Archive for the ‘friends’ Category

I’m getting to live out my Gourmet fantasies with this post! Here is my recipe for roasted butternut squash soup, a definite hit for Thanksgiving or anytime really. I’m serving it in Frances Palmer’s beautiful raised dots cereal bowl from her Pearl collection. Come by the shop and check out Frances’ amazing pieces, perfect for your holiday entertaining!
Ingredients
olive oil
small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, halved
2 carrots sliced
2 medium butternut squash
chicken stock or water
salt & pepper
1/4 cup orange juice
Cut squash in half lengthwise. Drizzle with olive oil and roast, flesh side down, at 400 F. Sweat onion and carrot in olive oil in a heavy pot until soft (but not browned). When squash is cooked and cooled, peel off skins and add squash to pot. Add water or chicken stock (or a combo of both) to desired thickness. Heat for 5 minutes or so for all flavors to come together. Take off heat and add orange juice. Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor or blender. I like to serve topped with pumpkin seeds or I mix greek yogurt with chives and finish with a dollop of that!

I’m so excited that on my first Saturday back from maternity leave Frances Palmer will be in our shop for the afternoon. Frances is one of our favorite artists (and people) that we work with. Her work is beautiful, sculptural and whimsical and her Pearl Collection is so user friendly. The collection is made from vitreous china so it’s oven, microwave, dishwasher safe and incredibly durable making it perfect for serving holiday feasts! As Thanksgiving approaches, we will be sharing some favorite recipes that look gorgeous in Frances’ serving pieces. The first recipe for a divine Bulgarian chocolate cake comes from Frances herself. Enjoy!
(Stop by the store to meet Frances and see her lovely work on Saturday, November 7 from 12-4.)

We just got new baggus in cool summer stripes and in the new *BIG* size. I have been using my big baggu for everything from carrying laundry to toting beach towels to farmers market trips (the big baggu is perfect for carrying the long sunflowers that are at the market right now). Regular sized baggus in all colors/stripes, $8 or 3 for $22. BIG baggus, $14.

Ok, the weather has been a bit freakish lately but it is still summer! Since I’ll be taking time off when the baby comes in August, I’m not getting to spend as many of my summer days up in the Berskshires as I normally would. I miss walking in fields up there and the sky and sunlight. Luckily we have some of Christine Rodin’s beautiful photos in the shop to gaze at and pretend.

Christine photographs landscapes and clouds in the Hudson Valley and Catskills with a WWII camera and then prints the images on watercolor paper creating a dreamy, painterly effect. She then collects antique gilt frames and glass at flea markets to frame the images. We’ve been carrying Christine’s photos for several months now and we absolutely love them and everyone else seems to as well! Come by and take a look at her work, it really is so special. We are planning a show and party for her at the shop sometime in October, I’ll update the details on this closer to the time. Happy summer to all!

My uber-creative, super stylish, organic baker friend Sarah Magid came out with her first book, Organic and Chic, on June 2! We will be celebrating her with a book signing and party at the shop this Sunday, June 14 from 1-3.

Sarah is a Brooklyn mom of two ridiculously adorable kids who uses all of her creative talents honed in the fashion world (she used to design shoes and jewelry for companies such as J. Crew, Frye, Liz Claiborne, Henri Bendel, among others) to make the most amazing, beautiful, tasty, organic baked treats. Her ‘Goldies’ (organic twinkies with golden frosting) served as my wedding cake last summer! The book is totally beautiful, with photos by Noah Sheldon and styled by Kim Ficaro (style editor from Domino). We will be selling books, drinking pink prosecco and eating Sarah’s cookies and cupcakes all afternoon, so stop on by!

Where:
abitare
309 Henry Street btw. State Street & Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201
When:
Sunday, June 14 from 1-3pm

Just a quick reminder to stop by our first book signing and party of the summer tomorrow evening (Thursday, June 4)! Condé Nast writer and hostess extraordinaire Amy Elliott will be signing copies of her new book, A Warm Welcome at our shop from 6-8pm. Stop by, say hi, have a glass of wine and meet Amy!

It’s book party season at abitare! Two people we know are coming out with books this spring/summer and we are celebrating them at our shop. First up: Condé Nast writer and Brooklyn resident Amy Elliot has penned a new book, A Warm Welcome, on how to be a gracious host/hostess to your house guests. It’s almost summer and that means weekend trips to the country and the beach. Amy’s book has some great ideas on how to make your guests feel welcome and special, as well as some tips for guests-to-be. Hint: always bring a gift!

(Take a look at this great write-up on A Warm Welcome on REAL SIMPLE’s website: http://simplystated.realsimple.com/simplystated/2009/03/welcoming-guest.html)

Amy will be signing books at our shop on Thursday, June 4 from 6-8pm. So stop by for a drink or a cookie. And while you’re here check out our fabulous selection of hostess gifts and little items to spruce up your house for summer guests!

And coming soon: My AMAZING, talented friend and organic baker extraordinaire, Sarah Magid, is coming out with her first book in a few weeks! We will be having a soiree for her later in June. More on that soon! In the meantime check out her mouthwatering website & blog: http://www.sarahmagid.com/index.html

For those of you who didn’t make it to Brooklyn Designs last week, check out the amazing furniture of my friends Bernardo & Jude (better known as Bear and Lion): http://www.bearandlion.net/.
They made Matthew & me an ‘Eva’ bench for our wedding and it is just stunning. Not only that, they built some of the furniture/fixtures in our shop! The ‘Mirabelle’ table (shown here in painter Brice Marden’s house upstate) is next on my list:

We have a crop of cute new Hable Construction garden accessories in the shop, just in time for mother’s day! The sunhats in particular are selling out fast. I ordered one to keep the sun off my face this summer, trying to keep my 8 months pregnant self cool is going to be a challenge!
(canvas sunhat: $62)


Joanne put the belt and gloves to good use this weekend planting some ivy in our window boxes. We need something that can stand up to the intense afternoon sun that we enjoy everyday here in the shop and the ivy is perfect.


(gardening belt: $65, gardening gloves: $25)

Check out the sunhat on New York Magazine’s Mother’s Day Shop-a-Matic!
http://nymag.com/shopamatic/products/mothersdays09/

Our first women artists event was this past weekend and it was a big success! We had a great turn out and I had a fantastic day hanging out with these talented ladies. Thank you Frances, Llubav and Sarah! Here are some photos from the day:

Frances’ beautiful Pearl Collection on our table.

Sarah+Llubav. Hot mamas!

Llubav’s felt lovlieness in our window. Sarah’s gorgeous cake & new cookbook (due out in June) are in the background.

Sarah’s divine golden chocolate/espresso cupcakes and earl grey tea cookies. They look perfect on Frances’ plates.

Frances’ pieces can display ring pillows too! Llubav designed the one with the large flower just for us. Call the shop to order.

One of our brides, Libby, admiring some of the Frances Palmer pieces she registered for!

One more shot of the table. You can glimpse one of Frances’ amazing handmade vases.

Joanne with her cousin Mary and a pie plate by Frances, flower pin by Llubav

Me with my mom (who made off with Frances’ pie plate at the end of the event).

We will be hosting more events this spring/summer. Look for a book signing in June!