How amazing are these sculptures by brother Wyatt just unveiled?
I’ve never seen metal with so much motion and fluidity, almost like they are waving in the current at the bottom of the ocean. You can find these creations plus many more at WyattStudio.com.
xo,
Lydia
This salad is legendary in our work kitchen. Shanti takes the odds and ends of vegetables in the walk in and dresses them with a bright herb vinaigrette then crumbles feta and crispy shards of pita chips on top. Lunch of the gods is served. We are so in love with this crunchy salad, we served it to our clients and they too fell under its spell. It’s so healthy and yet so satisfying. While these photos show the fattoush in its most raw state (pun intended) it looks and tastes much better with lots of salty feta and crispy fried pita on top. Maybe it would look better on a nice platter and not in a metal mixing bowl and taken with a real camera and not an iphone? Maybe not.
If you want to turn it into a meal you can add cooked quinoa. Thanks for sharing the recipe Shanti!
Shanti’s Famous Fattoush Salad
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 small head cauliflower (colored if possible makes a pretty presentation), broken into bite sized florets
1 large head broccoli, broken into bite sized florets
3-5 radishes, diced small
2-3 small Persian cucumbers, diced small
2 stalks celery, diced small
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cooked quinoa, well chilled (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled pita chips plus more for serving (We like Stacey’s brand)
dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (we like Maille brand)
2 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs (oregano, basil, parsley and marjoram)
2 teaspoons finely minced shallot
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Zest and juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
Instructions:
To make the dressing, finely mince the garlic, shallot and fresh herbs. Add all the dressing ingredients to the blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dressing will be tart!
Make the quinoa according to the package instructions and allow to cool well (can we done in advance or skipped entirely.) Wash all the vegetables and chop into bite sized pieces. Slice the kalamata olives into quarters the long way. Toss all the vegetables and chilled quinoa in vinaigrette and allow to sit and soak at room temperature for 20 minutes. If not serving immediately then cover and chill in the fridge. Before serving top with feta cheese and crumbled pita chips. Serve with extra pita chips on the side.
xo,
Lydia
Berry yogurt popsicles via Gina's Recipes
Did you know yesterday was national ice cream day? Let’s keep the party going all month long. Here are the recipes I’m dying to try:
Berry yogurt popsicles– your breakfast parfait, frozen. Gorgeous.
“Hot Date” ice cream sundae– banana ice cream, banana bread and caramel date sauce. Bananas!
Dark chocolate bombe shell– for that perfect DQ-like shell. The secret is…coconut oil!
Strawberry frozen yogurt– For when you need something a little lighter.
Best Chocolate Ice Cream– this recipe takes 5 days to make. 5 days! Kind of like those world-famous best-ever chocolate chip cookies. Delayed gratification at its sweetest.
Plum sorbet– what could be more beautiful than a smooth, plum-colored ice?
How will you indulge?
xoxosarah
A few weeks ago I had an amazing Saturday brunch at The Tasting Kitchen in Venice, CA.
Broccoli & Burrata Salad and gooey, savory Corn Bread baked in orange ceramic pot.
Fried chicken and waffles so big it’s served on a platter.
A fried oyster omelet with mixed garden greens and charred toast.
The food, drinks, decor, atmosphere and service were spot on. They had me at the mismatched china plates and tea cups but held me all the way through to the last sip and bite. Who wants to go with me to try dinner?
The Tasting Kitchen – 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Venice, CA 90291 tel. 310.392.6644
xo,
Lydia
Via
Happy Monday, my dears!
What are your summer reads? I’m loving Gone Girl. Read the review here.
I may also grab this on my flight back from Chicago. I missed it when it was all the rage a long while ago, but the cover always tempts me at airport book stores.
What are you reading?
xx
P.S. we’ll be posting snaps from our 4ths, but otherwise we’ll see you next week. Wishing you a wonderful, safe holiday full of fruit pies and sparklers.
For the last 2 months we have had Independence Day on the brain as we plan for a BIG event for our clients. I always assumed that flag decor had it’s limitations in the world of kitsch but that is not necessarily the case. Red, white and blue can chic, can be elegant and can be playful all at the same time. I’m a convert. I may just start a collection of decorations of my own. All images from Pinterest…
More amazing patriotic decor and food ideas from Sarah Simms of La Femme Epicure on Pinterest…
How are you decorating for the 4th?
xo,
Lydia
She predicted that in death she’d miss waffles, the concept of waffles, a walk in the park, the concept of a walk in the park, fireworks, Paris, taking a bath and pie.
We’ll miss her.
We remember her for her wit and her smile, for creating heroines who walked like ducks on-screen and waddled cute into our hearts, and for proving that a woman’s voice can not only command a box office but also occupy prime cultural real estate.
(You can read about her own love for a particular piece of real estate here.)
I keep remembering what was, to me, the very best moment in Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep and Jane Lynch, as the gangly McWilliam sisters, reunite at a train station in Paris, both flush with the excitement of Child’s new life abroad and the disbelief of actually being together in such a wonderful, foreign place. Ephron holds the camera on their faces for a moment more than necessary and finds magic there. They are too tall, too toothy and awkward, yet you awww over their goosey, girly, middle-aged joy.
Ephron knew love and knew how to show it to us through the camera and her words.
This, from Ephron’s commencement speech at Wellesley in 1996, isn’t one of her funny moments. But it is one of her most inspiring:
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. Because you don’t have the alibi my class had — this is one of the great achievements and mixed blessings you inherit: unlike us, you can’t say nobody told you there were other options. Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead. Twenty-five years from now, you won’t have as easy a time making excuses as my class did. You won’t be able to blame the deans, or the culture, or anyone else: you will have no one to blame but yourselves. Whoa.”
“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women. Thank you. Good luck. The first act of your life is over. Welcome to the best years of your lives”
Tell us, what are your favorite Ephron moments?
xxSarah
Via
Well, dear lovers of all things pretty, my interest in weddings has been renewed. My little sister got engaged this past weekend! Her darling husband-to-be crafted the sweetest proposal (you can read about it here). I already can’t wait for the planning to begin.
I haven’t spent much time trawling wedding sites since my own wedding back in ’09. In that time Style Me Pretty has begun publishing a magazine. As much as I love blogs, sometimes I just need me a magazine. Do you ever feel the same way? You pore over it, turn down your favorite pages and, when you’ve reached the end, you have a manageable set of images and information to consider. You’re not overwhelmed and you may even feel like you’ve accomplished something. Am I right?
A blog, well, it just keeps on scrolling. Which is, ironically, exactly why we love blogs.
All this is to say, I really like the SMP magazine as much as I do the blog. I’m happy to be back in the thick of all those lush, romantic images.
Magazines v. blogs- when do you prefer one over the other?
xx Sarah
My heart is swooning for these pieces from Valentino Resort 2013. Lady-like 60’s and 70’s glam. All images from Fashionologie. Just a little inspiration for your summer look.
xo,
Lydia
