Ceviche Maker/Cocktail Shaker

A friend of ours, and former next-door neighbor, loves to entertain.  He is a master of ceviche and likes to experiment with new recipes (that he creates himself), fun presentation and cocktail pairings.  He and his wife have been tossing around the idea of opening a ceviche restaurant for quite some time now and they have finally started a pop-up concept called Ceviche Project.  Once a month, they co-host an event with a partnering restaurant and bring beautiful food, good drinks, good music (he also likes to DJ) and good people together for a one-of-a-kind experience.  The menu is ever-changing, so you never know exactly what you are going to get.  All you do know is that it’s going to be AMAZING!  We attended the third Ceviche Project at Pattern Bar last Sunday in downtown L.A. and had a blast.  You can check out more details about future engagements on their Facebook page, under Ceviche Project.

This was the first time I’ve had olives in ceviche, yet this was my favorite dish of the afternoon.  (Because of the Manzanilla olives!)

Yes, that is a shot of tequila with dessert.

Just Do It

There has been a lot of coverage lately on genetically modified foods and the heavy-hitting chemical companies like Monsanto and DuPont that are ruling the world’s food supply.  It is absolutely terrifying.  Do yourself and your family a great service and research what’s going on.  Countries such as India and Hungary are already taking major stands against, not only modified foods, but seeds as well.  This is an issue that will affect us directly – not just our children or our grandchildren – but us.  It doesn’t take much to get involved. The state of California is actually pushing for all GMO foods being sold in their territory to be labeled.  Alright!  Check out the Label GMO’s website or just ‘google’ to find out more about this issue.  You can also help the cause by electronically signing the petition below (thanks, Angie!):

CLICK HERE TO SIGN

• India and Biopiracy
• Oh no, Obama!
• California Initiative
• No More GMO
• Dr. Mercola

Loving...

The new “designer” collection from Forever 21!  It’s a little edgier, slightly older than their usual junior-junk and it’s at an amazing price point.  Similar to Nasty Gal, it’s perfect for the trendy urbanite. I also love how it was shot on the street, instead of in a studio. SO. MUCH. BETTER! They also used real-life bloggers as modesl, like Elora Joshi of Eloraaaaa and Jenny Ong of Neon Blush. Happy Friday (and happy shopping!).

Like a Virgin

If you have the Cooking Channel in your cable package, I would highly recommend catching an episode of Extra Virgin with Debi Mazar and her husband, Gabriele.  I stumbled across this little gem a few months ago on a lazy Sunday (I didn’t even know the Cooking Channel existed then) and was instantly inspired.  They film in their real kitchen in their real home in the real Los Angeles (ha!);  complete with live chickens in the backyard.  What I love more than their cooking is their passion for each other, their friends and family and life in general.  It makes me wish I could make a living cooking easy and beautiful Italian food!  Who knows, maybe someday.  Ciao!

cookingchanneltv.com

Baby Boomin'!

In less than two weeks, six (yes, SIX!) of my friends have announced that they are expecting a new bundle-of-joy this summer;  specifically June.  I would say, “there must be something in the water”, but each friend lives in a different city or part of the world (Phoenix, New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, etc.). What a strange coincidence!  Not so strange, but indeed genius, is the HATCH Collection by twobirds.  I came across it while perusing one of my other favorite blogs and fell in love instantly!  They market the line as pieces to wear before, during and after pregnancy.  I will admit, I have bought some maternity tops and dresses before (because I liked the fit), but they were never as stylish as this collection. I'm certainly going to be recommending these chic-pieces to my many pregnant friends. Love!



hatchcollection.com

hatchcollection.com

hatchcollection.com



Dreaming Of...

The Aeris Stainless Steel Fireplace by Cocoon Fires!  When we made our what-we-want-in-our-new-house list, we included things like two bathrooms, an open living plan, outdoor space and a fireplace.  We were lucky enough to get everything on our list EXCEPT the fireplace, but we have been longing for one recently during the chilly L.A. evenings and found this beauty!  What’s great about the Aeris is that it burns biofuel (plant-derived ethanol), so there is no need for a flue or chimney.  All you do is hang it, light it and enjoy!

Before & After

Welcome to our living room!  Like our master bedroom, we decided to buy all new furniture when we moved into the new house.  We hit up Room & Board, H.D. Buttercup and added a little West Elm to create a clean, yet cozy space.  We liked the idea of mixing brown and grey tones to keep the room relaxed and easy; we didn’t want it too look too “modern” or too serious.  Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of wall space due to the amount of windows, so we weren’t really able to offset our big-box-retailer furniture with some personalized pieces, like art.  However, we’re hoping to do a funky wallpaper on the main wall behind the television asap… standby!

