

patient, hungry pets :)

hannah joined in on the festivities from france! we miss you!

handmade desserts -- tart, banana bread, baklava



xoxox
hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

last minute thanksgiving dessert

here's a great last minute dessert recipe i made up for thanksgiving: an apple-pear tart. really easy, only 5 ingredients, and takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.

you will need:
1 box of puff pastry (two sheets/box)
1-2 apples (cortland, fuji, granny smith--i like using a red apple for the color)
1-2 pears (bosc)
1/2-3/4 cup of good apricot marmalade (or orange)
cinnamon

leave your puff pastry out of the fridge for a good hour (should be as close to room temp as possible).

unroll pastry onto a baking sheet and arrange the two sheets so they make one large sheet (use your fingertips to press the two ends together).

roll up the edges of the large sheet to make a crust.

core the apples and pears and thinly slice them.

in a small sauce pan on medium low heat, warm up the marmalade. it doesn't take long to thin down--that's what you want.

drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the marmalade on the puff pastry (avoiding the crust), smooth out and spread evenly using a spatula. 


begin arranging your slices. i made 3 rows of fruit, alternating apple, pear, apple, pear, etc. i ended up only using 1 apple and 1 pear but if you'd like to really heavy up on the fruit, make the slices thicker. 


 with the remaining marmalade, use a kitchen brush to gently brush it onto the fruit. 
you may not use all of it.

sprinkle the top evenly with a light dusting of cinnamon.


bake for 20-30 minutes--keeping an eye out at 20 minutes. the whole tart should be golden brown.

slice and enjoy!

















Tuesday, November 23, 2010

isolation dance

my friend garth brought such a smile to my face when i watched this recording of his choreographed isolation dance.

brill.  :)

Monday, November 22, 2010

modern art

hehehehehehe


(thanks cup of jo, thanks 20X200)

name houses

etsy seller gene ploss makes me these lovely personalized name house prints for just $20!

 hannah, mom, dad, cats, dogs...forget you ever saw this...




get the look: the spades

oooooo! just look at these photos from the selby that shares with the world the interior of kate + andy spade's nyc apartment. gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. i've always loved the look of a wall covered with art in varying frames...this takes the cake.







audrey in type print

how cool is this?! it was brought to my attention today via katie armour, the neo traditionalist and this simply classic print can be purchased here on etsy.

and only 15 dollah!

thanksgiving table settings

i'm so excited to try out any one of these table settings for thanksgiving! i'm wavering between the 1st and the 2nd...

goodness i love the barefoot.

how easy is that?

i just went out and bought a copy of the barefoot contessa's newest book, how easy is that?, and it's wonderful. true to form, the book is full of recipes that look deeevine (she thanks her food stylist, cyd mcdowell and prop designer, robert rufino--what cool jobs!). her recipes are never too difficult but she has really pared them down for this cookbook, allowing a friday dinner or appetizer to truly be made with ease.

i'm drooling over her french toast bread pudding (only 7 ingredients!), the savory ceour a la creme (again only 7!), jeffrey's roast chicken and some sausage-stuffed mushrooms. maybe not all together:)


ina + her husband jeffrey, to whom she dedicates the book. oommgg they are soo cute!

surprise!

such a fabulous surprise! jordan of oh happy day, snuck into her friend's building, set up a camera to record the opening and left her the gift just before doorbell ditching her.






she calls it a 'party in a box' -- too true. 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

forget you



a musical clip from the recent glee episode, "the substitute" starring gwyneth paltrow--she did such a great job and was hilarious!

glee looks like it would be the most fun show to be on. next week i'm going to start taking singing, acting and dance classes.

veggie bookmark

just completed my first embroidery project: a bookmark with tiny veggies--a tomato, an ear of corn and a carrot. it's so fun to do and the little veggies are so cuuute!



french knots make up the corn kernels


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

my awesome friend: molly rose freeman

how to start about miss molly rose?! well, she has become one of my dearest friends here in asheville, i gush about her to just about everyone i know, she's got talent shooting out the wazoo and is not only beautiful but smart and hilarious to boot! she's the total package. have i embarrassed you enough mollz?? i could go on but i'll get down to business.

i'd like to share two of her sites with you: 1. her more professional site, which has pictures of her beautiful and sun-drenched studio in the river arts district, images from her portfolio and some tidbits about the gal herself. 2. her blog, art&pictures&patterns.

molly is a pattern lover to the max, always appreciating details and creating her own intricate designs. her color choices are almost always bold, bright and brilliant (hot pink being a particular favorite as you'll soon see from the pictures below :))

the two of us will be meeting in miami over the first weekend of december to party in the city where the heat is on and to attend art | basel | miami beach events, show cases and exhibits. she's going down a week before the festival begins with a handful of other asheville artists and muralists to create a project for the show. so excited to see the final product!

outside of roots studio



her self portrait--made during her high schools days at nc school of the arts. ie. a fame school.

awe chute

petalbomb

umbrella tree



shop style scrapbook

the beautiful caitlin n. introduced me to style scrapbook yesterday and then i bopped around in the 'shop' section. blog writer andy, totally snazzes up this simple tank dress.



she's selling the dress here for only €10!

sugar paper - l.a. stationery store & letterpress


i came across this beautiful and inspiring video on truly smitten about la based stationary store and letterpress, sugar paper. each day i spend working on my own letterpress pieces, i fall more and more in love with the art. sugar paper's style is right up my alley: simple and clean, handmade and perfected.



i love how they incorporate other objects into their photos--stamps, spools of thread, keys, buttons, lights.  dynamic dynamite!

images from sugar paper's portfolio