Get Your Gourd On!

Sweet Paul

What's got two thumbs and is listening to Christmas music? THIS GIRL! (It doesn't work so well over the internet, does it?) From here until New Year's, lovelies, we'll be over on You + ME* Holiday on Mondays and Fridays, but we'll still pop by here to tell you what we're up to over there. Today I took my inspiration from a crazy profane piece on gourds to bring you some fall decor ideas. See you over on You + ME* Holiday, and we'll meet you back here tomorrow when we tackle a super fun question. Have a cheery Monday!
Oh, and have you joined our Spread the Cheer gift exchange yet? Or entered to win our 100th post-iversary giveaway?

100th Post-iversary! And Giveaway!

We're thrilled to announce that we've been around for, wait for it . . . 100 posts! Oh fine, it's not that long in the grand scheme of things, but here at YOU + ME* we like to celebrate the little milestones. Plus, a lot has happened during those 100 posts. We've gathered both things and ideas from around the web, responded to reader dilemmas on topics far and wide, offered gift ideas for even the most unusual situations, introduced an amazing new contributor, launched a new blog, become contributors on Brooklyn Bride, and started work on some still hush hush projects that are guaranteed to knock your socks, stockings, or flip flops right off. Most importantly, we've gotten to know all of you--you're pretty great!

Mini-milestones are so much more exciting when commemorated with food, drinks, and party favors. That is why I'm baking up some of these guys, Miya is popping the champagne (and having a glass for me), and we're sending the party favors to one of you.

Remember this cozy couples shower with the pom pom photo backdrop? Well, those pom poms happen to make fantastic holiday decorations. String them across your mantle, dangle them from the chandelier, hang them from your tree, use them for a photo backdrop, or tie them on all your gifts. Anywhere the pom poms go, a party is sure to follow.

To enter: Leave a comment on this post mentioning at least one item shown in the header of our holiday blog by next Friday, November 12. We'll randomly select one of you to receive a huge pile of fluffy, cozy, sparkly pom pom goodness.

Happy weekend to you!

P.S. if the prospect of receiving treats in the mail instead of bills and catalogs makes you giddy with excitement, then hop on over to Holiday where you can sign up for our Spread the Cheer Gift Exchange.  We're just dying for an excuse to send you something.

Chickpea Curry with Greens & Cardamom Ice Cream with Roasted Pears

Happy Thursday, my friends! This past weekend, my mom was in town (she just left yesterday afternoon, and if any of you want to come over and give me a condolence hug, it would be greatly appreciated). We hightailed it out to Stone Barn Farms to check out the fall foliage and autumn harvest, and boy, were we in for a treat. We saw...

geese migrating,

sheep grazing,

sprouts sprouting,

and leaves turning.
To say it was fall at its most glorious would be an understatement. When we came home, we were in the mood for a quick, hearty stew that was easy and would use a few of the ingredients that we picked up at the farmers' market on Saturday. I knew just the thing, since I have been making and eating this dinner over and over and over for a few weeks now. The best thing about this stew is that it is versatile. No fresh tomatoes? Use canned. No kale? Use spinach, dandelion greens, collard greens, or chard. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Chickpea Curry with Greens

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, then cooked with 1T salt for 1 hour over medium-low heat, drained and rinsed

2T canola or olive oil

1 medium yellow onion

2T mustard seeds

2T curry powder

2T pudini masala

5 fresh tomatoes, chopped into 1" cubes

1 bunch of greens, like spinach, kale, chard, or collards (I used cavolo nero, or dinosaur kale). 

Directions

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, and add onion. Saute until translucent, and add spices. Continue to cook until the mustard seeds start popping, then add the tomatoes. Let simmer until the tomatoes release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, simmer for another 10 minutes, and then add the greens. Simmer until the greens are tender but not overdone (this time will depend on the greens you use). Serve over rice, barley, or quinoa, and enjoy in good company!

But you didn't think I would leave you without dessert, did you? I made this ice cream last week to feed my new obsession with cardamom. I don't even have pictures of the process because it was a spur of the moment, throw-it-together type of thing, but holy cow, it is so good. I nearly lost a finger to the ice cream maker. 

