Jen Bowles Design

Field Trip: Amelie's French Bakery, Charlotte, NC

There are really only two things you need to know about Amelie's:  it's a bakery and it's open 24 hours a day.  Add to that delicious pastries and the "Paris shabby-chic" interior decor and you've got a must-visit destination. 

And visit I did.  Twice in fact with My Cousin Laura while I was in Charlotte last month.  Our first visit was on a Friday night.  The moment I walked in the door I was charmed.  Those striped walls, the cozy yet sophisticated vibe, the colorful French macaroons...

We happily stood in line as directed and then sat down at a small table in the main room to enjoy our treats.  After dining, I took a stroll around the rest of the bakery.  First into a curtained room where I spied this bold chandelier with whimsical origami cranes hanging down.  

In the next room, there was a group of friends gathered around a large round table playing cards.  Other folks sat on couches next to bookshelves filled with games and books.  Oh so inviting.

And just in case you need to make a call...

I loved the artwork, especially this framed French word art.   

And this mosaic sign, lest you forget where you are ;-)

Not to worry Amelie's, I shall return!    

Book du Jour: Babycakes

Now that Ebby is volunteering at the library, I have an excuse to visit there every week.

I'm like a kid in a candy store.  All those books!  I can take home as many as I want?? Yes please!

Currently I have 19 books checked out of 2 different libraries.  As I see it, I could have worse addictions.

Like say...baking.

My favorite of my current batch is, for sure, Babycakes by Erin McKenna.

As you can see from the cover, it's a cookbook with "Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery".  Truth be told, the picture of the cupcakes drew me in.  The fact that the recipes are somewhat healthy?  All the better.

This may be the first cookbook I've read from cover to cover.  The photography is beautiful, the subject matter enticing, the writing & anecdotes entertaining and the recipes are totally different than anything I usually bake.  But I'm up for the challenge.

Whereas we don't (currently) have any wheat or dairy allergies in our house, stocking the pantry to try out some of Erin's delectable sounding recipes has been an adventure in itself.  I did have agave nectar, but had never even heard of and/or seen ingredients such as coconut oil, garbanzo-fava bean flour and xanthan gum.  After trips to both Ocean State Job Lot (they have nice selection of Bob's Red Mill products at closeout prices) and Whole Foods, I was armed with enough ingredients to attempt the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe on page 68. 

Despite a few issues with the coconut oil (mine was solid, it works much better as a liquid--as I found out for batch #2), the cookies turned out to be...delicious.  As in better than Toll House.  Crispy on the edges and chewy in the center.  Mmmm.  The proof for me that the cookies were really good was that 2 of the 4 other members of our household also approved.  I'm so happy that Ebby is eating flax meal now ;-).

I'm still gathering (and now even replenishing) ingredients, hopefully I'll have everything I need to make the vanilla frosting for the cookie sandwiches very soon.  Oh, and the cupcakes.  Mustn't forget about the gingerbread.  It all sounds soooo good.

Even if I never make another recipe out of this book again, I'm going to treasure Erin's recipe for homemade applesauce.  It involves roasting Granny Smith apples, agave nectar and...hot water.  Hands down, the best applesauce I've ever had.

I must say, I highly recommend this book--no matter whether food allergies are an issue or not.  Unfortunately, my copy is due tomorrow at the library. I may have to renew it--or better yet, buy my own copy.

Tastes of Savannah

Yes, another Savannah post.
You know you love them ; )

Over the 4 days we were in Savannah, we sampled a kaleidoscope of different foods.
Morrocan on Friday night, Southern food at Mrs. Wilkes on Monday, ice cream at Leopold's, and even a cupcake (or two...).

When I thought about it, I found that 3 flavors stood out as being the 'signature' flavors of my trip:  peach, pecan and honey.

#1 Peach
Not surprising, since Georgia's nickname is the Peach state.  The first food I had in Savannah (at the aptly named smooth) was a Savannah Sunrise smoothie, a delicious blend of pear, apricot, mango and of course, peaches.  It totally hit the spot.

