Fridge Fashion

{frolic} posted photos of her kitchen last month.  I loved them and had to share.

 

Photos: Chelsea Fuss.

I think it's so important to make you space happy.  Cooking at home can be more of a joy than a chore when it's filled with your favorite music, special touches that feel luxurious, like having a silver-plated flatware set for every day.  Find all the ideas and sources here.

Do Try This at Home: Cinnamon Water

Apartment Therapy mentioned a cafe in Los Angeles CA, called WoodSpoon, where the table water is infused with a cinnamon stick.  Has anyone tried this?

Sounds so simple and exotic.  Perfect cold-weather season water, isn't it?

Peppermint Bon Bons

Dear Friends,

I have the best recipe to share with you.

If you like peppermint patties, you're gonna love this homemade version.

It all started when I tried to save a few pennies and eat the cheaper after dinner peppermint patties with the silver wrapping and green writing.  Well, after 4 days of a tummy ache.  I discovered that they were the culprit.

This recipe has 4 ingredients:

Sweetened condensed milk, mint extract, powdered sugar and semi-sweet chocolate.

Here's how to do it.

Mix a 8 oz can of sweetened condensend milk with 1 tablespoon of mint extract.  Stir to combine.  Add 5-6 cups of powdered sugar - 1 cup at a time.

Scoop 1 tablespoon rounds onto a cookie sheet or something similar (that can fit into your freezer) lined with waxed/parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Freeze the minty sugar balls for 20 minutes or so while you melt 12-16 oz of chocolate chips (good ones) over a double boiler or in the microwave at 30 second increments.

Once the balls are quite cold, dip them into the melted chocolate and using two forks, fish them out of the chocolate.  Let them drain a bit back into the chocolate bowl and place back onto the cookie sheet.

I had to do this in many many many shifts because I had to find slivers of time while my 1 year old daughter was sleeping or distracted so as to be able to not have a tray of toddler fingerprinted balls.

They're fluffy, minty and cold.  My son likened them to ice cream.

I love these and will probably make them each Winter from now on.  If you're as big a fan of Peppermint Patties as I am...you should, too.

Bumble Cafe in Los Altos

I saw this over at Elements of Style.  It's Bumble Cafe in Los Altos, California.

They've created a kid-friendly space to eat, drink and enjoy your friends' company without chasing after the small ones.  So smart.

I would so love it if someone would make this happen in Phoenix.  Love this.

Winter Chef Series - Come Cook with Me

I was stunned when I was asked to participate in the Winter Chef Cooking Series at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market.  Me? Eek! This will be my first time cooking for an audience.  

Of course I said YES and have been planning my meal and stories to share, ever since.

I hope to nail down the menu this weekend. It will be three courses plus wine pairings.  It's a steal of a good time at $55 for a 2 hour class in such a cozy and intimate space.

What you can expect is to learn all about leafy greens.

I'm thinking a greens tasting, possibly escarole with warm dressing and poached egg, maybe a butternut and goat cheese lasagna stuffed with greens, mustard chips and candied seville oranges.  This girl might change her mind, but that's what I'm tossing around today.

For all the details and the other guest chefs in the series, you can go here.  Mind you, I'm the home cook of the group. :) I'd love it if you want to register for the class and hang out with me on a Saturday afternoon in February, here's the link.

Holiday Technology

My husband and I spend countless hours in bed next to each other tied to our laptops, looking like lab experiments. Usually, I'm working for Crooked Sky, writing for Chow Bella and/or watching Hulu/pinning things. My husband, meanwhile, finished law school, got into baseball cards, and wrote some iphone/ipad apps. The last one he wrote, is amazing.

It's called Holiday Box and it automatically adds antlers/nose, Santa hat/beard, or an elf hat/cheeks.

I adore it.

Good morning

New video from The Black Keys - a little something to make you smile and wiggle. :)

Halloween 2011

1-3 Comfy Walking Clothes in Halloween-y colors (in lieu of costume)

4 Specs (so I can see, I need them - especially at night)

5 Flips - 'cause it's fall in Phoenix

6 Phone, clock, flashlight, protected

7 JW Hulme Field Thermos Guard (would love this)

8 Pumpkin chili for early dinner before trick-or-treating

9 Wagon - 'cause we'll need to haul the loot and the tired kid legs

10 Mexican hot chocolate (in case it gets cold) kept warm in thermos - photo credit

____

This is my plan for cruising the neighborhood on Monday.

