Another installment in our Wedding Registry Basics series!
Check out our suggestions for a well rounded, functional yet fun collection of bar and glassware for your home over at The Daily Meal!
Sarah and I had never been shy about our love of glassware. What are your favorite glasses?
xo,
LEH
When it came time to build our own registries, we knew from our catering past which pieces we couldn’t live without. If you love to entertain as much as we do, the key is being prepared and that means having enough platters and bowls in basic colors and shapes to mix them with ease, add visual interest to your spread, and never get caught short. After all, no one wants to be carving a turkey and realize they don’t have a large enough platters to plate up the bird.
For you, the pieces we love and use regularly…
1, 2 & 3. Three big white platters in round, rectangular or oval or a combination of favorite shapes
Here are a few of our current favorites, but the idea is to go for basic white so they play nicely with all your other dishware and can be used interchangeably.
Great White Coupe Serving Bowls (see these in action with our composed salads)
Great White Rectangular Serving Platters
Juliska “Berry and Thread” large oval platter
4. Two medium-sized serving bowls
Perfect for sides, salads, sauces and mashed potatoes for two. Looks beautiful on a big buffet but you’ll use these bowls constantly.
Heath Ceramics deep serving bowl
and vegetable bowl
5. One large wooden salad bowl
Owning a dedicated salad bowl makes me feel grown up.
Williams-Sonoma Cherrywood salad bowl
6. One cake plate
We love a good cake plate and this beautiful glass one works for cakes, stacks of cookies and cupcakes. Plus you can flip it over to make a beautiful punch bowl. I had never heard of such a thing, but Lydia’s mom had one when Lydia was growing up and, after seeing this one, I’m sold.
Williams-Sonoma Domed Cakeplate/Punch Bowl
7. One footed serving bowl/compote
You’ll use this more than you would expect. It livens up your kitchen fruit bowl, looks gorgeous piled high with tomatoes and shows off any vegetable, like haricot verts, to their best. Also, there is no other way to serve a chocolate pudding piled high with whipped cream or classic Christmas trifle.
Vera Wang Wedgewood “Classic” footed bowl
8. One breadboard
A stylish way to serve a baguette next to your cheese plate or sourdough with your soup. Doubles as a centerpiece when filled with lemons or satsumas.
Napa Style Vintage German bakery board
9. One wooden board
Use for everything from a cheese plate to flatbread slices. We also love it for displaying deviled eggs.
Crate and Barrel Acacia Flatbread-Pizza Board
10. One tiered serving tray
Adds height to your party buffets and can display both sweet and savory items.
Crate and Barrel Artesia 2-tier server
11. Ten Ramekins
These are the mini workhorses of our kitchen. You’ll pull them for prep while cooking, use for baking souffles or coddled eggs, serving mustards with charcuterie or olives with cheese. Oh, these are a must for butter and jam with scones.
Crate and Barrel ramekins
We’re still sweet on Anthropologie’s mini latté bowls as another option for prep and small serving bowls. You just can’t bake a soufflé in them.
12. One silver or wood serving tray
Every girl needs a tray! We use ours to line up champagne flutes for a self-serve prosecco bar. And we keep hoping someone will use it to serve us breakfast in bed. Or you can just pile it high with coffee table books.
Pottery Barn Hotel Collection plated silver tray
You can also see a slideshow of this post at The Daily Meal.
Do you have a serving piece you love?
xoxosl
The second installment in our series with The Daily Meal on wedding registry basics. These are our must-have knives for the cook and entertainer’s kitchen. Before registering, we recommend spending time in the store handling the different knives in their different makes. You want to make sure you knife fits well in your hand and it the right size and wight for your needs. We love the heft of a Wusthoff and the precision of Shun knives, but you may appreciate the feel of Global brand or J.A. Henckels. At this level of craftsmanship it’s a matter of personal preference. Dare to collect your favorite knives from different companies to craft your own personalized knife block.
Chef’s Knife- chopping herbs and lettuces for a perfect chopped salad would be impossible with out the rolling action of this kitchen staple. If we had to bring one knife to a desert island, this would be it.
8” from Wusthoff, Henckels, Global or Shun
Santoku- fantastic for slicing and precision cuts in meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.
Japanese-style Chef’s knife from Wusthof, Shun, Global or Henckels
One bread knife- neat rounds of baguette for crostini and paper thin tomatoes are a snap with this toothsome talent.
