work in progress

hi everyone! i hope you all had a fabulous valentine's day - mine was very low key, which was perfect. sam insisted on staying in and making me dinner, and i acquiesced - i'm so used to cooking for the two of us, and stubbornly set in my way of doing things in the kitchen, that it's really hard for me to sit back and let someone else take the wheel. fortunately we recently re-organized our furniture, so our sofa has a prominent seat in the kitchen (i finally admitted to myself that, while a sofa in the kitchen might be unusual, it is the place where it will get the most use) so i settled myself on it and watched him mix a batch of pasta from scratch, rest it, struggle with the machine and then proceed to make what was honestly the most divine fettucine alfredo i've ever had - topped with wilted spinach, sauteed mushrooms and crispy prosciutto. lesson learned: i should take a seat on the couch more often.

ever since setting eyes on the stella mccartney resort 2012 collection, i've been smitten. i've googled and ebayed obsessively, hoping to find the (seemingly not even for-sale yet) white dress covered in bows at an audrey-friendly price (i know this will never happen) - and it finally occurred to me that, of all the over-priced designer clothing i've fallen for, this was probably the most easily DIY-able. so i bought a spool of ribbon, picked a well-fitting but infrequently-worn dress from my closet, and proceeded to obsessively tie and pin ribbons onto it.



sadly, i'm a pretty good idea person and initial energy runs high; but after sewing on the first half of the ribbons, i lost steam, so i'm wearing this carefully so's not to stick myself with one of the many pins poking out of the skirt and sleeves.

dress: madewell
shoes: thrifted
bows: added by me

i'm pretty excited with the way it's looking so far. a good cocktail dress is so essential - you can tell i think so, as i have a closet full of them and yet 9 nights out of ten you'll find me at home with sam, wearing comfy pants and a t-shirt. still, i love having a cute, well-fitting dress to slip into - an outfit no-brainer for when i DO go out.

. . . which is where you come in! brooklyn industries contacted me not long ago to see if i'd like to do a giveaway for my readers (another no brainer.) i've loved the brand for a long time - my love for red pants started with a pair of theirs a few years ago, and i've admired their simple but flattering silhouettes ever since. i picked this cute dress of theirs to give away - yours, for one lucky reader who leaves a comment.



so. . . enter away, and i'll pick a winner this friday. be sure to take a look at their new collection, too - lots of good stuff to see.

so much to post, and what feels like so little [free] time. i'll be back soon!

xo audrey

downton audrey

hey y'all! i had a rather exhausting, somewhat wine-soaked weekend, so i'm taking it easy with a bit of hulu with a side of blogging. i've become obsessed with downton abbey - about a year too late, i know - watching the first two seasons in a matter of about four days, because that's how i do. the show is essentially a soap opera set in the early 1900's, which is captivating enough, but the costuming is absolutely to die for - for me, it rivals even that of mad men - gorgeous, long art deco frocks, elbow length gloves, fabulous jewelry. it inspired me to snag this skirt, and do my best modern-downton - sort of last year's anthropologie catalog meets downton abbey meets dark-rooted-bedhead.




top: anthropologie
skirt: madewell
necklace: gift from sam
necklace: old anthropologie
shoes: (hard to see) rachel comey

anyhow, last weekend, after the resounding success that was braised lamb neck, i grabbed some lamb lollipops from work and planned a meal around them - a fishcake salad to start, mussels for an appetizer and then lamb lollipops with a fennel and green apple slaw and beet pureé. the preparation was actually quite simple, but so, so good.






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apple and fennel slaw

one small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
one green apple, thinly sliced
2 T honey
2 T apple cider vinegar
a few fronds of fennel, chopped
sea salt

combine all ingredients and let them sit for at least thirty minutes.

beet and greek yogurt pureé

about 2 large beets, cooked til soft and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup greek yogurt
sea salt

place in blender. buzzzzzz.

lamb lollipops

spice rub: i used rubbed sage, fennel pollen, sea salt, fresh thyme leaves
4 lamb lollipops
a splash of olive oil

start the oil in a pan, on medium high; let the pan get nice and hot, then place the lollipops in. cook for about 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness) each side; let them rest for a few minutes, then serve atop the slaw and puree. ta-da!