The little dude (son) is planning to be a snake - husband is planning to sew it, like on a machine.  Excited to see how it will turn out.

Little darling (daughter) will be a fluffy white kitty cat.

Mom (me) will be photographer and wagon puller.

Dad (husband) might surprise us with a costume, as he often does, or me might not and assist in parent duties in the dark.

Also excited for Sunday's Cupcake Love In event in Scottsdale and family photo session with Tiffany.  Tiffany is a friend of a friend and we won a free session almost a year ago.  So happy we're finally making it happen.  I've been gathering outfit ideas on my Pinterest - check them out here.

What are your plans for Halloween?

Central Farmers Market

The North Central Phoenix Farmers Market opened yesterday Ocotober 1st by my friend and by one of our CSA coordinators for Crooked Sky Farms, Bo Mostow.

I'm so proud of her making her dream a reality and it couldn't have been more fun to see it come alive and on a quite warm but breezy day which made me think of a California market -- especially with all the palm trees and grass underfoot.

It is located at the Crossroads Church at Central and Northern, right on the Murphy's Bridle Path and in my opinion, the most romantic street in the whole Phoenix Metro area.  I'm lucky to be a nearby resident.

{Here are Jesus and Angelica - my coworkers at Crooked Sky Farms}

{How gorgeous is this setting...the most happy tree.  Bo says they will add more seating in the coming weeks, as well as some food trucks for post soccer families. Yes!}

{This pic of Piestewa peak in the back makes me think of Tucson}

If you're not doing much next Saturday morning, and even if you are, check out her market, it's lovely.

so much beauty: gradient cake, vintage linen aprons and roasting chiles

I highly recommend you check out the beauty of cooking in this Not Without Salt video recently.

So so gorgeous.

___

Another beautiful thing for you today are these vintage linen aprons.

Amazing.  I wrote more about them in this Chow Bella post.

Pretty.  Pretty.

Following his bliss : girl talk

{photo}

While not feeling well but not able to sleep, I tapped around my Hulu app and came across and really inspirational fun little program called A Day In the Life: Girl Talk.  Girl Talk is the stage name of Gregg Michael Gillis, who at just 29 is rocking out huge venues with his DJing of all sampled music.  He likes to explain how he really is creating his own style/brand of music {his instrument is his laptop} and either way, it's a far cry from his engineering job he had just 5 years ago in engineering.

Here's a video I found on You Tube of one of his shows.  Kind of awesome, I think.

Feeling Fall

We got our first drop out of triple digit heat today and it appears it will last into this next week.  For us, that's our signal that fall is coming.  Here's a little something I put together to document what this looks and feels like to me.

planting the fall/winter crops

a new autumn uniform of skirt/crossbody bag/long sleeved top/something on the wrist/breezy shoes/my warbys

spending time thinking about loved ones {especially the little ones} who are fighting the big C.  love u #supernate. 

finding {on craigslist} and using silverplated forks and spoons for every day

using the nice glassware - even for water {when you know the kids aren't going to knock it on the floor}

getting back into mealtime traditions.  we tend to to homemade pizzas on friday nights.  tho' bianco's pizza is now available at pane.  that's definitely a good thing.

and the smell of roasted green chiles.  it's everywhere here.  the farmers markets, crooked sky, the super market...and i love it.

What does fall feel like to you?

*photo credits: Silverware: BeachHouseLiving Etsy, Shoes and Bag: Ruche, Top and Skirt: Banana Republic, Farm: My Farmyard, Chiles and Watch: Me, Glassware: CB2, Glasses: Warby Parker, Pizza: http://blog.junbelen.com/ 

Food & Fashion

Loving the accompanying blog to Coterie called Ill Seen, Ill Said and anytime you can incorporate food and fashion, I'm happy.

Coterie

This online shop carries exactly what I would choose if I were to curate my own lovely shop.  The scarves, cutting boards and ceramics are so beautiful.

See for yourself: coterie-shop.com

Not Without Salt

I have found the prettiest new food blog for you all to follow.  I found Not Without Salt while I was cruising around Punchfork while doing a write up for Chow Bella.

I'm totally smitten.

And check out the recipe for Tomatoes with Vanilla and Mint.  I am going to gather up the ingredients this week for sure.

