You are a blog reader.

But maybe, like me, you still prefer the visual punch of a magazine. Or the freedom to flip back and forth between stories. Maybe you secretly dream of editing your own glossy.

If so, meet Feedly.

Feedly organizes your favorite blogs into a magazine layout. Just click “magazine view” at the upper right on the homepage and your blogs will magically morph into a magazine you’ve curated. Congrats, you’re an editrice.

Google Reader, I can hardly remember you.

xx

As promised, the menu from our Greek Chic bridal shower.

Makings for the “Julie”

Prosecco, St. Germain and Elderberry

HK Granola Parfait

Scones

Pea and Soft Boiled Egg Toasts

Ricotta, Lemon and Chili

(I’m so sorry I didn’t get a picture of this. I was giving a toast! Imagine charred peasant bread with a thin layer of ricotta topped with bright green pea mash. Add slices of perfectly soft-boiled eggs, still warm.)

Poached Brook Trout and Asparagus

Shallot and Herbed Crème Friache

Layered “Mason” Cake

Lemon-Lavender with Rhubarb

The pictures don’t do it justice. Thank you to Chef David Mawhinney of Haven’s Kitchen for such a gorgeous meal.xx Sarah

We couldn’t host this party at home, but we still wanted a space that felt warm and inviting. Consider Haven your cool city friend’s dream pad, complete with stripes, pretty table vignettes, and a black gallery wall.

Our bride-to-be loves peonies, so Haven filled julep cups, jam jars, and bud vases with every shade of pink. My cousin collected wedding portraits from both sides of the family (a tradition that began with my wedding shower) and framed them all in silver.

Don’t my grandparents look excited to begin their lives together?

Black sesame and raspberry macaron favors sweetened the black, white, pink and grey color palette.

The bride’s good friend Lauren ordered adorable photo confetti made from pictures of the bride and groom and scattered them on every surface.

One good trick when planning a themed party is to go for the non-literal interpretation. To celebrate Julie and Matt’s upcoming honeymoon to the Greek islands, we found “Greek” elements that worked with the party’s overall look. Here, our game prizes: Nars make up with Greek names like Corfu and Greek Holiday.

I’m a bit obsessed with this last detail! As a guest “book” we framed a collage of Jackie O learning to use a camera while summering on Skorpios. Bonus- the collage matched the bride’s dress!

Julie’s friends wrote wishes for her on archival paper which we then glued to the back of the frame. A party and honeymoon momento all in one! We can’t wait to see it hanging on the new couple’s gallery wall.

The bride with her big girl and baby girl hostesses.

A big thanks to all my co-hostesses and congratulations to my beautiful sister!

On Friday, the menu.

xxSarah

All images from Pinterest.

xo,

Lydia

photo by Beth Liebetrau

Friends! We hinted at it last week with our baby food jar bud vases but the big new is that wrote an article about hosting a Sip & See party for PaulaDeen.com! We are just thrilled to be talking Southern traditions on the same site as the Queen of Southern cooking. Check the story here and please leave us a comments (so Paula knows you stopped by).

Have you been to a Sip & See? Have you ever hosted one? We want all the details.

xo,

Lydia & Sarah

 Use a strong cleaner to get the labels and glue off the jars. Wash and dry well.

 Place your chosen color of latex paint in a shallow disposable container.

 Dip the base of the clean jar in the paint and start swirling it around.

 I like them to look a little uneven so I made some sides higher, you can easily go for a uniform look.

 Place the jars upside down on a paper towel and allow to dry for 24-36 hours (this much paint takes awhile to dry.)

 The finished product! I love the drips and imperfections.

 Repeat with any other colors. For the mint green I added some water to the paint to get more coverage on the jars. A little water goes a long way so be careful to add a teaspoon at a time.

photo by Beth Liebetrau

Once totally dry, fill the jars with water and a few simple blooms.

photo by Beth Liebetrau

Simple white flowers looked fresh in the mint and gold jars.

Photo by Beth Liebetrau

I can’t get over how pretty they look all lined up (credit goes to Beth Liebetrau for the excellent pictures.)

photo by Beth Liebetrau

The only problem with latex paint is it will come off if washed in warm water so be very careful not to get the outsides of the jars wet! I learned that lesson the hard way…

xo,

Lydia

The packaging and literature are artfully crafted. Each box has a different theme, the one I received was called “How Sweet It Is”, with projects, food stuffs and recipes featuring all things honey bee related.

Honey, Bee Pollen and Bee’s Wax oh my.

All the supplies to make shea butter and beeswax lip balms flavored with almond and citrus oil.

Local raw honey and rose hips to infuse the honey in the provided mason jar.

Delicious and nutritious bee pollen and a recipe for a protein packed vegetarian smoothie.

A single box costs $39 + shipping and there are discounts for 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions. Don’t you love this concept?

xo,

Lydia

This weekend I’m catching up on spring projects…

Cleaning our garage

Making this Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce

Hiking in Griffith Park and then enjoying brunch with a gal pal at Sqirl

Baking a million batches of Sugar & Spice Pecans to donate to this amazing event

Filling my home with tulips in every color of the rainbow

Happy Weekend!

