a green table

are you at your limit with holiday plans and clever ideas? i have such an easy centerpiece or general decor idea for you. wherever you're shopping for your last minute chestnuts or cheesecloth or cider, look out for the cute little rosemary trees that seem to be everywhere these days (definitely at trader joe's and whole foods, i know for sure). if you can't find those, just go for mini pine trees. if they come in cute pots or bowls, perfect. if not, wrap them in a pretty tissue paper and secure with a raffia ribbon or any old ribbon you have leftover in your junk drawer. 

to take the idea in a slightly different direction, but a few bunches of herbs at the grocery store, snip the bottoms like fresh cut flowers and stick them in glasses filled with water. how bountiful and harvesty and earthy.

either option would look perfect dotting a long table or adorning different surfaces around the house, wouldn't they?

image, image

on display

yes, this is in fact the second time in a week i've made reference to melissa gorga's song. awkward. 

well, moving right along, i wanted to share some pictures from last thanksgiving. i was responsible for the decor, and decided that rather than the average flowers and gourds, i wanted to go more literal on the cornucopia idea. i visited the farmers market near my office the day before and picked up lots of kale, carrots, leeks, potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts and whatever else looked good. i corralled them in casserole dishes, vases, and on trays and placed them around the house. at the end of the night, i sent thanksgiving guests home with their own little cornucopia of fresh produce to cook throughout the weekend. i taught ina everything she knows about sending guests home with leftovers, didn't you know? me and ina, we're like two peas in a pod. or two brussel sprouts in a vase in this case.

i was really happy with the way it all came out, and i felt like it was worth the approximate $50 i spent on the produce itself, especially considering that the remains went home with people and continued to be used and used up. for a lot less money, i think you could easily make an abundant display with just a few, really cheap varieties. at the grocery store, you could buy 5 lb bags of potatoes in varying colors and pile them high in bowls placed around. i feel like the more purposeful they look, the less cheap they look. so you might buy two or three different color potatoes and i would display them monochromatically, so maybe on one surface, you'd do all the red skin ones and on the other, the brown or tan ones. you could do the same with the large bags of onions in shades of white, yellow and purple, and that would look gorg as well.

good clean sense

you know how i've gotten very into organic and i thought these two lists were something we could all use - the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen - easy guides for posting on the refrigerator or keeping handy in your wallet so you know what's worth the organic splurge and what's not. and there's an app forthat too.

the other important note i've read in several places is that it pays to buy organic of any produce you eat a lot of, even if its not in the dirty dozen, and i'd say that just makes good, clean sense. 

what produce are you enjoying this week?

bag from h&m, list image

farmers market day!

i LOVE farmers market day! yesterday, i went first thing in the morning again(new favorite way to start a day) and what struck me the most was the rainbow of colors in so much of the produce. plums in yellow, peach, red, blue, purple and everything in between.

peppers and tomatoes in every shade from palest yellow all the way up through screaming red, with some purples and greens thrown in for good measure. and the eggplants...stripy and speckled and tie-dyed looking, they look like they're related to the stripy and speckled tomatoes you see above...and it turns out they are!

 

i'm most excited about the very special mirabelle plums i bought...i'm told they're very rare in the united states and the woman i bought them from said they're from a tree on her farm that was smuggled in from france 25 years ago. she's planning on having her father in law graft the tree, which i just learned means that he'll attach a piece of it to rootstock so he can create another plant. (would the fruit that grafted tree bore be considered a GMO? if so, i think i'm okay with this kind).

i also bought one hot cherry pepper and one serrano pepper...WWBFD*?

*what would bobby flay do?

tomatoes AGAIN!

more on the tomato front from my lovely trip to the farmers market this morning before work. look at these!

a tomato state of mind

i've been doing lots of reading and watching on local, organic and just otherwise quality food, and i've come to really appreciate foods like tomatoes, which aren't always in season, though our industrial food system would have us believe it doesn't matter. as i learned from the first few moments of food inc., the tomatoes we find in our supermarkets in non-summer months, and even some of those which are present in the summer, are very often ripened in trucks and by ethylene gas, rather than by time and nature and sunlight as they should be. 

so it's good reason to celebrate that the time for tomatoes on the east coast is here, as they start to finally appear at farmers markets and local produce outlets. my very own tomato plant given to me as a wee thing by my green-thumbed father is starting to bear fruit. for now, it's small, green fruit, but it's only a matter of time and of august heat before they ripen and blush and appear in my late summer salads.

i saw a great tomato idea on rachael ray the other day that i thought was so rustic and sweet and it was sort of, though not exactly, like this...she roasted large, halved tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt and in the roasting pan, she tucked full cloves of garlic still in their "jackets" as she called them...when the whole pan was hot and gooey and roasted through, she hatched the little cloves out of their skins and spread the mild paste over ciabatta bread. then she smeared a warm tomato half over each piece of bread and that was that. 

here is a terrific article with all kinds of tomato recipes i thought you might like, and the gorgeous photos that accompany them (and the perfect one at the top, from hali bey) really illuminate how perfectly simple and simply perfect a tomato can be.

cool and fresh or warm and roasted, tiny and round or mutated and bumpy, mixed with fresh pasta, tossed into shrimp and fresh herbs, or all by its lonesome from a bowl on the counter directly into one's mouth, they're pretty close to perfection, don't you agree?

from the country

hi lovelies. you know those days where you just can't quite get it together? today is one of them for me. i traveled all weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing catskills and one of my favorites places on earth...and on the way home, we stopped at a dirt-cheap farmstand where i got a veritable bevvy of things for next to nothing, my fear of produce pressure be damned. i have to tend to them all tonight...washing, prepping, cooking, cutting, repotting, etc. i don't know how i'll also unpack and tidy up, but it all needs to get done so it will. you know when the only reason you know someone will get done is because it has to? that's where i am.

here's what i got:

-box of apricots

-box of shallots

-box of shitake mushrooms

-box of oyster mushrooms

-scallions

-green lettuce

-romaine hearts

-block of cheddar cheese

-bunch of radishes (going to try them in salads - any pointers?)