Cardamom and Roasted Pear Ice Cream

Ingredients

1.25c heavy cream

1.25c whole milk

.5T vanilla

.5c sugar (you may want to use a tablespoon or 2 more if you like things on the sweeter side)
1T ground cardamom (if you are using whole, i would smoosh 5 seed pods and do things a bit differently--I'll give you a heads up in the directions)

Roasted pears (3 small pears, cut into 1/4" cubes, roasted with 1t sugar and 1T water at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, completely cooled)

Directions:

Heat milk, sugar, vanilla and cardamom (if using whole, just put the whole smooshed seed pod in there); let cook for 5 minutes taking care not to let it boil over. Let the milk mixture cool completely (strain if using the whole seed pod).
Whip the whipping cream until it holds soft peaks; fold into cooled milk mixture. Put the mixture in the ice cream maker, and let run for 25-30 minutes, adding the pears in the last 5 mins. This would also be super good with finely chopped candied ginger, so feel free to add that, too. 

Enjoy, pretties! See you tomorrow, when Elisabeth will be bringing you all sorts of holiday-related goodness! Have a lovely day!

Wednesday Miscellany!

It's Wednesday, friends! Oh my goodness, Elisabeth and I have been as busy as bees putting together fun stuff and cooking up plans for the future that may or may not include the following: travel to exciting places, new directions for You + ME* (have you checked out You + ME* Holiday yet?), brownies (there's not really a may not in this case), and lots and lots of glitter (again, have you checked out You + Me* Holiday?). Let's start off this week's miscellany with a sneak peek into what we were up to yesterday morning bright and early (taken by yours truly):

Are we crap-your-pants excited to show you the rest? Why yes, yes we are. (Oh, fine, since you asked so nicely, here's another peek.)

 Oh, and that fine lady you see with the camera is Kay English, and we are super excited to see how she captured this.

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Elisabeth's little baby bump is just getting more adorable by the day. I am already madly in love with her daughter, Claire (as is Emi), so I can't wait to meet the newest edition to her family. We've been talking a lot about the experience of having kids, and it brought to mind this piece by Phillip Toleando (the photographer who did the piece about spending time with his aging father). It's a candid exploration of his own experience with being a father, and I think it's quite beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, did you know that Sweet Paul recently opened an Etsy shop to sell stuff left over from shoots that he styles? I am swooning over this teapot.

Also, we won't be mad if you haven't because we've been bombarding you with other stuff, but:
-Did you see that our Internet Crushes for November are up?
-Have you checked out You + ME* Holiday?  Elisabeth has been working like a pack of over-caffeinated elves to bring you buckets of holiday goodness. We've got some super exciting announcements to make over there in the coming week, and Elisabeth already has a great (and growing by the day) list of gift guides up (check the tabs at the top of the page) for those of you who like to get a head start on holiday shopping.

Ciao for now, loves. I'll see you right back here tomorrow with a great autumn recipe (I've eaten almost nothing else for the past two weeks) and an easy-peasy dessert recipe to boot.

A Present for your Bestie

 Dear You + ME*,
Okay, here's one for you. What do I buy for my best friend who has it all? I'd like to get her something personalized and something that celebrates our shared passions for food, travel and literature.
Thanks for your help,
Q.


Dear Q.,
Picking out a present for your best friend can be tricky, especially if she already has everything that she wants or needs. You want it to relay your affection for her and show that you really get her, all without seeming too extravagant and striking the right balance of silly and serious. We get that. Here are a few options that take into account one or a few of your aforementioned interests: 

Best Friends Notebook Hoops, Ruggles Stitch
We've made it clear that we love, love, love, Ruggles Stitch's work. Here are two best friends embroidery hoops that you can each have one to hang. It's like the besties necklaces that we used to have. (I always wanted the "Be Fri" side, not the "est ends" side, but now I think I would totally vie for the "est ends" side). 

Ideal Bookshelf 6, GW; Jane Mount (on 20x200)
Jane Mount's bookshelves on 20x200 are beautiful and quirky. This one is of cookbooks. Whenever your friend looks at this, she'll see the books that you two can open together to try new recipes or exchange baked goods.

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If you both like to travel and share a passion for food, what about an experience you can share together like two tickets to an Outstanding in the Field dinner? We're big on the "experiences as gifts" idea, because while your bestie may enjoy a new plate or book for a certain amount of time, she'll always remember the trip you took to go to one of these dinners.
Be sure to let us know how it goes!
xo,
ME*
p.s. If you, kind reader, have a question that you'd like us to tackle, drop us a line at hello{at}youplusmestyling{dot}com.

Introducing YOU + ME* Holiday!

