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!