lemon and fresh cranberry scones

adapted from a smitten kitchen recipe available here ...

ingredients :

2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (2-3 lemons worth)
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c + 3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter (sliced into thick bits)
1 1/4 c (or so) fresh cranberries chopped
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 c heavy cream
lots of extra flour for patting and cutting dough

directions :

1. preheat oven to 400
2. in a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 c sugar, baking powder
salt, butter + zest until it resembles a coarse meal. x-fer
to a large bowl.
3. in a separate bowl mix cranberries and sugar, then combine
with flour mealy mixture.
4. in a small bowl lightly beat egg + egg yolk - then stir in
cream.
5. add egg mixture to flour/cranberry mixture and stir till
combined.

6. on a WELL floured surface with WELL floured hands pat dough
into a 1” thick round - us a 2” round cutter or edged +
floured glass to cut scones from dough. continue until all
dough is used
7. place 1” apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for
15-20 minutes.

drats

{piñata made by confetti system found via oh joy!}

we are having a new year's party at our house and there is totally going to be a piñata involved ... i am so incredibly excited. but then as i was wandering around aimlessly to the various blogs that had been ignored by myself over the past few days i stumbled upon THESE!!!!!!! damn, why did i have to find them two days before the party? ah well. it is better because mas might have had his doubts about a little something hanging from a string that is meant to be beaten to smithereens costing what it does ... but it is just so pretty!

because you haven't had enough food in the past week

starting with the bread and then the rest of the recipes from our baskets will be trickling in over the next day or two. (oh and feel free to email me if you would like a copy of the recipe card)

ingredients :

1 packet of yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/4 c of warm water
4 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
2 1/2 c of bread flour (+ a bit more if needed)
1 c semolina flour
5 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and diced (about a cup)
2-3 c of sharp cheddar grated
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

directions :

1. mix together the yeast and warm water
2. mix melted butter, egg and buttermilk. add to yeast + water
3. add salt, sugar and bread flour - mix well. add semolina
flour - mix well. if dough is wet add 1/4 c bread flour.
4. place dough on floured surface and knead for 5-10 min
(until smooth)
5. form dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl,
cover and let rise until 2x in size (about 1 hr)


6. turn out dough on a floured surface and slowly knead in
the jalapenos and 2 - 2 1/2 c of cheese.
7. grease a bread pan, place 1/4 c at the bottom, place dough
in the pan, cover and let rise until 2x the size (abt 1 hr)
8. preheat the over to 350
9. remove cover from bread, take 1/4 c of cheese and sprinkle
on the top of the bread.
10. bake bread for 40-45 minutes on a center rack

and there you have it. some of the most wonderfully cheesy and most spectacular bread i have ever had. it makes a killer grilled cheese and then late night, or early morning i can be found toasting it and lathering on some boysenberry jelly. (oh an a side note you guys all know about poladroid right?!?! if not check it out ... like now .. like right now)

in the land of no rain a girl finds herself lusting after the most absurd

i live in a place where the skies are always blue (apparently even during the "rainy season") and the temperature very rarely dips below the 50's. so why then am i becoming more and more obsessed with the likes of galoshes and winter jackets and less than thrilled with flip flops and bathing suits? it is a true case of the grass is always greener syndrome. i mean really it is a good thing i lived in winter hell for the past four years or else i may not own a single bathing suit.

for those of you who happen to be somewhere out there where the weather is decidedly crummy here is a pair of shoes that might just lift your spirits ... or smash them (i'm sorry) as the boots come from japan and are not exactly easy to source.

{found here and read about here and then researched here}

and ok, i have ALWAYS had a thing for winter jackets ... so i guess that is just me.

happy christmas ... holidays

{photo from this flickr stream}

i'm breaking the chains between myself and my computer for the next couple of days in order to enjoy things like cooking with my husband and entertaining ourselves with the various insane light displays all over our neighborhood. (had i mentioned before that our neighbors blast christmas songs for about 4 hours every night? they have a light show coreagraphed to the music and everything. i won't be sad to see that go ...)

jess + todd

when i sent these pictures to a friend she responded with this sentence ...

jess' wedding was like this doris day, slightly mod (church), sophisticated (reception), twirly skirted, skinny tie fantasy.

as a surprise to no one, i am in love with her veil.

i am also kinda intrigued by the stained glass ...

and the vintage look and feel of this shot.


and the bridesmaids dresses are to twirl for ...



all pictures by melissa rudick photography, and as mentioned before the bride makes dresses, fabulous wonderful and amazing dresses available to see here and to buy here.

it was the scones ...

i was stuck in the kitchen yesterday finishing up our baskets. what i thought would only take and hour and half turned into a six hour flour, water and egg fest. then there was the wrapping, oh my ...

anyway the boxes are out and that means the wedding post is soon to come and then recipes will be trickling in over the next few days so come back soon and be prepared for some wonderful pictures and yummy food.

coming attractions

{wedding pictures by melissa rudick photography}

this is going to be a big week and i cannot wait. today we are finishing up our christmas goodies (jalapeno cheese bread, molasses lemon cookie sandwiches, cranberry lemon scones and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies - all recipes to come later) and hopefully getting them out the door tomorrow morning so they make it to their respective homes by christmas. but even more fun is the wedding that i will be posting bits from tomorrow. a lovely bride who made her bridesmaids dresses and has a minor obsession with shoes, oh and did i mention that i was lucky enough to work with her on her invitations????

happy weekend

this was what i found when i cut the top off of a jalapeno for our christmas jalapeno cheese bread ... crazy no?? i will spend my weekend baking up a storm and cleaning up only what is necessary, how bout you?

a little somethin somethin blue.

{kate spade keeden satin pump available here}

a shoe with equal parts class and sass ... or so says me. and apparently you can take 30% off if you buy them on-line.

fanny

{image by and from fanny}

yes please. a new fantastic find with fabulous imagery and lovely imagination. head over to fanny and explore the wonders.

so ....

{from graphic designer yulia brodskaya found via this is glamorous}

it seems as though a lot happened while i was gone. i don't mind, in fact i kind of dig it, but it is crazy. so thank you, and thank you and thank you ... and i would be horribly off if i didn't thank you because you started it all.

needless to say i am back and will get to posting right now ... or at least once i get all my christmas cards out.

hoping you had a lovely weekend

{image found here}

we are spending the next few days in boulder with a little family and a lot of snow - yay for colorado! we might even make it to the mountains for a bit of skiing and a ton of peeling myself off of the mountain (i haven't put anything that resembles skis or a snowboard on my feet in at least 5 years) so i *may* take a short posting break. until i'm back i would recommend some flikr surfing ... becauase it is just so fun.

sarah perlis on sale

as you may know sarah perlis made our wedding bands which we both LOVE. but something you don't know is that she also made a special little something for me from mas that i was given the night before the big party, a very lovely something that might i add is my only diamond to date?!?!



but back to the original point ... sarah perlis is having an online sale. just enter joy2008 at checkout and you will receive a 25% discount on all items ... i know there are some people on your christmas list that would very much appreciate a little bit of eco-loving jewelry.

christmas ... again

{pretty red dress found at holly stalder's etsy shop}

i am beginning to feel a bit obsessive ... i am sorry. i just couldn't help putting this dress out there though. it would be perfect for a holiday party that required some festive apparel or maybe just worn around the house on christmas day ...

i have my last holiday party tonight which is really a shame because i can see myself in this dress.

my wallet is empty so perhaps i need a new purse??

i have been head over heels for gryson since i first laid eyes on the most gorgeous oliva bag a couple years back. i found a metallic version on sale a while ago and was so close to purchasing it, but even at 60% off it seemed a silly purchase (plus do i really like metallic leather bags???). so when i happened upon this mia kaos bag i had to get up and leave my computer immediately for fear of what would happen next. after the appropriate amount of time (and jalepeno cheddar chips) i walked back into my office took a couple of deep breaths and added this beautiful item to my daydreaming wish list, it may even have taken the number one spot.

alyson fox on etsy

{horse doodle from alyson fox's new etsy shop}

can you believe it? no, neither can i but i am super stoked. (i can use that word now as i have accepted california as my home) anyway i was checking out design for mankind and wouldn't she just have the best information ever? well she did and i clicked and now you should too!

keep the change ya filthy animal

so it seems as though i have finally gotten into the holiday spirit. two days ago i started stringing cranberries and popcorn together to create our christmas tree garland, and then yesterday i printed some christmas cards - there is still time for those right?? mas and i have never sent out christmas cards in the past so i am not quite sure what inspired me, but it was fun to print something for myself and the post office has some wonderful nutcraker stamps that i needed a reason to purchase (i have a small love of holiday nutcrackers, i think it stems from my childhood but what doesn't ...)