One paring knife- for small jobs such as slicing off hunks of cheese and slices of pear to pair with your first glass of rose for the spring.
One serrated paring knife (for fruit) (Shun brand calls it a citrus knife)- peeling and slicing fruit and vegetables has never been easier with this mini, serrated wonder.
Laguiole steak knives (in bright colors)- dress up your dinner table with these classic French knives. They strike just the right balance of rustic, classic and timeless. The fun colors are irresistible.
Laguiole spreaders- these are like the Birkin bags of cheese knives. So elegant, functional and just a bit bohemian chic. These spreaders work for all your soft favorites like brie and goat cheese.
Cheese knife set- for your hard cheese plate favorites like manchego, aged jack and pecorino you need the combination of these 3 sharp cheese knives to help you guests feel at ease over your cheese platter.
Kitchen Shears- Good quality kitchen shears make quick work of showering a pasta dish with ribbons of fresh basil and opening all that pesky packaging, saving you from using your teeth to rip open a bag.
Make sure you check out our first installment in this series Registry Basics: Pots and Pans at The Daily Meal!
xo,
LEH
Hi loves, what are you doing this weekend?
We’re waiting to see if this will be a work or play weekend. Can you guess what we’re hoping for?
In the meantime we have exciting news to share. From today forward you can find many of our entertaining tips and recipes in the entertaining section of The Daily Meal, the new national food mega-site.
Inspired by last week’s Black and White Wedding Registry, we’re starting with a series on registry basics. Check out our suggestions for pots and pans and let us know what you think!
Happy weekend!
xoxosl
Hi, loves.
We’re still working on our Registry Basics Series (barware is next) and realized that we hadn’t given you a list of our favorite places to register. So here it is. And please excuse the absence of the Holy 5— Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table, Bloomingdales and Macy’s. We’re guessing you’ll start there anyway.
Heath Ceramics for handmade plates in dreamy colors and natural table linens
Simon Pearce for graceful pottery and hand-blown glassware
Anthropologie for everyday fun table and kitchen stuff. No other place has such happy glasses and platters. They’ve recently added some very chic flatware (see here and here for our most recent picks).
Jonathan Adler for fun accent pieces. Sometimes I get lost in the swirl of colors but a cheeky piece of pottery or colorful throw adds a lot of life to your registry and home. I’m still partial to these birdies.
Design Within Reach is all so sleek, modern and sophisticated.
NapaStyle— the name says it all. I love their glass and flatware in particular. They also carry unique wooden boards and bowls.
Restoration Hardware has beautiful bed linens and the world’s greatest towels, not to mention Lydia’s luscious cashmere robe.
Tiffany’s for crystal: a candy bowl, a pair of candlesticks or maybe a special occasion cake stand.
What have we’ve missed?
My soon-to-be sister-in-law introduced me to MyRegistry.com which allows you to compose a registry of items cherry-picked from any and all online stores (including Etsy and small boutiques) all in one place. No more jumping from store to store to compare items.
Anjali compiled 9 more registry resources for the kitchn.
Happy browsing!
xoxo
Happy Friday! I’m attending a wedding shower this weekend while Sarah covers for me at work (she’s the best.) In shopping for a gift for the beautiful bride I fell in love with her wedding registry. All of her kitchen appliances and tools are white with a few accents of black.
White is simple, clean, classy and timeless which is important when registering for wedding gifts. Let us not forget the era of avocado colored appliances! Here are some of our favorite kitchen tools in elegant white and black…
Kitchen Aid stand mixer
Le Creuset silicone spatula
Le Creuset Oval French Oven
every kitchen needs an oven mitt or two
microplane zester/grater
Don’t forget a pretty white bowls and plates for showcasing your homemade delights.
Timeless tools in a timeless color you will use for a lifetime.
xo,
LEH
Image via OnceWed
Happy Friday, loves! What do you have planned for the weekend?
Lydia is executing 2 barbecues for clients and I’m in sunny Paso Robles putting together my brother’s wedding cake. The picture above is my inspiration. Isn’t it pretty? Wish me luck! I’ll share pictures and process next week.
In case you missed it, The Daily Meal has published a new installment in our Registry Basics Series, our list of Serving Essentials.
xoxosl