Category: food
Le Salon Fete de Vacances
| December 12, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under Celebrate, cocktails, Create, Eat, food, Gather, holidays, Hostess, le salon, my house, Seasonal, weekend fun |
Sounds fancy but really, well, yes it was fancy! In a casual sort of way…
You’ve already seen my holiday decor extravaganza and you know what a geek I am about entertaining, so you’ll probably understand why I was so damned excited to host this holiday fete.
Here are a few photos from yesterday’s event:
On the table:
- banana chocolate chip muffins
- irish cheddar and creamy swiss with crackers
- apricots and tangy almonds
- candy canes (of course)
- cranberry and brandy – we need a name for that
- mimosas
- irish creme coffee
On the table:
- carrot salad (delish)
- caprese salad
- pasta salad
- caramel chocolate pretzels
- peanut butter kiss cookies
- chocolate chip cookies
- homemade fudge
No party is complete without a little Tarot Card reading, right? We knew Nicole L. was a fashionista, but a fortune teller too? Whoa, talent runs deep.
Day Trip: Malibu
| October 24, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under antiques, architecture, art, Design, design history, Eat, Explore, fashion, food, interiors, Outdoors, Places, plants and gardens, Seasonal, See and Do, travel, vintage, weekend fun |
With my plans foiled for a romantic weekend in Big Bear (fires, fog and bbq), we needed to come up with a backup plan for our mini-vacation last weekend. So we decided to dive up PCH and spend the day in Malibu.
I was expecting a bit of a beach day but got my wish for gloomy and foggy along the coast (part of the romantic fall trip I so badly wanted). The fog was so low it actually brushed past you when walking in or out of doors. Eeery and so cool.
First stop was the Getty Villa, a place I have had my eye on since before it opened in 2006 when I studied the remodel during design school. I have a whole other post planned later in the week so I won’t tell too much now, but I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and found lots of architectural inspiration there!
Afterward, we headed a bit further up the coast to grab lunch at Malibu Seafood Fish Market. The fish and chips (and Diet Rite) hit the spot and we got to watch people surfing just across the street. The people watching in Malibu is great too…
Especially at our next stop. The Lumberyard, the Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Creek Plaza. Lotsa lotsa moola here. I almost stole some ladies ‘cheapo’ Kate Spade sunglasses (totally by accident, of course) at the J.Crew.
And casually posh people like to chillax here by the aquarium and sip their lattes while enjoying an $8 cupcake (then head upstairs to Pilates)
We took in the scene, tried on a few obscenely priced pairs of clothing and then drove to a more affordable area - Santa Monica. There, hubs found a vintage pair of jeans for $7 and I played dress up with thrifted Marc Jacobs tops (which didn’t quite fit right). We picked up some spices at Penzey’s and then grabbed coffee and crepes to wrap up the day. Delish.
We came home worn out and happy, and to a very excited pup who thought we had left for good. Happy daycation.
Photo credits: lumberyard images from their websiteCreate: Le Spooky Salon
| October 19, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under autumn, Celebrate, do-it-yourself, Eat, food, Gather, Have Fun, inspired life series, le salon, Mind, Projects, Seasonal |
Nearly a year ago, my creative lady pals and I decided to start holding secret meetings to determine the future of the world…under the guise of crafting. It has since been known as Le Salon: a Gathering place for us to share ideas, swap stories and complete a project in the process. From truffles to lip balm to canning preserves, Le Salon has helped us learn a lot from each other – and we always leave inspired.
Last weekend we got in the Halloween spirit (pardon the pun) by carving pumpkins, sipping spiked cider, and munching on some delicious food.
Like the Apple Tart I mentioned last week…
Or savory Butternut Squash Soup
And fresh heirloom tomatoes topped with basil and goat cheese…OMG so good!
Sadly I do not have a photo of the Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt, Pumpkin Seed and Almond Bark because it has been eaten, but I WILL get you a recipe because that stuff rocked my world.
Great times had at Le Salon, you should try one too. Get your friends together make something simple. Have a Spooky Day.
Eat: Apple Crazy
| October 13, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under cooking, Eat, edible thursday, food, Have Fun, Mind, See and Do, weekend fun |
Like plum crazy, get it? Yes I realize I’m a total grandma for saying that.
It’s apple season (and pumpkin season) so what better way to get some fresh ones than to drive 2 hours out of town to pick them yourself? Right – so that’s exactly what we did last weekend. Fellow blogger Nicole and I took our honeys on a road trip outta town to take in the farm-fresh air of Oak Glen, CA. Do you remember when we did this last year? Well this year wasn’t quite as fruitful as last year, but I did manage to score some delicious apples, cider and some wildflower honey.
And now I’m going crazy with apple-based recipes to use it all in. This one is from my awesome friend Emily, who assures me that seriously anyone can make this. I’m going to prove her wrong (or maybe right) on Saturday.
Free Form Apple Tart
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 9 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 or 4 medium apples, preferably Golden Delicious, or pears, peeled, cored and very thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Crème fraîche, sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
How To:
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse once or twice. Cut 8 tablespoons butter into chunks, and add it and egg yolk to flour mixture. Process until butter and flour are blended, about 10 seconds.
Turn mixture into a bowl, and add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. After adding 3 or 4 tablespoons you should be able to gather mixture into a ball; wrap ball in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or freeze for about 15 minutes).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll or pat dough into a 10-inch circle; it can be quite crude in shape. Place it on a cookie or pizza sheet, preferably nonstick.
Arrange fruit slices on top, right out to edges; make the pattern attractive, if you like. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cut remaining butter into bits, and top fruit with it.
Bake until crust is nicely browned and fruit is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with your choice of cream topping
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? I’ll be (hopefully serving this to my lovely lady friends at Le Salon this weekend.
If you’re looking for something more savory, check out this recipe for Vegetarian Manzana Chili Verde from Nicole. You apple crazy yet?
Food Files: Keep Your Harvest Fresh
| September 22, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under accessories, Eat, edible thursday, food, kitchen, Outdoors, plants and gardens |
How exciting – it’s the time of year when all the hard work we’ve put into our edible garden starts to pay off. Keep your fresh-picked veggies bright by storing them correctly.
$34.95
Root vegetables should be stored in a cool, dark place. I love this wire basket from Gardeners.com with a jute liner and lid (I would totally use this for decor too).
Most of your fresh fruit will stay fresh in the fridge – apples do well in the crisper, grapes, bananas and cherries should stay on the top or second shelf toward the front.
I’ve found that berries and most of my veggies do best when sealed in glass containers. My favorite are these from Crate & Barrel
$19.95
Avocado, mangoes, tomatoes, melons and citrus should all be kept at room temperature but out of direct sunlight. I like to make little color collections in various fruit bowls on the counter. I love these bowls from Wisteria
$19.50
and these from Etsy
from SalvageWoodworks
from DAHceramics
from Arkceramicart
Yum.
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