Gift Guide Picks

The holidays are upon us which means it’s time to shop for the ones you love and get them a little something something that will make them smile. This year I’m only highlighting things I’d truly buy myself, so don’t be surprised when you notice they’re mostly black, white and gold!

Every household needs a solid pair of scissors, so add some sparkle to the mundane with this shiny gold pair of shears from Nate Berkus’ Target collection. Target, $16.99

These glass water bottles by bkr are coated in a stylish silicone sleeve that protect from breakage while looking adorable all the way to your 8-glasses-a-day goal. Neiman Marcus, $30-35 each

 

This Tory Burch kerrington applique wristlet is kind of bizarre but also kind of fabulous with its creamy violet leather and amusing symbolism. It would be a great spot to stash your personal essentials in a larger diaper bag or tote. Tory Burch, $175

For your stylish gourmand, these black and white striped marble accessories up the chic factor of any kitchen counter. I particularly adore the cheeseboard and citrus press. Anthropologie, $24-98

This earthy yet smoky scent from Diptyque is perfect for snuggly winter nights and a luxury item you’d be hard pressed to buy for yourself, but be totally psyched to see under the christmas tree (or hanukkah bush). Holt Renfrew, $72

For the hostess with the mostess, the large white pedestal cake plate and glass dome from Rosanna is a perfect spot to display sweets and homemade treats while keeping them fresh. Red Letter, $44.95-72.95 

Who doesn’t love receiving chocolate as a gift? These handcrafted bars in exotic flavous like dark chocolate gold leaf take it to a whole other level with packaging designed by none other than Kelly Wearstler. I’d frame them they are so pretty! Kelly Wearstler, $13 each

Fans of Scalamandre’s classic zebra print will love this small tray from Lenox, which looks stunning sitting pretty on a console or used as a catchall for keys or change. William Ashley, $61.

For the art lover, this antique gold metal 3-D piece adds serious personality to your walls with an iconic mantra spelled out in all of its gilded splendour. ELTE Market, $95

 

For your friend who could always use some help in the organization department, this cheeky sticky note set has sayings that were ripped right from my and my friends’ daily diction, including a personal fave, “literally can’t.” Plus there is a bowtie involved - as the note says, “so cute!” Indigo, $12.95

A Glam Patch of Pumpkins

Halloween is just a couple of days away so here are some of my favourite no-carve pumpkin decorating projects I’ve seen online this year:

Nicole of So Haute splattered this gold and ivory beauty, which results in a shimmery Cy Twombly meets Kelly Wearstler effect. These would look right at home in a bowl on my kitchen island!

Over on Design Sponge, Hank and Hunt turned the humble gourd into a malachite masterpiece! Their deep emerald swirls are so unexpected and bold.

This etsy seller went the decoupage route with these fierce leopard print pumpkin forms that you could enjoy any time of year. Meow!

Perfectly Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Looking for a quick and nutritious snack this thanksgiving weekend? Try these tasty low-fat pumpkin muffins from Anna Olson that are a cinch to whip up and easy on the waistline.

These muffins get their delicious moist texture and natural sweetness from pureed pumpkin instead of relying purely on sugar and oil, so you can indulge in this classic autumnal treat and not feel guilty.

Anna Olson’s Low Fat Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 1 ½ cups pure pumpkin purée
• ⅔ cup packed demerara or dark brown sugar
• ⅔ cup buttermilk
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• pumpkin seeds (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with large paper liners.
2. Stir the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and allspice in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg whites and vegetable oil.
4. Pour the liquids into the dry mixture and stir just until blended. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Cool the muffins for 20 minutes before removing from the tin. The muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen. Do not refrigerate.

I added pumpkin seeds to the top for some added crunch but you can also sprinkle them with raw sugar, or stir in cranberries or other nuts into the batter to mix it up. Happy baking and happy thanksgiving everyone!

Shana Tova and a Little Jewish Humour

As the second night of Rosh Hashanah draws to a close, here is a video that will start off the year 5575 with a smile and a good chuckle:

Watching non-Jews’ reactions to typical Jewish fare such as gefilte fish and chopped liver had me laughing out loud and I hope you enjoy it too!

Wishing you all a sweet new year full of health and happiness!