Lydia

I let out an audible gasp when I opened the Heath Ceramics newsletter today and saw that the seasonal collection this summer is a range of BLUES! Remember last summer’s Poppy & Grapefruit and the epic Yellow in 2011? Fond memories. Hey there Horizon Blue, Indigo and Tea Green…it is a pleasure to meet you.

This is NOT good news for my bud vase addiction. If I call it a “collection” is it still an addiction?

xo,

Lydia

xo,

Lydia

These are way too easy to make friends. One mixing bowl and a baking sheet later and you have Vegan scones (mine were Gluten Free as well.) I even used frozen raspberries because I didn’t have fresh berries on hand and they worked just fine. Fill your house with the scent of vanilla and then attack these scones over a cup of tea. You won’t regret it.

Raspberry-Vanilla Gluten Free/Vegan Scones (adapted from the BabyCakes Cookbook)

makes 8 scones

Ingredients

2 cups spelt flour OR Cup 4 Cup Gluten Free Flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, plus extra for brushing the tops (make sure it is high heat sustainable)

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, scraped of seeds

1/3 cup hot water

1 cup fresh raspberries (frozen work too)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. Stir in the oil, agave nectar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Stir in the hot water, then lightly fold in the raspberries until well incorporated but not smooshed to bits. Scoop 8 even mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with more coconut oil. Bake the scones for 20 minutes, or until golden. Let the baking sheet cool completely on top of a rack. Remember Gluten Free baked goods taste better when cooled for some reason so try to resist.

xo,

Lydia

 St. Patrick’s Day Menu

Aged Irish Cheddar with Oat Biscuits

Corned Beef and Boiled Cabbage, Heirloom Carrots and Fingerling Potatoes with Creamy Dijon Sauce

Rye Soda Bread with Salted Irish Butter and Apricot Jam

Don’t over cook the vegetables! They should poach in the salty brine water until just tender, preserving their natural flavor and texture.

Corned Beef with Boiled Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots

serves 4

Ingredients

1x 3lb corned beef round (cooks way down so get more than you think you need)

20x small potatoes (I like fingerling or red potatoes), scrubbed

2x bundles of carrots (preferably heirloom), scrubbed and cut into 2″ pieces

1x head of green cabbage, cut into 4-6 wedges leaving the core intact

Instructions

Place corned beef and all the brine liquid and herbs in a large pot with water covering the meat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and cover. Let cook for 3-4 hours with the lid on. You may have to add more water to the pot a few times. Once the meat is very tender and shreds with a fork, remove the meat and cover on a cutting board with foil. Strain any foamy meat goo and large herbs and peppercorns from the boiling water then add the potatoes. Boil uncovered until almost fork tender and then add the carrots. Once the carrots are almost tender add the cabbage wedges. Leaving the core in the cabbage keeps the leaves from falling off and making a mess in the pot. While the vegetables finish, slice the meat into thick wedges against the grain of the corned beef. Once the cabbage is JUST cooked and still bright green remove all the vegetables to a platter. Serve immediately with thick slices of the meat and Creamy Dijon Sauce.

Creamy Dijon Sauce

 Happy St. Pats,

Lydia

“Spring is coming. To celebrate, Deck Towel is debuting a set of three limited edition silk screen prints. Each poster was inspired by snapshots from one our favorite vacation spots – Shelter Island, New York.”- Deck Towel

Ropes by Deck Towel

Tomato by Deck Towel

Rowboat by Deck Towel

This is what Buck told me about the prints. “They’re hand printed silk screens in a mix of two colors, sprayed with sea salt water to give them this sort of spotted effect, so each one is unique. The images are all from our first look book shoot on shelter island in the Hamptons – tomato, rowboat, rope. They’re signed deck towel and number on the back and come rolled in a tube. They’re roughly 20 x 30 inches printed on this super high quality hähnemühle German paper.”

Which one is your favorite?

xo,

Lydia

Layers of vanilla wafers, banana slices and the whipped vanilla pudding cream are piled up in squat wide mouth jars.

A few banana slices and wafer cookies peeking out from under their fluffy whipped cream comforters. The gelatin in the pudding mix stabilizes the whipped cream so it does not fall even when left in the fridge for a few days. If you don’t make individual portions in jars you can layer all in a trifle bowl/pyrex dish/industrial sized trash can. The spooned out pudding portions will not be beautiful but will taste outstanding.

Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding

adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

serves 12 in a trifle bowl or yields about 10 small jars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water

2/3 cup vanilla pudding mix

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 cups heavy cream

1 (12 ounce) boxes Nilla wafers (reserve a few wafers for garnish)

5 bananas, sliced

Directions

I bought a selection of crystal earrings at Forever 21 which cost about $3 a pair and some fun colored acrylic paints.

Then I carefully painted the earrings using a tiny brush.

Here are some after the first coat. I found that it took about 5 hours for the acrylic to dry enough for a second coat. If you were to replicate this project I would not recommend using acrylic paints, they were messy and clunky on the “stones.” I would next try nail polish or glass paint which I think will adhere better and give you that luminous quality you want from these earrings.

The finished products in the sun light. I have been wearing my pair (the rest were gifted) and getting lots of compliments. I can’t wait to try this project again with better paints and more artistic restraint (I liked my first coat versions better, always so hard to know when to stop!)

Lulu Frost for J.Crew

This is my inspiration for the next batch.

 xo,

Lydia