We just love the holidays over here at YOU + ME*. Could it be because you can embellish every surface of your home without being accused of “overdoing it?” Is it because drinking cocktails and dressing up are de rigueur, even on weeknights? Or maybe it’s because glitter gets to shoulder more than its fair share of the decorating burden. In any case, holidays are fantastic and we’re thrilled to share them with you on our new blog YOU + ME* Holiday.

 

Think of Holiday as YOU + ME* Equals, but wearing a tutu, eating birthday cake, and drinking champagne . . . while setting off firecrackers. It’s, you know, restrained. We’re not saying you must have an incurable fondness for sparkle and whimsy to enjoy it, but a cheerful disposition certainly helps.

If you don’t feel like adding another blog to your regular reads, never fear, many of our holiday ideas will be featured right here as well on Mondays and Fridays. But if you feel like immersing yourself in all things merry, these ideas will be consolidated on Holiday, along with some additional festive features. What you can expect on Holiday:

 

Do pop over and join us for some fun. We'll be there . . . with bells on!

Oh, and take a peek at our November Internet Crushes (don't worry October's crushes are there too in case you're a little behind).

Cozy Couple's Shower

Good Morning! We hope you all are having a happy Friday, and that your weekend is filling up with good plans (or no plans if that's what you're hoping for). We're so excited to have our cozy couples' shower up on Brooklyn Bride this morning! Here are a few more pictures:

Aren't Mike and Amber the cutest? And the photos are stunning, right? Thanks, Trent Bailey Photography! We had so many wonderful, talented folks help us out with this shower--you can see them all on our "Featured Vendors" page. And here's a list, too:


Photography: Trent Bailey Photography
Desserts (fig cake, canele, leaf cookies, chocolate and caramel dipped pears): Cake Hero
Florals: Blossom and Branch
Couple series pillow: K Studio
Gray knit poncho: Wai
Knit scarves and bows (on packages): Emmadime
Burlap bags and other wrapping supplies: Olive Manna
Wreath and felt bows: ItzFitz

Elisabeth and I have our noses to the grindstone today for a big announcement on Monday (and some other fun stuff in the works, too!), so I'm off to go have my morning cuppa (or three). Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! We'll see you right back here on Monday morning!

Brooklyn Bride!

So we've been dying to tell you this, and now we can! We're beyond thrilled to be joining the guest contributors over at Brooklyn Bride. Our first shoot is the cozy shower that we worked on with an amazing cast of characters (more on that tomorrow). You can check out our inspiration over on Brooklyn Bride today, and be sure to keep an eye out for our cozy shower tomorrow!

Queenie Cooks: Herbed Quinoa with Roasted Acorn Squash

[From Miya: Hi friends! We have a huge treat in store for you today (didn't I tell you we would?). Please give your warmest welcome to my dear, dear friend Meg, who is a fantastic cook, great writer, and amazing friend. Meg's blog and photography have been featured by Food52, Serious Eats, Apartment Therapy and The Internet Food Association. And her apartment is amazing. Here was her entry into Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest in 2009 (do you like the pics? Meg plied me with pastries, and I took them for her). To top it all off, she mixes a mean Manhattan. Do you adore her already? I told you you would!
Meg will be joining us every two weeks to share a special, just for You + ME*, recipe with us. We've asked her to skew fairly healthy and vegetarian, which she does exceptionally well, but you would all be remiss not to check out the rest of her recipes over at Queenie Takes Manhattan. So without further ado, here is my dear friend Meg, giving us some ridiculous dinner inspiration.]
Hey, You + ME* readers! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be part of Miya & Elisabeth's community of contributors. I think we're going to have loads of delicious adventures together over the coming months, don't you?

When Miya asked me to contribute to You + ME* Equals, I knew exactly what I wanted to share with you guys. I'd been thinking for a few weeks about how the cooler weather makes me crave the nutty satisfaction of whole grains and the richness of roasted vegetables. As a result, I'd been dreaming about a mash-up of herbed quinoa and roasted squash.

Quinoa is a seed, similar to a grain. It's teeny and round and has a little white membrane thing that sounds gross, but really isn't. Thanks to its remarkable nutritional content, it's one of the oldest cultivated crops on earth, even though it never really took off in Europe (due, in possible part, to the naturally bitter coating you have to rinse off before cooking). It has an extremely high protein content and is naturally gluten-free. Just those two things alone pretty much explain its recent surge in popularity.