It looks like we definitely have a similar style to the previous owners. :)

Cabinet: Room & Board

Prepster

When I was a kid, my mom had a collection of Dooney and Bourke bags.  Like Coach, they were the “it” bag in the early 90’s and for my twelfth birthday, I received a small crossbody “Duck Bag” (like below) – which I was pleased to see they still make today.  Like all things “of the moment”, D&B slipped into the shadows and was replaced by ostentatious logo bags like Louis Vuitton and Gucci, who were then replaced with the none-logo “it” bags, like Balenciaga and the more subtle logo bags, like Chanel.  And yes, I will admit that I followed suit and own one from each era. 

But within the past few months, the vintage D&B bags have been cropping up in my neighborhood of Silver Lake.  They look fresh again and I’ve definitely been admiring the classic styling and timeless sense of yuppie-chic simplicity.  When I was home in Arizona over Christmas, I was pleased to see that my mom has kept almost all of her original D&B’s (in protective dust bags) and I was lucky enough to take home this guy (which I have been lovingly using):

Refinery 29 also did a web-blast this week titled, “The Unexpected It Bags You’ll Worship in 2012”, in which this D&B beauty made the list:

I’m happy to see the comeback of a classic!   Happy weekend!

Meat-Free Living!

We have now finished our third week of eating a meat-free diet and couldn’t be happier!  After watching Forks over Knives during our Christmas visit to Arizona, we made a decision to give it a try it.  I basically just live on cheese, so for me, it’s pretty easy. Nick on the other hand LOVES meat, so I thought it was going to be difficult for him to stick with it, but we are both finding that we don’t miss it AT ALL.  We have been eating some fish (maybe once or twice a week) and eggs on Saturday, but other than that, it is plant-heavy. Yum yum! Since we aren't eating meat, lots of people have been asking us what we eat, so I thought I would share some of our favorite dishes:

Mint & Chile Brussels Sprouts:

I actually made these for this past Thanksgiving and they were the star of the meal!  Very surprising, because people normally think they don’t like Brussels sprouts, but this is an EASY, no-fail recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick (I just cut mine in half – which is better)
• 1/3 cup water (or less)
• 1 teaspoon fresh mint

1) Heat oil with red pepper flakes in a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably straight-sided) over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

2) Sauté Brussels sprouts with 1/2 teaspoon salt until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.

3) Add beans and continue to sauté several minutes.

4) Add water and boil until evaporated and vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes.

5) Remove from heat and stir in mint. Season with salt (optional).

Veggie Stir Fry:

Luckily I have a husband that loves to cook (and I love to just make stuff up), so we colaborate well in the kitchen together.  This receipe is really just a bunch of veggies chopped/sliced and thrown into a hot skillet with some organic hoisin sauce from Whole Foods, then served over brown rice noodles.  Easy!

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 small head of broccoli - florets only
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms of your choice
• 1 package Annie Chuns Maifun Brown Rice Noodle
• 3 stalks of celery
• Organic Hoisin Sauce to taste (Whole Foods 365 is good and low on sodium)  

1. After chopping and slicing all of the veggies, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sautee pan until quite hot and then add all veggies.

2. Begin to soak the brown rice noodles in warm water (per the directions).

3. Once vegetables are tender, add noodles and desired amount of hoisin sauce. Toss together in the pan for a minute and serve.

 

Broccoli Soup:

Nick pulled this recipe from Gordon Ramsay.  It’s simple and amazing!  Most of the time we just eat it by itself, as it’s quite filling, but occasionally I will make a sharp cheddar and fresh basil grilled cheese to dip in it.  Talk about a humble, cozy dinner! 

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of broccoli  (as fresh as possible)
• Salt (we use Pink  Himalayan, but sea salt would work well, too)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Water
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil  (try to use a good-quality EVOO, you’re going to taste it   when drizzled on the top!)

1. Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add a large pinch of salt (1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp.). Add broccoli and boil rapidly.

2. Your broccoli is finished cooking when you can pierce it with little or no effort. Remove the stock pan from the stove burner. DO NOT POUR THE WATER OUT! Use a slotted spoon to add broccoli to a blender.

3. Pour enough of the water left over from cooking the broccoli to fill the blender half way. Add a pinch (or more) of salt. Use several pulses on your blender to break the broccoli up and then puree for several seconds.

4. Pour soup into shallow bowl. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve at once! Delicious!

Vegetable Curry:

Being English, Nick loves all things curried.  And me simply loving food, I love curry, too!  We recently went to some friends' house for Sunday dinner, who also eat meat-free, and they made a delicious veggie curry from Martha Stewart.  It was fantastic!

picture from marthastewart.com

  Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a 13.5-ounce can)
• 1 sweet potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• fresh cilantro, for serving

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add mustard seeds and half the onion and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 3 minutes. Add rice and stir to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups water, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer; cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

2. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add remaining onion and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 minutes. Add curry paste and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Add sweet potato and cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Stir chickpeas into curry and increase heat to high. Simmer rapidly until liquid reduces slightly, 2 minutes. Serve curry over rice with cilantro.



Before & after

Tadaaa!  Okay, so here is the semi-finished product.  I know, I know… I need to refine my photography skills. Hopefully they will improve over the course of my blogging career.  I tried to use our “real” camera (a Canon DSLR), but eventually reverted back to the iPhone.

So we basically went with all of the pieces I pulled together previously in my collage, but ended up buying our dresser at H.D. Buttercup (the one at Restoration Hardware was massive!).  But I couldn’t leave Restoration Hardware empty-handed!  So we picked up some bedding (the Euro shams, quilt and cable sweater pillow) and window treatments and left as happy campers. 

I tried not to slap an effect on all of these, since that is my usual photo-taking style, but I just couldn’t control myself and these two were “clarified” in Camera Plus – which seems affects the color quite drastically!

The two photos above the dresser are part of the Rolling Stones DIY-art project we did.  So fun!  And the Creed candle is one of my all-time favorites.  It's one of the only candles I've found that smells the same when you burn it, as it does when you smell.  They are perfect!

Cheers!

The girls and me at Curtis

Happy Tuesday!  Lots of people were lucky enough to have a three-day weekend due to MLK Day, but unfortunately I was not one of them.  Even though I didn’t have yesterday off, I had a great weekend with some girlfriends in Santa Barbara wine country! Well, we didn’t actually enjoy Santa Barbara proper, but rather the Santa Ynez region instead.  It was magnificent! I had such a great time, I wanted to share our intinerary.  Enjoy!

10:30 AM:  We left Los Angeles at about 8:30 and made it to Solvang in exactly two hours.  Since it was an overcast morning, the drive was nice and relaxing.  After dropping our things off at the Hotel Corque, our driver for the day - Carl - picked us up to start the festivities!

11:00 AM:  First stop: Buttonwood!  This quant, smaller tasting room was the perfect way to start the day.  Located just minutes from our the hotel, we had a glass of wine in our hands by 11:03 AM!  The tasting was $10, which included two whites, a rose and three reds.  The Cab Franc was our favorite and we each ended up purchasing a bottle to take home. The women serving us was extremely helpful (and honest) and assisted us in planning the rest of our day.  That was one thing we really noticed up in wine country… everyone was so happy!  And she let us keep our tasting glass for free.  Yipee!

11:45 AM:  Next stop: Beckman!  This is a larger vineyard that had great-quality wines.  We all went with the Reserve tasting for $15, which was quite tasty, but a little chincy due to the automatic wine pourers on all of the bottles.  The pours were still sufficient, but the plastic tops on all of the bottles lessened the overall ambiance of the tasting and made us feel like this was more of a corporate, big-box establishment – which is not really what one goes looking for when heading to wine country in an effort escape the “big city”.

Wine-taste in style! Katie at Beckman. Blazer (Steven Alan), pants (J. Crew), tee (American Apparel), bag (Mulbery), booties (Shopbop), watch (vintage Rolex).

 

1:00 PM:  Lunch time!  For lunch, we headed over to Los Olivos – a cute small town with lots of tasting rooms, galleries, etc. Panino was recommended and when we showed up, the place was packed – so we knew we had a winner.  They make really simple, fresh sandwiches and salads and we all cleaned our plates. Yum!

2:00 PM: Kaena!  We received a two-for-one tasting for Kaena from the first place we tasted (Buttonwood, with the very helpful women) and it was just a block away from Panino, so we strolled over after lunch.  The creator of Kaena originally started his winemaking at Beckman, after to moving to California from Hawaii.  We had a great time at Kaena!  The energy in the tasting room was quite vibrant and the pours were very generous.  The winemaker himself was serving us (instead of the usual tasting room rep), so we were treated to every varietal available – which was quite abundant – and also got some great lessons about the product. 