{red, green and gold ink gocco'd on to soft white folded cards and khaki envelopes}

oh and did i mention we spent last night eating couscous and watching home alone on tv? one of the best holiday movies ... ever .. the commercials were painful so we put it on our queue and should be watching it interruption free in the days to come.

the paper dress that picked me up and took me to that happy place

made from the pages of an old phone book for a class called creative process by flickr user that goes by the name jolis paons. how freaking fabulous?!?!?

when i was in college (before i decided to completely submerge myself into anything artistic and while still taking classes that included "law" and "statistics" and "genetics" in their names) i was in a quasi art class that revolved around using non-art materials to express yourself in your most creative way. anyway on the last day of class, i.e the unveiling of our final projects, a girl came in with three wearable dresses made out of paper bags that each represented a different aspect of her life.

ever since seeing that project i have been interested in making some garments out of paper, but it has just never happened. i simply don't have that talent in me ... oh well.

{originally found on not couture}

irene suchocki

winter is here ... er, well sort of. (it was 37 outside this morning which is good enough for me these days)



the photos are by irene suchocki who i found on one of my new favoritest obsessions veiled vows. i have kinda fallen in love with everyone involved and i would also HIGHLY recommend a visit to irene's blog and etsy shop.

the new site

one long weekend and several incredibly annoying computer issues later ...


the new cevd site has launched. i still have a bit of work to do (the entire "how it works" page is currently mia) but i have the basics figured out - for now at least.

i have a TON of errands to run this morning and then an equally daunting amount of work this afternoon so posting may fall to the wayside (again, oh dear i need to have better time management skills). but i will be back ... soon.

the menus

so it is about that time i suppose. now that i have had more than a month to bask in the glory of newlywedom i am ready to start hashing out some of the finer details of the wedding. plus there are some vendor shout outs i would be remiss not to mention.

on to the menu ...
the front and back of the menu - the trees and birds were pressed into the paper with a translucent white ink so they were just visible. i found some martha stewart labels at michael's that came in various shapes which i was a fan of, but unfortunately the adhesive on the back of those labels wasn't the strongest and when they were put out on the tables we had to run around pounding them back on. i think some fell off as they were taken down to dancing, but at that point they had served their purpose and i don't think anyone noticed.



the inside - i had this idea of having two blank pages at the beginning of the menu but that turned out to be a giant waste of paper so the first page was in turn had some text and those blank pages ended up being used for something else a bit more respectable.


the courses - well if you didn't know food is a really big part of the lives mas and i lead, so catering was kind of a big deal. and in a small town it could have gone horribly wrong. however, we worked with laurey and jamie from laurey's catering and were hands down impressed with the quality of food ... it really felt (and tasted) like we were eating at a restaurant. i still can't get over it. i remember talking to laurey a couple of months before the event and she was still fretting over plates. it was awesome. the attention to detail and her unwillingness to sacrifice quality really showed. and the best part ... she was able to source just about everything locally ... yay!

so kudos to laurey's ... the best caterer EVER!!! oh and the inside pictures are taken on one of the cakes stands that micaela from clara french ceramics lovingly made for us.

tis the season

{cutest note book from belle and boo ... doesn't this picture just put you in the holiday spirit?}

last night i had my first holiday party of the season so i suppose it has begun. i kinda hate to see thanksgiving go but i am excited about picking up a tree, decorating it and then soaking up the wonderful evergreen smells that will hopefully be oozing from it. also our neighborhood seems to shaping up into quite the christmas circus. i am thinking it might make for a pretty good photo essay.

lab partners

a new etsy find, yay!


{found in the lab partners etsy shop}

back to business

things around the studio have been gradually getting busier and busier. so it is only natural to do a complete overhaul of cevd.com. i mean it is about time isn't it? for all of those interested it will be debuting later this week! a new site design with new pictures and lots of new product, oh my. i. am. so. ready.

small and intimate

{photo via anna kuperberg's blog}

i love small weddings and i LOVE this table set for the 35 guests. simple and pretty and i am kinda digging the chairs. oh what i would have done for different chairs (one of the very few drawbacks of getting married in a small city).

rubytone

created by a girl who grew up in rural new york and later jettisoned herself into the city and the fashion world. with enough simplicity for every day wear, but an exceptional eye for detail this line is creeping to the top of my list. why is it that when i can absolutely not afford to shop i find all of my favorite things?