Russel Wright by Bauer Pottery

OK, adding a couple of these to my christmas wish list (what, too early?). Bauer Pottery here in LA has teamed up with the Russel Wright company to re-issue some of the most iconic modern tableware of the 40's and 50's.

See what's for sale right here.

Simple Dinner Party

I had a simple dinner party that went from 5 people to 7 and ended up being just perfect. I dressed the table in white and glass, with casual paper napkins from Ikea.

I bought some amazing heirloom tomatoes at the Farmer's Market and just dressed them with some olive oil and fleur de sel.

We had wine and mint-infused water.

The inspiration for the whole night were these peaches. I really wanted to do a salad and found my inspiration, making a mozzarela, peach, crispy prosciutto salad. I used the flower blossom mix from Maggie's Farm and added a bit of extra mint. I just made a simple vinaigrette and made sure to use plenty of balsamic vinegar.



I also made merguez sausage and cous cous but it was too dark to take pictures. Here's the whole Menu:

The Menu:
Fresh Olive Bread and Goat Cheese with basil, olive oil and sea salt
Heirloom tomatoes with Olive Oil and Fleur de Sel
Peach, Fresh mozzarella, Prosciutto, and Mint salad
Merguez Sausage and Cous Cous

To Drink:
Mint Infused Water
White Wine from TJ's: Novella Synergy Blanc

For Dessert:
Those Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. And yes, they were every bit as good as everyone has been saying (and I only let them rest for 12 hours, so I can't even imagine how much better they could be.)


I consciously took it easy on the planning of the dinner party. Normally I think I overwhelm myself so once the evening is over it takes a while to motivate myself to do it again. This time it was totally manageable, i had time to talk with everyone and can't wait to do it again. And 7 is the limit, anymore and I start to feel like I'm running a cafeteria.

Do you guys have guidelines for dinner parties that help you to enjoy them more, and put them on more often?

Fishs Eddy

I had only ever seen Fishs Eddy products online (mainly jonathan always seems to find the good ones) so I was stoked to check out their store in person. I loved it. Full of pretty basics for the kitchen and the table, they had an exceptional collection of cake stands. I ended up buying a little mini cakestand to get it out of my system. (I'm trying to cut back on accumulation, so small seemed good).

Creamer and Sugar Set

from whitney smith and worthy of designing an entire room around.

Good Question about Dinner Parties in Small Spaces

This comes from GA:
Have you ever had bigger dinner parties at your apartment? If so, how do you work out the sitting down and eating situation? I have a small place but have always wanted to invite a bunch of people over at the same time. How would you go about making sure people don't have to eat standing up?

My answer: it's all about stools. I've never had a sit down dinner for more than 7 in this place and that involved some sitting on the floor and people being comfortable being close. But I have extra stools on hand for seating that doesn't take up too much room. They're nice enough (bought the at West Elm and spray painted them blue/green) that I use them as little side tables the rest of the time.

Also, find creative places to stash the wine and larger platters because with a lot of people, the table fills up quickly.

Anyone else have some good ideas?

Dinner Party for....Seven?

So I had another dinner party last night. Originally it was going to just be 3 of us. But then I got all excited and spur of the moment invited more and more and more people until I realized that there would be 7 of us. The I momentarily freaked out. Where will everyone sit? Will they fit in my apartment? Do I have enough dishes? That match?

Then I calmed down.

These are my tips for an impromptu 3 becomes 7 dinner party:

• Do not freak out, it just wastes energy
• Just double the recipe and it should all turn out fine
• In a small space like mine where we eat around the giant coffee table, I just pulled all of my furniture apart by an extra foot to create more space for people, that seemed to help.
• Serve Ice Cream for Dessert (no prep time!) and ask your aunt to bring home made cookies!
• Don't worry about the house being clean, just shove the litter box into the shower and clean the faucet on the sink so that the chrome is shiny, then light the bathroom by candlelight.
• This one is important: Set the table ahead of time. Do not leave this until the last minute.
• Put the wine out so that people aren't all up in your kitchen looking for glasses, the wine and the bottle opener. Have it in the other room and ask someone else to open and pour it for your guests!
• Relax because, as my bf's mom says, anything tastes good if you didn't have to cook it yourself.

Phew. I had a lovely time and everyone else seemed to too. I didn't wash the dishes last night and I'm enjoying the festive left overs this morning. Maybe I'll even leave them for tomorrow...

