Highlights of 2010 & Goals for 2011

Photo by Angela Gaspar for YOU + ME*

Do you have any New Year's Eve traditions beyond kissing your honey at midnight? Miya and I happen to have the very same tradition with our respective husbands. We like to kick off New Year's Eve (or New Year's Day) by taking time to write down highlights from the prior year and our goals for the upcoming year. My husband and I finally compiled them in a book since part of the fun is re-reading and reflecting on them.

Wishing you an evening full of happy memories of 2010 and big dreams for 2011!

Happy Birthday, Miya!

Hello, friends! As 2010 winds down, I hope this last week is full of all your favorite things.

Speaking of favorite things, today happens to be the birthday of one of my absolute most favorite people ever. Yes, I'm talking about Miya.

Birthday portrait by the uber talented Nan Lawson

If you've met Miya for even a minute, you know I'm not exaggerating about how much I adore her in the least. Miya is one of the most talented people I've ever met. The fact that she accomplishes so much every day while walking a dog, carrying a toddler, and lugging a giant bag of art supplies, baby gear, and other miscellany is a constant source of amazement and inspiration to me (especially since I'm usually ready for a nap by around 9AM). No matter what Miya has on her to do list for the day, she is always the first to volunteer to take your dog for a walk, bring you some soup (almost always homemade) when you're sick, or help you finish up some crafty project that is taking much longer than you originally anticipated.

On top of that, she makes everything more fun (I've had better times with Miya while jam packed on a subway after running errands for hours than I would have with most people at a party). It just so happens that my entire household agrees completely. My dog still searches the park for Miya every morning when we go on our walk even though she moved to Brooklyn forever ago. And if you ask Claire who she is talking to when she pretends to be on the phone, she almost always says Miya. Basically, Miya is the kind of friend I hope everyone is lucky enough to have.

Happy birthday, Miya! I hope today is the best.

xoxo,
e

Queenie Cooks: Browned Butter Pound Cake

Merry Christmas slash Happy Festivus, everyone! I'm writing this post from (slightly balmier than New York) Austin, Texas, where I'm spending the holidays with two of my favorite people in the world (Nick and Louisa) and two of my favorite dogs in the world (Oscar and Hunter).

Louisa has planned a most fabulous menu for Christmas Eve dinner, including three (yes, THREE) separate desserts. When it's your first year hosting your in-laws and your parents for Christmas, this is the sort of thing you tend to do. That said, if you're still in the planning stages for tomorrow night's dinner or Saturday's festivities, I hereby submit one of my very favorite, ridiculously easy recipes for your consideration.

Browned butter pound cake. The very words thrill me. My incredibly talented friend Lorna created the recipe, and I've found little that perfumes a house quite as incredibly.

You can make this cake with ingredients you already have in the house, and yet it makes the place smell all special occasion exciting. It bakes up flawlessly every time, and pairs gorgeously with a myriad of ice creams (vanilla, cinammon, honey, ginger) and sauces (toffee, butterscotch). It transports easily, can be made ahead of time...really, there's absolutely no reason not to make this cake.

Even if you already have plans for dessert. After all, there's always breakfast. And snack time. Or whatever.

Lorna's Browned Butter Pound Cake
Adapted from Lorna Yee

2 sticks + 1 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cups packed dark brown sugar

2/3 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a skillet, melt the butter over high heat until it starts to brown and smell nutty. (Give it the occasional stir so that the butter browns evenly, and doesn’t burn.) Transfer the browned butter to a bowl and set it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool while you gather the rest of your ingredients.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cooled, brown butter in with the sugars on medium speed until creamy and light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. The mixture should appear about doubled in volume in the mixing bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Set the mixing speed to low, and beat in the remaining ingredients until combined. Transfer the batter to a loaf pan, and smooth the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, and test with a skewer to ensure doneness. If the cake is still too moist in the center, bake for another 5-10 minutes, and check again.

Let cool completely before slicing.

Photo by Angela Gaspar for YOU + ME*

Are you cozy by a fire, drinking eggnog with family and friends? We sure hope so. We're taking things easy through the new year, but we will still have some festive posts going up on Holiday. Here is a recap and a sneak preview for you:
- Mulling spices made easy
- Slowing down/a way for kids to feel good about giving
- A Christmas Eve tradition (complete with matching pjs)
- A tip for making sure your ornaments remain memorable

Oh, and I would love if you stopped by here on the 27th for a very special surprise for a very special someone (shhhhhh, don't tell Miya).

Merry wishes to you and yours!

The Smell of Christmas

Photo by Angela Gaspar for YOU + ME*

Two words: mulling spices. Visit us on Holiday for ideas on how to make them, use them, or give them.

50's-Inspired Shoot with Kay English Photography

Good morning, friends! I hope your weekend was filled with ice skating and sugar cookies. My in-laws visited this weekend for a little pre-Christmas head start, and it was fantastic. We may or may not have made one of our weekend missions to find matching PJs for the entire family for Christmas eve/morning. Today, we are so excited to share a shoot with you that we did back in November. 

