Robots in LOVE

My friend Emily is getting married and asked me to draw up her invite… she and her hubby-to-be wanted Robots! And the tree probably looks familiar…

Congrats, Em and Ben!!!

Who doesn’t love baby animals??

Some new pieces that are *nearly* ready….

duck

bear

fawn

bunny

And one wax model that’s very close to ready for casting!

elephant!

Eat Your Heart Out!

Valentine’s Day is less than 2 weeks away! We’ve got anything with a heart MARKED DOWN 25-50% off!

And our FAVORITE piece is only $100 until the big day!

Click here for the big I love Your Guts heart with it’s giant, richly colored deep red ruby!

Click HERE for the rest of the hearts on sale!

New Recipes in Jan!

I did better than 1 new recipe per week… There’s still half a week left with a plan to make Julia Child’s Soupe à l’oignon Gratineed.

This month Chris and I made:

1. Magret du Canard with a very nice recipe I found on the beFOODled blog. We found the duck breasts and Herbs de Provence at a butcher shop on 30th Ave and they turned out amazing. A pretty simple recipe, but the resulting dish seems very fancy and rich.

2. I tried a soufflé out of the Chocolate and Zuccini book by Clotilde Dusoulier that Flynn gave me a while back. Flavor-wise, this recipe turned out amazing! But they fell. Could have been that I didn’t beat the eggs properly, could have been our not-very-precise oven, could have been that I don’t have real soufflé cups and used my popover pan instead. Could be that I need practice. Sooner or later, I’ll get them right!

3. Cranberry Coffee Cake: a combination of this cranberry cake recipe from thekitchn.com and this streusel topping from the Culinary Cafe blog. This came as the result of a 10pm burst of baking energy and served as a good lesson for why you should always make sure you have all the supplies before you start cracking eggs and blending butter and sugar: I didn’t have enough flour! So I mixed in some barley flour we had, which left the cake tasting a little too… healthy? You know, that dense, earthy, hearty flavor. Anyway, it was ok, but not sugary and crumbly and bad for you like I had been craving at the time!

4. Bifteck Sauté au beurre! We finally got Mastering the Art of French Cooking at Costco a few weeks ago and I was very enticed to try this simple way to cook steak. I usually load up on steak seasonings and saute, but I trusted Julia and tried just butter, and made a kind of gravy with the pan juices. I sauteed some baby bella mushrooms in a separate pan while the steaks were cooking, and served the steak on canapés, mushrooms piled on, drizzled with the meat butter.

5. Steamed lobster tails! I’ve helped my mom steam crabs many times as a kid, but have never really steamed any crustaceans myself. Well, these weren’t whole or live, just tails. But they turned out nicely! Served with french bread and lots of melted butter!

6. For the first time in my life, I POACHED AN EGG (or 4) PERFECTLY! After brunch at Kate’s one Sunday, I found a renewed confidence that I can cook eggs! I am not ovo-handicapped! So this very morning, I poached eggs. And they turned out PERFECT! Every time I have ever attempted it before, my whites would whisp off and float away leaving only a thin layer remaning around the yolk, which would usually break. But today I was determined. I took the big soup ladle that I have and scooped some of the simmering water. Dropped the egg into that and gently set it into the water, letting the egg cook for 5-8 seconds in the ladle before turning it and gently letting the egg into the simmering pot of water. My eggs turned out full and soft and the yolk entirely masked by the white.

7. French Macarons for Kate’s birthday! I’m obsessed. But for whatever reason, it never occurred to me that I could try to make them myself! But why not?! Laduree is too far away and while there are a few amazing patisseries in New York that do have really perfect macarons, they’re $2.50 a piece! So I found about 20 different recipes, and basically made the one from La Tartine Gourmande, with just a few alterations. I used Nutella, Cajeta Caramel Creme, and Lemon Curd to fill mine!

for about 15-18 small macarons

• 2 egg whites (2 oz), at room temperature
• 100 g confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 60 g almond flour, sifted
• 30 g fine sugar
• A few drops of your choice of coloring
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Steps:

• Run the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar in food processor until as fine as possible, then sift well. Set aside.
• Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Start to mix on medium speed with 1/2 Tbsp fine sugar and the cream of tartar. Once slightly foamy, increase the speed. After a few mns, when they are almost firm, add the rest of the sugar, and a few drops of coloring. Continue to mix until the egg whites form nice, stiff peaks.
• Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites in two or three times, making sure you fold them in carefully (Make circular movements using a rubber spatula). Once the preparation homogeneous, it is ready. Do not overwork the meringue batter.
• On one (or more) baking sheets, place a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. With a decoration bag, pipe small amounts of batter 1 inch in diameter, 1 inch apart. Leave to rest for 1 hour.
• Preheat your oven at 320 F.
• Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for about 12 to 13 mns, according to the macaron size (if you make bigger ones, increase the cooking time). After 7 to 8 mns, crack the oven door open (keep it open inserting a wooden spoon for example) and reduce the heat to 290 F.
• Take the macarons out of the oven (check whether they are cooked by touching them lightly) and pour a thin stream of water under the Silpat to create some steam. The macarons will be easier to remove. Wait a little before removing them from the Silpat (use a flexible spatula if they stick). Let them cool down on racks before assembling.
• If you’re making your own filling (chocolate ganache, a fruit spread, caramel, etc), let it cool completely — but not cold, like fridge temperature — pipe some on one macaron half and stick the other half on top.

