Designer Frank Martin has made first dates the world over a lot easier.
“This clever white melamine plate was designed to be used for spaghetti. Like other pasta plates, the shape is a bowl yet this piece features a small creater in the center which afford the user the opportunity to twirl the spaghetti using a fork only – no spoon required. Works wonderfully and a new essential for the pasta lover. This piece is also great for presenting a number of different foods using the center crater as a repository for sauces or dips.”
I’ve had a bit of a table fixation recently and love the lines of this Curvee Shelf. It’s available in so many color choices that you could dress it up in black or have fun with it in pink. My personal favorite is this olive green shade. They’d make the perfect bedside tables, dontcha think?
I lurve this french glassware from Horchow. And it’s on sale right now. Which means I want them just that much more because I’m mesmerized by the awesome colors.
I’ve not welcomed a flat-screen television into my abode yet, although it is on my To Do List. One thing that keeps crossing my mind every time I think about how my living room will have to change to accommodate this technology is where will I put the thing. The idea of hanging it on the wall is appealing, yet scares the bejesus out of me. After paying that much moola I can’t imagine leaving it in the grasp of a couple wall mounts. Then this morning I saw the TV Easel by Swedish designer Axel Bjurström and thought, hmmm, this just may be the answer.
With the form of a traditional painter’s easel, the freestanding TV-rack on wheels is prefect for the open spaces often found in modern apartments. It is optimized for TV-sizes between 32-47” and it is adjustable in both height and angle. Material is solid wood, natural or lacquered.
The Montana table lamp is the perfect shade of red. It would look great in a minimalist setting as one of the only pops of color. Or, you know, on my desk.
Last night in an inspired mood I found this recipe for whoopie pies and went to town. I’m happy to report that not only did the entire process take only a little over an hour, but they also turned out really well. Not too sweet and nice and cakey. *YUM*
(Let’s Make) Whoopie Pies Makes: 18 Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
White crystal sugar
Filling:
3/4 stick unsalted butter (6 tablespoons), softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 jar (7-1/2 ounces) marshmallow cream, such as Marshmallow Fluff
2 teaspoons vanilla
Red food coloring
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda. In large bowl, with mixer on high speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat to combine. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk in small batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
2. With a tablespoon, spoon mounds of batter 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Sprinkle half with crystal sugar. Bake 15 minutes or until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
3. To make filling: In medium bowl, with mixer on high speed, beat together butter, powdered sugar, marshmallow cream, and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add a drop or two of food coloring, and mix to tint pink. Makes about 1-1/2 cups of filling.
4. Spread a rounded tablespoon of filling on flat sides of half the cakes. Top with other cakes.
** Disclaimer: I found the recipe in Parents magazine of all places, which is strange because I would not recommend making these with kids. The marshmallow cream involved in the filling is easily the stickiest substance known to man and an ant trap waiting to happen.
V-Day always carries a lot of pressure for me whether or not I happen to be in a relationship come February 14th. If I’m with someone there’s the pressure of what to plan, what to eat, etc. And if I’m single it’s only a day long reminder of just that.
This year – in which I fall into the latter category) – I keep reminding myself that it could always be worse. My all-time low involved a blind date which was easily one of the most awkward few hours of my life.
So on this day of sugary sweetness I want to hear your story. What was the worst/funniest/best Valentine’s Day you’ve lived to tell the tale of?
Chocolate on Valentine’s Day is just about as cliche as roses, except when it comes to Vosges’ Sensory Collection.
The extensive Collection is both a connoisseur’s guide to chocolate tasting and an game of smell and taste. Designed to develop your sense of smell and your ability to recognize and articulate the aromas of varietal chocolate. The experience of uncapping vials, inhaling essences and nibbling chocolate will engage and intrigue.
Not to mention how sexy the experience could be given the right set of circumstances. *wink, wink*
The XOXOXO is the star of the Valentine’s Edition of On the Rocks. This singleton predicts she’ll be making some of these lovelies for her and the girls tomorrow night. Here’s to the single life!
Ingredients: – Champagne – 1 1/2 oz. Hennessy X.O. – 1 small ripe mission fig* – 1/2 oz. Mymoune Rose Syrup – 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice – 1 oz. Moet & chandon White Star – Thinly sliced star fruit
In a cocktail shaker, muddle fruit (pits removed) with syrups. Add Hennessy X.O., lemon juice and ice. Shake them well and strain over ice into a cocktail glass. Top with champagne and garnish with slice of star fruit. * A plum, prune or other red fresh in season fruit may be substituted.
I love the little felt CupKozy II! A reusable, eco-friendly alternative to the cardboard sleeves typically used at your favorite coffee shop, they’ll fit most 12, 16 and 20 oz. disposable coffee cups. Yea for doing even a little bit to help out the environment and being stylish at the same time.
Designer Frank Martin has made first dates the world over a lot easier.