As for the menu, I tried a new recipe from sunset magazine:




Here are the table before and after pics:

Dinners: Part One

I've been attempting to host more dinners, since it's something I love to do. And because they're at night I don't really have any good pictures yet. Also, having people over for dinner is quickly turning into an excuse to bake. So until I have some pictures, here is the menu for the last 2 dinners I had:

Dinner One:
-Gratin Dauphinoise out of the Joy of Cooking (though I don't boil it on the stove, I just bake it for longer and I add a ton of garlic)
-Salmon with Dill (I cheated and bought pre-marinated stuff at Trader Joes)
-Salad with Tomatoes and my secret vinagrette (the secret is the rice vinegar)
-Home-made Chocolate chip cookies made with rock salt and hand hammered chocolate chips

Dinner Two:
-Ratatouille from the Joy of cooking
-Roasted Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes (I like to stuff the chicken with herbs, a halved lemon, and cover the skin with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic.)
-Mini Madeira Cakes our of Nigella's: How to be a Domestic Goddess with home-made rasberry jam (I make this by boiling some frozen rasberries on the stove and adding sugar to taste). Next time I'd also make some whipped cream or add vanilla ice cream because it was a little plain...

So there you have it.

A note: I don't have a dishwasher and the only way to not resent that you cooked all day is by cleaning everything after everyone leaves so that you wake up with a clean kitchen.

More soon. I'm planning a dinner a week!

Little update on the Living Room

I'm pretty happy with it and won't change much before moving out (but it's a compulsion so never say never, right?).

I also had some people over for the holidays and this is more or less what it all looked like, but sparklier:

My Store

One of my fantasies is to own my own store full of beautiful simple objects. It would also be a place for people to relax and maybe have a cup of tea, a little sandwich or some ice cream. Maybe they'd meet their friends there. I haven't worked out the details yet. But this is one possibility for a space. Middle of nowhere, charming ex post office looking building. It could double as a saloon. How bout that?

Etsy for your hostess!

Phew. Sorry for my absence! I took myself on a little trip up the 395 and saw SNOW! and got COLD! And felt GREAT! Thanks for leaving your best gifts ever for the giveaway, there's still a day left until I announce a winner, so comment away!

Also, I wanted to tell you that I wrote a guide for hostess gifts for etsy. Really they're things that go nicely in your home but aren't too much. My idea was that they could be used to spruce up your holidays, your hostess' holidays, or be given as a gift to your guests. Check it out.

Cake Stands

These seem to be very close in style to the cake stands in this window. Looks like these are being discontinued, so buy 'em up!

Anthropologie

I always seem to forget about Anthropologie eventhough when I make it into a store, I love most of the things I see. Right now they are doing yellow right:


(I especially love the Jill Rosenwald Peacock Pitcher in the middle)

And it's not like they're really getting the other things wrong either:



Clockwise from top left:
Anjou Sign, Class Photo Tray (On sale!), (Wierdest thing, I cannot find the woodland plates that I was *just* looking at, Stockholm Flora PotHolder, Stencil Flower Hook Rack.

Lorena Barrezueta

I'm sure you've all scoped out Grace's digs over on design sponge. Obviously her place is lovely and I love that it isn't overly styled or sterile. She really lives there. The kitchen vignette with the Lorena Barrezueta tray nailed it for me. I love how vintage it looks and how the eggplant color compliments the green in the plants. Sigh.

Thé Mariage Frères (since 1854!)

This is definitely the tea that Indiana Jones would be drinking (if Indian Jones was a real person and not a character in an awesome series of movies). This, of course, is based entirely on the fact that the Mariage Frères boutique is what I imagine walking into the East India Trading Compnay to be like.


Dr. Jones aside, the tea is incredible, and as I mentioned the boutique is even more incredible: dark mahogany shelves line the walls, filled with canisters of tea, rattan fans whirl overhead and all the salespeople are dressed in white linen suits. There are so many flavors of tea that I almost left empty handed because I just couldn't decide. I did pick something out, but it comforts me to know that the tea can also be bought online here and here.


(Photo: Dominick Brodbeck)

80 pounds of Savon de Marseille

Buy an 80 pound block of olive oil based Savon de Marseille here.

Latest Find: Tea Time

I found these great 50's style light blue tea cups and saucers at my local thrift store (I'm not ready to divulge which one!). I was super excited because there were 8 tea cups in perfect condition and I already had visions of cucumber sandwiches and mini bundt cakes, but there were only 3 saucers. So I bought 3 sets for $10. Score.

Perfect Summer Dress

This Tracy Reese dress is 50% off at Ron Herman! Perfect to wear hosting a summer soiree or to 'throw on' to go to a bbq. Add some heels and you're fancy. Flirty AND sophisticated. (Thanks to Toosh for the tip). See all sale items here.

More Tea Time!

No sooner had I posted my tea picks, but I saw that rose and radish have some new tea time accessories!



(This one is less tea time and more drinking).

Tea Time is a Good Time

Amazing (and impressive) Blooming Tea!
Have you seen this tea? It comes as a tight little bud and when immersed in water it unfolds or blooms into a flower. It's beautiful, fancy, and tastes good too.
I don't have a clear tea pot so I use the carafe from my french press to display the lovely bloom.


Good Hostess Gift or Gift for Yourself: