Category Archives: in the kitchen
On a recent rainy day in Oakland, {lovah} and I landed at the Bica Coffeehouse to enjoy an espresso {lovah} and a green tea {me}. It was one of those perfect days in the East Bay, chilly and wet outside, but warm and cozy inside. We sat by the window and worked on our computers (Bica has speedy, free wifi) while watching the rain pound the pavement outside. If you’re in the Rockridge neighborhood and in need of a good cuppa, check out Bica.
Bica Coffeehouse5701 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 350-7875 Images by Lauryl Lane.
Somehow I feel much better-informed if I read the paper versus picking random news stories to read online… After my morning run, the paper and a cup of coffee is imperative.
Images | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
Breakfast. The most important meal of the day. Harney and Son’s Hot Cinnamon Spice tea is a perfect way to the start the day…
Paired with porridge (Trader Joe’s Hot Cereal), fresh banana, orange-flavored dried cranberries, a large spoonful of greek yogurt (adds creaminess + flavor), and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. A well-rounded breakfast.
Don’t forget the pretty Bunnykins dishes!
Images | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
About an hour from Denver, nestled into the mountains, lies the quaint, historical mining town of Georgetown. When two of my best friends visited over the holidays, I was quick to suggest that we make for the mountains, despite the cold and falling snow.
When I first agreed to move to Denver for {lovah}’s job, I thought Denver was IN the mountains. Imagine my surprise when we landed at the Denver International Airport, which is in the middle of a barren, depressing flatscape. I thought we’d accidentally landed in Kansas. I was very disappointed to find that Denver is about as flat as my home neighborhood of Silver Lake is hilly. So the obvious response? Head to the mountains as frequently as possible!!!
As {lovah} and I are fascinated by history and nostalgia, we find Georgetown to be particularly endearing. The facade of main street is almost untouched by modernity, apart from the ability to string colorful holiday lights across the street, which is, of course, utterly charming.
We visited just a week before Christmas, and with the snow falling softly, the little town really did appear to be a magic winter wonderland.
My favorite destination in Georgetown is the tea room. On a little side street, it is also home to a store full of miniatures– the type of miniatures you’d use for making dollhouses! The tea room is kitschy but delightful, with beautiful mis-matched china, funky lace linens, and, thankfully, individual space heaters for each table!
With a very wide selection of teas to choose from, each of the four people in our party decided on something different. Four pots of wonderful tea led to hours of sipping and conversation…
We also enjoyed delicious tea sandwiches, in traditional English style, along with scones and clotted cream, and other wonderful delicacies.
The potato soup was the most flavorful I’d ever had! I am now determined to replicate this soup because it really was extraordinarily good.
My favorite tea ended up being the White Avalanche, which has the unusual added element of coconut, a flavor I’d never had in tea before. Erin was the one who chose this particular blend, and I’m ever so glad she did. She also purchased a tin of the loose tea for me, and I’ve been enjoying it for months now.
By the time we finished our tea time, it was dark out and we set out to begin the rather treacherous and nerve-wracking drive home, as the snow had picked up a bit and I’m not a fan of driving in the snow… but we made it home safe and sound, and I’m already pining for another little excursion to Georgetown and the Saint James Tea Room!
Saint James Tea Room
614 Rose Street
Georgetown, CO 80444
303-569-3100
My Mother raised me and my younger siblings on health food. Our home was all-organic way before organic was cool. So it’s thanks to her that I actually like foods made with whole wheat flour and natural sweeteners. Like these Banana Muffins. My family has had this muffin recipe forever, and I can say with all seriousness, they don’t taste healthy!
2 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 tablespoons water
1-1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix mashed bananas with beaten egg, oil, honey, vanilla and water. In another bowl combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir just until moistened- batter should be lumpy. Fill well-greased or paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.
* Best if enjoyed with pretty flowers and a cup of tea!
Today marks the 236th birthday of my most beloved favorite authoress, the incomperable Jane Austen. I really don’t want to know what my life would have been like had I never come across Jane’s writing. Dull, I imagine. Without her witty repartee and her delightfully engaging characters, literature as a whole might look very different today. Many, many of the greatest authors of our time and indeed of every generation following Ms. Austen’s publications, have credited her with inspiring them. The literary world owes much to Ms. Jane Austen. As do I.
I am celebrating her natal day by drinking tea. Drinking tea is obviously a daily activity at my home, so you might think it’s not much of a celelbration. But I’m using my china. So it’s a big deal.
I’m also indulging in a springerle cookie. Not exactly need-to-fit-in-my-cocktail-dress-tonight material, but it is what it is. Jane’s birthday, after all, is no small trifle.
This is the worn, battered, yellowing book wherein I first discovered Ms. Austen. I can’t recall quite what piqued my interest, it might have been the cinema release of Sense & Sensibility (which I recall going to see with my family and our next door neighbors, right around the holidays, the year I was 14 years of age). Whatever it was, I saw this copy of The Novels of Jane Austen on my mother’s book shelf, and I helped myself.
Pride and Prejudice was the first novel I read, and after that I got my hands on every single thing that Jane left to her adoring public. I own copies of her novels in several foreign languages. I can’t read the one in Taiwanese, but it makes me happy to know that people read Jane in Taiwan, too. My collection of Jane Austen biographies is extensive. I have books dedicated to each of the recent film adaptations, to Jane Austen’s England, to Jane Austen Walking Tours, to Jane Austen Fashion, to Jane Austen Cooking and Teatime… this love affair has been going on for sixteen years now, and I doubt it will ever end. I love Jane.
Images | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
Warm Apple Crisp & Hot Tea, perfectly soothing on a chilly afternoon.
To make an apple crisp: peel and slice apples, and layer them down in a 9 x 9″ baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon & allspice, then another layer of apples. Mix a cup of oats, a cup of flour, half a cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, and a cup of melted butter. Spread the mixture on top of the apples and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.
Image | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
Is the air getting a little nippy where you are? I love-love-love the crispness and that autumny smell… Fall is always, always, ALWAYS my favorite season of the year.
Although I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I drink hot tea year-round, I definitely come into my “tea element” when the weather gets chilly. My morning routine starts with a run, then I come home and put the tea kettle on while I shower and dress for the day. By the time I’m ready for breakfast, the kettle has been whistling merrily for awhile, and I brew my tea and then sit quietly with a magazine or a book, taking a few moments to prepare myself for the work day ahead. Teatime is such a comfort, don’t you think?
Morning light + English Breakfast = Perfection.
Images | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
Happy Monday morning, comrades! Hope you’re enjoying your coffee and taking a moment for peace and serenity before you gear up and start your week! xoxo
Image | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
Being in the wedding industry is strange. There will be times, particularly during the winter, when I won’t work for two or three weeks at a time. I’ll make myself a little bit mad by organizing and re-organizing my home and office and studio… blogging an insane amount, baking up a storm, and then feeling weird because I’m not working. During those times, I have to create work for myself just so I don’t feel useless. Not that house-wifely things are ever useless, but I’m a career woman. I need to be working, at least to some extent, or I can get into a serious funk.
There are other times in the wedding industry, namely now, when I feel crazy for the opposite reason. I am so busy that my head is spinning and I’ve been confusing my events and mis-filing my papers. I always catch my mistakes, but I have to remind myself to slow down and take a little bit of time to relax so I don’t lose my mind completely. In the past three weeks I’ve flown to three different states and driven through eight more. I’ve been in hot, humid 100 degree temps, comfortable 70 degree temps and chilling 50 degree temps! In the midst of it all, I took an hour out of a recent afternoon to bake some shortbread, brew some tea, and read a chapter of a novel. It was SO worth it. And when I’d drained the last sip of tea from my cup, I was refreshed and ready to attack my work with renewed vigor. For I was also reminded how grateful I am to be busy. Life is good!
I’ve shared this recipe before, but newer readers may still appreciate it… for me, it never gets old. And the simplicity makes it all the more appealing!
Cranberry-Orange Shortbread
In a large bowl, combine:
- 1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, sifted
- 2 & 1/4 cups flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
When the ingredients are well combined and crumbly, add 1 teaspoon of orange flavoring and 1 cup of dried cranberries (I prefer Trader Joe’s orange-flavored dried cranberries). Pat the mixture into an ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges.
Isn’t this tea-cozy adorable? It was custom-made for me by my mother’s good friend, Sandra Dalrymple. She’s an incredible mixed-media artist in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I only wish she had a website…
If you’re in crazy-busy mode, like me, please take some time to recharge your batteries! Even fifteen minutes away from the phone and the computer on your patio to breath in the fresh air and listen to the sounds of your neighborhood will give you a whole new outlook on life… I promise you, you won’t regret it!
Images | Plant Design | Styling by Lauryl Lane.
