THE Sidebar from Urban Case

For the past few months, I have stayed away from decorating blogs and interior design stores, determined to pay off credit cards and avoid "unnecessary purchases."  I was extremely reasonable and self-restrained, until I went to a my favourite coffee shop for a cappuccino the other day... 

photo: Jass and Meen

The trouble is, this coffee shop is located next to Mint Interiors, a design store I am particularly fond of. As I walked by, I was doing my very best to avoid "eye contact" with any of the items in the window display (yes, it is a perfectly legitimate use of the word eye contact because I really do feel like beautiful furniture stare at me and even flirt a little sometimes). Unfortunately, out of the corner of my eye, I accidently caught a glimpse of this beautiful piece and a familiar feeling took over me.

(photo: Urban Case)

Hello.

photo: Jass and Meen

The French call it "coup de foudre" and it could be translated to "love at first sight." It isn't the first time that I fall head over heals for a piece of furniture or art and have learned to recognize the signs, even the body language. I must look like a dog spotting a squirrel: head lifts, ears perk up, eyes widen, it's the interior decorator equivalent of picking up a scent. So I went into the store, a sign otherwise known as the point of no return. It's like admitting defeat and succumbing to temptation;  I am weak and it has won because now I want it very badly.

Photo: Jass and Meen

photo: Jass and Meen

It is called the Sidebar. THE Sidebar. As in, there is no need to ever look for another sidebar because this is THE one for you. It was made by the very talented, very brilliant designers at Urban Case, a small company based in Seattle. 

photo: Jass and Meen

I have mentioned before that my man and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to decorating our house and compromising for furniture can be a challenge. Not this time. I feel like Urban Case had the both of us in mind when they created this piece, as if just for us.  A combination of elegant craftmanship, amazing detail and quality of material, the Sidebar belongs in our house.  It will be ours someday and when that day comes, it will be the most beautiful piece of furniture we own. By far. 

photo: Jass and Meen

photo: Jass and Meen

I have been back to visit The Sidebar three times since I first spotted it in that window display and I am sure that there will be more "conjugal visits" in the near future. While I have had such strong emotional reactions to furniture in the past, I know that when I fall this hard for something, it stays on my wish list and never goes away...until I buy it, that is. There are only a handful of items that I want this badly, some of which I have been obsessing over for years and still want just as badly. I have come to think of this as a positive reaction, a sign that something is meant to come home with me and that I will treasure it for a very long time.

So now I know; going for capuccinos can lead to big trouble. It's best to stay at home... See you soon, friends (that means you too, little Sidebar.)

Games Night # 1

It's been a while, I know. Is anyone still there? Hi.

Here's what's new in the world of Jass & Meen.

Our little jam company, Sticky Spoon, is growing and, though it is definitely a lot of hard work, it has been a blast. My days currently revolve around fruit ordering and processing, inventories, business plans and excel spreadsheets. My email account, which used to be mainly filled with news from friends and updates from my favourite stores and websites, is now dedicated to correspondence with graphic designers, printer companies, farmers, orders from retail stores and restaurants as well as requests for wedding favours. Can you believe how quickly life changes. Though we are still an extremely tiny business, orders are coming in and I am so grateful for every single one of them. Let's keep them coming.

In the past few months, when my head was spinning and when I needed to take a time out, I turned to Kinfolk magazine. I ordered the first two issues some time in the Fall and they came in the best packaging ever; brown paper package tied up with string, one that would make Maria von Trapp sing of her favourite things. It actually took me two days to bring myself to open it. I kept walking around with it, moving the package from one place to the next and just staring at it with satisfaction.

This January, during a short weekend getaway to Seattle, I sat down on the hotel bed in the middle of the afternoon, in between a leisurely lunch and happy hour, and I read both issues back to back. Friends, I can tell you that was the most relaxed I felt in months. Ok, so the glass of wine with lunch may have helped but, in my opinion, that is the way Kinfolk magazine was meant to be read, slowly and with attention given to every page.

I read about food, people who love to eat and cook for their loved ones, those who gather around a table and take the time to enjoy what is in front of them. I was envious of their amazing meals, fabulous friends and relaxing lifestyle until I realized that bringing friends to the dinner table and feeding them tasty meals and plenty to drink is something that I actually do fairly regularly. I too have fantastic friends who love to eat, drink and hang out.

