My girlfriends and I go to tea every year and this year we want to mix it up a bit, we are getting tired of the Ritz/ Four Season scene. I’ve done a bit of researching and here are some fun local places to have tea.
The Pink Bicycle Team Room in Occoquan, VA
Aylesbury Tea Room in Leesburg… this one looks so cute!
{ 0 comments }
I already have a KitchenAid mixer but it was my mother’s, which means it is over 20 years old. It is still holding up great though, except that the dough hook is MIA.
Or I could just buy a dough hook and keep on using my current KitchenAid:
Silpat baking mats in various sizes. I have never baked with them but I have a feeling they will change my life when they do. Until that life changing day, parchment paper will do.
A Cuisinart 14 cup food processor because I currently have a 5 cup Cuisinart and it is just too darn small to do anything with.
A cake stand. My life will be complete when I have one.
I nearly screamed when I saw these measuring cups in odd sizes at Williams-Sonoma. It would make baking so much easier to have a 2/3 cup or 3/4 cup handy.
And finally (for this post at least, there is plenty more I want) I am burning to get a Le Creuset Dutch oven. No other brand will do, even though I am so tempted to get the Giada brand that Target is now carrying.
{ 0 comments }
Whew been really busy… I have many posts coming but I quickly wanted to share with you the details for the DC Design House 2010.
This year’s design house is April 10- May 9 at a beautiful house in Chevy Chase…
Be sure to check it out! I for sure am.
{ 0 comments }
Foodzie is sort of an online Farmer’s Market, they sell food from local merchants… yum, I want it all:
{ 0 comments }
My friend has found these classic books with gorgeous covers that she is obsessed with…
So for her birthday some friends made her a replica of them for her cake:
I just found them online! They were actually featured in this month’s House Beautiful, you can get them at Anthropologie:
{ 0 comments }
I am currently snowed in due to Snowmagedden/ Snowapocalypse/ Sn-omg and this morning I got a hankering for pancakes. I did a quick google search and came across this delicious made from scratch recipe:
In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk.
Start with 1 1/4 cups milk, adding up to another 1/4 cup if necessary, as you mix it with the flour.
Add the two eggs, vanilla if using and oil, whisking until mixed but still a bit lumpy.
Heat a frying pan (if it is not non-stick, you will need to melt a bit of butter or oil in it) and when hot, pour in some pancake mix.
How much depends on how experienced you are at flipping pancakes and how big you want them. We do about 1/4 cup a time for small, easy-to-flip pancakes but you could make this as much as 1/2 cup of pancake mix.
If you are adding fruit, I like to sprinkle it on top of the pancake now.
When the pancake starts to bubble on top and is golden brown on the cooked side, turn it and continue cooking until both sides are golden brown.
The first pancake is always a bit of a test so adjust the batter by adding more flour if you need to make it thicker or more milk if you want a thinner pancake. In either case, just add a few spoonfuls at a time until you get it right.
Repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter. You may need to adjust the heat as pan tends to get hotter as you keep making pancakes.
Keep the cooked pancakes covered with a tea towel, to keep them warm while you finish cooking the rest.
Definitely never using Bisquick ever again- this is so quick and delicious!
{ 0 comments }
The other day I was doing some fine dining with my girl friends at Silver Diner when I noticed these pendant lights:
I really like them, I knew immediately where to find something similar. Schoolhouse Electric has some of the most awesome fixtures. Here is what I found that is comparable to the one I saw at Silver Diner:
I would totally hook up my entire house with this if 1) I didn’t rent and 2) I had buckets of superfluous money.
{ 0 comments }
My monthly pile of magazines is usually daunting as they all come at the same time each month, but I am enjoying staring at them this month cause they are pink and pretty for v-day :)
{ 0 comments }
Last March I posted here pictures of a few cute cake stands I found online. In this month’s Martha Stewart Living they had a whole article on glass cake stands. A bunch of the cake stands they featured were from Pattern Glass and are absolutely goregous!
{ 0 comments }
I need new flatware. My trusty Target flatware is starting to lose its finish.
I really like the style so maybe I will upgrade to this Williams-Sonoma version?
What I really need to do is just invest in some basic sterling silver flatware that will last for years to come…
I like this set from Crate + Barrel, probably because it looks like bamboo:
The sensible thing would be to snatch up a set for super cheap at an estate sale or from eBay, but I am weird and used flatware would gross me out.
What flatware do you use?
{ 0 comments }
Here are a few pics from my company, A Splash of Elegance’s DIY Wedding Workshop. If you are a bride make sure to sign up for our next workshop on April 25 to find get great discounts and tips for your wedding.
These cupcakes were to die for. I must have eaten at least 15 of them.
{ 0 comments }
Garnet Hill is now carrying Lilly Pulitzer Home… I love Garnet Hill and Lilly is of course timeless and I will love it forever.
And of course you can always buy Lilly at their own website.
{ 0 comments }
Choucroute Maison
Ingrédients:
1 Kg de choucroute crue + q.q. baies de genièvre.
2 Oignons + 1 gousse ail.
¼ de Litre de vin blanc.
7 à 8 pommes de terre.
3 saucisses fumées.
300 gr de lard ½ sel
500 gr de palette ou plat de côtes de ½ sel.
Saucisses de Francfort à volonté ainsi que
jambon ou autres saucisses suivant le gout.
-Laver la choucroute dans 2 ou 3 eaux.
-Dans la cocotte, déposer les oignons et l’ail hachés, puis la moitié de la choucroute lavée, la palette ou plat de côtes, le genièvre, puis le reste de la choucroute. Couvrer à peine d’eau faites cuire ½ heure. – Metter ensuites le vin blanc et le lard. Refaites cuire ¼ d’heure, -avec également les sauicces fumées. Vous pouvez cuire sur le dessus les pommes de terre et servir ensuite la choucroute entourée de sa garniture.
On peut varier à l’infini en cuisant également avec de la graisse d’oie, mais elle est ainsi moins digeste.
English Translation is coming! Please comment if you can help!
{ 0 comments }
The other week I had the opportunity to dine with my team from A Splash of Elegance (my pic isn’t yet posted) at Cookology at the Dulles Town Center in Sterling, Virginia. The whole evening was lovely. The food was to die for.
I can’t wait to take some cooking classes there! Who is coming with me?
I wish I could remember the name for this. It is a apple and mango pastry that was pure heaven to eat. Yum.
{ 0 comments }
I made a chocolate chess pie. I dropped it on the floor before I had a chance to take a pic of the final product. Sad.
Chocolate Chess Pie
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
Dash salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1/3-1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream
In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over very low heat, stirring to blend; cool. Combine sugar, flour and salt; add eggs and vanilla or almond extract, mixing well. Blend in chocolate mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until top cracks. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or ice cream. May be refrigerated for easier cutting. Serves 6 to 8.
{ 0 comments }
This should do it with pictures from The Homestead! I’m bummed the pictures I took of these gorgeous blue velvet club chairs is too big to upload.
I love this light fixture! It looks like something you could find from Schoolhouse Electric or Rejuvanation.
In love with this lavender china… gorgeous.
I love candles with little lamp shades on them. I guess you just need to be careful with these :)
Ice skating. Magical.
{ 0 comments }
Site of the Week: The Pink Polka Dot. I just saw that their store is here in northern Virginia… who knew? I saw a product of theirs written up in one of the many magazines I get every month, can’t remember which.
I love this sofa… I think I could live in it.
Awesome Mirror
You would think by the name of their business that their products would be all cutesy. I love their stuff but it doesn’t scream pink polka dot… what do you think?
{ 0 comments }
Back in April I posted Feather Your Nest as the site of the week. I just received a sad email letting us design bloggers know that the owner’s husband suddenly passed away and the owner has subsequently decided to close her shop. Please support Gina and her children by purchasing a few of her lovely items.
{ 0 comments }
I was just vacuuming my room and realized that the rug I have in it is a Dash & Albert Rug- I had to idea! I thought it was PB Teen, but this is even better! I wrote about Dash & Albert here for my site of the week back in March.
Dash & Albert is an Annie Selke company… check her out, he style is sort of a shabby chic Lilly Pulitzer.
I wrote in a post here more about this rug.
Happy Saturday!
{ 0 comments }
