HOMEMADE PESTO

Had a big bunch of basil that was on the verge of going brown so making pesto was the only way to go. I based it on a Mark Bittman recipe that was super easy and fast.  A definite idea for summer, good in pastas, on meat, on bruschetta, tomato/basil/mozz salad, etc.  And you know pesto is so expensive in stores- this probably only totaled about 3 dollars- another reason to try it out.  Kinda wish I could say I used my own home grown basil but those wilted long ago.  HOWEVER, my other veggie plants are coming on strong (more on that later) and because of that I've gotten ambitious and started to germinate watermelon and eggplant seeds this past weekend.  Viva la veggies. 

Homemade Pesto


At least 2 cups lightly packed basil leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. toasted walnuts or pinenuts
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup grated parmesan or other hard cheese (optional)
Salt to taste


Whizz together basil, half of the oil, nuts, crushed garlic cloves in a food processor or blender.  When it's smooth gradually add the rest of the oil and adjust the salt level to your liking. Stir in parmesan at the end. That's it! Simple and tasty. You can store it on your fridge for about a week or freeze if you want to keep it longer. 


I added an extra garlic clove for an more kick and didn't use as much olive oil but you should adjust it depending on what consistency you prefer. 


VvV Amanda

Food Food FOOD

I just got home from college (for the last time.. oh my goodness!) so I thought I'd post some of the fun thangs I've been up to the past few weeks before graduation. Two weeks ago I went to the SoWa market in Boston, and wandered around the farmer's market tasting every sample possible (honey, salmon paté, cheese, pesto... the list goes on). The food trucks were amazing too. I seriously think I had the best damn lamb skewer of all time from Silk Road BBQ.

Lots and lots of cooking has been occurring too, including a huge food fiesta last week with mustard-crusted chicken, rice pilaf, stir-fry beef n veggies and of course an overabundance of wine and cheese. Mah dear Caroline made a loaf of bread which I positively devoured with a touch of the honey bought at SoWA. We also decided to test out the crispy potato roast pinched from everyone's favourite Smitten Kitchen, adding in some garlic and green onions for good measure. I seriously want to eat it all over again.

Graduation was just as long and emotional as expected, but now it's time for summer in NYC. Horraaaay. Stay tuned for news of Amanda & Azzara's summer reunion, which will most definitely include food, fun and forking out money we don't have for shopping. 

♥, Azzara

BLOOD ORANGE SORBET

My aunt from sunny California sent me a huge boxful of blood oranges (thank goodness for flat rate shipping)!  They're really pretty although not totally ripe in the middle so I thought it best to make a sorbet out of the tart juice and pulp.  It turned out pretty good and if you wanted to try it'd probably work great with any kind of freshly squeezed fruit juice.  Great for the summer and very refreshing.  A scoop of it would even be good in tonic water or champagne...

Blood Orange Sorbet
2 cups orange juice with or without pulp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups water


Boil the water and sugar together for about a minute after it starts bubbling to make a simple syrup and let that cool while you juice the oranges.  Combine orange juice and simple syrup and then refrigerate.  Pour into sorbet/ ice cream maker and in 15-20 min it's ready.


If you don't have an ice cream maker then you can make a granita by putting the combined liquid into a freezer safe container.  Scrape the juice as it freezes every once and a while to get the icy chopped up texture. After it completely freezes it should be ready to serve. 


I think next time I try to make this I'm going to put the orange segments in a food processor to get a more even juice/ puree before combining. Might make a big difference texturally but without this step it still works. 


Happy Memorial Day weekend!  May it be relaxing and fun for all.


VvV Amanda

SUMMER SHOWS

TASTY cupcakes from friday at Sugar Sweet Sunshine.  Yes, I got two for myself, don't judge. 

AHHH.  Summer concerts are upon us!  Here are the NYC shows I'm most looking forward to seeing:

FREE

6/10 Theophilus London @ Brooklyn Museum 7pm w/ rsvp audiophile@thelmagazine.com

6/10 Andrew Bird @ Prospect Park Bandshell 8:15PM

6/17 The Books @ Prospect Park Bandshell 7PM

6/23 We Are Scientists @ Red Hook Park 7pm

7/23 The Feelies @ Prospect Park Bandshell 7PM

8/5 Ra Ra Riot @ Prospect Park Bandshell 7PM

8/7 Friendly Fires @ Central Park SummerStage 3PM

8/11 Deer Tick @ Pier 54 6PM

8/25 Wavves @ East River Amphitheater

PAID

6/14 Decemberists and Best Coast @ Prospect Park Bandshell 7pm

6/17 Beirut @ McCarren Park Northside Festival 6PM

6/24 Florence and the Machine @ Central Park SummerStage 5:30PM

8/1 Lykke Li @ Central Park SummerStage 5:30PM

8/2 Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park Bandshell 6PM

8/10 Bon Iver @ Prospect Park Bandshell 6:30PM

8/11 Cut Copy @ Prospect Park Bandshell 5:30PM

Already got tickets for Sufjan and Decemberists but will probably just loiter outside the other paid concerts esp. the ones at SummerStage because it's so nice to sit there.  Almost nicer than actually being inside the venue because you have room to spread out.  Picnic in the park!