We may not have weekly dinners but I do invite everyone over whenever I can and every time we see each other we hug, toast to good friends and we all say we should do this more often. Sometimes we spend a week preparing an elaborate four course meal for ten people and other nights, we adopt the Kinfolk attitude of simplicity, serve a few snacks and casually sit around the living room table to chat. Last month, on a particularly stormy Sunday night, we started our own tradition with our first Games Night.

There were oysters (shuck your own, not as fancy as it sounds), veggies and chips with caramelized onion dip (a must for any games night), dates stuffed with taleggio cheese and mini tarts filled with cheese and herbs and garnished with oven roasted tomatoes. We stuffed endive with blue cheese, apples, pecans, celery and even baked spicy chicken wings. None of these took very long to make and items were just sitting in the fridge, waiting to be heated up throughout the night whenever the table seemed a little low of goodies.

photo: A. Dean

photo: A. Dean

It's not a real Games Night without a big pitcher of boozy cocktail but, determined to keep things casual, I simply left it on the bar and let everyone pour as they see fit.

With the fire roaring, we sat around the table, ate and played games for hours. It is amazing how competitive people get, even those you would least expect. (I got so involved that I forgot to take photos of the food so thanks A. Dean for snapping away with your iPhone.)

Having a dinner party that isn't perfectly planned and decorated is certainly something that I need to work on. I could learn a thing or two from Kinfolk. If i could really, truly wrap my head around that concept, perhaps I would have friends over more regularly. Even though I aim for casual and unpretentious, I still get carried away with the desire to pull out my favourite linen and buy new serving platters. I need to forget the mini tarts and the stuffed dates, I'm sure my friends would be more than happy to come over and have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Hum....not a bad idea. Anyone for a grilled cheese party? Why not...

Vietnamese Dinner Party

I worked at a cookbook store recently. It was a very short career, my shortest ever in fact, but it helped me figure out that no matter what happens in the future, I am definitely not made to work the retail environment. Luckily, as much as I dreaded going to work everyday, my love of cookbooks never diminished. In fact, it may have increased.

I already had quite a collection of cookbooks and, in a mere two month period, twelve more books were added to it. That may sound excessive but I have already cooked and baked my way through more than forty recipes. Some cookbooks are meant for everyday use, with nice photos and recipes you can't wait to make on any rainy weekday evening. Other cookbooks are absolutely gorgeous, with incredible food photography and stories that transport you to another country to explore the flavours, regions and stories that make it so unique. Luke Nguyen's The Songs of Sapa is one of them. Its recipes and tales make you want to get to know the people of Vietnam and embark on a culinary adventure similar to the one the author shares throughout the book.

As the recipes are traditionally Vietnamese and some exotic ingredients and spices are often used to create the dishes, I wouldn't qualify this book as the source of the average Tuesday night dinner at our house. But I had to have it anyway, even though I was unsure if I would ever use it. I took it home a month or so ago, read all the stories and vowed to actually cook from it. So I found the perfect excuse to try as many recipes as I could from it and invited eight people for dinner for a Vietnamese feast. I took it from pretty coffeetable book to useful kitchen cookbook, complete with stains and wrinkled pages and I am so glad I did.

The first thought that came to mind after we decided we were going to host a Vietnamese dinner was that I wanted to set and decorate the table for a Vietnamese dinner; it's the best part! We had our friends over the night before Halloween so gold-painted pumpkins seemed appropriate and I added banana leaves and anything silver or bamboo I could find in my house. I know that I am becoming more and more of a Martha Stewart wannabe as I get older, so my hope is that it amuses you and that you won't laugh at me too much because I really do start looking forward to setting the table days before the event. Ok, you can laugh at me now.

The Menu

Kohlrabi salad with mango, green papaya and roasted peanuts

Prawns in coconut milk

Red curry fish cakes

Lemongrass beef on a stick with creamy hoisin sauce

Sticky jasmine rice

Vegetables & bean sprouts with garlic chives

Lime and cardamom sorbet over papaya

Tapioca pudding with lime and mango

Salted peanut butter cookies

Oatmeal chocolate cookies

Our friends are the best dinner guests. Not only do they always go out of their way to bring wine that pairs perfectly with our menus, but they are always so grateful that they make us feel like the rockstars of dinner parties. We sometimes get fabulous thank you cards in the mail and the occasional bag of cookies on our front porch, a token of gratitude that only makes us want to have more parties.

