Four Pretty Things
assorted delightfuls for Valentine's Day
A quick pop in before I come back this weekend with a Valentine’s surprise of sorts. The color pink has been MOST unfairly maligned, don’t you think? And marginalized. When the fact is that pink promotes happiness and is a beauty enhancer wherever it’s found. For years and years now, Valentine’s Day has for me only been about two things: PINK and CHOCOLATE. (two colors that look smashing together.)
Come be pink with me and let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day - and please remember that if you’re waiting for some dude to treat you on this bon-bon of a holiday, you’re playing a suckers game. TREAT YOURSELF. (my husband asked me if I wanted some chocolate. I said I wanted a book.)
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this tea before in a posting last spring, but let me remind you that Marie-Antoinette tea from Nina’s Paris is one of the most charming teas you will ever ever have in your life. It tastes like a fairytale, in tea format. And the canister is beyond darling - it also comes in a box with sachets.
‘Love is a Pink Cake’ by Claire Ptak was on my holiday wish list but sadly it failed to appear, so it seems that I’ll have to take matters into my own hands and get Violet Bakery’s founder and head pastry chef Ptak’s newest cookbook myself. (I have her ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ and it’s fabulous, and it contains one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve ever made.) After flipping through this new one, and seeing that it too is gorgeous and full of delights — I’m now very much wanting to make the coconut pudding cake, the Brown Sugar Victorian sponge cake, and the double chocolate sea salt cookies from it.
I guess this cover might be considered more lavender than pink but LET’S NOT QUIBBLE. If you love ‘Pride & Prejudice’, but don’t own a copy, you need this one. If you already do have a different version, you still need this one. I got this edition for Julia a few years ago for her personal book collection. Cloth cover, gorgeous endpapers, and extraordinary art by Bil Donovan, the first artist-in-residence for Dior Beauty.
I agree, Lizzie. Mr. Darcy IS hot. Oh wait I think THIS IS JANE and Mr. Bingley. Anyway….can you believe how exquisite??!
Something that lifts me up a lot when I see a pretty picture of something, be it an outfit or a picture of someone else’s home etc., is to realize that I don’t necessarily need to own the exact thing (although sometimes I do, but these days I really don’t want to contribute anything more than I must to the corporate oligarchs)…..and I can see if I can replicate with things I already have, or rearrange them, or I’m inspired see my surroundings in a new way. All this to say, I was very taken with this picture of a Hazelnut Chocolate Pancake Board from the Bonne Maman website. One doesn’t have to use their chocolate spread, or their jam, and one doesn’t even have to make heart shaped pancakes. But the IDEA is so cute and I hadn’t thought of it before. This would be so fun for a wee gathering, or to treat yourself at home. Just a huge stack of pancakes with various jams and toppings. And it reminds me of when my daughter Julia was a tiny tot - I used to give her Trader Joe’s gluten-free pancakes (they’re small and very soft and pliable) rolled up with jam inside and we called them Pancake Jam Roly-Poly’s.
Speaking of chocolate…here’s why drinking chocolate is good for your health in winter.
Stay rosy and chocolatey,
That Marie Antoinette tea tin is so pretty. Might have to get that for my daughter for her birthday.
Also, your comment that you don't have to have the exact thing you see in pictures, that you can just enjoy the image, is so good. You once wrote that you don't necessarily cook from all your cookbooks--sometimes you just enjoy flipping through them and enjoying the pictures. THAT BLEW MY MIND! I always feel like I'm a failure if I don't cook from my cookbooks, like I wasted money on them. This totally reframed how I look at them. Now I will allow myself to just page through them, read the little essays, and be inspired by the photos in a general sense.
That cake sounds delicious!