Parisian Hideaway

We are so excited about our first shopping event - "Parisian Hideaways".  It will be the first time that we have seen many of our customers since we closed our retail store, so we want it to be great!!  This past weekend, Laurell, Julie, Katha and I spent time refinishing a large cabinet that is part of our Parisian apartment.  We used Annie Sloan French linen chalk paint as a base coat, then waxed it with clear and then dark wax.  Finally, Laurell brushed highlights of gold on some of the details. It was a huge project as our "first" chalk paint project, but I am so happy with the outcome! Laurell finished the back of the hutch with a gold metallic paint and then dripped a little verdigris colorant to age the back.  It is so cool!!

 Gold highlights on some of the carved details.

 

Love the old gold color in the back- awesome job Laurell!!

 

 

What I find amazing about this huge project, is that 4 different people were painting - all with slightly different techniques and styles. Yet it still looks consistently finished!! I personally think that the Annie Sloan wax hides all our technique "sins".  Thanks so much Laurell, Julie and Katha for helping me!! 

 

Love how the crystal and china stands out in front of the background color.

 

 

Last week I showed you the striped foyer that Laurell painted. Now you can see that we are starting to decorate  the area. 

Love this gold bust in front of the black sea fan.

 

Small night stand in Annie Sloan Antoinette Chalk paint with clear and dark wax.

 

Sweet little silverplate ramekins- perfect for sea salt containers on your range top.

 Adorable pink velvet settee to be used on the side of the dining table.

 

Pair of wonderful side tables painted by Laurell- finished in Lustre stone. 

 

Would be perfect at night stands or consoles in a living room.

 

 

I just finished embellishing a vintage gold dresser tray with rhinestone findings.

 Not only to be used as a dresser tray, it would be gorgeous in the center of a dining table

 and loaded with candles and flower bouquets.

                                                       Detail of one of the edges of the tray.

 Small coin purses - perfect for giving that cash gift to a June graduate.

 

Embellished distressed frames - old keys and rhinestones- love it!

Distressed wood and rhinestones- love the combination.

 

 Fabulously finished frame by Laurell with a Paris sign on Venetian Plaster!

 

We are having so much fun putting this together.  Joy from SavvyCityFarmer has already dropped off some tasty finds for your shopping pleasure, with more to come.  She's our guest artist for this event and I can't wait for you to see her creations.  I will give you a little peak at some of Joy's treasures later next week.  We also have another surprise guest who has collected French antiques for over 30 years and has decided to part with some of her incredible treasures.  More about Linda later too!!!

 

Meanwhile stay tuned - remember that our event is May 10 and 11th from 11 to 3. Address to be revealed as we get closer, but it's near our old store!



New Spring Recipes- Chilled Melon Soup and Blackberry Fennel Pizza

This week I have tried a couple of new recipes out on friends that I have found on different blogs. I wanted something that was pretty and colorful and looked like Spring time  to serve at a couple of  upcoming dinner parties. 

 

 I have to say that the Blackberry Fennel and Goat Cheese pizza was the hit of the week! You can read more about this great appetizer at

http://looksolovely.blogspot.com/2012/06/lsl-foodie-friday-blackberry-fennel.html.

 

I was lazy and purchased ready made pizza dough from DiGiorno and it was so easy to handle and roll out.  I sliced the fennel extremely thin on the mandolin and chopped the hazelnuts before my guests arrived. They helped to assemble the pizzas by rolling out the dough and layering on the ingredients- sliced fennel, fresh blackberries,  chopped hazelnuts, fresh minced thyme leaves, and finally  goat, brie or Gorgonzola cheese.  Bake the pizzas, then drizzle with honey when they come out of the oven.  My personal favorite was the one with the  creamy Gorgonzola cheese, but the vote was split between my friends.

 picture from looksolovely.blogspot

 

 

 

Our assembled pizza before it was baked- couldn't get a picture of the baked one because we ate it too fast!   Delicious flavors with combined together  with the warm gooey cheeses.  I will definitely make this again.   It's a very pretty and unexpected appetizer!!

Store bought pizza dough!  ( for the  original  version, go to the web address above)

For the topping:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

1 small bulb fennel thinly sliced (reserve the fronds for garnish)

8 ounces fresh goat cheese, brie or Gorgonzola

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

salt and pepper

1 -2 tablespoons honey

 

Bake at temperature suggested on the dough package.  When crust is crispy  and hot,  drizzle honey lightly all over the pizza.

Serve immediately.

Another recipe that I made  for a dinner party on Friday night was a version of Prosciutto and Melon- and was very easy to eat -versus picking up melon and prosciutto slices with fingers . http://food52.com/recipes/258-chilled-cantaloupe-soup

A very ripe cantaloupe is pureed into a soup consistency  in a food processor and  sweetened with honey, orange juice and brightened with fresh lime and lemon juice. Add a little cinnamon .  I sprinkled sea salt  lightly on top before I served it in a martini glass with a prosciutto "flower" skewer garnish.

 

Note:  I used a prosciutto garnish instead of the mint in the recipe below- but the soup is the same.

 

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup

 Serves 6

 

 

6cups chopped cantaloupe, about 1 (4 pound) melon

1 1/2cup orange juice

1/4cup fresh lemon juice

1/4cup fresh lime juice

2tablespoons honey

1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4teaspoon salt

1sprig fresh mint

1. Place all ingredients, except for the mint, in a large bowl and stir.

2. Place half the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour soup into a pitcher, and repeat with remaining mixture.

3. Taste and whisk in more cinnamon, honey or even lemon juice if desired. It should taste sweet and tart, with only a hint of cinnamon. Chill the soup until ready to serve.

4. Remove the mint leaves from the stem (discard) and stack the leaves on top of each other. Roll lengthwise into a tight "cigar." Slice crosswise into thin strips.

5. Pour the chilled soup into six soup bowls. Garnish each with a sprinkle of shredded mint and serve.

Springtime Tablescape

Finally, a few warm days in Chicagoland!!!!  It's time to set the table for weekend guests that are visiting from out of town and coming to dinner tonight!  The warm weather inspires me to use eggs and pastel flowers in my centerpiece. 

 

I  had kept the gnarly flowering tulip branch from flowers (above) that were in my kitchen a couple of weeks ago. They were so gnarly and cool that I couldn't bear to throw them away

 when the flowers died.

It was perfect for the base of my centerpiece.  I started by placed them in the center of the table.

Using pink and white roses, I created little bouquets in silver champagne goblets.

 

Then placed these little arrangements throughout the flowering tulip branch.

It kind of looked like a nest!

 

I then gilded and embellished eggs and placed in a gold nest lined with moss.

 Placed several nests in the branches.

 

 Turquoise tea glasses were used as votives throughout the floral centerpiece.

 

 

I used powder blue chargers with antique white and gold china and then popped it with gold and white zebra print napkins. 

 

The rhinestones on the eggs glittered in the candlelight during dinner.

 Next, it was on to the kitchen to add a little touch of springtime!  Home Depot just received their first shipment of spring flowers- yea! So I purchased a pot of violas - I love their faces!

 

 In the kitchen on the patisserie stand, I placed a vintage egg cup server and filled it with some of the  violas! 

 

 Added a couple of vintage ceramic lamb boxes to sit among the flowers on the stand.

Maybe we can't go outside yet and dig in the dirt- but this reminds me that it's not too far away!!

 

Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone!