A night in for my walls

I'm bookmarking this print as something to hang above my vintage writing bureau. By AshleyG on Etsy.

Scandinavian style: a way of life

There is something about clean lines, shades of wood, white walls and pops of colour that gets me everytime. It's not rocket science; it's that Scandinavian style that we've absorbed all over the world. I stumbled across Kit Ka Design, a blog run by the owners of Mjolk, a Scandinavian interiors and design store in Toronto.

They say they love Scandinavia because "it enthralls us. Soft, quiet snowy forests and streets in the winter. Glittery, blinding sunlight on colourful buildings during the summer. Swedish style. Grass roofs. Hot dog streetside snacks. These are a few of our favourite things."

The shop already has everything you need for summer meals al fresco; Swedish blankets, Norwegian water carafe; bits of blue, and lots and lots of white...

... and naturally, the owners practice what they preach. You can read more about the couple's house at their blog, Kit Ka, but meanwhile, take a peek at their blue-white-grey bedroom that they've just finished doing up.

It's nothing fancy, nothing over the top - but simple, clean, fluid, unfussy and informal. The way, surely, a home should be...

...with space for him...

...and space for her...

Plus, on the theme of clean blue and white, there's a whole spread on the scheme in the August issue of Elle Decoration. See, it's a way of life.

Trailer Trash

I love a little stylish packaging; even more so when it makes me laugh out loud. See the box below that I saw at the New York Summer Fancy Food Show by the Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory. They should sell these in Selfridges, for irony alone.

Grateful

My friend has this postcard by Vol 25 up on her fridge and she put it on her blog too. Because sometimes you just need to take a little bit of time to remember the positive things even if it feels like a bumpy ride. Fingers crossed for good things a-coming. x

New York bakery tour: Babycakes and Momofuku Milk Bar

Those of you following my New York bakery diaries will know that it was really only after the obligatory Magnolia Bakery visit that the real cake fun started. From Greenwich, we cabbed over to the Lower East Side to make a trip to Babycakes, the acclaimed "healthy" bakery that, according to its cookbook's sub-title, is the "Most Talked About Bakery in New York."

(Above: Babycakes, NY)

Everything in Babycakes is free from dairy, eggs, soy and gluten, with sugar replaced by agave syrup and fat substituted with coconut oil. But what I loved about Babycakes is that while everything was (relatively) healthy, with the focus being on cleaner, lighter cake, the bakery itself still exuded this old school, messy, cakey vibe that was effortless - cool without trying to be cool, much in the same way that some of its favourite clientele (Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman) are. It's a complete contrast to in the UK, where it feels that everything is contrived to look a certain style, rather than just evolving that way.

(Above: Babycakes interior, NYC)

There's a wall of scribbled post-stick notes by customers and random postcards on the wall, while hanging in the window were beachballs and bunting (but not in a chintzy way)...

(Above: Babycakes staff putting the finishing touches to cupcakes)

...and the staff were all a little kooky-cool.

I met the equally-cool founder and owner, Erin McKenna, who talked at length about the bakery's healthy-allergen free focus to contribute for my latest baking feature (soon to appear in British Baker magazine). In typically casual Babycakes style (which I loved), we sat outside on the pavement, Erin talking, me scribbling notes, and then we ate gluten-free strawberry cupcakes and doughnuts, (and this time, we really did eat them).

(Above: Babycakes gluten-free cakes)

From there, we jumped in another cab and headed to Momofuku. We were in the restaurant for lunch and then nipped into the bakery next door, Milk Bar, for a spot of infamous crack pie. I really wanted to love this place. Just about everyone I spoke to said Momofuku was not only cool but that the food was great. They must have all been heavy, heavy meateaters; the place was more than a little abrupt when it came to asking if they did any non-meat options. I settled for a plate of pickled veg, zingy and refreshing, and killer prawns with some sort of amazing avocado concoction, but atmosphere wise it was more cold than cool.

(Above: Momofuku Milk Bar's neon sign)

(Above: Milk Bar's chalkboard dessert menu)

As we moved into Milk Bar, the idea of insanely sugary crack pie on an insanely hot day was enough to turn even the cake buyer nauseous, so we cancelled that crazy idea and asked for a slice to take back to the hotel instead.

(Above: boxed up slice of crack pie)

I'd like to tell you it was amazing, but it got left in the bottom of the press officer's bag; the next day when she discovered it, the crack pie vanilla-butter-sugar filling had oozed into curdled nothingness. Not good. So a few days later, I went back myself to pick up a slice - trying just a little before my sugar-quota had definitely been filled. I can see how it drives people to obsession (they're on to something with the gooey-but-crunchy oaty combo) but maybe not so much on a hot, hot summer's day.

On Satuday, my friend Sarah made a version of the crack pie oat crust inverted as the topping on a tropical fruit crumble, full of slushy stewed mangos and pineapples and maple syrup. Now that's what I call seriously clever, without the Milk Bar hype - and just about perfect as a summer sweet should be.

Writer's block: the vintage solution

(Above: Vintage writing bureau, from Peeling Paint. Restored with Farrow & Ball paint)

My writer's block has been solved with this vintage oak writing bureau that dates back to the 1930s. Now if that won't inspire me, don't know what will. Found and snapped up on eBay (my first eBay purchase) from Peeling Paint.

(Above: the bureau opens up to create a little writing space)

(Above: the crystal handles)

(Above: the original antique key)

I was a little concerned that it might look out of place in my relatively modern-interiored apartment, but I also think every home should have a fine antique or two. And, it works - doesn't look out of place at all. As Wendy, who runs Peeling Paint, emailed: "How lovely to imagine you working away on your little vintage bureau. Imagine how many people have done the same over the years."

