Birthday Traditions

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I was born on August 15th.  As other summer babies know, this means a lifetime of never celebrating my birthday at school.  No bringing cupcakes to class and no giggling with my girlfriends during first period because today was the day and there would be cake.

Before we go any further, let me be clear.  This is not a woe-is-me tale.

I loved my summer birthdays.  I was shy, see, and through shy eyes and ears, birthday fun looks and sounds terrifying.  People you normally love throng together; they surround you, they scream, they sing and they want you to open their present rightnowthisminute–don’tyouloveit?  It’s a nightmare of noise and expectation.

Instead of all that, I shared my birthdays with my gramps who was born 6 days and 61 years before me.  We swam with family, ate homemade mint chip ice cream pie and opened plenty of presents. They were perfect celebrations.

The legacy of my summer birthday is this: I prefer a quieter birthday.  A small group of family and friends, a dinner, and maybe some mint chip pie.

This year? I’m stopping in SF to squeeze my baby niece and catch up with an old friend. Then I’ll spend two nights on the coast with my husband and parents. No tv, no phone and no computer.  Just time to listen to the waves and enjoy these baby kicks while they still belong to me.

I’ve got my birthday down pat. But as a mom-to-be, I’m thinking ahead of ways to make my little one’s birthdays extra special.  What are your birthday traditions?

xx Sarah

Thank You?

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Kate Spade rose print card via

Hello, I love you.  From your chic stripes to your bursts of rose-colored happiness you seem tailor-made to convey an idealized version of me, in words.  I want to take you home, dress you in a special stamp, and send you back out to those I love.

There’s only one problem.  Why do you say Thank You?

Seriously.  I just saw you couched in your kelly green box at the stationary store.  You and your similarly stunning friends were decked out in the same sentiment.  All of you lined up and waiting to be filled with thoughtful notes.  The only caveat being that they begin with a pro-forma thank you.

The store only carried one single box of non-scripted note cards.  And they were nowhere near as pretty as you.

Where’s the freedom? What if I want to use you for something other than a thank you?  Or- and this is the actual case today- I want to be the one to write that thank you?

So, my friends, where do you stand?  Do you miss having more blank options or do you prefer specialized cards?

xx Sarah

 

Accidental plum compote

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The plan was to make this roasted plum and vanilla mascarpone pie.  Stunning, right?

I had some near-death pistachios that I thought toasting and sprinkling over the top would make the presentation even more beautiful.

So I followed the directions for roasting the plums, tossing very firm black ones with vanilla bean and sugar and roasting them cut-side down in a 350 oven.

Firm as they were, those plums deflated fast.  After only 30 minutes in the oven, I had what looked like a natural disaster on my hands.   They emerged sad jellyfish caught in a sticky, red tide.

So I scooped them into compote glasses and chilled those sadsacks in the fridge until I could look at them again without shame.

I dolloped the vanilla mascarpone on top and sallied forth with my toasted pistachios.  Letting go of the image of that beautiful pie (it is so, so beautiful!), we had us some cold plum compote for dessert and then again for breakfast a few days later.  Hardly a failure.

Have you ever had a recipe mishap turn out ok?

xx sl

Hot August Nights

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If you get invited to a dinner that looks like this….

 

then you should wear something like this…

 

 

Right?! Hope your Monday involves a little lakeside candle light and white skinny jeans, at least in spirit.

 

xo,
Lydia

Dinner Party Cooking Lesson

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Had SO much fun last night doing a dinner party cooking lesson with some friends. The whole group decided on the menu and the hostess bought all the ingredients. The rest of us brought wine, cutting boards and knives. I talked the group through the steps to make each dish and then we shared a beautiful meal together. A prefect summer evening, this what I always hoped my 30’s would be like.

a well set table

nectarine, heirloom tomato, prosciutto and burrata salad artfully arranged by Ian

 

and the spinach risotto stirred with lots of love.

 

 

Here is the whole menu:

 

Nectarine, prosciutto and tomato salad with burrata cheese and mint

Grilled Steak and arugula salad with pine nuts, Parmesan and lemon vinaigrette

Fresh Spinach-Pesto Risotto

Affogato- vanilla gelato topped with hot espresso

Hope you have a chance to gather your friends and do something similar before summer slips away into a busy fall.

xo,
Lydia

Deck Towel News

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Forgive me for being proud big sister lately but I’m OBSESSED with the new Deck Towel designs this season, care of my baby brother Buck Ellison. I couldn’t resist sharing them.

