lets start over

so, i finally started following my sisters blog (she is a brilliant, talented artist and has an amazing store on etsy and has been featured on martha stewart, the today show and on and on....so proud). you must check out her blog fringe, it features her work and her inspiration.

anyway, i was looking at her links and found this great image. it is like a clean canvas that needs no paint. i think i will rip everything off the walls tonight and start painting......white on white. check out this other amazing blog where i found this image (2 or 3 things). i'm gonna follow starting now.

simpleton meets edible

first and foremost this photo was taken today, the day before thanksgiving and i already have the pies done and it is only 3pm. everything is a bit too smooth, something must be lurching in future that will put me back in hyper mode, but for now i am feeling in control for tomorrows gathering

my goal this year was to have a easy, simple, low prep, edible table top. the containers are full of sage, rosemary and sage (smells amazing). i will slice the lemons tomorrow to add additional fragrance and set a few cracked pomegranates in the mix somewhere too.

the great thing about the edible table top is that you can eat it is all recyclable... and some of my favorite fruits and herbs.

sorry about all the photo's in the dining room recently....i'm getting stale and need to step up my game.

gobble, gobble to you.

instant holiday $7.99

at wholefoods! getting ready to host a crowd for dinner on thursday and trying to keep it simple this year with the decorating.

wholefoods has these little, fresh wreaths with berries, small pine cones and a variety of fir, pine for only $7.99. i should have bought one for every door in the apt. darn.

this is really an instant holiday presence for a bargain. bowl is from ikea for $5.99 and antlers collected for either free or under $20.00.

now i have to figure out the table. going all natural this year...everything will be edible, but that's all i know right now. more to come....

ps...they have these amazing local eucalyptus wreaths, with all the varieties.... including green berries for only 29.99. not holly hobby, country kitchen type..i swear. i just didn't see them until i finished paying. and there was no way i was getting back into that line on saturday morning at 11.

unionmade

a former gap inc major marketing talent (todd barket) decided to march to the beat of his own drum and open a great men's lifestyle dry goods shop in the castro near dolores park , called unionmade.
i've been hunkering for the "soft" opening date and yesterday it was. for lack of a better reference, i have to say it reminded me of RRL in its focus, sensibility and classic fashion, but unionmade is more approachable and broad in its selection.
i'm heading back soon to to see if todd will let me take some shots of the amazing interior.
i will now take a moment to assess the damage done at unionmade yesterday....lets just say it was a good day.
congrats todd.

phase 2 (persimmon)

well, the persimmons started falling off their branches, BUT they were not soft or rotting. i just changed it up a bit and took them out of the vase, but the fruit off the branches and piled them in this old iron vessel. i know, the leaves are all dried up, but they are a good filler. organic/compost inspired!!


phase 2 has begun and i kind of like this arrangement just as much as phase 1-- the branches in a vase (see previous post from last week).

fall = eating and packing

as in packing on the lbs. i do not have a favorite season, as i love them all (especially here in sf.....usually between 60 - 80 year round...dreamy), but fall produce and spices really welcome us into the holiday seasons and time and home....and hibernating. cinnamon, nutmeg, pears, dates, apples.....

anyway, 2 fall favorites:

pear, apple and cherry cobbler with oatmeal crumble (Ina of course). delish..

sauteed dates: easy...just put 1 to 1 1/2 table spoons of olive oil into a saute pan.
1) heat on medium until the oil starts to pop a little
2) then place the dates flat in the pan and press them down a few times until each one sizzles
3) leave them on this side for 4 minutes or so (make sure you turn one over and see if it is browned a little) then turn them over, sprinkle course sea salt over them and let them sit for about 2 minutes, turn them over one more time and sprinkle that side with sea salt as well and remove from heat. yum....

this is for my friends in Hong Kong who want to see what the "crumble" looks like. this is for you Ruby and Venus. you are a good excuse to blog

made these both the weekend before last for a picnic/octoberfest in our garden patch with friends

big and bright

talk about painting a ceiling white. this is just the architectural circumstance i am talking about, when a white ceiling works. i try to imagine this ceiling natural wood and it suddenly takes me to a lodge in sun valley idaho, but when painted i could be anywhere in the country or city.

simpleton sensations

the simpler, the cleaner the better. i was browsing apartment therapy and found a link to my new obsession, london based furniture design firm Pinch.
you must check this out when you have a spare moment. the sofa's are dreamy too....

late to the party

aside from literally being a bit late to an octoberfest party last weekend, i am totally late to the party when it comes to cheese presentations like this.
our friends sarah and mike (host's of octoberfest party and fellow city garden patch partners), had this great little cheese plate. they used some art pad paper and just wrote down the different varieties of cheeses. i know, i have seen this somewhere before, but never used this technique myself. sarah totally gets it and i'm on board for my next cheese plate.
well, what they didn't get was that i walked out of the party with this little souvenir that has to be framed and hung in the pantry.
can't beat organic artwork that is free. :o)

caving in to color

i know, i have been the advocate of many different aesthetics, including the neutral pallet. well, i do cave in once in a blue moon (blue...hee, hee).
found this chair at gypsy honeymoon 8+ months ago ($100.00), i couldnt turn down the golden fabric, rich dark wood and brass nail heads at that price. (does it look ggma to you/great grandma)
back to the purpose of this posting. the persimmon branches!! i must have been a good person last week because i came home to this amazing bunch of branches...loaded with fruit. apparently they will last through thanksgiving. will keep you posted on that one.

additional found objects at a bargain price: real leather patch pillow = $10.00 found in 2001 in seattle, butter churn jar (used for large vase) = $20.00 found in 2007 san francisco.