It must have worked some magic - I've had three commissions from editors in the last fortnight, so it's working. Say hello to the Magic Bureau That Brings Good Luck.

New York Bakery tour: Magnolia Bakery

Some of you who follow Her Little Place regularly will know that I have just returned from a whirlwind trip of sugary delights exploring New York's bakeries for a few baking-cooking-writing projects that I'm working on. Come back every Friday to get the next installment, but for now, here's part of day one...

What better way to start off my first day in New York than chez Balthazar in SoHo. Ok, so it's not exactly your New Yorker breakfast of pancakes or waffles, but we were there to explore the baked stuff after all and so we were presented with a warm, buttery basket of soft fresh breads - fruit foccacia, pecan and cranberry bread with a nutty crust, chocolate bread and cinammon buns...

(Above: Breakfast at Balthazar)

Well-fuelled for the day, we walked up Spring St to Broadway to pop into Dean & Deluca; no cameras allowed but it was a food shopper's delight. Baskets piled high with artichokes and asparagus; rustic breads; iced cakes, sponged cakes, little cakes, big cakes; jars of cookies, shortbread and bars. The packaging on everything was retro, simple, colourful; the sort of produce you wouldn't want to hide away behind cupboard doors.

(Above: Dean & Deluca shop front, Broadway)

Whisked away from Dean & Deluca, we walked through SoHo and down into Greenwich Village; me, trailing slightly behind snapping at everything from shop fronts to street signs. It's true what they say about New York. It is magical, warm; not haughty nor aloof. It gets under your skin. I noticed this, from day one.

As we meandered through the tree lined, slightly wider streets of Greenwich, all brownstones and Vespas, I saw signs I recognised all too clearly from Colette Rossant's Madeleines in Manhattan. We passed Sullivan St (where Sullivan St Bakery is no longer situated but once was) and Bleecker St, home to Magnolia Bakery.

(Above: Bleecker St - spot the Empire State Building peeping out the trees...)

Everyone already knows all about how the Magnolia Bakery got big for cupcakes through Sex and the City, Prime and The Devil Wears Prada.

(Above: Magnolia Bakery chalkboard)

The location is indeed very pretty for film sets. And it's certainly clear that Magnolia's 1950s vibe is what set the tone for pretty much all of London's (and the UK's) entire cupcake craze and love of nostalgia. I'll admit I'm more than a little over that now, so (forgive me for saying it) the floral aprons and cake tins were a little lost on me...

(Above: Magnolia Bakery gets ready for 4 July celebrations)

But I'll hand it to them - it's certainly pretty, and the whole place was still packed (albeit with British tourists enamoured with Carrie Bradshaw; "her" brownstone building is a few minutes walk away), despite the air con having broken and it being like a sauna in there.

(Above: chocolate, red velvet and vanilla cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery)

We bought chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cupcakes to taste. At this point, I might just make it clear that I wasn't eating everything. Being accompanied by cake buyers, I learnt that "bake"-testing is no different to any other way of food or drink testing; you simply take a teeny tiny scoop, as below...

(Above: tasting Magnolia Bakery cupcakes)

...swirl it around and, well, there's no eloquent way of putting it, then simply spit it out into little paper cups (we carried the cups around). You might think this was a terrible waste, but believe me, it is entirely possible to have too much cake. And this was just half of day one.

(Above: tasting Magnolia Bakery cupcakes)

At the risk of disappointing, the cakes at Magnolia were certainly not the best on the trip (the best ones, we really did eat) - these were more than a little dry and a bit too crumby. Perhaps it was something to do with the broken air con and the cakes left on the counter. We simply went to check out the hype - it's arguably one of the best known bakeries in town, thanks to its TV appearances. But there's better yet to come.

After Magnolia, we headed on to Babycakes and Momofuku's Milk Bar for yet more cakes and pies - and yes, this was all in the same day (now can you see why we didn't eat everything?) but for that, you'll have to wait until next Friday!

Happy cakes
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Ruth's Birthday Present

Pecan rounds, made for Ruth's birthday. Morish and nutty; crunchy and crumbly. Available soon to customers on Her Little Place

New York food treats

(Manhattan skyline, as snapped through a fence in Brooklyn)

Let's hear it for New York! I'm back from the bakery trip, sated and inspired, with a notepad full of tastes and bakers' tips and a memory card chocka-block with photos to tempt your tastebuds. I have so much to write about, but come back Friday for the first of a series of blog posts on each bakery I visited in turn, kicking off with Magnolia Bakery up first. And of course, many thanks to M&S for hosting the trip.

Most people come back from New York with a suitcase full of new clothes, but much as I'd have loved to, since the trip was a food trip, it figures the little bit of shopping I did manage to squeeze into four days was foodie-related. I simply couldn't resist buying presents at Dean & Deluca and William Sonoma - and here's a little sample...

Dean & Delcua Papabubble candy sticks and William Sonoma spices to liven up my brother's hunt for the perfect burger on the barbeque...

Bouchon Bakery's pecan and cinammon waffle mix, Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate dessert and cinammon sugar - bought purely because I was smitten by the packaging (I'm an easy sale). I once wrote a piece for the Guardian which mentioned my horror at things like boxed pancake mixes and the like, but I couldn't resist the Bouchon Bakery box - and besides, it might inspire us to actually open the waffle maker which has been lying in its box untouched for about two years already!

And finally, some very cute little animal cupcake toppers for a certain little toddler who turns two in a few months' time.

So that's what's in my basket - a rather random but pleasant enough selection - and come back Friday for the first bakery tour installment!
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