#2 Pecan
Another big Georgia export and one of my favorite nuts.  I sampled some pecan pralines along the river (warm, buttery and oh so good) and at afternoon tea on Saturday one of the cake slices was topped with a pecan half dipped in chocolate and mounted on a dried apricot.  Hmmm, my mouth is watering.  My most defining pecan dish was a baked sweet potato topped with cinnamon butter and pecans at the Express Bakery and Cafe.  Sublime.

#3  Honey
This one was a bit unexpected. I did have the Savannah Bee Company store on my list of places to visit.  I just didn't know how good is was going to... bee : )
Artisanal honey in so many unique and varied flavors--and a honey bar where you could sample several of them including Tupelo, Sourwood, Black Sage and Orange Blossom.  Then they had the so-called dessert honeys:  Creamed Raspberry and Winter White.  So, so delicious.  Finally they had a plate with honeycomb, Granny Smith apples and sharp cheese.  Again, heavenly.
Conviently, they sell 3oz jars of honey, perfect for your carry-on luggage.  It took me a while to decide between the Winter White and the Creamed Raspberry.  I finally chose the Winter White (after a couple of follow-up sample tastes...).  What I should've done is trashed my tube of travel toothpaste and bought both!  Oh well, there's always mail order...
But the best taste of honey I had, and indeed my tastiest memory of my whole Savannah sojourn, was the SCAD/Savannah Bee Honey Almond  ice cream at Leopold's.  To. Die. For.
Truly.   

So there you have it, Jen's Tastes of Savannah.  Nothing from Paula Deen,  nothing fried, not even any grits.  Of course if you go, you should certainly try all of that fare. And then head over to Leopold's for some Honey Almond to clear your palette!

 

Yarn, Birds & Starbucks

I am not particularly a fan of Starbucks.  Mostly because I don't drink coffee.
 I don't seek Starbucks out, have to stop there every single time I leave the house, or have a wallet full of Starbucks gift cards (BGD...).  And I don't own stock in Starbucks (BGD, again).
There are some things I do like at Starbucks though.  The glazed lemon loaf, the collage-style artwork on the walls, the free stickers.  And then there are the holiday decorations.
They always the coolest decorations.  Last year they had the curled paper trees (I'm still hoping to make one of those someday).  This year's theme:  birds and yarn.
At least that's what I took away from it.  So yummy and striking that I got out of the car so I could take some pictures with my phone.  Very Anthropologie meets...Starbucks. 
Hey, that's not a bad idea.  Starbucks should start a line of home decor products.  They could sell them in their stores.  Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
Maybe I'd better head over to the Starbucks website and tell them my great idea.  Then they could hire me to be a part time visual merchandising apprentice.
Or maybe I could just put the yarn ball & ornament ball  wreath project on my to do list.

On second thought, does anybody know where all the old Starbucks holiday decorations go?  It's not like they re-use them or anything.  Gotta keep it fresh.  Do they have an annual warehouse sale  in Seattle?? Maybe Craig's List? 

So many questions.  So many other things to do ; )

{Don't forget about the giveaway, deadline is tomorrow at 3pm.  See the post from 12/2!}

Izze at the beach

We both had a very nice time.

Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

Welcome to my Sunday afternoon tea party!  Sweet Little Miss Crafty (Juliet)  is hosting a 3 day tea party over on her Altered Art Appreciation Society blog.  She made the most adorable invitation so really, how could I refuse? 
My tea party this afternoon is somewhat of a hybrid--real cupcakes and paper mache tea set.  As soon as I read Juliet's invitation I started thinking about making something out of paper mache.  I picked up 2 tea cups and 2 saucers at the 50% thrift store sale and used them as bases.  I had some help early in the week from Ebby and her friend.  They each covered a saucer with Vaseline (for easy release) and then glue & water soaked newspaper.  I was in charge of the cups and the teapot.  The teapot started as a pink balloon.  We didn't do too many layers of newspaper, as evidenced by the wonky, warped nature of the tea set.  I must say though--I like it.  Especially the way the tea pot lid is all curled up on itself.
Decorating the paper mache was, of course, the best part.  Followed closely by decorating the cupcakes (sure, the mix and frosting are store bought but I didn't watch Martha's Cupcake Week for nothing!).  First I gessoed all the pieces, then painted with regular acrylic craft paint.  I freehanded the swirl design on the teapot and saucer.  The dots on the tea cups are punched out of cardstock.  I also went dot crazy with my black Stickles for a touch of sparkle.  Speaking of sparkle, I love how the pipe cleaner handles turned out!  Silver was the only color of pipe cleaner I had in the house and my refusal to go to Michael's when I have an entire room full of craft supplies, dictated that I use them.    My little surprise is the pair of wee birds peeking out from the bottom of the teacups (also had them on hand).  The final touch was cutting out the letters and placing the words on each object.  I love those letters, they're from a  1940s children's magazine.
So here we are, my tea set and me holding down the fort in my studio.  I'm just waiting for some lovely little girls to come by to drink some tea and nibble on pink sugared cupcakes...

Art at the Airport

Last week when I was dropping my mom off at the airport for her flight  home, I came across some cool doodle art at Starbucks inside the main (ok, only) terminal.  For whatever reason, I had my camera so I was able to snap a few pictures.
I don't like coffee but I do enjoy the art and graphic design at Starbucks.
Maybe if I keep up  my art journal and invest in an Italian dictionary, my next job could be as a Starbucks barista/doodler.

Hmmm....

Holy Whole Foods, Batman!

Whole Foods Market opened up at the Derby Shoppes in Hingham before we moved to North Carolina.  However I never made it through the doors while we lived in Massachusetts.  This is at least our 5th trip back to Hingham since 2005 and prior to tonight, I'd still never made it inside.

However, this evening while Bubbe had the children occupied in the children's section of Barnes & Noble (love that place), I was able to sneak away and browse.  After a few other stops, I finally did walk through the Whole Foods doors at 8:44pm.  It smelled so fresh.  And good.  And expensive.  And special.  I perused up and down a few aisles, briefly considered buying some bulk dried lemon rind, and eventually ended up in the bakery section.

Oh.  My.  SoMuchGoodness!!  It was beautiful!  The delights in the bakery case didn't so much make me hungry as got me thinking 'eye candy red alert'.  Good thing I had my camera.  If you've been there before, these photos may not be a big deal.  But for me, it was like I was finally admitted into a secret club--The Whole Foods Bakery.

And I'm sure I won't have to twist the kids' arms to get them to go back there with me to actually taste a few of the wonderful treats.  For the photo ops of course.  Solely for the photo ops...

Mmmmm, good!

I came across a recipe for Homemade Oreos on Smitten Kitchen the other day and decided to make them as a post production treat for Ebby (and the boys) after her final High School Musical performance.  Other than the fact that I made them a tad large (no complaints about that though...), I followed the recipe and got 3 thumbs up from my taste testers. You can also use the cookies to make homemade ice cream sandwiches.You know, to cool off the kitchen after you heat it up from all the baking...
The recipe is from Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman and can be found here .
Happy Baking--and yes, I'm sure my neighbors thought I was quite odd carrying a camera and a tower of cookies out onto my deck just to take a picture.

Strawberry Goodness

What do you get when you take three overzealous first time strawberry pickers to Patterson Farm?
12 quarts of strawberries!
And what do you do with (a few of) them?
Make a sure-to-be delicious baked treat for your coworkers at preschool, of course.

Strawberry  Almond Bread

1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
2t. cinnamon
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Chop apprx. 2 c. fresh strawberries into small pieces and then puree in a blender.
To the dry  mixture, add:
pureed strawberries
2 eggs (or 1/2c. egg substitute)
2/3 c. canola oil
Mix until just combined. 
Chop up an additional 1/2c. of strawberries and gently fold them into the batter.
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine:
1/4c. sliced almonds
2t. sugar
1/2t. cinnamon
Sprinkle on top of batter. 
Bake 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cool & Enjoy!