Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch House

September 30, 2012 by mymateriallife

We had my birthday brunch at The Ranch House in Meiners Oaks (right next to Ojai) last Sunday.  This is a restaurant that was founded by Alan and Helen Hooker in the 1950s.  My parents took me there to celebrate a good report card or something like that when I was a junior or senior in high school.  I can remember the dress I wore, but everything else is a little fuzzy.  I never thought about it much until Saveur […]

Categories: Places, Reading Material, Sweets • Tags: alan hooker, beatrice wood, buttercream mint frosting, golden cake, ojai, saveur magazine, the ranch house restaurant

Afternoon Tea at American Girl Place LA

August 12, 2012 by mymateriallife

     We just returned from a short trip to the Los Angeles area and – having missed the boat to Catalina – ended up at American Girl Place just in time for tea on Friday.  The shop and cafe are located in The Grove shopping area which is right next to the old LA Farmer’s Market.  This was our second visit to American Girl Place and we found it too hard to resist the cafe again.  It’s such a special […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Places, Sweets • Tags: american girl afternoon tea, american girl place los angeles, gelatin orange wedges, la farmer's market, redondo beach pier

One Zucchini Cooked Three Ways

July 18, 2012 by mymateriallife

             The Beast weighed in at 3-1/4 pounds.  It was a gift from our young friend, Gabriel, a very enthusiastic boy.  He wanted me to take a photo of anything I made with the zucchini and I assured him I would, but in my head I knew I could do better than that.  Why, we could have our own Zucchini Day!  He went home with a plan to make muffins with his mom after camp the […]

Categories: Celebrations, Savories, Sweets • Tags: chilled zucchini soup, flora's famous zucchini cake, how to be a domestic goddess, nigella lawson, zucchini, zucchini pancakes

Sweet Potato Fabric Printing

July 14, 2012 by mymateriallife

I had a very enjoyable lunch yesterday with three good friends I used to work with; this is a project I started the night before and completed yesterday morning to hide the state of my 1980s era Danish Teak dining table top.  I used a sweet potato from Trader Joe’s to print the design down the center of my table mat.  Most of the lunch (and two bunches of flowers) also came from Trader Joe’s, but I’ll tell you about […]

Categories: Furnishings, Other Textiles, Sweets • Tags: coffee granita, marimekko, sweet potato fabric printing, table mat, trader joe's

Alice Medrich’s Real Chocolate Wafers

June 15, 2012 by mymateriallife

I’ve been meaning to make Alice Medrich’s real chocolate wafers from her Bittersweet book forever.  I’m not sure what took me so long.  They are just right.  First of all, they are a refrigerator cookie and I always say that having a good cookie dough in the fridge is like having money in the bank.  Secondly, well, they’re just so good and chocolatey, but after you eat two or three you don’t at all regret it or feel like you’ve […]

Categories: Sweets • Tags: alice medrich, bittersweet, real chocolate wafers

Florence Fabricant’s Perfect Strawberry Tart

May 2, 2012 by mymateriallife

This recipe comes from a treasured New York Times clipping that my friend Helen sent to me back in 1998.  Helen and I used to work together in the late 80′s.  She was older than I was, a good friend, and she made a real impression on me.  She was sophisticated and worldly in a cool way, not snobby or pretentious.  Her first husband was French and her second husband was British.  She ate her salad after her entree.  She […]

Categories: Sweets • Tags: book of tarts, city bakery, elizabeth falkner, florence fabricant, maury rubin, perfect strawberry tart

Frosting Sandwich

April 19, 2012 by mymateriallife

I made these sandwiches for a Brownie meeting snack yesterday because the theme of the meeting was Girl Scout traditions.  This is the only snack I can remember eating at the Girl Scout meetings of my youth many years ago.  Like the marshmallow pastry, it has lived on in my imagination all this time.  The sandwich is made of buttercream frosting and Trader Joe’s Honey Graham Crackers.  It did not disappoint.  The creamy and sweet frosting filling with the mildly […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Sweets • Tags: frosting sandwich

Easter Favorites 2012

April 10, 2012 by mymateriallife

       In photo order (top to bottom): Large tissue paper flowers (instructions here courtesy of Martha Stewart) with home-glittered letters from a party store “make your own banner” kit. My friend Camille’s Meyer Lemon Pound Cake (recipe here courtesy of Amber Simpkins) – flawless in taste, texture and appearance. Camille’s tip:  skip the boiled lemon slices and their brew called for in the recipe.  She made a test run of the recipe and found that they didn’t work for her. […]

Categories: Beverages, Easter, Paper, Savories, Sweets • Tags: featherbed eggs, jelly bean cocktail, marion cunningham, meyer lemon pound cake, tissue paper flowers

Sedgemoor Biscuits (Plus New IKEA Textiles!)

April 4, 2012 by mymateriallife

I found this recipe in the New York Times a few years ago and finally got around to it today.  Have you heard of these?  They come from England; I’ve also seen them referred to as Easter biscuits or Garibaldi biscuits.  They are really nice. Wonderful with coffee.  Apparently the tradition was to give them as gifts on Easter Sunday, tied with ribbon in bundles of three.  You can find the recipe I used here.  The two changes I made […]

Categories: Easter, Sewing, Sweets • Tags: easter biscuits, home sewn napkins, ikea textiles, sedgemoor biscuits