Egg-cellent Easter Decor

There are so many different directions you can go with Easter decorations, but I’ve always been drawn to the classic spring colours and sweet small scale patterns that remain tried and true year after year.
Here are a couple of ideas I’d try out if I was to do the Easter thing:

I’d add a piece of art to my tablescape, such as this adorable print from Minted that would look sweet leaning on a sideboard. Art is a great way to add height to any vignette!

I’d also mix in some multicolour eggs into my florals by using the good old layered vase trick, like in this image from Better Homes and Gardens: nestle a smaller vase into a larger one and fill the gap in between with your desired filler. This would be great for Cadbury eggs!

Seder E-Cards from Paperless Post

When hosting the Passover seder, your invitations to family and friends usually go out via a quick e-mail or phone call, but why not mark the occasion with a free e-card? Paperless Post has some clever invites ranging from festive and fun to more sophisticated and savvy that will add extra flair to your seder. 

Here are a few of my faves:

This Matzo e-card is a rather literal take on a seder invite and is great way to get your little ones excited to munch on matzah at a more modern relaxed seder.

This seder invite feels a little more elegant but still low key, with the foods from the seder plate depicted as a fanciful border.

The most formal is this swanky invite, which asks the age old question of “ma neeshtana?’ in beautiful black and gold script. This is probably the card that I would choose!

Ice Ice Baby

Christmas cookie baking for holiday gifts is an annual tradition in my mother’s kitchen and hopefully next year will be in mine too. But for now, being 7.5 month pregnant with twins tends to get in the way of those types of standing-required activities, so I was content to be doing the sitting-friendly tasks this time around on her behalf, such as icing and cutting out shapes from her pre-rolled dough.

Having taken the pastry courses at George Brown, my mom just LOVES her culinary gear and I laughed at her when she first wheeled in a commercial rack into the kitchen for her baking exploits. The joke’s on me though as it totally does come in super handy when baking and icing for a crowd.

Having a plethora of both sugar and gingerbread cookies already baked up from a previous kitchen session, I organized my tools for the icing and decorating so I could move quickly between designs without letting the royal icing get too stiff.

I had the most fun with the gingerbread snowflakes but  went a little crazy on the sanding sugar for the sugar cookie versions due to my insistence that it looks like real snow (well it does!)

I also made some mittens (not of the kitten variety) using crushed peppermint candy shards for the cuffs- cute and minty fresh!

What’s your favourite holiday cookie recipe?

What Would Be Under My Christmas Tree (if I had a tree…)

Do you still have some holiday shopping to do? Well there’s just about a week left to snap up your gifts so here are some of my own picks that I’ve seen in stores over the past few days for some inspiration to get you going…

I love gold. I love stripes. I love soft boiled eggs (even though I can’t have anything undercooked right now- boo), so it’s not shocking that I have a crush on these adorable egg cups at Putti. At $15 a piece, they’d make any old egg and toast breakfast a more classy affair.

This luxe cashmere and wool blend throw by Yves Delorme at ELTE is so luxuriously soft and not totally out of control price-wise for a special gift at $225. I’m partial to it because this pinky-lavender hue appears a couple of times in my new digs, not to mention that it’s pretty much the exact shade that Pantone has selected as the colour of the year for 2014. The folks at Pantone call it radiant orchid- I’ll stick with  “warm lavender” as what the hell does radiant orchid even mean?

I know we’ve already covered the fact that I love gold, but did I mention in the past five minutes that I am a cheese freak? (Thankfully all cheese by law needs to be pasteurized in Canada so that hasn’t been off limits!) I love these cheese knives from West Elm because they’re a nice scale and add a touch of glamour to my favourite rustic cheese board.

I fell for this beautiful box set of assorted gourmet salts at the HomeSense holiday preview in the summer and was pleased to see a couple at the eglinton and laird location this week. Considering it’s cool to put sea salt on everything these days whether it be sweet or savoury, at $120, it’s a great gift for your favourite gourmand to savour.

Most creative types have some form of inspiration board in their offices and I’m no exception, so I think these gold (shock!) bow push pins by Kate Spade New York are just too cute for words! At $24 at Indigo, they won’t break the bank either.

Happy Shopping!