Dinner in the Garden

The garden on the morning of our party

Thursday is the first day of fall but here in Los Angeles we're still hanging onto summer. The daytime temperatures have been in the eighties which makes the nights beautiful. This weekend I gave a birthday party for my sister. Dinner was on the patio and we stayed outside until until after dark. The weather was perfect!

I set two tables with Heather Taylor Home linens and flowers from Hollyflora

Everyone arrived at 5:30 and we had plenty of time to enjoy the garden

We started with Greek mezze appetizers

I went to our local Farmer's Market in the morning and bought an array of Greek specialties from a wonderful vendor there. They included stuffed grape leaves, feta with herbs, hummus, tzatziki sauce, roasted red peppers, olives and tapenade. We made our own pita chips. I loved serving it on this three-tiered stand that I found at Rolling Greens Nursery. This appetizer turned out to be a good thing for dinner as well since there were three vegetarians in the group who just piled more of the yummy Greek appetizers onto their dinner plates. 

Buffet table

I was very excited about the menu. My sister lived in San Francisco for many years and each time I visited her we went to Zuni Cafe, the popular restaurant on Market Street owned by Judy Rodgers. The restaurant's signature dish, the one we always ordered, is Zuni Cafe Chicken with includes luscious croutons soaked in juices from the chicken on a bed of arugula.

I wanted to recreate that dish for my sister's birthday dinner. I found the perfect recipe from Ina Garten. We made her Lemon Chicken with Croutons and served it with a big arugula salad. Everyone just piled the salad onto their plates and topped it with the chicken and croutons. We also served rosemary and Parmesan polenta and a big platter of roasted vegetables.

Dessert was Pumpkin Spice Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake is always a winner and I love to make it in the fall. Decorated with flowers and kumquats from the garden it was special enough to be a birthday cake. Go here for the recipe.

Are you still hanging onto summer in your neck of the woods?
Even though our weather feels like summer, I'm very excited to be entering the fall season!

The Cozy Season

Happy Thanksgiving! The holidays are upon us. What will you be doing to make it easier on yourself? I have learned over the years that putting too much pressure on myself will guarantee a stressful holiday. Sure, we all want to get the cooking done but bringing in some prepared items such as the pies or side dishes will make for a more enjoyable experience. And some years you may have to bring in the whole dinner. Which is what I did last year. And I have to say it was the most magical Thanksgiving we ever had. 

With our new granddaughter just two days old and still in the hospital on Thanksgiving, my husband and I woke up that morning with no idea how we would be spending the day. Would the baby come home? Maybe, but we weren't sure. And where would we all be? It turned that she did come home and we helped our daughter, her husband, and the baby leave the hospital. Fortunately we had picked up prepared food from a nearby restaurant the day before not knowing where or with whom we would be celebrating Thanksgiving. I put a turkey in the oven in the morning, hoping that someone, somewhere would be eating it. When we got the call at 3:00 pm to come help them leave, we drove to the hospital and left the dinner in the fridge. In the back of my mind, I kept on picturing all that food and wondering how our Thanksgiving dinner would work. Would we get a chance to eat it? I knew no one would be coming back to our house for dinner. Somehow the food would need to get to my daughter's house. Or maybe not. It was a mass of confusion. Fortunately our younger daughter (the saint!) drove to our house while we were loading up the baby and two exhausted parents and picked up all the food.

We all reconvened at my daughter's house with a brand new baby and lots of chaos and confusion. The turkey and all the trimmings were sitting out on the kitchen counter. Into the oven it all went and dishes were set out for eating. Somehow we ate that dinner but I couldn't tell you how we pulled it together, what room we ate it in, or if we even all sat down together. It was a blur, but a happy one. The most important guest weighed about 8 pounds and was just getting to know her new home. We stared at her the whole time in a quiet state of wonder and amazement. A new member of our family had been born. And I believe we all shared a sense that a miracle had happened that Thanksgiving and that our holidays would never be the same.

This Thanksgiving she will have just turned one and will be joining us at our table in her highchair. She will taste turkey and mashed potatoes for the first time. I will always associate Thanksgiving with her birth. This year I will have the time to cook my normal Thanksgiving feast (with a little help from a nearby restaurant!) but I don't think the holiday will ever be as magical as the first year she graced us with her presence. But there will be magic. There always is. That's what the holidays are about.