and one final note! i've had some exciting press lately - an interview with the host of all things considered on npr (which i have to admit is very much a dream come true for me, the biggest of all NPR nerds) and then today my macarons are featured on nymag.com! (and just in time for valentine's day. . . i have a feeling the next week will be an exceedingly busy one.)


macaron flavors (clockwise) coconut cream, nutella, mint chocolate chip, lavender black pepper and lemon rosemary. (photo by nymag)

thank you, truly and deeply, for all your kind words - i'll do a post soon to address some questions i've been getting in the comments.

much love to you all,

xo audrey

perks of the job

hello! i won't bother to make excuses for myself - when i started this blog, i was essentially a secretary in an office i loved but didn't find very satisfying, and i've since bounced from job to job, remaining unsatisfied - until now. this blog served as a fantastic means of creative expression, a way to force myself to do what i love even though i wasn't getting paid for it - it's rather bittersweet that i've found a job now that is so fulfilling, where i get to be as creative as i can muster and do what i love all day long. it's a wonderful feeling, but leaves me feeling somewhat drained when i come home in the afternoon, and blogging has lost some of its urgency, for lack of a better term, for me - it's almost as if my job has become my creative outlet, and blogging has become more of a job. a job that i love, but one that i've been pretty awful about keeping up with.

so, anyway, here's an attempt at getting back on the horse. one of the things i was sad to leave at my last job was the freedom to wear whatever i liked. i've worked in bakeries before, and it's more a case of dressing for comfort that style - and i'm okay with that, but i do miss my fancy shoes and vintage dresses. so i've been rather delighted to find that the other girls who i share a kitchen with are unendingly chic while managing to be kitchen-appropriate. i've taken to wearing lipstick, tights and dresses with an apron careful placed over them; or on more low-key days, something like this:



shirt: j crew
pants: cheap monday
shoes: vintage, thrifted
belt: asos

another fantastic perk is that the bakery is the sister-store of a wonderful organic market, which is right across the street; i'm able to get off work, walk across and head straight to the meat counter, to see what's freshest and talk to the butcher about the best way to prepare it. last thursday it was a lamb, and the butcher recommended i bring half the neck home and braise it with a rub and some vegetables. it's not something i would ever make - for whatever reason, my cooking preferences tend towards extremely fussy, involved dinners - but i followed his advice and it turned out absolutely divine.








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braised lamb's neck

1/2 neck of lamb
a rub of spices - i used kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, ground fennel seed, coriander, paprika, rubbed sage and fresh garlic
your choice of vegetables - i used what i had lying around: a leek, two potatoes, and a handful of cherry tomatoes
red wine and chicken stock, for braising
a pat of butter, for browning the meat

start the butter in a pan - once hot, add the meat, and cook for a couple of minutes on each side - just long enough to brown it. transfer it to a slow cooker with the veggies inside, and add enough chicken stock and wine to come halfway up the top of the meat. braise on high for at least three hours, or up to six. i served mine with a simple greens salad, tossed with some parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and topped with a poached egg. (i'm pretty much topping everything with a poached egg these days.)




i have such a backlog of food to post, i'll do my best to stay on top of it this time! much love to all of you for sticking with me, and hoping you've had a great 2012 thus far.

xo audrey

days gone by

which, a simple google search reveals, is the english translation of "auld lang syne." (**the more you know**) (or at least, it was news to me.)



dress: jill stuart
shoes: c/o seychelles
tights: HUE
flower brooch: thrifted

just a quickie today! sam and i were back up in connecticut this weekend for new year's day - a good friend has the misfortune of a december 31st birthday, which generally means that there is no shortage of parties on his special day, but not-a-one for him. his lady changed that this year, renting out a party bus to drive us and several of his close friends around hartford. i'm more of a dinner-party, champagne toast, dance with friends type of girl on new years, but i have to admit i had a pretty good time hopping from bar to bar. and it was a perfect excuse to snatch up this dress that i've been coveting for months upon months, for a fraction of even the sale price it's listed for on shopbop - one of the many benefits of living in new york city, i suppose.





so. . . this is pretty much everything i could want in a dress. bright colors, whimsical shapes (yes, i used the word "whimsical" and yes, i do kind of hate myself for it), gorgeous pleating. . . if i could wear it every day, i would. and it was warm enough saturday night to throw my go-to sweater over it and walk out the door.