I won!

I know this is old news, but our friends Jen and Paul have an annual ornament contest party and this year, I won!

Robot. That’s a Cheer Meter.

Bonjour

Just a few highlights from our trip… (apparently, it’s mostly about food)

arc de triomphe

It was brutally cold while we were there, but we spent my birthday walking down Rue Saint-Honoré, looking in the windows of the luxurious shops that were all unfortunately closed for the holiday. We made our way to the Champs-Élysées and finally to the Arc de Triomphe, which was absolutely beautiful in the dusk light.

birthday cake at Laduree

Laduree is my favorite part of Paris (right now, anyway. I may change my mind tomorrow?!) I know it’s blurry and I’m sorry, but my camera just doesn’t do as great a job as it used to. Anyway, this Le Saint Honoré Rose-Framboise cake was like eating heaven. I had a lovely rose tea with it and Chris had macaroons and hot chocolate. I wish they would open a shop in New York! Maybe soon? There are 2 in Japan now, after all…

fountain at st suplice

Chris’ family has an ancestor who belonged to the Église Saint-Sulpice, so we went by to look at the church and take photos. It was really close to our apartment (and REALLY close to A.P.C.) and it was gorgeous. The outside was half masked in scaffolding, as it seems they’re doing some renovations, but I think my favorite part was this fountain- the lions on this fountain were amazing. Ferocious! Just like Robot! There are lions everywhere in Paris- statues, fountains, door pulls…

la fève en la galette des Rois

We found this delicious pastry in a few different patisseries, and after a bit of googling, found that these special galettes are only available in January, to celebrate the Epiphany. Called a Twelfth Night cake, a Kings Cake, or Galette de Rois, they have a small charm baked inside and whoever gets the slice with the charm is King for the day. We got one in a small bakery in Montmartre that had a little peasant looking figurine, and a slice from Laduree that had a figure from a 2010 collection designed by Christian Lacroix!

souffles at Le Cigale Recamier

I would love to spend a night watching what goes on in this kitchen. Their food was amazingly delicate and yet bursting with bold flavors. By the end of the meal, we were a little over souffle-ed, I will admit, but we didn’t know if we’d ever have another chance in our lives to eat such perfection!

the giant backyard at Versaille

Stretches farther than you can see. My favorite part of this trip to Versaille was going to Marie Antoinette’s little cottage, the Petit Trianon. I loved everything they displayed- her bedding, her china collections, the way the walls were decorated. I would love to live in that little house!

We had a lovely trip- what an amazing way to spend my birthday! There’s a few more pictures in my flickr set…

2010 Resolutions

Last year, I made a New Year’s Resolution, and I actually did a good job of sticking to it. I never really liked New Year’s Resolutions. Why can’t we constantly set goals to better ourselves, why does it have to be only once a year? But last year, I set once very simple and realistic goal and it proved to be not only effective, but inspiring.

So this year, I have a few.

1. Buy less stuff.

2. Cook at least one new-to-me recipe per week.

3. Be less reclusive.

and finally, continue from last year: 4. Complete at least 2 projects (knit or sewn) per month.

I’m also trying to be more organized and to post more and to clean up/out my home, but I don’t count those as resolutions… those are small goals I’ve always had that hopefully someday I can pull off!

Anyway, photos from Paris and from finished Christmas gifts are due and coming soon…

Happy 2010!

I really have the best best friends forever ever.

For Christmas/my 30th Birthday, Kate and Flynn got me THIS:

Tonight, I made my first thing ever with it…

(chocolate chip + coconut oatmeal cookies. also, there’s a batch of cranberry oatmeal cookies, not shown)

I gave Flynn a Springtime Bandit:

Ravelry link
Pattern link: Springtime Bandit
Yarn: Vallery Yarns Amherst in Eggplant

And Kate an Ishbel:

Ravelry Link
Pattern: Ishbel
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

I definitely think this was an uneven exchange. IN MY FAVOR.

Wow. Aren’t my friends amazing?!?!

Paris, je t’aime

(image from Clare Owen Illustration)

Chris and I are going to Paris for New Years. I can’t wait!!!! (Also, to celebrate my birthday)

Cutest Baby Ever

I stole some pictures from Kate of Avery wearing a couple of the things I’ve knitted for him.

The Pea Soup Sweater!

(Avery’s uncle knitted him those booties!!!)

Max Feet!!!

And here’s the newest knit… just a basic pom pom hat! (Hopefully Kate will put up a picture of Avery in it soon that I can steal and post on here… he really is the most beautiful baby ever.)

Ravelry Link
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka that I bought at Gotham Fine Yarn, a new LYS in the Lower East Side!!! SUPER CUTE STORE. I recommend it.
Needles: 10 (gauge 4 stitches to the inch)

There’s no pattern, but here’s my basic recipe:

Cast on 45 stitches, join round.
K2P1 for about 1.5 inches.
Knit to desired length before crown (I think mine was about 3.5-4 inches?)

Decrease for crown:
-k2tog, k7 repeat to end
-knit round
-k2tog, k6 repeat to end
-knit round
-k2tog, k5 repeat to end
-knit round
-k2tog, k4 repeat to end
-knit round
-k2tog, k3 repeat to end
-k2tog, k2 repeat to end
-k2tog, k1 repeat to end
-k2tog repeat to end

Pull yarn through and cinch tight, add pompom, put on baby!