3:00 PM: On to Curtis!  By now, we were having a jolly-good time and noticing that Grenache seems to be the specialty in the Santa Ynez Valley. Curtis happens to specialize in Grenache and had heard good things, so we were excited!  Carl, our driver, also advised us that Firestone now owns Curtis (as in Andrew Firestone from The Bachelor).  But don’t let that deter you!  The grounds and tasting room were beautiful and the wine was GREAT!  I purchased the Z Cuvee, which was nice and buttery – just how I like it!

4:00 PM: Last stop: Zaca Mesa!  What a beautiful place!  We definitely saved the best for last.  Starting off with the small guy (Buttonwood) and finishing with Zaca Mesa was the perfect loop.  We loved ZM so much, we signed up for the wine club (woops!).  Now we have an excuse to go back every three to six months to pick up our wine.  They can also ship it to you for $18, but why waste the opportunity to make another trip?!

Entering Zaca Mesa

5:00 PM:  Nap time!  After Carl dropped us off back at Hotel Corque we all rested our eyes before getting ready for dinner back in Santa Ynez.

8:30 PM: Chow time at Grappolo!  Wow… what an amazing restaurant!  Like Panino, this place was packed, so we knew we were in for a treat.  Trattoria Grappolo is one of only two restaurants in the small town of Santa Ynez and it is incredible!  It’s like you’ve hopped on a plane and headed back to the freshest, simplest, most delicious part of Italy for a gorgeous meal.  The food was light and “clean” and I couldn’t understand why a restaurant of such caliber was in such a small town!  If this was located in L.A., it would probably be rated as a tip-top establishment.  All I have to say about this place is GO!

10:00 PM: Boot Scootin’ Boogie!  After din-din, we headed next door to Maverick Saloon.  This place was the real-deal, complete with live music, cowboys and stiff drinks. Be warned:  those cowboys know how to dance, so make sure to wear your dancing shoes, ladies!

Sunday: Explore Solvang!  Despite having such a fun-filled day on Saturday, we were up-and-at-‘em by 8:30 on Sunday!  We strolled through Solvang and picked up some amazing pastries at Olsen's Danish Village Bakery, had breakfast at Paula’s Pancake House (right next door) and then picked up a freshly-baked pretzel for the road (just in case we needed to nibble) at Old Danish Food Farm.  Needless to say, we had a great trip and are already looking forward to going back! 

My husband bought this triptych a few years ago from a student art sale at CCAD while we were working/living in Columbus, Ohio.  When hung together, the three separate pieces make a large (4’ x 5.5’), impactful statement that is perfect for any empty wall.  I love this for our neutral-based bedroom!  It adds the bit of much-needed color into the space!



Similar photo from rosenbluthphoto.com.  Similar frame from CB2.



We also like a little rock and roll in our lives, so when my husband found some original vintage Rolling Stones concert photographs from a guy in Copenhagen on eBay, we snatched them up!  We then had them custom-framed at a shop in our neighborhood.  We added lots of white matte and used simple brushed-nickel frames, similar to the one above (again, mixing metal finishes).  It’s so much more fun creating your own art instead of buying it!

Sweet Dreams

First things first: the master bedroom!  Certain random things seem to stick in my brain – one of them being an episode of Oprah (I know, really?) from almost ten years ago.  It was a before/after room makeover show in which she was stressing the importance of making the master bedroom the first priority on a to-do list when either moving into a new home or remodeling.  Besides work, we spend most of your daily hours in the bedroom (even though we are sleeping), so it is a “must” to have a finished, serene place to truly rest not only your body, but also your mind.  A finished room equals clutter-free mind!  Most people prioritize the living room first, because it’s the room guests see when visiting your home – but she really stressed that it should be your bedroom at the top of the list.  And I totally agree!  So I’ve carried this little theory will me for almost a decade now and am applying it here in our home. 

The original color of our room was baby blue, and while it was “serene”, it needed to go!  So, we painted!

I LOVE to paint!  No tape for me, just free-hand!

Next on the list, furniture!  We decided to put our old bedroom furniture in our spare room and treat ourselves to some new goodies. This is what we are thinking (above).

I like the idea of mixing different finishes to create a cozy, non-serious vibe.  Gone are the days of matchy-matchy!  Here I’ve mixed shiny chrome with burnished bronze, lush velvet with antiqued wood.  Now all I need is some color to pull this space together!

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