and i THINK i'm a couple steps closer to finding a way to style this overgrown pixie cut into something i like. it requires the assistance of a blowdryer, which is a bit more high-maitenance than i'm used to, but i think i'll suck it up until it's long enough to throw into a ponytail.

and i'll leave you with one last shot of some food porn - i wouldn't feel right completing my first post of the year without it. i thought these macarons matched my outfit pretty well, so here they are: grapefruit curd flavor, made just before the new year.



i hope everyone had a fantastic new year! 2011 had to be my best year yet - i married the love of my life, found my dream job and am pretty much as happy as could be. i wish the same to each of you.

xoxo audrey

ant audrey

greetings from a dining room table in icy cold brooklyn! it's finally feeling like winter here - the temperature has literally dropped 30 degrees in the past few days, and it's almost a relief to bundle up in a winter coat and gloves (although this haircut is leaving much to be desired warmth-wise.) i've had a pretty serious lack of outfit posts lately (and posts in general, but i digress) - it's not on accident; my hair hasn't been cut or colored since i first chopped it and blonded it back. . . whenever that was. i'm trying to grow it out, and will probably dye it back to brown at some point, but for now i'm settling for punk-rock-muppet, or whatever the look i'm cultivating is. it certainly doesn't help that i've take to dressing like your crazy, eternally single aunt. case in point, my christmas garb:



sweater: cloak & dagger
dress (as skirt): charlotte taylor via anthropologie
shoes: ebay'd ferragamos
necklace: thrifted

wrinkles and all.

anyway, for our christmas sam and i headed up to connecticut to spend it with his family. thanksgiving in california with my folks, christmas in connecticut with his; it's a tradition i've come to love, since time at home with my family is invaluable to me, of course, especially now that it means seeing my little nephew pete. my mom makes all the foods i love for thanksgiving - green bean casserole just the way i like it - and then for the christmas holiday sam's mom handmakes more pierogies than you can count, the wine flows generously, and there's a big screen tv in a den (i always wanted to have a house with a den when i grew up) to escape into. the bakery was pretty hectic leading up to christmas, but i threw together a dish i'd prepared a couple weeks earlier in brooklyn that sam went crazy over.

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bass en croute


upon a little internet searching to refresh my memory (i couldn't remember quite what veggies i used the first time) i came across this recipe, which is pretty similar. so i guess i can't claim complete ownership over this one, but i will say it's pretty easy to make and quite the crowd pleaser. particularly if you have a fridge full of fresh fish, as i do.

1 sizeable fish fillet (i used striped bass, which apparently has been on a KILLER run this fall. in case you were wondering.) i'd say about 4-5 inches wide by ten inches-ish long.
2 sheets puff pastry dough
1 egg, beaten
1 bulb fennel
1 lemon
1/2 cup greek olives
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
about 1/4 cup chicken stock
a couple tablespoons cream
salt & pepper


preheat the oven to 375; make sure your puff pastry sheets are defrosted and ready for use. prep the fish by slicing it, long ways, in half - so that you have two fillets that look the same size as the original from above, but are half the thickness. slice 1/2 the tomatoes, the greek olives, and the fennel; saute until soft, squeeze with 1/2 the lemon juice. prepare the puff pastry sheet by placing it on a baking pan on top of some parchment paper. brush the dough with the beaten egg (there should still be plenty left to brush the outside of the pastry when finished) then place one of the fillets in the center. top it with the sauteed veggies, then place the other half the fish on top; place two slices of lemon on top, squeeze the rest of the juice over it, salt and pepper, then carefully place the second sheet on top of the fish. trim the pastry so it's about 1 inch from the fish, then fold it over itself and seal it with a fork. brush the pastry with the remaining egg, then put it in the oven. it'll take 25-35 minutes to bake; keep an eye on it, and take it out to rest for a few minutes once it's puffed and golden brown.

for the sauce - while the pastry is cooking, take the remaining 1/2 cup of tomatoes, sliced in half, and the cloves of garlic; chop them, toss the two with olive oil, then wrap them in aluminum foil and roast until the skins of the tomatoes have popped and started to brown (10-15 minutes.) remove the foil and place the ingredients in a small pan; saute on low, adding chicken stock as needed, then right before you get ready to serve, add the cream, salt, and pepper. strain the sauce to remove the tomato skins and seeds, and drizzle around the pastry. ta-da!





you can see how out of practice i am - i totally forgot to take pictures the whole time and just cooked like a normal person. i'll get back on track, i swear.

i sincerely wish you all a wonderful new year, and hope you had a wonderful christmahannukwanzukah. or solstice. i have a pretty fantastic new years dress picked out, so i think i'll be back sooner than later.

xo audrey

it's beginning to look a lot like. . .

hello hello!

well, believe it or not, i am STILL nursing this cold, and starting to forget what it feels like to have a nose that isn't runny, and a head that isn't almost too heavy for its neck. one of my readers, lauren, pointed out that i shouldn't nap in the afternoon, and i think she's right - unfortunately i've become stuck in this awful cycle of wake up super early & tired, work for 8 or 9 hours, become exhausted, go home, nap, wake up for dinner and find myself unable to fall asleep at a reasonable hour, and repeat. i've also been watching a lot of law and order: special victims unit, which is doing some pretty weird things to my dreams.

regardless of all of this, i've been working like a maniac and honestly loving just about every minute of it. (except the first thirty or so. try as i might, i am just not a morning person.) with the holidays coming i'm trying to get some ideas together for the bakery (which, i should mention, is called the annex, in fort greene. if you are in new york please stop by!! it's a small place, you'll see me.) what holiday cookies and treats do you like? as a pastry chef with an admittedly saltier tooth than sweet, this time of year can be hard for me - so i've been focusing my time on macarons, always my favorite.








from the top: raspberry lemonade, blueberry white chocolate, caramel apple cider, chocolate espresso, pear ginger, and peppermint dark chocolate.

thank you all for the sweet and encouraging comments. it's a job that hardly feels like work, but i have to say i'm anxious to get my energy back and my sleep back on schedule so i can get back to normal again - i feel like i've been on some kind of strange baking vacation where all i do is work, eat and sleep.

if you have any holiday recipe ideas you'd like to share, please let me know! i'll let you know if i'm serving your cookies in the bakery.

xo audrey

m.i.a.

and i do mean ACTION. i do think this new (awesome) job will allow me more time for blogging, but it's been a big adjustment - waking up at 5 am, and working until 2 or 3 pm - as yet, i haven't figured out how to get enough sleep the night before to bypass a nap when i get home; usually a 3 to four hour nap, which sucks me of any energy and still sends me off to bed early.

a typical day for me now looks like this: wake up, stumble into some clothing; tie my seriously-dark-rooted mop top into a bandana, slip on some comfy shoes, grab my magical red notebook of recipes and hop into the passenger's seat of sam's car, because he is a saint who wakes up when i do every morning just to drive me the 3/4 mile or so to work. once i get in to the bakery, i flip on the oven and start prepping muffins for the morning; i'll usually make two, say a blueberry cinnamon and then what's become a standard - a cheesy cornbread muffin with a hardboiled egg baked inside. next, biscuits; i'll see what cheeses or herbs need to be used and incorporate those - today's were buttermilk prosciutto.






somewhat by accident, i've been making lots of gluten free stuff that has gotten a pretty positive response - much of it inspired by this lovely blog. around this time of the morning, i'll pick a fruit we have in abundance, match it with a spice, extract, or herb and slowly bake it at a low temperature to create a fruit leather of the day.





next i'll try to bang out a few savory items, for lunch time - usually a pissaladiere, some kind of galette, and maybe a puff pastry tart. mini tomato tartins, cornbread upside down cakes, or mushroom and lamb galettes. . .






then the real fun starts. this is the time of day i get to experiment a bit; i make a batch of macarons (so far flavors i've tried: root beer float, chocolate raspberry, pumpkin pie, salted caramel apple, vanilla pomegranate, peppermint dark chocolate,) and any other cookies or sweets i want to test out. one of my favorites so far has been homemade s'mores - i made graham crackers and marshmallows from scratch, then pressed them together with some dark and white chocolate and melted them for about 30 seconds.












so, all is well, and i really feel like i've found my place - what's better than getting to do the thing you love all day long, and get paid for it?

i know i've been awful about responding to comments, and getting back to you guys - i swear i'm getting my feet underneath me (and getting over a pretty nasty cold) and i'll be back to my old self in no time.

much love,

audrey