Rx for a Sunday Afternoon...

Nathalie and I are both lovers of the local cafe's cucumber lemonade, and we'd been wanting to try putting a cocktail spin on it for some time. Alain was making a quick trip to the grocery store, so I added a couple of ingredients to his list, and he also came in bearing fresh lemons from our tree. The crisper yielded one large cucumber, and one small Egyptian cuke willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Here's what transpired:

It was blissfully simple, and infused with the cooling flavor of the cucumbers, the tang of fresh lemon, all bound with a few spoonfuls of lemonade concentrate and a jigger of vodka. I used a cup or so of filtered water with the concentrate and let the blender do the rest. Vodka over ice in the shaker, add the lemonade, and shake things up. Garnish with spiral cut cucumber or mint.

Note: We drank ours frothy, but if you wanted a more traditional, clarified martini, sieve it using a coffee filter or cheesecloth...

Amy, Amy, Amy...

Open Studio....Belgian Style!

As yesterday was Belgian National Day, Alain decided to cook some frites for us girls, treating us to the national specialty, served up with mayonnaise, too boot. This necessitates getting down the big professional cutter...

And getting in the mood with some of the country's favorite beverage...

While Alain was doing the 'first fry' (Belgian frites require two dips in the bath...one to par cook them, a short resting period, and then a second fry to crisp them)...

The gals started gathering in the living room and dining room, conferring over projects and getting settled in for the evening. Here's Josie, Cindy and Donna giving their two cents worth on a project...

They also got their first taste of Framboise, a Belgian lambic infused with raspberries, thoughtfully provided by Pasquale and Karan...

And finally...des frites!

Our hard working fry-boys, Alain and Pasquale, celebrated a job well done with a bottle of Chimay cinq-cents, served up in Alain's vintage Chimay glasses, brought back from Belgium...

Foolin' around...

Had some time last week to fool around with some old things and new things. Some old settings recovered quite by accident from one of the big drawers in back at the store proved a perfect fit for some vintage shell cabochons, and were then paired with some tiny medals, crosses, and a diminutive holy spirit medallion for our new In Spiritu earrings...

A brand new and beautiful cross will be featured exclusively in our Renaissance earrings, and we've paired them with little immaculate medals and even tinier haloed virgins. They're topped with gemstone rondelles that will vary by selection. We hope to have these kits in store by this weekend...

Another design in process is the Clarity necklace, which will feature vintage chandelier pendants paired with vintage Swarovski channel set drops, and chaining composed of vintage rolo chain, fab new brass connectors and Czech glass beads...

It's a start, and it almost feels a little like I'm finally catching up. These designs will go to Tinsel and Treasures with Dede and I in the fall as well, along with other I hope to add to our line. We'll also be restocking some of our most popular designs, starting with the Immaculate series. Stay tuned!

Summertime...

Well, the past weekend and our broiling Fourth of July weekend reminded me that summer is really here. We timidly clicked on the air conditioning a couple of times when we got really desperate, but are still trying not run up our utility bill too much this season. We'll see how successful we are as summer marches on.

It has been cause for some lovely salads, though, chock full of the colorful produce we are so lucky to have in abundance, and we put together a killer black bean salad with peppers, corn, and onions...

 Lots of cumin, a little garlic, a couple of spoonfuls of salsa, and a drizzle of olive oil, followed by a generous slosh of this...

Our lemon tree is producing like mad, and many dishes are getting laced with its tart goodness. Another bounty of summer we are enjoying to its fullest. What we can't use we are gifting to friends, as well as shaving off the zest, juicing them, and freezing all that for future use.

We're already seeing our little downtown slow down for the heat of summer, with streets getting quieter as people seek the cool of the restaurants and their own living rooms, or escape to the beach. This year, I've decided to close on Sundays during the hottest months, and see how that feels...

We'll still be open by appointment for those little design emergencies, and of course, our out of town visitors, so don't hesitate to call and let us know if you want to come visit. Call us at 714~349~2069 and give us a heads up...