We drink hot chocolate every day at the little blue dish office. Our favorite brand when making it ourselves is Guittard. You can order it directly from their site or if you are in New York City, Fresh Direct carries it. When going out, our favorite hot chocolate haunts are Le Pain Quotidien in the city (they serve you hot milk and a pitcher of rich dark chocolate to pour in yourself), and in the Hamptons it’s The Golden Pear. Hot chocolate photo by Sang An.
Usually we post about interiors on Thursdays. But this last week has been so hard for my neighboring New Yorkers that we thought…a lot of people are just too overwhelmed to think of paints and furniture and throws, when they’ve just been without power for a week or are dealing with flood damage. So we thought we’d stick to sweet comforts this week- like cake. We’d like to share this blog we found called Sweetapolita. It has 2 wonderful recipes for Neapolitan cakes– an inside out cake and a 5 layer cake. Sometimes baking and giving baked goods … Read more
I worked with baker Samantha Connell on this cake for InStyle. We wanted to come up with a sweet and classic neapolitan inspired wedding cake. When designing your cake with your baker, remember that each tier could be a different color, and/or piped a different way. Though you want to keep things related so it doesn’t look too crazy. We kept to stripes, polka dots and solids in brown, white and pink. Keeping to a color palette is very important when planning an event. It also makes your choices a bit easier when you are focused on a few colors. … Read more
Using candles, especially in the fall and winter when days are shorter, always add excitement and warmth to gatherings. Whether it’s just an afternoon of sweets & coffee with your friends or a dinner party, candles make it seem extra special. We carry candles in over 15 colors and range in sizes from 6″ to 18″ to go with most any color palette. We had mini cupcakes yesterday in the office with hot chocolate. In keeping with our neapolitan color palette this week I put them out on a dark wood vintage tray and used pink paper circles … Read more
Most of us know this color palette by the name ‘neapolitan’, deriving from popular Italian desserts layering three flavors- chocolate, vanilla & strawberry being the most popular. This color combination is wonderful for parties and candy buffets. Candywarehouse.com has several neapolitan candies for you to give as sweets & favors for the holidays..and even stocking stuffers. Here’s a classic neopolitan candy bar that you can buy in bulk- a 24 piece box for $24! They even have salt water taffy and lollipops. Or if you want to do a candy buffet, you don’t have to buy candy … Read more
Did you know we have felt christmas tree ornaments? I know Halloween was just Wednesday…but this is the time I’m always planning what I’ll use for Christmas decorations. We have felt bird ornaments in green and cream and felt balls in cream and red. Here are the direct links for easy shopping. FELT BIRD ornament, FELT CHRISTMAS BALL ornament.
Restoration Hardware has some great faux fur gifts this year…at great prices! We snagged several of these faux fur wine bags for just $9 each and faux fur scarves for just $29 each. We also love their faux fur blankets (bigger than a throw) that cover the entire bed, on sale now for $199 (originally $250). It feels so decadent to snuggle up in this soft fur. It not only makes a great holiday gift- but also a wonderful anniversary gift.
Claudia Fleming, pastry chef and co-owner of North Fork Table and Inn wrote a book back in 2001 with writer Melissa Clark called “The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern” when Claudia was the pastry chef there. Claudia is a winner of the James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef Award. There are a few copies on Amazon.com, and well worth the investment if you love making your own unique desserts for entertaining. I particularly love her Chocolate Caramel Tarts with sea salt (see photo below). This book is a perfect gift for someone that loves to bake or just … Read more
By layering different textures when setting a table you can add visual interest. Here I set a deep gray wood table with charcoal gray felt placemats. Then I added horn handled flatware and glazed china with a fine gauge gray linen napkin. A little whimsy never hurts either. I love to use these faux birds (see photos below) which you can find at most any craft store. I placed a bird in a cup of peanuts leaning over a glass tumbler like he’s going to take a drink. Individual little cups at each placesetting are a nice detail- whether you … Read more
