{gift guide: for the foodie}

1. Glass & Steel beverage dispenser- perfect for batch cocktails!

2. Beer Making Kit 

3. Libbey Mini Tasting Set - so they can act like a high end caterer at their next soiree

4.  Kitchen Scale- every cook needs one for the most accurate cooking!

5. Boos Block cutting boards - everyone could use a cutting board upgrade

6. Modernist Cuisine - the holy grail of cookbooks and the more affordable version they just released

7. Kitchen Stand for Ipad  - it beats using a ziploc bag which is what we do.

8. 3 months American Cheese delivery - its cheese delivered to their door- enough said.

9. Mythical beast Cheese Knives 

10.  Vintage cookware- especially retro Le Creuset because it always stands the test of time!

11. Shun knife set

12.  Food Magazine subscriptions- Food & Wine and Bon Appetit are my favorites!

13.  Truffle Salt- it's sort of like gifting people crack.

{friday cocktail: fresa brava}

Over the past couple years, we have build up a pretty strong collection of cocktail and bar books.  Our mini libation library hides inside of our bar console and includes my favorite one, a fabulous vintage one and my go to recommendation for those just starting out with their home bar.   I recently added Craft Cocktails to our line up which is the new addition from Assouline that comes as a follow up to their original Vintage Cocktails book.  Both have the same format of a fabulous handwritten recipe alongside gorgeous full page imagery of the corresponding cocktail.  Every single cocktail in this book sounds amazing, but I opted to try out one that I had all ingredients on hand in my kitchen (the recipes in this book are pretty advanced in the ingredients department so most will require a trip to a specialty store or Amazon.)  

The cocktail I made is the Fresa Brava and it has a great complex flavor of sweet fresh berries mixed with the herbal infusion of the Chartreuse- plus a little spice from jalapeños never hurt anyone.  I actually cheated a little bit on this one since I didn't I have jalapeño infused tequila and simply muddled in a few jalapeño slices to the cocktail. 

Cheers!

{weeknight vegetarian}

While our regular dinner party menus might lead you to believe otherwise, we often try to cook vegetarian meals especially on week nights at home.  One of my favorite blogs for great vegetarian meal inspiration is Sprouted Kitchen which features the only two things you need to make me read a food blog: amazing photography and even tastier recipes (and a new book)!  We recently whipped up her recipe for shitake mushroom & lentil tacos for a quick weeknight diner for two.  Don't let the vegetarian nature of these tacos fool you because they are full of flavor in addition to being quite healthy!

{new in}

Spring flew by in a heartbeat and with the first official day of summer right around the corner, I thought it might be fun to round up some of the new things around our place (and by "our place" I mean mostly around my closet)...

 {statement necklaces from Zara & Forever21}

 {little studded quilted cross-body bag}

 {new coffee table books from our wedding registry: Laduree's Sucre & Savory recipe books, Coco, Palm Springs Living}

 {even though Chris wouldnt let me buy this, I still have this little vintage swan vase from Etsy}

 {beautiful serving bowl or ice bucket off our registry from Zgallerie}

 {lucky find at Nordstrom: Sam Edelman peep toe bow heels- yes, I do have them in two colors}

 {summery dresses from Tobi.com and the downtown LA fashion district}

{fresh strawberries with yogurt foam}

After a some cocktails, dinners with friends and a little boating excursion; we ended this weekend with a leisurely home-cooked meal.   There has been an ongoing joke for sometime about how much Chris hates dessert and would almost always prefer a cheese plate to anything usually offered on the dessert menu so I was shocked when he suggested trying out a dessert recipe from Ferran Adria's The Family Meal to round out our dinner last night. 

We decided to try out the recipe for fresh strawberries with yogurt foam which utilizes a whipped cream siphon that we have been wanting to try out for something other than simple whipped cream for the longest time.  This recipe is incredibly easy and quick while still being delicious in light of how simple it is.  You could easily switch out the strawberries for another fruit you might have around the house and while I liked the tart flavor of the plain yogurt, you could also switch this out for something a little more sweet like regular vanilla or raspberry yogurt.   Here is the recipe taken from The Family Meal:

what you need (4-6 servings):

• 1 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• whipped cream siphon
• fresh strawberries- about 3 per person

1. Pour the yogurt and cream into a large bowl and mix well.
2. Sweeten the mixture with 2 tbsp. sugar if you desire a sweeter taste.
3. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the siphon.
4. Charge siphon with cartidrge and let cool in fridge.
5. Cut strawberries into quarters and set aside.
6. When ready to serve, place about 3/4 cup of the yogurt foam into a small bowl or cup. Then top with fresh strawberries. 

{a little recent shopping}

 This season I made a little list of things I want to buy so that I can stay focused and not get distracted by sparkly little things to decorate our house or more party dresses which I don't need.  This year I am on the hunt for a new pair of flat brown boots in a soft cognac leather, jewel tone silk blouses and long sleeve dresses I can wear to work.  Did I buy any of these things recently when I did a little shopping?  Nope.  So clearly the making a list and staying focused thing isn't working out so great this season. But I did pick up some fun things to share with you...

Vintage cocktail glasses I picked up last weekend at the Rose Bowl Flea market for a few bucks a piece. I plan to use these to spice up the Friday Cocktail posts!

 Studded and jeweled peep toe d'orsay pumps by Sam Edelman.  I have been eyeing these for a long time; they are super high, a great neutral color and a little edgy, but girly at the same time.  I scored these ones on ebay last week and they finally arrived.  I can't wait for a reason to wear them!

While I will pretty much buy any fashion or interior design related book there is, Chris and I tend to be pretty conservative about buying cookbooks despite how much we cook.  My main criteria is that there absolutely needs to be gorgeous imagery in the book.  We spontaneously ordered these two books from Amazon and they definitely do not disappoint in the imagery department.  The one on the left is "The Family Meal" by Ferran Adria and it outlines 31 four course meals to make for family get togethers.  It even multiplies the servings for 2, 6, 20 or 75 people (when am I going to need to multiply a recipe for 75?!?!). The book on the right is "Bite by Bite" by Peter Callahan which includes 100 recipes for "stylish little plates" for parties.  I think this book was actually written specifically for me and my love of regular food in mini form. 

 

I am sure this isn't the last time you will see these two books on the blog- they will definitely be used for recipes in the near future!