NOURISH HEALTH + TASTE + STYLE

With Warmth and Cheer

A warm, healthy and happy holiday season to you from moi and Nourish.  I'm taking a mini-break this week to wrap the year and spend some time with loved ones...with one of my favorite holiday treats in hand.  These olive oil orange-fennel shortbread featured last year, have quickly become a holiday tradition (also adorning the plate: German spice cookies with meyer lemon icing and tried and true peppermint chocolate bark) . Here are a few other treats, with health in mind, to usher in the new year.  Until 2013...(don't worry, the third annual Bon Appetit Food Lover's Cleanse, devised by Sara Dickerman and I, will be coming on strong as of Jan. 1!).

 

 

 

The Gift Guide :: For Your Favorite Foodie

December never ceases to be all out craziness.  The month seems to speed by like lightening each year, and inevitably I'm caught shopping...well, not totally last minute, but certainly not ahead of the game.  That said, if you're scouting out the perfect gift for your favorite foodie or cocktail connoisseur this holiday, take a peek at some of my picks (my own personal lil wishlist), as recently seen on George PR's trusty blog. I will admit, a good few of these picks already adorn my kitchen and coffee table...and they make my cooking and eating experience that much more delightful each and every time.  

1. The Edible Selby. Mouthwatering food photos and recipes, perfect addition to my coffee table.
2. Wolfum Coasters.  Just cause they’re fun (and an easy stocking stuffer).
3. The Breville Juicer.  The perfect detoxifying remedy after a long evening of holiday cheer.
4. Because you can be fashionable in the kitchen too.  Birdkage St. Marks Studded Apron
5. Need I say more?  Noble Bourbon Maple Syrup
6. Teroforma Whiskey Stones and Glasses. Nothing like sipping around a roaring fire.
7. For my dream kitchen….Brooklyn Copper Cookware's Hammersmith Saute Pan

Lucky you, you'll be able to find many of these items at my soon-to-be cafe and food shop, Nourish Kitchen + Table at Greenwich Avenue (opening this coming spring, and with gifts galore come holiday season 2013!). 

Asheville + Cisthene :: When Beautiful Places and Beautiful Things Collide

I've been ready to return to Asheville, a cozy, cultured town tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina, since, oh...about 24 hours since returning from my first trip there last October.  It's no wonder the town has gotten such incredible press in recent years - an incredible food scene, a thriving art community, breathtaking moutainous scenery, some of the best antiquing I've ever laid eyes on, the Biltmore house, and a pretty phenomenal standard of living.  Oh, and one very exceptional kindred spirit, my good friend and creative goddess Jen Altman - and her wonderful family, including 3 gorgeous girls who could whip you into shape and wrap you around their fingers all at once.  So when Jen's photography was recently featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine, I couldn't help but be transplanted back to the calm, rustic beauty that's Asheville.  Helps that the spread highlighted various Asheville hot spots, no doubt a collective of Jen's favorites, many of which I've been to or heard of thanks to her.  Thankfully I have good reason to return to Asheville in the next month or so.  

Until then, magazine clippings and memories will have to suffice.  And some serious oogling over Jen's recently launched drop-dead amazing site, Cisthene, a jewelry and apothecary fiend's mecca.  One look at Jen's glittering arms and hands, and it's clear her affections lie with beautiful, unique pieces - her personal jewelry box is unreal, and overflowing.  She's turned her excellent artistic eye into a site that might just heal, inspire, or make you simply shine.  Have at it, it's always a good time to gift something special to yourself...or someone else.   www.cisthene.com

delights from Curate & White Duck Taco
above, a lovely fall salad from The Admiral

may I present Cisthene

beautious bits and bobbles