I could see that this Vietnamese evening might trigger a series of themed dinner parties. We could pick a cookbook, preferably one that is full of foreign food and spices that I am not familiar with, invite ten or so people over, cook and bake a dozen recipes from it and decorate the room accordingly to create a beautiful vibe and have a great time. Sounds perfect to me. I think our next event might be a Turkish dinner. Or maybe Spanish Tapas. Why not have a Greek dinner or cook Japanese Izakaya? It's nice to spice things up, cook something different and use all sorts of ingredients that you have never even heard of before. Creating a nice atmosphere is also equally, if not more fun and, if your friends are anything like mine, they will be up for all sorts of different themes and eat everything you serve them. I can't recommend it enough. Have a great week.

Wishbone Chair

I don't have anything new to introduce you to today, but I do want to share with you something that has been on my mind for some time. The Wishbone Chair.

I know that you have seen these before because they have graced the cover of many magazines and websites but, how do you feel about the Wishbone Chair? At first I wasn't sure what to think of them myself. I grew to like them and now I really, really want them. Sometimes, that's how you fall in love with the favourite items in your home. You know you have to have it but you are not sure why so you buy it and, over time, it becomes an indispensable part of your style and your home.

image via Style Files

I want to emphasize how versatile these chairs are. Look at the different pictures below and notice how the chairs fit in with just about any style you can think of and that is what I love that about them the most. They are also incredibly elegant without being too girly and can vary significantly, depending on the material and colour you choose. They can be rustic and masculine and they can be very classy, often all at the same time.

image via Style Files

image via Design Sponge

image via Desire to Inspire

How do you feel about the Wishbone Chair?

Thanksgiving 2011

Perhaps you remember that I mentioned gatherings back in September. I know, I know, I talk about gatherings a lot but it was early September and I was already trying to get everyone excited about Thanksgiving. Well, it has been a week since our annual get-together and I simply can't go any longer without talking about our feast.

Why can't we have a dinner like this every week? Sure, it inevitably includes a ridiculous amount of work and an even more obscene quantity of food but so what?! Any excuse to get twelve friends at one table is good enough for me. I usually start thinking about the menu a month in advance and I think that this year, we did a pretty good job. We were very prepared and, for the first time in five years of hosting this event, there wasn't a moment of stress throughout the preparations. For that reason, I would rate this year as the best Thanksgiving yet.

Every year we make fresh pasta. Last Thanksgiving, our ravioli were a hit so we were under a lot of pressure to keep it up. We opted for something a little more rustic and a touch more foreign: pierogies.

We also, for the first time, vetoed the turkey altogether.

Thanksgiving 2011 Menu

Dinner:

Ottolenghi's Moroccan Carrot Salad

Thomas Keller's Leek Bread Pudding

Big Lou's Porchetta

Ottolenghi's Wild Mushroom Ragout with Sour Cream, Tarragon and Garlic Croutons

Big Lou's Roast Leg of Lamb with Apple Chutney or Curry Cream Sauce

Thomas Keller's Creamed Corn

Ottolenghi's Ratatouille

Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogies & Potato Cheddar Pierogies with Caramelized Onions

Cheese Course with Spiced Nuts and a selection of Sticky Spoon Jams:

Spiced Autumn Plum Jam

Tomato Jam

Apricot and Saffron Jam

Kits Beach Blackberry Jam with Lemon Geranium

Desserts:

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Pear Crumble with Crystallized Ginger and Creme Fraiche

Artisan Bakery Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Raspberries

Also on the menu...

By the way, you may have noticed that we used a few of Ottolenghi's recipes. If you don't own Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty, go buy it. Now. Shut down the computer and go. Every recipe I have made so far turns the average, unpopular, sometimes bland vegetable into a dish that simply explodes with flavour. This isn't your typical, healthy vegetarian cookbook. I recommend it highly and I think that all twelve of our guests would agree.

Someone even brought root beer liqueur, just for the fun of it and, with so much ice cream being passed around, it was inevitable that root beer floats would be mixed up.

I look forward to this event all year long and the very next morning, with a HUGE pile of dishes awaiting on the kitchen counter and a house taken over by tables, chairs and empty bottles of wine, I always sit in the middle of the mess and start thinking of ideas for the following year. I love it. I hope that your Thanksgiving was just as wonderful. If not, come to our house next time...