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This is one of my favorite things...an old bottle stamped with the letters New Canaan, Conn.  A dear friend gave it to us when we first moved to California.  I think Suzanne had one that she put lights in, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks before Christmas when I saw it on Jane's blog that I thought to do the same.  I'm going to enjoy this all through the winter in my kitchen.  There's just something about the glow of twinkle lights that make everything seem brighter...and 2012 is going to be great, right?

The temperatures in Southern California have been unseasonably warm.  We hardly needed a fire but we had one anyway just for atmosphere and for the kids to make s'mores.

Happy New Year from our home to yours and may 2012 be filled with many wonderful surprises.

Soaking up the December Sun

Next year at this time we will be back on the east coast...so this year, we are soaking up every minute of the warm weather we have been having in Southern California.  Yesterday we met up with our East Coast friends for a little picnic lunch...California style.

Preparing for the picnic...we made Ina Garten's corn chowder and kept it warm by heating a pizza stone and a Le Creuset and then putting the soup cups in the heated pot until we got to the beach. This kept the cups of soup piping hot until we arrived at the beach.  Box lunches included sandwiches, chips and chocolate chip blondies with sea salt wrapped in parchment paper.  We loaded the car with beach chairs, table in a bag, cooler and footballs and had a wonderful afternoon enjoying 75º temperatures.

setting the holiday table

Yesterday I stopped at Micheal's and purchased inexpensive Chargers (on sale for $1) and came home and painted them with chalk board paint.  Today I wrote our names and Merry Christmas in different languages on each.  I used a vintage bed spread to cover  the table, votives in jars wrapped with a little bakers twine, a crystal tree given to us by my mom and glassware purchased a long time ago at American Rag Cie in Los Angleles.

The Advent Calendar was looking a little empty...so as the cards began filling the mailbox, I started to hang them in the spaces that once held the bags filled with little gifts.  One more to go...

This arrived a few days ago...from Amber.  You may know her as The Girl is Craftee.  I have to tell you it made my day!  Thank you Amber and to everyone who leaves a comment or takes the time to send an email...it means the world to me.  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

 

                                                                                     xo

                                                                                   annie

Holiday traditions

Holiday traditions...we all have them in some way.  For some it means getting up early and driving for hours to cut down their own tree.  For us, we were just happy hopping into the car and heading to Stew Leonard's to pick out the perfect tree.   This year it was a tree lot along Pacific Coast Highway just as the sun began to set.  Another family tradition was dinner at Union Square Cafe in NYC sometime during the holidays.  We were never organized enough to make reservations so that meant arriving at 5:30 just as they opened their doors and grabbing four seats at the bar.  We have so many fond memories of dinners in the city...just the four of us.  So this year I made Union Square Cafe's Bar nuts to reminisce about the past while we make a few new traditions to carry on in the years ahead.  

Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts

Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson/Food Network

• 2 1/4 cups assorted unsalted nuts, including cashews, walnuts, pecans and whole unpeeled almonds
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degree.

Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until light golden brown, about 8 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter.

Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm.  Yum!

To send to out of town friends, I put the dry ingredients into the small jars and nuts into bags.  All they have to do is pour the nuts onto a baking sheet and toast.  Add melted butter with the ingredients in the jar and mix all together, serve warm... and enjoy!  

pizza + appetizer

Last Friday I quickly made a pizza dough and while I waited for it to rise,  I looked for something to put on it...not wanting to leave the house...I found that we had a bag of small fingerling potatoes, a shallot, fresh thyme and goat cheese.  So I made a salad and this was dinner... it was delicious.

I washed the potatoes and put them in a sauce pan with ice water (since having the convenience of instant hot water, we have realized that it's not always perfect.  I have started adding ice cubes to the tap water before bringing them to a boil because if the water is too hot when you start, the potatoes do not cook evenly).  Boil for about 10 minutes, they should be tender, but still hold their shape and skin.  Slice each potato into small circles.  Toss with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and fresh thyme.   Bake in a 375 degree oven on parchment paper for about 8 to 10 minutes.  Prepare the pizza dough, drizzle a little olive oil and add potatoes and goat cheese and bake until the crust looks lightly browned.  You can add a few caramelized shallots as you are about to serve.

 

On Sunday I needed an appetizer that would travel well.  I loved the taste of the pizza, but knew that would not work.  I made tiny little puff pastry tarts using the same idea from the pizza on Friday. 

