Gorgeous pouches for holding lipsticks or a night out on the town. (Cuyana, $170)
A Butter & Sugar gift set for scrubbing away all of her worries, (BeautyCounter, $59)
Marge granola to make her mornings tasty and bright. (Marge, $24)
A super cute monogrammed clutch for date night, (Rae Feather, 165 pounds)
Hot chocolate on a stick, because it is basically the best thing ever. (Food52, $18)
A cool watch that won’t break the budget and looks sharp at work or at home. (The Reed Shop, $120)
Because this game would make for a hella fun night. (Poor decisions? What poor decisions?) (Marbles, $24.99)
The softest fleece-lined sweatshirt EVER. (Marine Layer, $88)
The perfect glass for his nightcap. (Uncommon Goods, $17.95)
One of our favorite everyday meals lately has been lasagna. I have a few variations I make, but basic beef are still our favorite. I like to switch up the flavor now and then so sometimes I try out a new meat or seasoning. It doesn’t always go over, but recently I tried something that was a huge hit.
I’ve been all about simple soups this fall. I like to combine a few strong flavors, pureé them until smooth, and enjoy a bowl of comfort for our meals. I’ve never been a huge fan of curries, but combining curry with butternut squash somehow works. The warmth of the spice pairs beautifully with the natural sweetness of the vegetable and it makes for a satisfying bowl of soup that needs little adornment.
My friend Jessie moved into a historical home in Southern Connecticut two years ago. When she and her husband bought the house the kitchen was basically non-functioning, so they were forced to renovate before they moved in with their two young children and dog. Given the time crunch and unique space they were working with I think they did an amazing job. Since they plan to renovate further in the future they used Ikea to design and install their kitchen. It was a cost effective way to build a space they can use for the next few years while they save up for more extensive work.
This fall I was thrilled to chat with Jessie about her kitchen design and how they made design decisions to accommodate their busy family life.
1) What was the kitchen like when you bought the house and how did you decide on the design that you did?
We bought our 1826 house as a short sale. The previous owner adored the house, but she hadn’t updated much since Madonna topped the charts… a good thirty years I’m guessing. Quickly upon taking ownership, we discovered that replacing the boiler was a top priority, and we decided to install a dual air conditioner while we were at it. Poof. There went our fancy kitchen budget.
At first, I convinced myself that it wasn’t so bad… aside from the dried islands of jam and jelly inside the cupboards, many of which appeared to be older than me!
Time and convenience were critically important to us. The sale of the house had dragged on for far too long (short sale=6 months process), so we were very eager to get situated before our kids’ school started. We’d used an Ikea kitchen in a weekend home in Southampton and liked the clean look. Ikea offers great software for executing your design–you just input the measurements. They can help you fiddle around with the plan in the store (go during an off time–the process may take a few hours, and consider hiring a contractor or professional through the store to do the actual execution–it’s daunting). We loved the idea of axing the lead time; we could yank out the old kitchen and not have to wait for months on end for a custom one to arrive (or have to live through the demo while making dinner on a bunson burner).
Let’s put it this way: a friend of mine graduated from Harvard’s school of design for architecture, and one of her professors uses Ikea religiously. If it’s good enough for him….
Now that we’ve fully recovered from Halloween season — it really is a whole season, the events take up the whole month of October — I am buckling down for the holidays. This year I am feeling cozy and in the mood to nest. We’ve been having lots of people over lately and I’ve been focusing on comfort food and seasonal fruit desserts. A recent favorite is this super duper easy pear crumble. It is loaded up with fall spices and tons of delicious fruit. The top is crispy and crumbly and brimming with caramelized fruit juices.
When people ask me for the simplest side dish on the planet, I recommend baked potatoes. There is hardly anything easier than baking a potato and slathering it with some butter for a quick bite. Sometimes, I like to take them up a notch and fill them with seasoned vegetables and a little cheese. This way, they can either be a heartier side dish or a small meal on their own. Here is how I do it:
Time to end the week on a sweet note. These soft gooey cookies are just the thing to kick off your fall baking fun. I made them last week when my daughter requested a change from everyday chocolate chip. The batter comes together in a snap and tastes even better if you are able to let it rest overnight before baking it. We used butterscotch chips because they are a recent favorite of ours. These are best enjoyed with a big glass of milk!
Fall and winter are my favorite seasons for baking. I love it when my kitchen is filled with the aroma of warm spices and sweet nibbles. In fact, it won’t be too long before I start making and freezing cookie dough for our Christmas cookie platters this year. It is one of my favorite ways to get a jump start on the season and it always puts me in the holiday mood. (More tips about that in my book!) Here is some of my favorite fall baking gear:
Pumpkin loaf pan for making the cutest loaves of banana and pumpkin bread. (Williams-Sonoma, $26)
A gorgeous stoneware tart pan so you can go from oven to buffet in style. (Food52 Shop, $75)
Fall is the start of soup season in our house. Out goes gazpacho and in comes cozy smooth soups full of texture in flavor. This is the season I also find myself ordering soup when I am at restaurants in lieu of a starter salad. I love how it warms me up and prepares my palate for an exciting meal.
A recent decrease in temperature motivated me to make my first soup of the season. The recipe was inspired by a cup of San Marzano tomato soup I enjoyed at Bouchon Bakery when we were in Napa last spring. The flavors were bright and clear with lots of sweet tomato and a hint of basil. Since I had some fennel on hand I also decided to add it to the recipe to give it a woodsy undertone. I opted out of the grilled cheese croutons, but they would be delicious if you wanted to add them for crunch! The resulting soup was a fantastic treat we were pleased to slurp down on a cool fall day. I even added meatballs to it the next day for a simple lunch.
My friend Jocelyn has the coolest blog called Grandbaby Cakes. If you haven’t read it before, go over and read it right away. It is full of warmth and love and amazing recipes! This year she also came out with her first book, Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories. It is chock full of recipes for cakes inspired by her family, specifically her grandparents, and they all look so delicious and lovely I want to make every single one. Today I am thrilled to share a little chat I had with Jocelyn and give away a copy of her book!
1) This is the warmest, most soulful baking book I’ve read in a long time. How did you come to writing a baking book full of new takes on family recipes? There are so many good ones, your whole family must bake!
First of all thank you so so much for the compliment. When thinking about the process of creating this book, I realized there were soooo many recipes in my family that ranged from sweet to savory. My publisher and I thought it would be great to start with my roots and give people some idea of what Grandbaby Cakes is all about so that’s why we narrowed in on cakes specifically. I also wanted to make sure that the book wasn’t just a collection of old recipes that many people may already have enough of. My intention was to create new classics with my funky hip sensibilities, modern flavors and a lot of soul so I really hope I did that.