VvV Amanda

FLEAS

image/ NY Times

“Flea markets proliferate a volume of goods needing to be sold and people who are hungry — emotionally and aesthetically — to sort out the meaning of life,” said Michael Prokopow

An interesting article about flea marketing in NYC.  I've really been wanting to check out Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg.  It's on my summer to-do list which may or may not include:


+ outdoor summer concerts (list to come)
+ checking out the Maira Kalman show at the Jewish Museum
+ seeing the Alexander McQueen show, AGAIN (once is not enough)
+ making sun tea
+ making homemade ice creams
+ watch all of Parks and Recreation on netflix (2 down, 30+ eps to go)
+ maybe learning how to make French macarons, first attempt was a bust
+ gardening more and (hopefully) harvesting my veggies
+ being more productive art wise
+ getting ready to go back to school (packing, eek)


Whats on your list?
VvV Amanda

Chihuly: Part 2

Yesterday I had the delightful opportunity to check out the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. As Amanda mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the exhibit is called Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass and boy, it sure was amazing. 

FRIDAY PICKS

1. interior

2. photo essays

3. outfit

4. pretty food

5. prabal collab

Have a great weekend all!

VvV Amanda

Last weekend in Western Mass

♫ Listening to Fiona Apple- Paper Bag

Argh, so many fun things from last weekend.  I went to visit my friend Hannah in Western Mass and even though it was raining all weekend (sad!) we still had so much fun.  Here's a samplin' of what we did.  I recently bought myself an Olympus XA camera on eBay and broke it in on the trip so pictures to come as soon as I get em developed. 

+ roamed the streets of Northampton while dodging recent Smith graduates

+ saw Bridesmaids the movie and coveted Kristen Wiig's outfits

+ ate delicious grass-fed cheese burgers and fries at Local Burger

+ finally watched The Hangover in preparation for the Hangover Part II coming out this summer

+ browsed Salvation Army and some thrift stores

+ went to this awesome bookstore in an old mill, aptly named THE BOOK MILL ("books you don't need in a place you can't find")

+ had such good blueberry pancakes (see above, yum) at Esselon Cafe

+ had an awesome spaghetti and meatball dinner at the Ryan household and met Hannah's new dog and cat! also where we...

+ played Beatles Rock Band and watched The Killing on AMC

As you can probably tell, we saw a lot of movies, ate a lot, and shopped. AHHH! Such a good weekend! Everything I love to do.  It made me really miss the area and the good ol Mount Holyoke college days last year. 

Here's a bonus pic of Hannah and her mom furminating her dog Sally.  If you want to know what furminating is- you should probz look that shizz up. 

GOOD TIMES.

VvV Amanda

Ugh, Madewell

Why you gotta be so pretty?

I'm loving these looks from the fall Madewell lookbook.  Tough boots and dresses= yessss.
VvV Amanda

ACCES-STORIES with Beth S.

I'm a long time fan of my friend Beth's photography!  She really knows how to work an SLR.  Here are a few of my favorite snaps and we asked her a few questions so you can get an idea of how she works. 

A Matter of Taste: Fulvio Bonavia's Turns Food Into Art

I was perusing my dear friend Elisa's blog and saw a post about Fulvio Bonavia, an Italian photographer best known for his advertisements for Heineken, Adidas, BMW, and Audi. After a closer look at his work, I knew I had to share with you guys. Bonavia started out as a graphic designer and illustrator and then moved into photographing for various companies. Personally, I prefer his photos that combine food and fashion (two of our favourite things here at Style Relish). His book A Matter of Taste chronicles his foray into food-related art. Check out some of my favourites below:

If you guys are looking for some cool accessories this summer, why not make a good ol' blueberry bag? The pieces are made out of real fruits and vegetables so they decay in real time, which just adds another step to the artistic process. I'd love to have a cheese bag any day, although it probably wouldn't last very long in my house. 

♥, Azzara

Mr Men... N Little Miss

When I was a lil kid, I was obsessed with the Mr Mess and Little Miss books. I had a whole set and would force my parents to read and reread them with me until they wanted to explode. My nickname even used to be Little Miss Contrary when I was young because I always thought it was funny to yell "nooo" when I was asked to do simple tasks such as brush my teeth or wash my hands (what a delightful child I must have been). Anyway, yesterday Google celebrated what would have been the Mr Men creator, Roger Hargreaves' 76th birthday with a whole bunch of great logos. Here are some of my favourites:

 Mr Uppity & Little Miss Naughty

Mr Rush

Little Miss Chatterbox

Mr Forgetful

 Little Miss Curious

Mr Bump

How great are these? I think the Google Doodle logos are definitely getting better and better. Anyway, I'm impressed. Their logos celebrating Jules Verne and Robert Bunsen's birthdays were really awesome too. Go Google!
♥, Azzara

Things Organised Neatly... What's Not to Love?

Some may say (kindly, I hope) that I'm a bit neurotic... buuuut hey, sometimes those neuroses can be a great thing. Things Organized Neatly, a blog for the overly obsessive like myself, is the perfect example of this strange personality quirk manifesting itself in an awesome way. People submit photos of.. yeah you guessed it, things organised neatly. It's just great. Here are some of my favourite submissions:

Agh, I'm seriously in love! All I want to do is obsessively check this website over and over again. Is that weird? It's great that people can make such pretty imagery from just a couple of things arranged in a row. Brilliant, right?
♥, Azzara