Urban

 

Quinten

 

Rens

 

Sylvester

Ordering all 4 to use for long beach days, park picnics and as a table cloth for al fresco dinners. Since he’s working towards his Masters in Fine Arts in Germany I love catching up with him via the Deck Towel Journal. The Studio Lunches sing to me from so far away.

Truly these towels are so useful (absorbent, fast drying, wrap your whole body yet can bundle up so small) Drew and I are shifting over to them as our bathroom towels. Don’t let summer pass with out getting your favorite Deck Towel print.

 

xo,

LEH

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Sandwiches

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One of my most vivid memories of college in upstate New York had nothing to do with college or upstate New York.  One brutal winter morning, when all I dared dream about was hot chocolate from the library vending machine, a friend from San Diego mentioned missing his family’s avocado orchard.

He may as well have told me he was from Mars.

From that moment on, California became a very real place in this midwesterner’s fantasy life.  It was CandyLand, where all your favorite goodies hang from trees, everywhere in easy reach, year-round. How could life not be wonderful in a place where crocodile-skinned avocados and bright lemons grow heavy in your own backyard?

I think of that cold weather revelation several times a week- while standing in my California kitchen and spooning avocado on toast.  I like my avocado smushed with a squirt of lemon, sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and, yes, a drizzle of olive oil.  I know that’s fat on fat, but give it a go and see if you agree that a little liquid gold makes all the difference.

Avocado toast has been popping up everywhere on the blogosphere these days.  I don’t think it’s a comeback or a fad.  If lunchtime at my house is any indication, avocado toast never faded away.  Maybe we thought it was too basic to share?  I’m sorry, pretty green lady.  Shouldn’t have stuck you in that corner.

All this avocado toast got me thinking.  What other seemingly banal vegetable sandwiches do you love?  Here are my favs:

-GOOD cheddar, avocado and sprouts piled high on thickly-sliced multigrain with Dijon

-Herbed cream cheese with avocado, Persian cucumber, radish, fennel and red onion on toasted cranberry loaf or olive bread.

-(Non-traditional) Vegetable Banh Mi. Hard-boiled egg, pickled carrots and daikon, radishes, cucumbers, fresh jalapeno, watercress and fresh mint on a warm baguette slathered in soft butter- salt with sea salt!- and served with sriracha.  Sriracha mayo is the real way to go, but I don’t go mayo.  Ever.

What’s your favorite vegetable sandwich? Let’s discover new loves this Meatless Monday.  There may be a revelation in store.

xx Sarah

Best Cookbooks for Beginners

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In honor of tonight’s Opening Ceremony, I’d love your help declaring gold medalists in the cookbooks for amateurs category.  Here’s what I want to know- what book was most helpful when you were just getting started?

For me, it was the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, which had me hunting down quark (an oddly-named member of the farmer’s cheese family) and stirring curry-laden yogurt into sweet potatoes for an unexpectedly spicy and sweet one-dish dinner.  Sounds healthy and hippy-ish, right? It was yummy too and it got the job done.  Every recipe was a success (or a near-success.  Okra stew?  Not so much.) which gave me the confidence to start experimenting.

For easy entertaining, any Ina book will leave its competitors in the dust.  Don’t you agree?

What book first made you feel like a kitchen superstar?

xx Sarah

 

Final Nursery Inspiration

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This is so not a nursery.  I am aware of that.

It is, however, a calm room in the very same color as my nursery with the very same rug.  It’s relaxing and it’s neutral.  I’d like to spend time there.

And so it has served as my nursery inspiration as I’ve begun ordering and buying and hanging sweet things.  My theory is this- I build a big girl room with neutral pieces and layer in tons of cuddly, colorful baby stuff.  When she’s older she can thrown in whatever she wants and the basics will hold.

(I am also aware that babies destroy all theories.  Still.)

You can find my inspiration board here.

What do you think?  Animal overload?

xx Sarah

Summer Look: Miranda Kerr

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Miranda Kerr’s summer look is hurting my feelings. So funky yet polished. Love her long flowy dresses and cigarette pants + pointed toed pumps. How does she wear heels all day in NYC during a heat wave?

 

xo,

Lydia

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