The Beachette

Have you seen this car?  So cute it hurts, right?  Wicker seats, c'mon! It's called the beachette and you'd probably need to travel back in time to get your hands on one but a girl can dream, can't she?

Watermelon Pizza

I'm totally doing this with my next watermelon.  So so smart Lottie + Doof.

Fresh Ricotta Recipe "Easy Cheese"

Last week, my kids and I decided to whip up a batch of fresh ricotta cheese.  I knew it was easy and had read many recipes but hadn't finally taken the plunge.  Well, it's almost too easy I'm afraid to admit.  It's a fun activity in learning how much milk is required in making a particular quantity of cheese.  We halved and simplified a recipe and used 1 quart of milk which we brought to a boil with a pinch of salt.   We then turned down the heat to simmer and poured in 2 tablespoons of acid (we used lemon juice).  You stir a few minutes to look for the milk to curdle and separate into curds and whey.  Pour the hot milk over a strainer lined with cheese cloth, let sit 20 minutes and refrigerate.  It's satisfyingly fresh tasting and perfect spread on toast with jam.  Loved it, it's fast, it's delicious - we'll be doing it again.

Lockwood Table

I am just now finding time to sit and look through all the pictures I've taken over the last few months.  Summer is still happening for us since P's preschool doesn't start until the first week of September.  We've been so happily busy with playing around the house, me keeping up with my work responsibilities and trying to squeeze in some fun down time on the weekends with Sean.

I had wanted to share this restaurant with you when we were still in San Diego this summer but of course, time gets away.  But, if ever you find yourself in Solana Beach on Cedros and your stomach is rumbling.  Please do yourself a favor and check out Lockwood Table.  It's sort of hidden in the back of one of the shopping outlets toward the south part of the street but it's darling and I really enjoyed the food.  Service hopefully will work itself out a bit better but it was simple hearty locally sourced food that felt very fancy and easy at the same time.

I had noticed on our visit that they used some pretty chic hard plastic outdoor glassware that I luckily found at Crate and Barrel Outlet at the Carlsbad Outlet Mall - I picked up 14 of them and have been using them ever since.

Another cute touch there was the table water presented in sleek glass with white bottle stopper that I have since found at Ikea here in Phoenix - got one of those now - and have used to store our watermelon juice supply that we make with all the huge sweet watermelon from Crooked Sky.

I can't remember exactly what we ordered, but the kids and I shared the above hummus plate with roasted red peppers and bread, and the pressed turkey sandwich with lentil salad.  Simple and satisfying. Photo by Moi.

Oh, and if you have time, the Solo and Bixby and Ball shops are so fun to shuffle through.  Great ideas to steal for your home.

Punchfork

Have you heard of this recipe aggregator - Punchfork?  It's one that I'll probably use for some of my Chow Bella posts.  It searches the top recipes in the social media world...

It's sort of like pinterest for the food porn world.  Pretty neat.  What do you think?  Would you use it to get inspired for recipes?

The Green Album

In love with this.  It's all your favorite bands playing tunes you used to listen to as a kid.  It's the Muppets Green Album.  You'll fall head over heels because it's already familiar but it has a uniqueness to it.  

My Morning Jacket, Alkaline Trio, OK Go, Weezer...

Tell me you don't love it:

Check it out

Walkabout

I have finally gotten a chance to jump onto my computer to tell you about an amazing little movie I stumbled upon last night.  Since not having cable, our family has resorted to kids movies on repeat (we have a lot, so it's not too bad) and Netflix or Hulu movies.  I've been trying to sort through the Criterion Collection to find some of the gems that speak to me and I found an Australian movie called Walkabout from 1971.

The images are all spectacular.  Every single one.  The beginning is a bit startling and gruesome but the entire movie is a journey in survival, communication and many symbolic visuals all set within the Australian outback.  A young woman (maybe high school age) and her younger brother (probably about 5 or 6) find themselves abandoned in the outback and are left to fend for themselves and find their way home.

It's an absolutely outstanding movie.  I highly highly recommend it - engaging, thought-provoking and beautiful.  Here are some of the spectacular screen shots you'll see if you seek it out:

Lottie + Doof » Baked Oatmeal

One of my friends shared this on facebook as she's "got breakfast done for the week."  

Of course, isn't this the perfect cook-ahead breakfast.  The sugary sweet crust makes it sound so delectable for such a healthful dish.  

http://www.lottieanddoof.com/2011/04/baked-oatmeal/