Food Archives • Page 6 of 12 • Every Day Dress by Rebecca Collins

graduated

Never mind we asked for, and granted, two thirty-day extensions (thank you, Rouxbe) for professional cook certification, we’re finally #graduated. Eighteenth out of a class of 60+, and a grade of 95%. Second daughter said I underestimated: oh, well; finished, and checked off the list. All good things take time, and usually more time than planned for, or expected.

spatchcock your chicken for even grilling results

hold your potato puree over a Bain Marie

Lifelong learning, we’re a fan. A few simple notes, that kind of tie in with what we do professionally, sell luxury clothing and dress beautiful women.

search out the absolute best ingredients, whatever that may be, a black v-neck cashmere sweater, classic white blouse, happy hen organic eggs, the very best carrots, celery, and onions.
pay careful attention to the set-up, making sure everything is fresh, sourced well, measured, and in tune with the present season.
use, (or wear), everything until it’s done, finished, and worn out.

late summer grilled chicken, potato puree, and tomato salad

We’re working on reducing food waste, and clothing waste, and loving good, enduring style.

ps. all best practices tell us to get on a regular, scheduled posting schedule, yikes, is life really like that

good vibes :)

No more moody blues, we’ve got good vibes going on. 🙂

Celebrating 30 years of marriage tomorrow, and we’ve been living and loving life, in the kitchen and beyond. Sometimes you need to feel and maybe write about the lows to really feel the highs.

Finally got that udon noodle, actually had to get down and honestly knead that thing with my feet. Footnote, haha: 98% through with professional chef certification and udon noodles had me all tied up. Tried that thing so many times and finally thank you google did it like they said; put the dough ball in a plastic bag, threw it on the floor, and between a kitchen towel or two massaged it out with two feet.

Every day dress, good vibes. 🙂

confused, now more than ever

We’ve been cooking, and eating and drinking for sure, one of life’s great pleasures, and reading and studying. So, what are we supposed to really eat? Low carb, gluten-free, no sugar, Paleo, whole grains, vegan, plant-based, wtf. Add to that and we’ve moved for decades, in all kinds of ways.

Now we’re interested in more than simply the jean size, we want to keep the brain strong, and the joints fluid.

Confused by the research, and the marketing.

Last night did some gasp, pasta! Tonight we did coho salmon, with cauliflower ‘couscous’.

Both nights, tomatoes in the mix, canned San Marzano in the sauce and local homegrown with the fish. Are they inflammatory? Do we simply want to add color to our plate and not eat those things?

The quest continues. In the meantime we topped off one of the best local berry pies of the summer with vanilla ice cream and scratch full fat whipped cream. Double trouble, I guess.

no makeup, happy at work on Labor Day

best pants of the season, faux leather joggers

We’re also in the office, working on mindful luxury in the wardrobe for all our women.

Every day dress, every day cook.

what we do with our spare time, load the SUV with white chrysanthemums

doing the work, in a Dolce and Gabbana bikini

yeah, this is 52 and 20 or so extra pounds, why we are confused, now more than ever

switched out the planters for fall 17

xoxo

ps. no Photoshop, ever, way too much computer work for us.

get things done

Husband says I start stuff and leave it at 90%, yikes, so not cool. Is he talking about the laundry? Surely not dinner, haha.

This professional cooking school thing has me; it’s good, and it’s hard. We’re clocked in at 96% done with 96% average, and need to finish. Most things in life take longer than anticipated, this I know.

all this dairy free, gluten-free, raw stuff…

turns into this chocolate ganache torte

again, gluten-free, dairy free

penne Carbonaro (it’s tofu)…

So, we need to finish. Shown here are some blissed out time away photos, and the rest is time alone in the kitchen.

Wishing everyone reading the perseverance and discipline to get things done.

beautiful women we love to feed, and help dress

Every day dress, every day cook.

xoxo

fried green tomatoes

oh, fried green tomatoes, you are sublime

Okay, so if you’re stopping by here for fashion or style, sorry, we’ve been on holiday. In reality we’ve been out of touch, and in the kitchen, and it’s taking us a bit longer than planned, like everything else in life that goes down.

driving to market in off shoulder top for food stuff

We’re on month seven of this professional chef thing, one month extension, granted, and have three days to finish, yikes. Here’s what’s on deck: plant-based manicotti with egg and dairy free fresh pasta dough, scratch tomato sauce, tofu ricotta and cashew béchamel, fresh udon noodles with shiitake broth, almond sole, another Alsatian onion tart, two ways to use legumes, penne Carbonaro, veloute sauce, baked tofu, a chocolate ganache torte, a written description on what you should/could do if you find a pot of boiling stock on a stove top, a black box assignment, (don’t ask me, haha), and a four-hour multiple choice exam, yikes. Interested? Check out www.rouxbe.com. Highly and totally recommend.

Instead of totally concentrating at the task at hand, I get a little side-tracked, and go college dorm shopping with my daughter and decide to make something we’ve never had before: Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk & Chives, from the beautiful new cookbook The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine, by Erin French. Absolutely delicious, and the book, absolutely divine.

the plate is hot

what the end of the day looks like…

Yes, we’ve also made Wild Mushroom & Truffle Oil Pasta, twice now, in the last three days.

Fall fashion coming soon, can’t wait.

xoxo

friday night shenanigans

After being gone girl for darn close to three straight weeks the only outing we’re doing is the grocery run.

Our idea of a dream Friday night is a good dinner, a glass of Cava, (or two), and very early to bed. Friday night shenanigans’, indeed.

Spent the day in the kitchen, doing a nice pan-fried chicken garnished with fresh, local pea shoots for lunch, a big side dish of sautéed haricots verts with shallots for the fridge, and a little riff on a Nicoise Salad for dinner: pan-fried halibut topped with a slightly overdone poached egg. Yolk was still a bit runny, thankfully; must have been first out of four to hit the barely simmering water.

We’re 91% through with our professional cook certification and currently posting a 96.3 grade, whew. Hope to wrap this up in the next few days, we’re really missing our style fix. 🙂

Wishing everyone a restful, soulful, mid-summer weekend. xoxo

checked out for a little

We’ve checked out for a little; travel, cooking, and now upon second daughter’s recommendation have added in the study of wine, oh, boy.

Two weeks in Portugal, at times ten of us in all, and now in Manhattan, give or take a week. My travel mantra is now less is always more, and easier, and went with a carry-on and tote.

Sure, I feel a little style-lost, yet tradeoff is greater.

And cooking? One late afternoon in Porto went street-walking and picked up four fresh chickens, had the butcher cut them into eights, and that trifecta of tomatoes, onion, and garlic. A bottle of olive oil, dried pasta, some butter is love, coarse salt, fresh ground pepper, and copious amounts of Portuguese wine. We feasted.

Later in the week moved into the Douro Valley, toured Niepoort, and was gifted with a garden box of more garden fresh tomatoes, and green peppers, and oranges. Upon our late return to the apartment, all hungry and tired, those vegetables along with some white wine, garlic, onions, and butter, all pan sautéed separately and then combined into one gorgeous pot, divine for late night dinner. More wine, of course.

No photos, we’ve checked out for a little, text will suffice.

Wishing everyone good health and great meals, shared with those you love. xoxo

bringing back pink

mise en place for vegetable stock

homegrown, ready to roast

yay, hydrangea in the canning jar from our garden, and def a little Riesling with our afternoon lunch

homegrown lettuces, local chèvre, roasted beets and walnuts, red wine vinaigrette

We’ve been on the down low, stirring up things like scratch stock, roasting some homegrown beets for a nice lunch, and bringing out an old school bamboo handle bag, probably 10+ years out, and pairing it with that new brand for us, W by Worth, in a pale pink silk charmeuse blouse, and some equally old to the bag (10+ years), white linen wide leg pants, Worth New York.

pale pink silk, white linen, decade old+ bag, kind of fun to bring those things back

We’re kind of off for the summer, yay, yet back full tilt fashion come first week or so of September. Be well, fashion friends.

one more shot of the al fresco lunch, this time with cool tones and pink trim on the linen napkin

Every day dress, bringing back a little pink, in the kitchen and in the wardrobe. Love to all. xoxo

party to go

muscles in a wine butter broth

simple table with chargers

hair up, we don’t care

We’ve been town & country, carting food & wine here, there, and everywhere.

salmon on cabbage

a flat of homegrown strawberries = 14 jars of jam

Life is moving fast, definitely some big bumps, yet we’re celebrating the simple.

yes, please, homegrown peas

everyone in the kitchen now

Breaking bread, always a party to go. When we started this site 5+ years ago we were all about making your bed, protein at breakfast, walk the dogs, get out of the yoga clothes, put on some makeup (yay, kind of slacking on that one, it’s summer…), make some dinner, spend time with those you love, enjoy a glass of wine. Still the same.

major mac & cheese prep, notice the rose gold Birkenstocks and the white polish

unplanned family supper

flower prep, check out the sleeping dog 🙂

blanched hericots verts and chorizo bread waiting to be cubed

the sky is falling

double denim, double wooden salad bowls, toss with your hands

gorgeous roasted miniature San Marizona tomatoes

homegrown for the table times twelve

the gangs all here

knot those cloth napkins if no time to iron

Every day dress. xoxo

back in town, champagne and cell phone never far behind….

messy kitchen counter, honest kitchen life xoxo

gone cooking

Asparagus Risotto with Truffle Oil

Haven’t forgotten our sartorial sense, it’s just that we’re sliding into the home stretch of a six-month professional cook certification course, yikes. Total new-found respect for anyone that cooks for others, not always easy.

favorite chocolate chip, Furman University cut-outs, lemon bars, and white Sangria

EJ, wearing Worth New York, and Lizzie, wearing her ivy crown,

and Furman University hoodie

We’ve got a July 12th drop date, and still have things to do. Here’s a quick look at what’s been going on, while we haven’t been regularly updating the blog: