Sweet paul

Crafty friday!

I love recycling.

I just think its great to be able to use something others will throw out.

This time I made a piece of art of old typewriter keys.

I bought the keys at etsy, think they where around $10.

The frame is from West Elm.

So what I did was to glue the keys to a piece of white stock paper with a hot glue gun.(What would we do without).

Then I just put it in the frame and its ready.

Quick and very easy.

Photo Ellen Silverman

B&Me

Im doing the food and prop styling on the fab B.Smith's new cookbook on southern cooking.

We are talking bread pudding, BBQ chicken, stews and much more.

The lunches have been amazing, so much good food.

Look out for the book when its out this fall, and please try the bread pudding.Best one ever!!!!!!!!!

Photo Colin Cooke

Recipe monday

Greek love in a roll.

I wrote two weeks ago of my childhoods trip to Greece with my parents.

I tasted lamb shanks for the first time, but there was also something else I tasted for the first time.

Feta cheese.

It was love at first bite. loved the strong taste and yet so creamy.

When we came home I made my mother buy huge pieces of feta and we feasted on the cheese for a long time.

I know that a greek salad is not a huge wow, but i do find it so tasty and simple.

And even better rolled up in lavash bread.

Greek feta rolls

serves 4

3 ripe plum tomatoes, diced, discard the seeds

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 cup feta cheese of good quality( no low fat, please!)

1 tablespoon finely chopped dill

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

salt

pepper

4 lavash breads

Mix together tomatoes, cucumber, onion, feta, dill, oil and vinegar.

Taste with salt and pepper.

Place the salad in the middle of the lavash bread, roll up and enjoy.

Photo by Colin Cooke.

Crafty friday!

This friday I give you a project from my Delft story.

Its a great way to make a drab vase into something fab.

Use painters tape to cover the parts you want to preserve.

The rest you paint with two coats of dull oil based paint. Let it dry between each coats.

Pull of the tape and voila.....you have a very modern looking vase.

Photo Frances Janisch.

More delft

This are more images from the Delft story I produced for Country Living.

Out in stores now.

The story was inspired by my grandmother and her collection of Delft ware.

Photos by my "bestest friend " Frances Janisch.

A book by its cover

I went to a bookstore yesterday with my friend Claudia, alias BangBang.

I was looking at the cookbooks, as I always do!

Came across this book and I thought...Hm, this looks familiar.

Well yeah, I styled the cover.

Sometimes I forget what I do and gets so surprised when I see it on the shelfs.

About a year ago I did this book cover for The Flavor bible.

They wanted a very simple cover of wooden spoons filled with spices against black.

I think it turned out great.

We also did another version with a wine glass, but they chose the one with the spoons.

Photos by Wendel Webber

Recipe monday

Todays recipe is a red cabbage and gruyere pie.

If you are a reader of my blog, im sure you have already figured out that I just adore Gruyere cheese.

I just find the taste so amazing. Its strong and sweet at the same time, and with a nutty after taste.

Prefect for pies, pizzas and a must for onion soup.

Red onion and gruyere pie

serves 4

pie crust:

2 1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon thyme, just the leafs

2 sticks butter, 220g, cold and cubed

1/4 cup iced water

Place flour, salt and thyme in a bowl.

Add the butter and use your fingers to mix it all together.

You should end up with a coarse and grainy mixture.

Add the water and mix well.

Wrap in plastic and cool for 1 hour.

Roll it out to a large circle.

Transfer to a baking dish covered with baking paper.

Filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red onions, sliced

1/4 red cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon thyme, just the leafs

1 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups gruyere, grated

Heat the oven to 350F, 200C.

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions until soft.

Add cabbage, water, thyme, vinegar and sugar.

Let the mixture simmer on medium heat until almost all the liquid has cooked away.

Spread the mixture on the pie crust and sprinkle with cheese.

Fold all the sides of the crust over, so it forms a nice pie.

Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until golden.

Serve warm or cold with a nice green salad.

Photo by Colin Cooke.

Crafty friday!

I'm very happy to tell you all that I'm' launching a brand new series today.

Crafty friday.

Every friday I will post a fun and easy craft project.

So remember to come back and see me every friday.

Doilie towles

You will need 2-3 vintage doilies, they must be cotton

1 cotton bath towel

Pin the doilies to the towel.

Step back and have a look.

Make sure it looks good and that the doilies are in its right place.

Sew them on with a sewing machine or use small hand stitches.

Use cotton thread.

Ready for your bath!

Photo by Frances Janisch

Delft crafts

This is from a story I produced for Country Living.

You can see the whole story in the latest issue, out now.

The whole idea came to me one day when I was looking at some old pictures of my Grandmother.

She collected delft ware. Had a beautiful collection. I still have a few pieces from her.

I wanted to make some cool and creative crafts inspired by her collection.

And here they are, hope you like.

More to come later.

Photos by Frances Janisch.

A tired old dresser.

This idea is from the written word story I produced for Country Living a while back.

Barbara the photo editor had this old dresser she wanted to do something with.

So we decided to paint it cream, add cute handles from Anthropologie.

We then put on a decal from the fantastic french company, Harmonie Interieure.

You can se the "How to" here.

Photo by Ellen Silverman