black forest

so. . .

my apologies for being off the grid for awhile. i know i drop off the earth periodically, but this time i have a pretty good excuse: sam and i bought a bakery in the berkshires, and for the last month i've been working 16 hours a day or more, seven days a week. now that summer is coming to an end, and lots of the second-homers are heading out of our part of the beautiful country and back to the real world, business has calmed down a bit and today i was able to sleep in for the first time in weeks, and i'm currently sitting on a couch in a small cottage on a lake, eating homemade blueberry pie for breakfast and taking in a sex and the city marathon.

i honestly don't even know where to begin. sam and i have been talking about opening our own place forever, but everything happened so quickly once we actually got to looking that i really didn't even have time to stop and think about it. we stumbled upon the place on our way home from quebec city in june - a cute little cafe & bakery in northwest connecticut, owned by a husband and wife who wanted to retire - and by the time we got back from our trip to champaign and chicago, we had two weeks to quit my job, pack our apartment, find a place up here and file more paperwork than you can believe. and once we arrived, we really hit the ground running - the place has a full staff, and was running the day we took over, so we didn't have the luxury of a few days to get set up, find our sea legs and make even minor changes. we've been working 100+ hour weeks, making changes as we're able, and basically making it up as we go along. it's more work than i ever could have imagined.

and you know what? it's an absolute dream come true.

first of all, i can't believe how lucky i am to have a guy who will put everything he's dreamed of for himself aside to give me everything i've ever wanted. of course, there's plenty in it for him too - we're staying in a cottage right on the lake, with a dock leading out the back and mountains and trees filling the windows of our glassed-in porch. it's funny - when we first met, sam had a travel job and i worked much of the weekend, so we barely got any time together; now we spend every moment of the day with each other, and it's honestly one of the best parts of my new life. we've always gotten along so well, and effortlessly, and now we get to share everything with each other - it's pretty amazing. then there's the fact that i get to do what i love all day, every day - and make every decision about what to make, how it should look, what the special should be and what should go up on the walls. the people up here are friendly, and it is such an insanely beautiful place.

we have a long way to go to get the place where we want it - the pastries i've changed over for the most part, but the breakfast and lunch menu, the decor, and even the name will all probably change bit by bit. we've accomplished so much in the first 40 days, and people have been so encouraging and kind about the changes we're making - i think it's going to be a pretty awesome little spot.

so - forgive my lengthened silence, and the probably-abstruse nature of this post - i'm hoping things are cooling down a bit, business-wise, as the fall rolls in, and i'll have more time to update this blog and get something up and going for the bakery, too. in the meantime, i'll throw up a few photos i took a couple weeks in - entirely gratuitous food porn and nothing of the bakery, or the town, but i'll do my best to carry my camera around more frequently and throw some more substantial photos up soon.

thanks for hanging in there with me!

xo audrey

birthday feast

hi hi! i missed blogging yesterday - one of those days i just couldn't find the time to squeeze it in - so a happy belated birthday to my love, sam, who turned 29 yesterday. smooches.

knowing that i work during the week, and usually don't get home until 7 pm or later, i decided to make him a big birthday dinner sunday night to celebrate. so considering his birthday dinner was on the 7th and his birthday gift (tickets to tUnEyArDs in manhattan on september 19th [get yours here]) is 43 days later, that's a lot of birthday. lucky man.

as i mentioned in the last post, sam likes his food with more food on top of it, and then maybe a side of food stuffed with food. so i tried to push my own preferences aside and make a meal that he (well, okay, we) would really enjoy. i settled upon a chilled soup, a ceviche, and a roasted chicken - all things, coincidentally, that i think he either hadn't tried or wouldn't eat when i met him two years ago, sweet, innocent vegetarian that he was. times, they are a-changin'.

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savory chilled peach soup with bacon



(based off a recipe i found here.)