-8 or 9 four-cell packs of pansies, petunias, phlox and some other pretty flowers for my balcony and another special planting project i'll share next week

grand total? $30. i love the catskills.

label whore

do product labels or packaging make you want to buy them? right now, my label crush is tammy fender's line which has caught my eye in a few mags and then this morning on goop. it's the opposite feeling i have when i want to peel off the labels (also a great visual effect).

the packaging itself is very simple...whiskey-bottle style vessels, clean white labels and a kick-ass typestyle.

 

some other favorites at the moment are my precious mrs. meyers labels...

and the vintagey feel of the organic lemon label at trader joe's.

it pays to notice the little things, don't you think? they're all around us!

image, image, image

a fresh bouquet

have you ever made a bouquet garni? ever since i heard about them, i've been charmed by the idea - it's so sweet and fresh and cozy, a tied together or wrapped collection of fresh herbs used to season soups and stews, and its neat little packaging makes it easy to remove it when the cooking is done.

traditionally, bouquet garnis include parsley, thyme and bay leaves, but can include absolutely anything you'd like, and if you go the cheesecloth route, can even include hard-to-tie items like cloves, garlic and dried herbs.


i love the idea of going to the farmers market or produce store and seeing what looks and smells delicious, and finding a recipe (in your head, even maybe!) for flavors that would meld well. finding perfect pairings can be a real exploration, and to aid in the exploration, i love the concept of the flavor bible, discussed here.


i also love the idea of giving a bouquet garni as a gift when you're a guest at someone's home for a weekend or an evening...perhaps with a pair of footed soup bowls or these sweet soup & sandwich plates.

images from here, here, here, here, here and here

that's entertainment

are you entertaining this holiday season? so much of our celebrating involves family traditions we revisit year after year, which is such a comfort. for my family, rum-spiked hot cider is it on thanksgiving, and perfectly fried potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream on channukah. but it never hurts to infuse some innovation and fresh ideas into the festivities either. here are some ideas that have caught my attention this year.

first of all, anyone having any kind of party at any point in the future, you MUST bookmark this article in which cocktail experts greg and shelley lingren school us on the well-stocked bar. they offer useful tips like which liquors to splurge on (scotch, since people drink it straight), which to go cheaper on (vodka since it's rarely consumed straight and bourbon since it's made according to strict regulations and has to be of a certain quality to even make it to shelves), and they even single out brands in all price ranges. seriously, this is an amazing resource.
i'm always a huge fan of crate and barrel's multicolor napkin sets, but these cotton napkins on a roll are worth a mention too. and given my whole tartan thing at ikea this year, it can't be a surprise that i'm drawn to their paper plaid napkins, or crate and barrel's cotton red and green holiday plaid ones either.

when it comes to sips and bites, there's just something so charming and festive about things in miniature, isn't there? we've all probably been treated to catered parties which use mini spoons and dishes for special treats, but there's no reason we can't do it at home too.

especially with the help of pier 1's tasting party collection, which includes mini tasting spoons, ramekins, martini glasses, cordial glasses, trifle bowls and more. even just looking at the spreads they've put together is inspiring, but with the individual pieces and the twelve-piece sets being so well-priced, it's a done deal, making whatever you put out look so impressive. put a little dip in the base of a mini-trifle bowl and stick some celery and carrot sticks in there, and people have their own portable dip situation. a few swedish meatbals in a ramekin with your sweet or savory sauce heaped on top, and it's balls to the wall...and the couch and the piano, and anywhere else your guests want to hang out.

and as much as people love mini, they love big too; towering, especially. so for thanksgiving, i used root vegetables and nuts and fresh cranberries to create this tower which, all in, cost under $30 (including the tiered stand which was $20 at homegoods).

even the simplest food and drink is elevated to a higher level when you take care in the way it's presented, and the mood is festive and light.

if you're at a loss for what to serve, go with some tried and true favorites like nuts, mixed olives and fresh vegetables (go for all veggies in the same color for the sharpest presentation) and then pepper your selection with some special treats like these.

i always remember one of my favorite barefoot contessa episodes where she recommends buying three apps and making three for a cocktail party. she buys marcona almonds (well-priced at trader joe's, by the way), mixed olives and hothouse cucumber rounds topped with salami rounds. and then she makes ham and cheese in puff pastry, roasted shrimp cocktail with amped up cocktail sauce and blue cheese and walnut shortbread crackers. as ina always says, your friends don't have more fun if you slave in the kitchen to make everything.

check out more honey living posts on entertaining, and of course the honey gift files for everyone on your holiday lists.