For the appetizer, I used two sheets of puff pastry that I let defrost in the refrigerator overnight.  I rolled them a little thinner and then used two round cutters.  The larger one is about 2 1/4" and I used it to cut them out.  I used the smallest one (about 1 1/4") to score the inside of the larger one.  I used the tines of a fork to prepare the pastry so the well part would not puff up.  I covered it with an egg wash using a pastry brush and then filled the center with a little goat cheese crumbled and two or three tiny potatoes on top.  Baked for 8 minutes and then sprinkled the crunchy caramelized shallots on top. 

The great thing about puff pastry, besides that it's easy and so good is that it's best to prepare ahead and refrigerate for at least an hour or longer.  Puff pastry needs to be really cold when it goes into the oven, so I made them ahead, put them in the refrigerator and I popped them into the oven as I was getting ready.  Do you love puff pastry too?

pink and green + happy birthday

To celebrate Madeline's 17th birthday we decided on a pink and green theme and just went from there.  Invitations were made using card stock cut into the shape of a tag.  I got the idea of using different fonts from invitations I've seen on Pinterest.

Madeline chose 10 of her favorite quotes and we put them in inexpensive and a few re-purposed frames.  I wrapped them in gingham fabric from Walmart and they played the game of exchanging much like the rules of an ornament exchange.  I found the rules here.

Madeline insisted no candles, no singing happy birthday...so we went with flags made from Lilly Pulitzer gift wrap.  Thank you dear Elizabeth for finding LP paper!

That moment of waiting for her guests to arrive...

Shirley Temples and pink Lemonade. Photo by Bailey.

Twistbands, garden roses and miniature latte bowls from Anthropologie, frames wrapped in gingham fabric and ribbon from Walmart.  I generally wrap everything in Kraft paper, but I was imagining a lot of brown paper covering the table and decided a little piece of fabric would work well. 

Details - The place cards incorporated pink and green twistbands that the girls all love to wear.  I ordered pink stripe straws from Shop Sweet Lulu.  They arrived looking like a little gift...love that.  I made Madeleine's and put them in small cellophane bags sealed with an M sticker.  I used this recipe and they were absolutely delicious!

Brown bags for each girl to take all of her goodies home.

dinner on the patio

As the days get shorter it just makes us want to eat dinner outside every night.  The temperatures in Southern California may not change all that much, but as soon as it starts getting dark early it seems we no longer want to have dinner on the patio...we're ready to light a fire and have dinner inside...just not tonight.

corn and lobster soup + a summer sky

 It was the perfect night to have dinner on the patio and just as we were about to serve...the sky turned to shades of pink.  The temperature was just right to enjoy a dinner of corn chowder and crusty warm bread.

You can see the glow from the pink sky reflecting on the white bowls.

Lobster and corn soup with fingerling potatoes and fresh chives.

1.  We removed the corn from 5 ears of corn and sauteed the corn with one onion, chopped and two garlic cloves, minced in olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 35 minutes or until corn is tender.  2.  In a large pot of water, bring to a boil the reserved corn ears cut in half and the lobster tail shells.  Simmer for 30 minutes and strain through a fine sieve removing everything but the liquid.  You will use about 6 cups of this as fish (lobster) stock.  3.  Once the corn and onion mixture is ready, in small batches puree the corn mixture and stock in a blender.  Remember to remove the cap on the lid of the blender and cover with a heavy dish towel.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the corn mixture to add texture to the soup.  Return to the pot with the reserved corn and add the cooked lobster tail meat cut into bite size pieces.  4.  Cook small potatoes just until fork tender, drain and cool.  When cool enough to handle, cut into half or quarters depending on size and add to the soup.  5.  Cook over medium heat until warm.  Stir in chives and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Note:  We used frozen lobster tails.  We added the shells to the water with the corn husks to make the stock.  This cut down significantly on the prep time and the soup still had wonderful flavor.

Fresh corn, fingerling potatoes, onion and garlic from the farmer's market and chives from the garden.

Company's coming . . .

Have you ever arrived for a dinner party and wondered if you had the right night? When people arrive at our front door...they never have to wonder.  From the moment our guests arrive we want people to feel relaxed and know they are going to have a wonderful evening.  There are only 14 Saturday nights between Memorial Day and Labor Day...so we want to make it worth their evening.  We may start our evening by having drinks on the bluff to catch the sun setting over Catalina then come back to our house for dinner.  If we are going to be having drinks on the bluff, that means everything from the house to the menu has to be completely thought out and organized so no one is waiting too long for dinner.  We usually bring a cheese or antipasta platter down to the bluff.  Dinner is served back at the house and it needs to be something that is ready to go.  

Doors are open and candles are lit . . .

This is what our guests see when they arrive and this is what they might be listening to. . .  It may seem a little cliche, but even when we lived back east we would play the Beach Boys.  This music just gets the party started. Have a great weekend!