Summer Essential: The Tote

i. the original flea by fleabags 

ii. w.m.j. mills classic tote 

 iii. angela adams and sea bags, j. crew  

iv. bamboula ltd market tote, madewell

v. biarrtiz linen tote, theodora & callum

Pizza Perfection c/o Gwyneth Paltrow

I first started making pizza about a year ago, relying first on Mark Bittman's recipe in How To Cook Everything and then this past winter I started using the pizza recipe found in Baking Illustrated. Both books had really clear instructions that were perfect for a beginner, and, as they are essentially the same recipe (the only difference is in the measurements; one yields more dough than the other), I wouldn't necessarily recommend one over the other.

But in the dozen or so times I've made pizza, there was always something missing. I knew that whatever was missing could take the pizza from really good to fantastico, and I was pretty sure that it was in the crust, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. That is, until I came across Gwyneth's Goop newsletter on making pizza. All this time I thought maybe it just needed more garlic or different herbs. Nope. What's been missing? Sugar.

So last night, after adding 1.5 tbsp of organic cane sugar to my regular recipe and using Gwyneth's recipe for tomato sauce, I made the perfect margarita pizza.

You can always tell if a pizza is good if even the simplest of toppings makes for a transformative eating experience. With some good mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and fresh basil, this pizza brought me back to Italy. Now all I need is to get my hands on an ice cream maker and make this - it will almost be as good as a trip to Italy...

For G.P.'s pizza sauce and instructions visit GOOP's Newsletter on Pizza

More Sunny Treats

We used to make popsicles when we were kids, but it mainly consisted of us pouring root beer or fruit juice into popsicle molds and then pretending we weren't disappointed halfway through consuming our icy treats.  The flavour never lasted more than two sucks and then we were essentially left with an ice cube on a stick.

Something tells me these recipes won't disappoint. I was walking home in the heat (!) and stopped into the magazine store to get some gum where I happened to crack open the newest issue of Bon Appetit. Gwyneth is on the cover looking perfect as always, but the two features that caught my eye was one on crostini, and one on frozen desserts featuring a beautiful layered semi-freddo and several recipes for popsicles, including this one:

Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops

(makes 8-10)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 4 cups sliced peeled ripe peaches (about 4 medium), or 16 ounces frozen sliced peaches, thawed
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup Greek-style yogurt
• 2 tablespoons amaretto (optional)

Preparation

• Place sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Transfer syrup to a small bowl; chill. Discard vanilla bean.
• Purée syrup and peaches in a food processor until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium pitcher; strain, pressing on solids to extract about 2 1/4 cups purée. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Divide among molds. Cover; insert ice-pop sticks. Freeze until firm. Dip bottoms of molds into hot water for 20-30 seconds to loosen pops. Remove pops from molds and serve.

Recipe + image via June 2011 issue of Bon Appetit (click for more tasty recipes for frozen popsicles (like honeydew and lime!) and granitas)

Blackberry Honey Yogourt Pops

(makes 8-10)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 6-ounce containers fresh blackberries (3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt (preferably organic)
• 5 teaspoons honey
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

• 1 ice pop mold (preferably with cover) for 10 pops (each about 1/3- to 1/2-cup capacity)
• 10 ice pop sticks or lollipop sticks

Preparation

• Bring 2/3 cup water and sugar to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Transfer simple syrup to small bowl and chill until cold, about 1 hour.
• Place blackberries in processor; puree until smooth. Pour blackberry puree into strainer set over medium bowl. Using rubber spatula, press on solids to extract as much puree as possible. Discard seeds in strainer. Measure 2 cups blackberry puree and place in another medium bowl for pops (reserve any remaining puree for another use). Add chilled simple syrup, yogurt, honey, and lemon juice to puree; whisk to blend.

• Divide mixture among 10 molds (each about 1/3- to 1/2-cup capacity). Top with mold cover, if available, and insert stick into each. (If cover is not available, cover top of mold with plastic wrap, pulling taut; freeze until partially frozen, then insert stick into center of plastic wrap and into pop mixture in each.) Freeze pops until firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Dip bottom of mold into hot water 10 to 15 seconds to loosen pops. Remove pops from molds and serve.

Recipe + image via August 2010 Bon Appetit

There are so many popsicle molds on the market right now, but I especially love this 

stainless steel model from Onyx!

Sunny Treats

Sunday morning we got a bit of a surprise - it was hot AND the sun was out. Both in the same day; we hardly knew what to do with ourselves.  So we bought some coconut milk and a bunch of strawberries, lemons and limes and made strawberry lemonade (spiked with vodka and triple sec...) and strawberry coconut milk ice cream and spent the better part of the afternoon on the back deck.

Recipe & image via fitsugar.com

Ice cream

* 1 16 oz. can of lite coconut milk

* 1 cup strawberries

* 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

* pinch white stevia*

Optional toppings: chocolate sauce, coconut, walnuts, almonds, dried fruit, flax…

*note: if you don’t like stevia, replace with 4 medjool dates or 2 tbsp of agave nectar and blend with the rest of the ingredients.

DIRECTIONS

To make the ice cream:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.
2. Pour into 2 freezer safe bowls and place in the freezer for at total of 1.5-2 hours, removing every 30 minutes to whisk so that it doesn't set into an ice cube.
3. When it gets to a soft serve ice cream consistency it's done!

Tromple l'Oeil

Denim as art?  

When I first saw this image on The Coveteur's website, I thought it was a really cool work of abstract art. Turns out I was way off. They're vintage jeans haphazardly arranged in a heap, but the effect is quite attractive. 

The Tuxedo Cookie

That's kind of a lie. The only things these tuxedos have in common with the cookie I made this weekend is that they're black and white, and easy to pull off with the right ingredients. 

The Tuxedo:

sharp tailoring and a hot pair of shoes

(source)

The Cookie:
flour, sugar, butter, and a tall glass of (almond) milk

Homemade Oreos

Recipe and image via Smitten Kitchen


Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

*Warning - these cookies are so delicious that you will be asked to make them again and again. They're simple enough to make that this won't be a problem. And also, they provide a really good base to play around with flavours, which is a bonus in my books (chocolate biscuit with lime or coconut icing, espresso cookies with ice cream instead of icing...).

--------

I like that ties have become a thing lately. The other day we were perusing a line of ties that this guy makes from vintage sourced fabrics and sells online and wishing that we could incorporate them into our wardrobe. He bases his designs on deconstructed vintage ties, and they're such works of art and craftsmanshp that I would easily never wear a necklace again if I could trade them in for these beauties.

Chloe Sevigny and Freida Pinto at the MET Gala

Take Me To The Riviera

The recent buzz and press from the Cannes Film Fest has inspired a bit of French Riviera wishful-thinking...that, and I just started reading Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is set in the 20s and begins on a beach "halfway between Marseilles and the Italian border." 

Were starlet Rosemary Hoyt to be transported to the beaches of the French Riviera today (or better still, were I to be), here's what I envision her to strut the Croisette in:

silk and linen cropped jacket, jaeger. blue cropped shirt, miss selfridge. rolled hem scarf, lauren by ralph lauren. whistlestop sandal, madewell. deacon fine-twill cropped pant, elizabeth and james. bamboula ltd market tote, madewell. super (tm) sunglasses, blonde havanna, madewell. dazzling nailpolish, chanel. bonjour tristesse, francoise sagan. 

image via polyvore