Drew received this hand carved bowl for a Christmas gift and I was delighted to find this plant box under the tree with my name on it. So impressed by our gifts we set up a family workshop between Christmas brunch and Hanukkah dinner to launch Bob’s career. Mom styled the shots, Buck photographed the pieces and Drew built Bob a website.

Now you can follow his career over at BobEllisonWoodwork.com. If you live in the Bay Area and are looking for custom wood or metal pieces for your home or garden then contact Bob or Wyatt. They also collaborate, like on this blond walnut table top and metal base they made for my mom.

xo,
Lydia

Last week my sister and I hosted a baby shower for our sister-in-law.  The “guestbook” was a thumbprint tree from Bleu de Toi.  There’s even a baby bird snuggled in between the mama and the papa where the parents can stamp the baby’s thumb.  Adorable!

We set the bar with striped straws, snapdragons and baby pictures of the parents-to-be and their mothers.

Fresh tangerine and ruby-red grapefruit juice plus prosecco for making your own mimosas.  We also had iced bottles of French lemonade, sparkling fruit sodas, homemade peach iced tea and sparkling water.  The bar tablecloth was pink and blue because we don’t know yet if the baby will be a boy or a girl.

Recognize those nuts?

My mom made her now-famous crab dip which we served with homemade potato chips.  For lunch we had 4 kinds of quiche: a classic Lorraine, spinach and cheddar, broccoli and cheddar and sweet potato with Swiss chard and goat cheese.

Goodies for the mom-to-be.

Goodies for the guests: mini English toffees my mom smuggled in her suitcase from FoodStuffs, our favorite gourmet foodshop back in Chicago.

Next week, the games and prizes. Hint, the theme was the word “baby.”

Tell us, do you have any experience throwing baby showers?  What worked well and what didn’t?  More importantly, are you an aunt?  I’m getting very excited about that!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo Sarah

xoxo

Sarah and I had SUPER cute custom place mats made by Mattie Luxe last year as a wedding gift for a dear couple. We designed the mats to match the palette and architecture of their home and they turned out so well. You choose the color, theme, monogram/name and all the details of your design online and then they print and mail you the place mats within a week. Nice quality thick paper place mats with the design on both sides and laminated to stand many, many years of casual meals. You can also have your design made into a lucite tray!

Here are some fun deigns from the Inspiration page…

I think they’re a great gift for a housewarming party or a baby shower. Or as a thank you gift when staying with friends for a weekend. Or for the person you know who has everything…

xo,
Lydia

I have some aqua blue ball jars with vintage zinc lids left over from our wedding and I want to make this light fixture to have over the table in our dining area. This is not my original idea, I found this picture on Pinterest last year from Re-Nest.com. Let’s hope I can figure this one out.

Happy clean start friends.

xo,

LEH

Gifts took on a preppy uniformity by using 2 complimentary wrapping papers (plaid and stripes) and an assortment of bows and ribbons.

Wyatt had just made this metal fireplace front for her home.

Across the room the fire was captured by a trio of Thai crystal mirrors. Those stools are from my Grandparent’s house in the 70′s, such a timeless style.

Only one pup is willing to wear the Santa costume, sad.

Happy California Christmas! Next week I’ll have snaps from my mother-in-law’s traditional Southern Holiday house, not to be missed.

xo,
LEH

We are so thankful for you all for joining us on A & O and sharing in our  passion for food, fashion and entertaining. Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday weekend.

xo,

Lydia & Sarah

colorful garden vegetables

dried wheat bundled in a satin ribbon

a large vase of local greenery

fresh satsuma oranges or clementines

coppery gold pumpkins (ok a little shine is nice)

feathers and twigs

pears + berry branches

All images from MarthaStewart.com and Pinterest.

xo,

LEH

Élan’s Top 5 (highly debatable) Entertaining Rules

1. Make dessert something to look forward to. I’m a sucker for a good dessert, but I’ll pass it up if it’s not worth the indulgence.

2. Make an organized to-do-list. A step-by-step shopping and prep list will give you a better sense of what you have to do (and how much you can prep beforehand!).

3. Make your expectations clear. As a partygoer I’m always happy to bring something, but I hate the idea of bringing something totally superfluous or something the host already has. If you’re throwing a party and guests ask/offer to bring something, point them in the right direction.

4. Let your iPod rip. Create a playlist beforehand worthy of the atmosphere you want to create. That way you can hit play as you finish getting ready and not worry about that recording of you playing Dorothy in high school spoiling the mood.

5. Enjoy yourself! No one’s judging you on the fold of your napkins or if the wine is served a degree or two in the wrong direction. If you’re having fun, your guests will, too.

Remember our Halloween table? We’re using the same elements for our Thanksgiving decor.  Run a similar arrangement down the center of your Turkey Day table or along your mantle for a natural, elegant and understated display.

We started with our faithful workhorses: the burlap strips.   Then, inspired by the darling mini pumpkins, we clustered orb-like clear and white bud vases and filled them with Chinese mums.  The repetition of almost round, squash-like shapes is what makes this look work. Lydia had the great idea to toss in some cipolline onions I had in the kitchen- it’s a cucurbita and allium table for those taxonomes out there!

Off-white pillar candles stand ready to bring the glow.  My Juliska gourd carafe does double duty as an elegant vase, adding height to a side table or mantle.

For a dinner table centerpiece, you want something low enough to see over.  So we removed the tall flower arrangement and swapped in a medium-sized white spray-painted pumpkin, adding in a few silver for sparkle.

All we need is food and family!

xoxosl

Sources:

Burlap-  Michael’s or any other craft store

Carafe-  Juliska

Vases- Jonathan Adler and Heath Ceramics

]]> http://applesandonions.com/table/thanksgiving-table/feed/ 5 http://applesandonions.com/table/novemebr-inspiration/ http://applesandonions.com/table/novemebr-inspiration/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:03:33 +0000 Lydia Ellison Howerton http://applesandonions.com/?p=11622 Continue reading →]]> Do you follow us on Pinterest? A few recent pins from around the web of images that are inspiring us this chilly November. Currently crushing on…

cooking and eating spaces

personal decoration

table top fun

I need to make these

xo,
LEH

I’d eat my mom’s winter salad almost any day of the week.  Imagine mixed greens with crunchy green apple, spiced pecans, ruby-red pomegranates and a tangy apple cider viniagrette.   Looks gorgeous on a holiday table.   But sometimes, especially when I’ve been eating gravy and garlic-mashed potatoes, buttery Parker rolls and cornbread stuffing, I yearn for an even greener salad.

You know where I’m going with this, right?

Kale!  Our favorite wonder green.

Kale Salad with green apple, pomegranate seeds and Parmesan

Serves 6

Ingredients for dressing

2 tablespoons diced shallots

1 Tablespoon honey or agave

1 teaspoon Dijon

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender or cuisinart.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ingredients for salad

3 heads kale, washed, ribs removed and cut into chiffonade (both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods sell pre-cut kale)

1 pinch salt

1 pomegranate

1 green apple

1/2 lemon

Parmesan cheese, for shaving

Pecans, toasted or Sugar and Spice Pecans

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add a pinch of salt.  Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl halfway with a combination of ice and water.  Set beside stove.

Add the cut kale to the water and blanch until bright green, just 1 minute and no longer.  Use tongs or a slotted spoon and remove kale to the ice bath.  We usually make our salads with raw kale but in this instance I like the brighter color and the way in which blanching sweetens the greens and makes them easier to digest.

While the kale cools, grab an apron or large dishrag and cut your pomegranate in half horizontally.  Leaning over the sink or a large bowl, use your fingers to gently loosen the pomegranate seeds from the white pulp.  Set seeds aside and discard pulp. Cut your apple into matchsticks and toss with lemon juice.

Drain the kale and dry in a salad spinner.  This will take a few spins. Reserving a tablespoon, massage the dressing into your greens thirty minutes before serving.  Just before serving, toss the pomegranate seeds and apple slices with the reserved dressing and add to greens.  Top as desired with Parmesan shavings and pecans.

xoxosl

 Anjali’s Top 5 (highly debatable) Entertaining Rules

1. Keep a variety of shelf- or fridge-stable appetizers on hand.

Last-minute get-togethers are a lot more fun if you don’t have to battle your way through the supermarket in the short hours between leaving work and welcoming your guests. A few ideas: Keep a supply of popcorn kernels to make stovetop popcorn gussied up with finely grated Parmesan and black pepper. Keep bags of raw nuts in the freezer and oven-toast them with butter and spices. Freeze a batch of portioned-out cookie dough and pop it in the oven when guests arrive. Olives, nice pickles, good salami, and chocolate-covered dried fruit last practically forever and are almost universally irresistible.

2. Learn how to make a handful of cocktails and keep the components at the ready.

This year I made an effort to expand my home bar and learn how to actually mix a few drinks, instead of pouring booze and mixers into a glass and hoping for the best. My go-to cocktail is the Old-Fashioned, as it is tasty, barely requires any work, yet sounds vaguely glamorous. Gimlets are another easy favorite that sound fancier than they are. And I’m a fan of simple beer cocktails like the shandy (beer and sparkling lemonade), the shandygaff (beer and ginger beer) and my obsession this past summer: a shot of Campari topped off with a hoppy IPA. So bitter and good! Bottom line: you don’t have to be a professional mixologist with an arsenal of ingredients to impress guests with your cocktail-making skills.

3. Play an interesting board game.

I am a huge board game nerd from a family of board game nerds, and there’s nothing I love more than spending an evening with friends playing a game that everyone is fully engaged in. It’s better with groups of six people or less and best if it is a game that moves quickly (in other words, no Scrabble) and everyone has an equal chance of winning. I have a particular interest in indie board games (I told you! Nerd!) and my newest favorite is a game called Ticket To Ride: Europe. But classics like Scattergories, Jenga and Yahtzee are fun too. If you want to go full-on nerd, check out this annual list of the best board games for groups.

4. Get matching wine glasses. Don’t worry about the rest.

For some reason, after I bought a set of matching wine glasses, my parties suddenly felt like Real Grownup Parties. Who knew achieving adulthood and leaving college partying behind was just a matter of buying a set of not-very-expensive glasses from Crate & Barrel? The rest of my dishes, however, are a mishmash of cute thrift store plates and utensils, with the occasional special souvenir thrown in. That’s just me. As long as the wine glasses match, somehow the whole thing works.

5. Think like a boy and just invite people over already.

My husband doesn’t care if the toilet isn’t scrubbed and there are dirty dishes in the sink when he invites his friends over to play Rock Band or watch a football game. He just wants to spend time with his friends. I, on the other hand, feel the need to scrub the house from top to bottom before having people over, which leaves me tired, cranky and not in the mood to relax with friends. So I try to be more like a boy and just extend the invitation, even if the house feels messy and I’m too busy to do a top-down cleaning. I never regret it.

our brothers escorted our grandmothers

and then our mothers

Drew’s father officiated the ceremony, perfectly

Southern style appetizers, the chicken n’ waffle bites stole the show

our first dance was sung by Rob, Seth, Todd and Stefan

it was magical

dinner tables around the pool

my Grandma and Aunt Julie made all the table runners

Dinner!

incredible toasts were made

Cheryl made us a mini gluten-free wedding cake

we danced with our parents

then everyone danced and danced

Thank you for everything you ALL did to make our wedding so special.

xo,
The Howertons

Rancho del Diablo Dormido in Malibu Canyon, CA

my brother Wyatt made us these letters in our signature font, they hung from tree branches

Mary and I splashed Ikea fabric with red paint

friends helped us get dressed

Our guest “cook” book was Sunday Suppers at Lucques (our favorite restaurant in LA)

darling Sarah made and packaged Rosemary Spiced Nuts

pre-ceremony refreshments

Amanda Koosed designed us a monogram and we made it into an ink stamp for paper cocktail napkins

whimsical painted fabric hangings

my cousin Sierra was the adorable flower girl

Amanda found us this signature font which we used everywhere, from the invitations to the seating chart!

my bouquet of gardenia, magnolia leaves and rosemary tied with a navy velvet ribbon

stunning bridesmaids in their own dresses

the handsome groom and groomsmen

a serious bunch

the bridesmaids carried their favorite love stories down the aisle

Drew gifted the groomsmen colorful socks as a thank you

Patrick captured under the magnolia leaf ceremony arch

the men in the bridal party wore fabric buttons from EmersonMade

dessert buffet with homemade treats from family and friends

a toast before we process

… to be continued

We have the best job ever.

Wishing you a frightfully safe and sweet All Hallows’ Eve.

xo,

LEH