Kitchen Garden Envy

Brooke Giannetti, the incredibly talented author of the Velvet and Linen blog, invited her readers into her brand new kitchen garden.  Seriously, the garden is new this year. Wow!  Observe and droll.

The spot for the garden.  I would have had a very hard time tearing up this lovely green grass.

Brooke and her girls in the newly placed raised beds and pea gravel

Detailed view of the beautifully constructed raised beds, pea gravel and iron trellises

Love that she added flower pots and architectural elements

And seating

An area Brooke plans to devote exclusively to her herbs

The finished product. Sigh.

All photos from Velvet and Linen

Finding My 3-Minute Egg

Earlier this year, I had a breakfast at the charming french restaurant, Parc Brasserie, on Rittenhouse Square in Philly.  I ordered the Eggs en Cocotte, a 3-minute egg with brioche mouillettes. 

Since then I have been trying to replicate the meal.   Although this may sound like an easy task, I have been surprised to find that a true 3-minute egg is not what I remember having.  It turns out that my perfect "3-minute egg" is actually a 6- minute egg.  Here's what I found:  

The 3-minute egg yielded an egg that was so runny it made me too nervous to eat.  

The 5-minute egg had a firmer white, but some of the white and the yolk were still a bit too runny for me.

The 6-minute egg had a firmer white and the yolk was beginning to firm as well. Perfect!

top photo via Baking and Books; following three picture via Cooking for Engineers

A Brooklyn Treasure

Diani Yen and Lisel Arroyo have a catering company, The Jewels of New York, that provides customized meals of local, seasonal ingredients. They also have an exquistite blog that displays how their combined background of design and a respect and love of simple, fresh food has yielded a ever-interesting partnership. 

Almost too beautiful to eat. Inspired by Big Sur Bakery. Meet the sunny side up breakfast tart with bacon, eggs, asparagus, and arugula flowers. Recipe.

Crisp, Clean and Coventously White

First image via Moodboard; NataliaVodianova.net/Harper's Bazaar March 2003/Photography Peter Lindberg. Next two images via Moodboard; US Vogue March 2002, Photography Steven Meisel, Fashion/Editor Grace Coddington. 

Loving on this

Sookie Stackhouse: Covetously Feminine

True Blood's costume director, Audrey Fisher, has done an amazing job creating spot-on wardrobes for all of Charlaine Harris' characters.  But, Sookie's wardrobe takes the cake.  I LOVE all the sundresses with sweetheart necklines paired with white Keds.  Perfection!

The Breton Stripe: simple & evocative

I had to throw in a few colorful stripes that I am loving as well. Do you have a favorite iconic Breton photograph?

clockwise from top middle: shirt by Anthropologie; Audrey Hepburn in stripes; shirt by Saint James; outfit by Stella McCartney, Resort 2010; Audrey Hepburn; Unknown source; skirt by Anthropologie; outfit by Stella McCartney, Winter 2010.

Fall 2010 Coveted Looks

Covetously Tailored    
                                             

Chloe

Stella McCartney

Salvadore Ferragamo

Stella McCartney

Covetously Feminine

Nina Ricci

Tommy Hilfiger

Bottega Venata

Marc Jacobs

Diane Von Furstenberg

Dolce and Gabbana

Covetously Warm

Tommy Hilfiger

Diane Von Furstenberg

Nina Ricci

Dolce and Gabbana

Covetously Gowned

Alberta Ferretti

all photos from Style.com

Remembering

Perfect Punch

A wonderful colleague and friend of mine shared her delicious punch recipe with me (Thanks, K!). I made the punch for a very well-attended baby shower and it was quite a success. Next time I will take pictures.

Ingredients:
1/2 cups sugar
4 cups water
1/4 cup real lemon juice (or 3 tsp of lemon juice from a plastic lemon)
2 quarts pineapple juice
2 quarts cranberry juice
3 tbs almond extract
2-4 liters ginger ale
Fruit slices/berries to garnish

Directions:

Bring sugar & water to a boil until sugar is dissolved, making a simple syrup.

Remove from heat and add juices & almond extract. Freeze in a bundt cake pan with sliced fruit/berries.

When ready to serve, run hot water over the bundt pan until frozen mixture slides out.

Serve in a punch bowl, adding desired amount of ginger ale.

Turns into a delicious and beautiful slushy punch.

Recipe fills two deep bundt pans.

~photo from weddingbycolor.com~