One of my favorite choices for beautiful edible treats. I have long followed Kollar chocolates, not only are their creations artistically designed but they taste as wonderful as they look. From Bark to Truffles their chocolates are available in gift boxes and bags for shipping anywhere. Perfect hostess gifts and stocking stuffers!
Here’s the link to their store:
http://store.kollarchocolates.com/
Those who love to cook….love their pots….not only for the functionality and conductivity of them but from a visual esthetic point of view as well. I suppose it’s similar to showing up in the ring with your boots polished every day. All aspects of one’s passion, in order to produce divine satisfaction, factor into the mix of the eventual product. So for cooking, the beauty of a line of Cobalt blue patina pans crafted by an artisan and blacksmith were right up my alley!
Seattle based Patrick Maher and Caryn Badgett, the husband and wife team behind this beautiful line of Ironware, found they shared a similar aesthetic in designing and creating objects that were both beautiful and useful.
In their own words, “There was something so satisfying and wonderful about cooking dinner in a lovely pan you’d just made by hand – not to mention delicious! ”
So after some tasty testing and research into the making of steel pans (which are 99% iron), they started Blu Skillet Ironware, hand forged blue steel pans and ironware objects for the home.
In addition to their beautiful design these blue steel pans are great for searing and caramelizing – and they make fantastic over-easy eggs! Iron pans that are forged rather than cast, make the pans lighter and easier to handle, as well as less porous and quicker to season. Able to take high temperatures, they can go from stove top, to oven, to table – where the artistry of the pan compliments the evenings meal and conversation!
The blue color is a product of heat treatment, which forms a protective layer of blue iron oxide on polished steel. It is a natural rust deterrent, and combined with organic virgin coconut oil, provides an excellent pre-seasoned surface rendering the pans nonstick and ready to use. They are iron pans and therefore reactive, so they won’t stay blue – they’ll darken and patina as you cook and season them which to me just adds to their aged timeless beauty.
http://www.bluskilletironware.com/
Winter Hours have begun at our local Farmers’ Markets with Winter fruits a plenty! Smit Farms has several wonderful apple varieties for eating, baking and sauces. Citrus fruits have arrived from Sunrise Farms featuring Satsuma Mandarins, sweet Pomelos and Persimmons. The Fuyu which is wonderful in salads and the Chocolate Persimmon perfect for baking.
Portola Valley Farmers Market Hours – Thursdays 2- 5.https://www.facebook.com/PortolaValleyFarmersMarket
Woodside Farmers Market Hours- Sundays 10 – 2. http://www.woodsidetown.org/community/woodside-farmers-market
Menlo Park Farmers Market – Sundays 9 -1. http://www.localharvest.org/menlo-park-farmers-market-M3662
Palo Alto Farmers Market – Saturday 8 – 12. http://pafarmersmarket.org
Here is a great, quick, go to recipe for my Apple Galette. The Galette pictured here does not have the topping on it. I recommend finishing it with either the crumb or crisp topping. Not only does it taste so much more wonderful but it looks festive and ideal for a Holiday Party!
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 apples (1 1/2 pounds), peeled, halved, cored, halves cut into 6 1/2-inch wedges
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans
One 8-ounce frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
All-purpose flour, for sprinkling
1 large egg, beaten
Directions
For the galette: Position a rack in the center and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and sprinkle with the salt. Saute, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Whisk the sugar, spices and flour in a small bowl until no lumps remain. Sprinkle the spiced sugar, cranberries, pecans and lemon juice over the apples in skillet, and toss to blend. Cool to lukewarm.
Place a large sheet of parchment paper on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the parchment and sprinkle both sides lightly with flour. Roll out the pastry to 12-inch square, lifting, turning and sprinkling with more flour to keep from sticking. Cut off the corners (with a rounded cut), making a 12-inch-diameter pastry round.
Brush the pastry all over with some beaten egg. Starting 2 inches in from the edge (to leave wide border), arrange the apple wedge mixture close together in a circle on the pastry. Sprinkle half of the topping on the apple mixture then fold the pastry border partially over the filling, pleating the pastry in loose folds. Brush the folded-up pastry border with some beaten egg. Sprinkle with the remaining topping.
Slide the galette with the parchment onto a heavy baking sheet. Scrape the juices from the skillet over the apples. Bake galette until pastry edge is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
Sometimes I like a crisp topping and sometimes a crumbly one. I’ve included both so you can choose!
Crumb topping:
2 ½ c flour
1 c brown sugar (I like to use Muscovado but any good brown sugar will do)
2 sticks of butter (melted)
1 ½ t cinnamon
Crisp topping:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
Blood Orange painting by Georgia Reid, Woodside.
SA Baxter designs and manufactures beautifully crafted architectural hardware for residential and commercial projects. Cast in brass, bronze and white bronze base metals they offer a variety of finish palettes. SA Baxter collaborates with some of the industry’s most renowned artisans, designers and architects in their desire to produce hardware suites in a range of styles from traditional to contemporary and from old world to modern. Handmade in their New York foundry, they utilize an ancient process of wax casting to order to produce some of the most handsomely designed hardware available today. This process allows for almost limitless design capabilities which allows them to create custom pieces as well. Did I mention they are our green company of the week? In an effort to” minimize their carbon footprint, no lead is used, no waste water is produced, almost no emissions are released into the atmosphere and many of the materials used are recycled.”
Home prices reached yearly peaks at some point in the third quarter in five of Pacific Union’s Bay Area regions. As has been the case all this year, buyers continued to pay more than original prices for homes in the East Bay, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.
Although almost all of our real estate markets still favor sellers, many saw modest increases in inventory from August to September, a hopeful sign for buyers who have been shut out of the action and are giving it another try this fall.
Pacific Union’s third-quarter 2014 report is packed with data and regional summaries that offer a complete look at real estate activity in the Bay Area and the Tahoe/Truckee region.
Our Q3 Report also includes a comprehensive chart tracking 10 years of home sales throughout the Bay Area and Tahoe/Truckee — 76 cities, towns, and neighborhoods in nine regions. A smaller version of that chart, showing regional totals, appears below. Click the link to view the chart which includes a 10 year comparison in volume and dollars.
http://docs.pacunion.com/2014q3/10year_monsterchart.pdf
Real estate activity zigzagged during the third quarter in Pacific Union’s Silicon Valley region, slowing to a crawl in July and August, then going gangbusters in early September before decelerating again. High-end markets such as Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Hillsborough, however, remained busy throughout the quarter.
The region has some of the most expensive homes in the nation, and in Menlo Park, no homes on the market were priced at less than $1 million. Across Silicon Valley, any property priced under $4 million sold briskly.
Home prices continued rising throughout the quarter, although not at the pace seen a year earlier. Multiple offers remained standard, though bidders weren’t as frantic as they were last year. Similarly, off-market sales, while still common, were not as rampant as in 2013. While a balanced market for both buyers and sellers remains a long way off in Silicon Valley, the region is slowly moving in that direction.
Looking Forward: Moderate activity is expected during the fourth quarter before sales slow during the year-end holiday season. Early indications suggest an increased supply of homes will hit the market during October, helping to drive sales in the months ahead.
If you love green in your garden but have a plethora of shade from a canopy of trees here are some great plant ideas. These plants thrive in shade adding color and contrast at the same time.
I love the two toned Hosta in this picture. It is a popular midsized plant with pointy leaves that vary in color from frosty blue green to variegated bright green. The hosta is a superb grower with slug resistant thick leaves and flowers that attract hummingbirds.
Hydrangeas love shade and reward you with a variety of long lasting blossoms.
If your garden area is dark and damp, rodgersias are extremely handsome plants primarily grown for their foliage and love wet soil. The woodland plants perform well in water gardens and shade gardens. Other plants that thrive at the edge of a shady pond include giant rhubarb, sedge and rush which can tolerate standing water.
That old question deserves a new look….not that there is much change in the answer though. Here are some thoughts and stats that might help. With the trend in home prices increasing the thought begs asking, ” do I rent and wait out the market or jump in and buy?”. With mortgage rates still at all time lows, combined with the tax advantages of home ownership – which so far are still protected – this is an excellent time to turn your dream of owning a home into reality. So the next question is, “can I afford to buy?”.
Does it cost me more to rent? No matter what you are currently paying for rent, your total cash outlay over a period of several years will add up to a higher total than you may have realized. The following chart shows what your rent payments would add up to with an appreciated 5% interest rate of investment. On average for the past 10 years our home values experienced an average 10% increase in value per year. This year in many cities of San Mateo and Santa Clara County our property values increased as high as 25%. Although not always a reality it does beg the question, “why would I not want to own a home when it provides a permanent roof over my head and returns a rate of appreciation that high?”.
With the money you are currently spending on rent,you could be building equity in your home. Keep in mind, too, that over the years your income most likely
will increase faster than any increase in your mortgage payment. Rent payments, on the other hand, tend to increase – right along with your paycheck. Ask your loan officer or mortgage broker for financial plans that are available to you.
Homeowner Tax Advantages
When you’re figuring out how much you can afford to commit to monthly mortgage payments, don’t forget the tax advantages of homeownership. Both property taxes and interest payments on a mortgage for an owner-occupied home are currently tax-deductible. In the early years of a typical mortgage, all but a small percentage of each monthly payment is used to pay off the interest on the loan. This means that as a homeowner, your annual taxable income could be
substantially reduced by deducting the payments you make on property taxes and yearly mortgage interest. Ask your CPA (certified public accountant), attorney, or tax preparer how buying a home now would affect your tax situation.
Home Value Appreciation
In addition to tax advantages, you can also benefit from any increase in the value of your home through appreciation and improvements you add for your own comfort and enjoyment.
You Can Make Home Ownership a Reality
Take a good look at your personal financial situation in comparison to housing price trends and mortgage plans available in your community. You will probably discover that you are closer to homeownership than you had realized. Buying a home is probably one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make. And when it’s your first home, it is especially important that you seek qualified assistance. Call me I’ll find and help you purchase – the home of your dreams!
Here is a link to a chart that the NY Times recently published that actually plots the financial advantages. It’s easy and absolutely right on the money!
When natural light is not possible….because you are up at the crack of dawn and the natural light is still asleep…the right light bulb is the next best thing. Selecting light bulbs may seem straightforward in theory, but finding exactly what you need can be overwhelming—especially for bathroom or vanity lighting. When choosing light bulbs for the best makeup application, be sure look for the CRI (Color Rendering Index) number on the packaging. The higher the CRI number, the closer the bulb is to providing true and natural light. For the perfect morning makeover, purchase a bulb with a CRI of 90 or higher.
Light bulbs with dimming capabilities are ideal for makeup application. The dimming switch will allow you to see what your makeup will look like in various settings, from your meeting in a brightly lit conference room to the dinner party on a lantern-lit rooftop.
Of course, getting the bulbs is only half the battle: Position the light source to shine on you directly from the front for ideal results; lighting from above or below will cast shadows that won’t let you accurately see what you are doing. So consider sconces on either side of a bathroom mirror or vanity to create even light and help you avoid major makeup mess-ups.
With the flip of a switch on your new lighting, you will be able to perfect your daily beauty routine—leaving you looking flawless every day, and in every setting.
Excerpted from an article in Veranda magazine.
1. Paint
Leftover color from the last time you redecorated won’t last long if subjected to high heat in summer (or falling temps in the winter). Plus, cans stored on cement floors will rust faster than those stored on a shelf. We are fortunate in this area as many of our local cities feature dates and places for paint drop offs which make disposing of paint virtually painless.
2. Propane
We barbecue year round and I hate seeing the spare propane tank sitting by the barbecue. So I make my husband store the extra canisters in the garage. Who knew this was number 2 on the list of don’t do’s. They must be stored where it’s well-ventilated or you risk igniting the fumes when you start your car. Don’t want to do that!
3. Canned Food
A stockpile of canned tomatoes, beans and more has a shorter shelf life in a room that gets hotter than 70 degrees (and when temps reach 95 degrees, the food will spoil quickly). With limited space in my kitchen, I store my extra canned goods in a wonderful set of built in cabinets in our garage. They house everything from sets of china to pantry items. The other day my husband brought me a can of tomatoes that had no were near reached it’s expiration date but whatever was inside was eating it’s way out through the can and the label. Learned that lesson first hand!
4. Refrigerator
Yes, by definition, fridges control the temperature in your food’s environment. But as the heat rises, your fridge will need to work harder to keep your food cool—and you’ll feel the burn in your energy bill. Plus, a fridge won’t keep food cold enough when the surrounding temps drop below 60 degree, since it will run less when it gets chilly. Fortunately we use the outside fridge for ice cold liquid refreshment storage only…so it stays!
5. Open stacks of linens or paper goods
Mice and other pests love to make nests in bunches of fabric or paper (like that pile of cardboard boxes from your recent move). Store paper cups and plates in your pantry instead, place linens in plastic bins if you have to put them in the garage, and purge recyclables often. Not so hard to do around here with Recycle cans supplied by our local garbage collectors. Don’t forget to use them.
6. Electronics
DVD players, televisions and computers you’ve been meaning to donate or recycle could get damaged in extreme heat or cold. I might add I just found a box of no less than 12 old remote controls for the TV, VCR, et al! Routinely as with the paint drop off our supporting cities feature days to bring in old equipment for recycling.
So back to the job of garage purging with a new flurry of purpose! Last note…garages by definition are suppose to house cars, not what doesn’t fit in your home.
Traditional Garage And Shed by Beverly Interior Designers & Decorators Siemasko + Verbridge
Original article excerpted from Good Housekeeping.