**note: i thought this was good, but it didn't knock my socks off. i think you have to be pretty into the sweet/savory contrast, which i definitely am, but adding the cold element to it was maybe one step too bizarre. that said, i still really enjoyed it, but i think sam did a little less. just in case you're thinking of making it for your new in-laws or something. maybe test it first.**

6-8 ripe peaches, peeled (mine were small, farmers market peaches, so i used 8)
about 4 ounces plain yogurt (half a container)
1/2 - 1 cup milk
1/4 cup sweet white wine
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 t smoked paprika

garnish: 1/2 peach, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 strips bacon, baked in the oven until crispy
chiffonade of basil, mache, sage, or another herb

place the peaches in a food processor and blend until they are pretty smooth; add milk until it is nearly the consistency you want in the soup. add yogurt. add wine. add cayenne & paprika. place in a container and let it chill for at least an hour.

to serve: crumble the bacon on top, add peaches, and finish with greens. voila! i think our peaches weren't the best, so that played a part - the flavor of the soup itself was a bit flat. next time i might try roasting the peaches first with some honey and herbs. still, we both cleaned our bowls, so it wasn't bad!



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spicy scallop ceviche




3/4 lb fresh bay scallops
1 peach
1 jalepeño
1 red onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
1 lime
salt to taste
tortilla or plantain chips, for serving

dice all fruit & veggies into small cubes; reserve the lime. (scrape the cherry tomatoes of their seeds and juice, as much as possible.) place them in a bowl and cut the lime in half and squeeze all its juice over the diced veggies. cut the scallops into small cubes and add to the mixture; mix well, ensuring that the scallops are covered with lime juice. add salt and cover; refrigerate for at least two hours. the scallops will go from being a kind of translucent beige to a very opaque white when ready. serve with chips.






this was SO GOOD. light, cold and crisp; perfect for a mid-summer dish. i only served us little glasses, but we had a whole tupperware leftover and i pretty much ate it all with a spoon for dinner the next day.

and finally, the crown jewel of dinner: stuffed cornish game hens. sam loves almost nothing in life more than a good roasted chicken (that "almost" reserved not for me, mind you, but for any kind of fishing,) but i wanted to do something a little more fancy; these were a perfect compromise. i improvised a stuffing out of things we had lying around, and they turned out really, incredibly delicious - succulent, crispy in all the right places and really bursting with flavor.

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bacon & apple stuffed cornish game hens with crispy potatoes




2 cornish game hens
3 strips of bacon (i used this really tasty uncured stuff we got at the farmers' market saturday)
1 apple
about 1/2 baguette, crust removed & torn into bite sized pieces
about 2 ounces of mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces (i used oyster mushrooms)
2 T butter, melted
salt & pepper
about 1/2 lb potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes (i used purple potatoes 'cuz that's what we had lyin' around)

preheat oven to 350. cut bacon into 1 inch strips, then start it in the pan; once it starts to brown, and fat is rendering off, add the mushrooms and cook until they're browned and soft. remove from heat; stir in bread; dice & add apple. set aside.

i used a roasting pan, like this one found at crate and barrel [thanks kenji! wedding presents are the best] because i was doing 2 birds instead of one; it also allowed me to place the potatoes underneath the rack, so that all the drippings would fall on to them. but i'm getting ahead of myself.

stuff the birds as full as you can of stuffing. i managed to get all of it inside of them, with a bit spilling out the top; any that fell out was just added to the potato mix, so it was all deliciously good. brush the birds liberally on both sides with butter; sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper. with potatoes underneath, place the birds on the rack and pour a splash of liquid in with the potatoes; i used wine, because it was handy (don't hate) but water or any stock would work, too. or beer! whatever. liquid. not milk.

roast the birds at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, then crank the heat to 400 and cook until they look good, crispy and brown - about another half hour or so. take them out and let them rest for ten minutes or so before serving. for my beer-loving man, i'd picked up a growler of local heffeweisen, which i served alongside.







tender, juicy, delicious. the potatoes had a chickeny, bacony flavor and were crispy on the outside but practically burst when you bit into them. it was hot and heavy, to be sure, but i think that's appropriate for sam's first birthday dinner as my husband (or, as someone referred to him when wishing him a happy birthday, mr. dettmar.)

more from me tomorrow! my camera battery is dead and i can't find my charger anywhere, so wish me luck! and i hope to see some of you at rebecca minkoff tonight! i'm wearing bright red and shoes that i'll be more surprised if i do NOT sprain my ankle in. say hello.

xo audrey

mush

hi everyone!

sorry for my absence. i've been cursed with a wicked cold for the last few days, which hasn't knocked me totally flat but has bestowed me with that crusty-dry-over-blown-nose syndrome and some seriously sleepy eyes, so i've opted to sleep in rather than attempt a cute outfit for the last couple of days. instead, today, i thought i'd do something i don't generally do, and write a little bit about the night sam and i met.



it wasn't so long ago, actually - september 1, 2009. i was about to graduate from culinary school and getting ready to move to chicago; i was feeling really great about life, about myself, about being single. it was a tuesday, and i'd attended a make-up class that evening - it's so funny how you look back and think, "man, if i hadn't been such a slacker and missed that one class, i never would have met the man of my dreams." (yes, if the title of this post didn't give it a way, this is going to be a post full of ucky-love-stuff.) after class i decided to traipse over to my friend kt's apartment, and called to let her know, and she warned me that her husband had a friend over, a guy he'd known since high school. "maybe you'll like him, though," she said. not likely, i thought.

they were on the roof when i got there, and when i stepped out i was greeted by striking green eyes on an almost too-handsome face - oh, this guy was SO not my type. i decided he was probably too good-looking to not be full of himself, and promptly ignored him. after awhile, though, talking to my friend while half-listening to his conversation, i noticed that he was controlling the music, and kept playing stuff i loved: april march, beirut, and so on. and he was FUNNY. like, really, exactly-my-annoying-kind-of-sarcastic funny. fueled my a few glasses of white wine, i finally turned to say something to him (if i remember correctly, in fact, to make fun of him for being vegetarian,) and the rest, as they say, is history. we talked for hours, me laughing hard enough for it to register in the top 3 workouts of my life, and my poor friend, who is an early-to-bed, early-to-riser, kept getting pleading looks from me to pleeease stay up another half hour so i could bask in the presence of this guy. i remember at about 1 in the morning feeling like i suddenly woke up - i'd been totally in this zone, so comfortable with him it was like being with myself, and i'd managed to consume the better part of a bottle of wine. time to go. i stood up suddenly, said goodnight, and left without a real goodbye to him (in fact falling down the stairs in the process.) my friend followed me to the door and said, "what WAS that? i've never seen you like that with anyone before. does that happen to you a lot?" and i replied, dazed, something like "no. never," and left to walk home. all the way, the flaming lips song, "suddenly, everything has changed," rang through my head.

the next day i came back to kt's and shyly mentioned that i thought her husband's friend was cute. "good," she said, "because i already gave him your number."

and the rest, as they say, is history. i turned down a job in chicago, lost a deposit on an apartment in the ukranian village, and got a place in brooklyn instead; two months after that, he asked me to be his bride. of course, i said yes.

and one month from tomorrow, i get to say i do.



no more mush from me - i promise, tomorrow, to be back to the regularly scheduled programming.

** photos by the beautiful, incredibly talented, and ridiculously sweet jessica pernikoff.

les queues de sardines

well, yesterday i woke up too late to take photos, and today i had my tripod all set and realized that my camera had been switched to 'on' all night long and, subsequently, died. so once again no outfit today; and i ate leftover chinese food, so no food post, either. what i DO have is this incredible tights brand that an old friend from chicago sent me over the weekend and i have been ogling ever since.








they are hard to find in the states; the websites that carry them here only seem to carry a style or two, and those are often sold out. your best bet, i think, is to check out enigmatic smile - they're based in the UK but have free international shipping, so you may be able to convince yourself it's a reasonable idea.

have a wonderful friday, and enjoy your weekend! sam and i plan on stealing away to connecticut to meet with wedding vendors and relax in the comfort of a real house, complete with tv and washer/dryer. what are you guys doing, anything exciting?

until next time,

xo audrey

warmi

oh, be still my heart. whilst stumbling around the interwebs this past week, i happened upon a little french e-shop called warmi. all i can say is, ooh la la. if they weren't so out of my price range they would be in my closet! a little eye candy:





no outfit post today; i woke up too late to lean against any furniture. i do hope to do a little cooking, and ttft - i will try to post that goat cheese pasta recipe tonight, all the photos are on my little macbook at home.

i'm no fool, and i know that many, if not most, of the comments on my kohls post are meant as entries to win a gift card and nothing more, but i'm very touched by many of the sentiments and since stupid blogspot doesn't have a comment response function, i'm-a try to respond to people either in posts or on your blog, if you have one. thanks for all the kind words, everyone, and best of luck!

xo audrey

disembaudrey'd

last night was, hopefully, the last of coming home and sitting down to work. i've got about 4 more invitations to stuff, but i ran out of rsvp cards and envelopes last night, so i'm giving myself a little bit of a break and wrapping them up on saturday. i can't do one more night of takeout! tonight i have dinner plans with some friends to hit momofuku for the first time in quite a while, so i am fasting to make room for various kinds of pork and a couple glasses of wine.

j crew's fall lookbook is out, and i absolutely adore it. i'm more of a vintage girl at heart, but as a person who pretty much coats herself in color every day, j crew's bright hues and simple patterns are perfect to mix with the vintage pieces i love. here are some of my favorites: (you can see more here)





i am amused by the fact that many of the models bear a strong resemblance to jenna lyons. i am also realizing i should stop being such a dork about wearing my glasses and just do it. of course, these girls look much cooler in theirs than i do.

but anyway! my outfit for today, broken up into little pieces because i only got one photo that wasn't blurry. i REALLY have to figure out a better spot to take these.



i fell asleep on sam, watching the wire, with wet hair last night, so i had to do some urgent hair-spray and straightener work this morning. as a result my hair actually looks better than it ever has. go figure. this necklace was yet another florida thrift store find. i'll tell you what, florda = not so much for haute cuisine or nightlife, but a thrifter's dream!



this top is another thrifted find, this time up near sam's place in connecticut. the shorts are from a j crew outlet in new jersey.



tights are from HUE, in my favorite shade; these shoes - can you guess? - thrifted in florida. i wish the light in my place was better - they are incredible 60s gold shoes with little rhinestone embellishments. new favorites.

i suppose that's all from me today. i am plotting some major baking and cooking action for this weekend so i'll have something more exciting to post than me in clothes, which i am certainly bored of my now.

thanks for sticking with me, and i promise more soon!

xo audrey

l is for the way you look at me

good afternoon! i spent the first hour or so at the office repairing a co-worker's cashmere sweater, which had sprung quite the hole. he brought me a cute little sewing kit and looked at me with puppy dog eyes and asked if i could fix it, so i happily obliged. it's funny - i'm the only girl in an office full of 20-something boys, and probably the youngest one here, but i order the groceries and make the coffee and tidy up, and sitting at my desk darning his sweater this morning, i think i felt more like a mom than ever in my life.

but i'm here now! i started a tumblr yesterday (follow me and i'll follow you!) which somehow started me on a quest to find a girl whose wardrobe remix i became obsessed with on flickr a few years ago - i couldn't remember her name, and spent an embarassing amount of time googling things like "swedish vetrinary student" and "cute swedish fashion flickr" to find her, before finally going back to the earliest days of this very blog to find i'd posted about her right at the beginning: piksi. she's no longer active on flickr, which is a shame, but you can still find lots of her cute outfits if you google her, and my outfit for today was inspired by her. i wasn't thrilled with this photo (taken immediately post hair-fluff), but decided to use it, alongside this quote from another swedish beauty, elin: "This is what I look like today, but happy of course. It’s just that my smile never looks very natural when I take the pictures myself."





top: dress from dalaga
skirt: thrifted, vintage united colors of bennetton
tights: c/o stylefind
shoes: vintage, thrifted
brooch: my grandma's old clip on earring
belt: thrifted
purse: thrifted

after spending most of my last week planning and cooking elaborate meals, my return to brooklyn has been a sad snap back to reality. when i worked at the bakery, i was always home by 4:30 pm, and being around food all day i'd spend much of my morning mentally preparing that evening's dinner as i whisked egg whites or sifted flour. now that i have a normal-person job again, my wardrobe is rejoicing, but my whisking arms ache to be used. it's just an adjustment, i guess; i get home much later now, more like 7 or 7:30, so i need to change my cooking style to be a little less, well, involved. no more do i really have time to make pasta from scratch for dinner that evening, or marinate pork belly for that supper's ramen. planning ahead is key, or just keeping it simple. on top of that, though, i've come home for the last few nights to a mess of envelopes, ribbons and cards on the table - my wedding invitations, not yet completed, have occupied my hands for the last two evenings instead of a wooden spoon or chef's knife. i'm hoping tonight i'll be able to lick my last stamp and copy my last address and be done with them, and back to fixing my man his dinner, but eating takeout the last two nights has been rough. okay, i'll stop complaining.

tonight i'm hoping after popping all the invites in the mail, sam and i will celebrate by seeing a movie. i'm thinking 8 women.

happy hump day!

xo audrey