 

 

When Kay English got in touch with us about styling a vintage-inspired shoot for her, we knew that we had to bring something fresh to the styled-shoot world. We pulled in Poppies & Posies to create some retro-inspired, yet still modern, florals for us to kick off the vintage feel. We also had our two favorite glasses folks over on Etsy send over their most fabulous frames.

The premise of the shoot is that the bride and groom had come into NYC to elope in the morning, and then spent the day exploring the city together. We had Dara from Preston and Olivia create the veil that our model wore; she sent over the most perfect veil ever. Look at this bow:

We hope you like it; we had so much fun putting it together. We'll be taking it easy this week and next, but rest assured that we've got some serious goodness coming up for you in the next few weeks. Have a lovely Monday, dears.
Vendors:
Photography: Kay English Photography
Fashion & Prop Styling: You + ME* Lifestylists
Florals: Poppies & Posies
Jacket: Starkweather Vintage
Glasses: Vintage 1950's Glasses & Mom & Pop's Vintage Eyewear
Dress: Fancy
Suitcase: Vintage Parade
Veil: Preston and Olivia 

It's Gingerbread Time

Claire's birthday gingerbread house

Join us on Holiday today for some gingerbread goodness--even a two year old can do it!

Do You Know What Are Unbelievably Delicious?

Photo by Angela Gaspar for YOU + ME*

If you said snickerdoodles then we should totally be friends. While I know there are a lot of tasty things in this world, there is a special place in my heart for the soft, cinnamon sugary goodness that is a snickerdoodle. I'm pretty sure it's the taste, but it may be something about the name too. After all, just try and frown while saying snickerdoodle.

If you join us over on Holiday today, you'll be whipping up a batch of these in no time flat. I recommend giving half away immediately. If you keep them all for yourself, I can't guarantee that they'll last more than two days and I don't want to be responsible for your sugar coma.

Wednesday Miscellany, Etsy Edition!

Yay, I love Wednesday Miscellany! As Elisabeth can tell you, I am ALL about randomness. Which means that it's good that I have her as my business partner because she challenges me to be more...let's just say focused and leave it at that. And she does it tactfully, always, which is totally a skill I wish I had. Let's get right into it, shall we?
First up, I have been doing all (ALL) of my Christmas shopping on Etsy and through independent designers that we met at the Martha Stewart Craft Fair. It's hard not to ruin any surprises since I found such neat stuff, but I did find these, which are blowing my freaking mind right now:

floral vintage scissors, cori kindred on etsy

I also badly want to buy this little getup for Emi, though at this point, I am convinced that she may never ever wear a hat. (Any moms have tips out there for convincing their spirited kids that frostbite is no good? If one more person tells me on the street that my howling-because-she's-freezing-her-ass-off kid needs a hat because she's cold, I'm going to lose it. Ahem.) Good thing the jacket is adorable, too. 

Apple Blossoms Hat, Snowdrops Designs on Etsy

I have a major crush on Lisa Congdon. Observe:

 

Braided Horse Mane

 

Two Feathers for You

Humpback Whale Painting

Really? Is it fair that one person gets this much talent? She is KILLING ME with that whale.

I hope your Wednesdays are going swimmingly, my lovelies. I am off to go caroling tonight with Meg. That girl can sing the roof off a house, and I can't wait to sing Christmas music with her. Want to know a secret? I'll also be packing tissues because Christmas music makes me really emotional. Three strains of O Holy Night into it, I'll be the one in the back pretending like I've got something in my eye. If you happen to see me there, kindly look away. I'll be ever so grateful. 

Elisabeth has been KILLING over on Holiday lately. If you haven't checked it out yet, go! now! 

xoxo

The Champagne of Beers!

Miller High Life already has laid claim to the “champagne of beer” title, but luckily some fabulous craft beers are coming on to the market to take it back. There is a lovely trend in craft brewing right now, with brewers creating high gravity beers, packaging them in 750 ml bottles, and even putting on the finishing touch with champagne corks rather than bottle caps. The result is a fun festive drink that is sure to attract attention at your holiday gatherings. The brew getting the most press these days is Sam Adams’ Infinum.

(source)

It was just released late last week, and it is in limited supply so -quick!- head to your local store and grab some. While we have yet to be lucky enough to try some (soon though, very soon), the reviews coming in are praising its notes of apple, pear, apricot and peach. You may think it’s some kind of magical beer/champagne hybrid, but make no mistake, as a collaboration between the Boston Beer Company and the Weihenstephan Brewery out of Germany, this brew adheres to the strict German Beer Purity Laws – the only ingredients are water, hops, malt, and yeast (in this case, champagne yeast), without any of the adjuncts that have become increasingly popular in American craft brews.

If you’re interested in more classic winter brews to warm you up, a great option is Highland Brewing’s spicy and malty Cold Mountain Winter Ale. Brewery Ommegang’s Chocolate Indulgence is also about as close to hot chocolate as a beer can get, which is a real win-win situation (have I mentioned that Nashville is experiencing record lows right now?). So bundle up, hunker down with one of these recommendations, and make the most out of these cold winter nights!