Here's to a magical Thanksgiving from my house to yours!   

Afternoon Tea

Sometimes it's fun to pull out all the stops when the occasion is as joyous as welcoming your first grandchild. When I began to think of what I should do to celebrate the birth of my granddaughter, a tea party immediately came to mind. Afternoon tea is my idea of heaven. Little did I know how much fun it would be to prepare for one. Taking out family china as well as tea sets I have been collecting over the years was like a trip down memory lane.

I loved setting the table with so many items from family and friends. The china is a family heirloom, the linens were from my daughter's company Heather Taylor Home and the flowers from our friends Holly and Rebecca at Hollyflora.

I sent photos of the china to the girls at Hollyflora and they came up with the color scheme for the flowers.

This is the Peter Rabbit tea set I collected for my daughters many years ago. Tea parties have always been a fun tradition in our family.

The menu included these luscious lemon bars

We had three different kinds of scones

And shortbread cookies to remind me of our trip to Scotland over the summer

There were cucumber, smoked salmon, and chicken salad tea sandwiches

And pink champagne

The moment before the guests arrived

And the cake by Annie Campbell which tasted as good as it looked! 

I found out that the tradition of having a tea to celebrate your grandchild is popular in the south and even has a name: "Sip and See." I can understand why. The charms of afternoon tea match the delight of celebrating the newest member of your family.

"The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose."
-- George Gissing

Wishing you a happy weekend. Fall begins on Monday!
Go here for an easy recipe for Sugared Lemon-Rosemary Scones. They are delicious!

Happiness Starts Here!

Some very delightful things have been happening lately!   My daughters Heather Taylor and Megan Taylor just had this beautiful portrait done by the artist and photographer Jeana Sohn.  I love the background color, the peaceful looks on their faces, and the closeness between them as sisters that comes across in this portrait. 

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Heather and her husband Alex de Cordoba are featured in the new October issue of Sunset Magazine.  The issue just came out and you can find it at the news stands.  There is an article in the magazine about their Hollywood home and their fun design aesthetic.  They recently had us over for grilled pizzas and we all sat around their new fire pit and had a fabulous dinner outside.  You can see more pictures of their home and read about it here.  You may remember that they recently got married in their backyard under their lush citrus trees --  I wrote about it here.

  

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Ivy At The Shore Restaurant

Friendships really are the spice of life.  This week I had a night out with two of my dear friends.  We went to dinner at the beautiful Ivy at the Shore restaurant in Santa Monica to celebrate my friend's birthday.  It is such a special place for a birthday dinner, especially sitting out on their lovely patio.  Each time I go there,  I am always enchanted by the bougainvillea-draped entry to the Ivy.  In addition, the bar at this iconic Los Angeles restaurant is adorned with festive ceramic pitchers loaded with garden roses.  I am delighted each time I walk in and am greeted by this rose glory.  Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa, wrote in one of her books that when she is overwhelmed with her life, her favorite restorative activity is to go out with her girlfriends for dinner and a fun cocktail.  I agree.  Life feels wonderful surrounded by good friends, the Ivy's signature crab cakes, and a beautiful glass of chardonnay!

Ice Cream Sundae for the birthday girl 

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Speaking of good friends, my charming friend Susan gave me the book "Parisian Chic" as a going away present for my trip to Paris.  I am dying over this book.  I realize that I am a little late to the game, as it came out in the Spring, so I apologize if you all know about this.  But I am so inspired!  It all looks so simple,  French women really get it.  If we just follow these guidelines, perhaps we can get this Parisian look in our day to day wardrobes.  According to the book there are seven staples we must have.  The first one is the blazer, pictured below.  I am taking notes here!

The Blazer, don't you love it belted like this?

The Trench, bien sur, we knew that!

The Little Black Dress, simple and elegant

A great pair of Jeans, straight-leg are best

A great Purse, central to every Parisian's personal style


The Navy Sweater, not pictured, looks great with many things but especially white jeans

The Leather Jacket, not pictured, guaranteed to save any overly-conventional look

Everything we need to know about the effortless style that French women do so well is in this book "Parisian Chic" by Ines de la Fressange.

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By the way, some new adventures are about to begin and I will be taking a little break.  Can't wait to tell you all about it!