But, most importantly, it's also delicious. Quinoa is, as I mentioned, extremely nutty in flavor, and cooks up light and fluffy - but can also take on a creamy, risotto-like quality if cooked slowly and gently. Really, it's a great chameleon, perfect for pairing with braised dishes or tossing into salads.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today takes advantage of that warm flavor and ease of cooking. Like any other grain, quinoa does a bit better when you hit it with a little herbal goodness, so I threw in sage (also a natural partner to the squash) and thyme (since, um, I have it growing on my windowsill). You might think about rosemary here, or even a shower of fresh chives at the end. (In my opinion, chives are never a mistake.)

As for the squash, well, how can you celebrate the arrival of fall without paying tribute to its signature vegetable? This recipe would work equally well with butternut squash, or even pumpkin - whatever's available at your local farmers' market is what's best. Roasting squash is one of the easiest things you can ever do, and the slightly smooshy texture of the finished product plays wonderfully against the fluffy quinoa.

And so, without further ado, here goes! I hope you enjoy the recipe, and I can't wait to see you back here in two weeks' time!

Herbed Quinoa with Roasted Acorn Squash

1 small corn squash, about 1 pound
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 sage leaves
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed one or twice in cold water
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup water or vegetable stock
2 or 3 sprigs thyme
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a small cookie sheet in aluminum foil.

Slice the stem off of the squash and slice it in half, lengthwise. Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds. Slice the halves into three wedges each, and place the wedges on the baking sheet. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a healthy amount of pepper. Place a single sage leaf in the center of each wedge.

Bake the squash in the preheated oven until tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a 2-4 quart saucepan, heat about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the shallots and garlic and saute for about two minutes, until the shallot is translucent and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the quinoa to the pot and lightly salt it. Toast the quinoa in the oil and shallots for a couple of minutes, until it smells nutty. Add the wine to the pan and stir, mixing it well into the quinoa. Allow the mixture to cook down for a minute or so, then add the water or stock.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pan, cooking the quinoa at a simmer. Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the membranes begin to pull away from the grains.

Once the squash is done (you can tell by poking it with a knife; if the knife slides right on in, the squash is ready), take it out of the oven and set it aside until it is cool enough to handle with your hands. Cut the flesh away from the peel and slice it into 1-inch chunks. Place it (and the roasted sage leaves) in a large bowl. Add the leaves from the sprigs of thyme.

As soon as the quinoa is done cooking, add it (hot) to the squash, along with a healthy drizzle of olive oil and a good amount of salt and pepper. Toss everything together until well-mixed, then mix in the parmesan. To serve, divide between plates and top with a bit more cheese. The salad can be served warm or at room temperature.

Serves two as a main course and four as a side.

Happy Hump Day!

Whew, Wednesday! It's been a pretty busy week for us here, but we're hanging in there and powering through like champs. How about you? Everyone holding up okay? Let's get on with the goodness, shall we? Here's some miscellany that would be appropriate for all of those brides and grooms out there, but also appropriate for you non-brides and non-grooms.

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I bet you also determined this when you saw their recipe box that made the rounds a while back, but Rifle Paper Company is on point. That is all.

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Wait, no, that's not all. I've got this zucchini bread in the oven right now--how pretty would this be sliced and tucked into bags as late-night snacks or next-morning gift bags?

 

Cat Eye Eyeglasses, Vintage50sEyewear

Jordy and I are heading to the optometrist on Saturday. My mom is going to be in town(!!!) later this week, so we are taking full advantage of the babysitting to get brunch and get our eyes checked. Hot, right? When they ask me which frames I want, though, you best believe that I will be turning up my nose and heading right home to procure some vintage glasses. Right now, I am feeling these:

 

1950's Hornrimmed Glasses, Ifoundgallery11

Right? I KNOW! If you're a bride who doesn't want to wear contacts, what about getting yourself a cool new pair of vintage glasses for your big day (this is actually a little sneak peek into something we have up our sleeves)?

And furthermore,

This lady is seriously talented. She designed my new tattoo, and her work would be an AMAZING addition to your wedding. She offers custom calligraphy rubber stamps, which would be an easy way to personalize things if you're on a budget.

Shauna and Steven are working on a new collection of these.  One word: plaid! Three words: OMG PLAID YAAAAAAYYY! 

We have a huge treat (literally) coming up tomorrow! We'll tell you more tomorrow, but let's just say we're welcoming another friendly face to the YOU + ME* Equals team, and we think you guys will be besties in no time flat. 

That's all the miscellany for today, lovelies. We're so glad you stopped by. Go out and carpe diem!