Pick n Mix for Grown Ups

Over head lighting is the one thing that I have paid absolutely no attention to in doing up the house.  I've no idea why as I love lamps and their shades so much I practically collect them.  Embarrassingly, I think it's because subconsciously, I know I can't do all the rewiring they need into the ceiling and I'm too impatient to get someone to come and do it for me.

However, I've now discovered Rothschild and Bickers and think it's time to man up.  One of the last glassworkers in the UK, they have the most beautiful collection of hand blown, jewel coloured creations of all time.  And the best thing about it is that you can design your own creation by picking and mixing your own glass colour, metal fixings, bulb, pendant shape and even the flex too.  Pick n mix for grownups.

www.rothschildbickers.com

Molly Mahon

The house is basically finished but I can't stop hunting for new fabrics and wallpapers. I would love nothing more that to be able to re-wallpaper the whole house every few months.  Especially now that I've come accross Molly Mahon.  

Molly By Design is a small Sussex based company, set up by Molly Mahon and specialises in creating 'hand carved, hand printed, whimsical designs'.  The designs for her wallpapers, fabrics, cushions, stationary and lampshades are all inspired by her love of colour and the beauty of England.  And are all absolutely divine.  I am block printing's biggest fan anyway but  Molly's original designs and in bright, bright colours are something I haven't come across before and am desperately trying to work out how to wangle them into my home.  I'm thinking of re-upholstering my sofa in her khaki starry skies or going bold with a fuchsia Leaf and Wiggle...

Chair covered in Coffee Bean

Spot and Star wallpaper

Coffee Bean

Leaf

Starry Skies

www.mollymahon.com

Cool as a Cauliflower

I've been getting more adventurous in the kitchen over the last few weeks.  Nothing especially fancy or difficult - just quite different for us.  Chaz is getting braver in the 'lesbian food' department and I'm taking full advantage.  We'd fallen into a habit of eating roast chicken for every other meal and I wanted to branch out and try something new before we completely od'd and never want to look at one ever again.

So, out came Jerusalem - the latest in my Ottolenghi library - and a load of cauliflowers.  I wasn't aware of just how good cauliflowers are for us - apparently they're the most super of all the supers. Cancer fighting, anti oxidising, digestion helping, I could go on. Better than a blueberry dare I suggest.  Roasted in the oven too, they are incredibly delicious.  Not remotely related to the watery, bland, stinky way we ate them at school.  The creation I want to share is one from said book but I didn't have all the ingredients so adapted it and it was still a sensation. I now make it as I did the first time.   I used toasted pine nuts in the place of the hazelnuts and my dressing is a more simple concoction of olive oil, lemon, maple syrup and salt and pepper.  

Here is the proper Ottolenghi recipe.

Roast Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad

1 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets (660g) 

3 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and black pepper 

30g hazelnuts

1 large stick of celery, cut on an angle into ½cm slices (70g) 

10g small flat-leaf parsley leaves

50g pomegranate seeds 

¼ tsp ground cinnamon 

¼ tsp ground allspice 

2 tsp sherry vinegar 

1 tsp maple syrup

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

Roast the cauliflower by placing it on a parchment lined backing sheet, drizzle with 1-3 tablespoons of olive oil and toss it together with some salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 25-35 minutes until parts of it are turning golden brown. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool down.

Decrease the oven temperature to 325 F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I used the same one as the cauliflower, just switched the paper) and roast for 17 minutes (although depending on your oven, I suggest watching these closely, mine were burnt at 17 minutes, and I took my second try out around 10 minutes).

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, sherry vinegar, maple syrup, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside.

Allow the nuts to cool a little, then coarsely chop them and add to the cauliflower, along with the pomegranate seeds, celery, parsley, and the dressing. Stir, taste, and season with salt and pepper accordingly.

Serve at room temperature.

Inspire in English Abode

INSPIRE: THE ART OF LIVING WITH NATURE

Willow Crossley describes herself as ‘neither a florist nor an interior designer. I am just flower mad with a serious passion for decorating.’ Having worked with her once upon a time I can attest to this; I don’t think that there were any phones or staplers left in the office that had not been  ‘Willow-ed’. But, given ingredients beyond office supplies (the fact that they were Vogue Russia office supplies didn’t make them any more glamorous – that is until Willow got her hands on them) and time and opportunity, Willow creates objects of beauty out of everything and anything. 

Nature has been a lifelong passion; from an early age she picked flowers and pressed flowers to decorate her bedroom, and “when I made a den with my brothers, I insisted on being chief decorator.” This book is divided into five sections: Woodland, Flora, Fauna, Beach and Edibles, and between them she shows us the art of effortless-looking flower arrangements, how to make acorn napkin rings (my children will love that one), quails’ egg baubles (perfect for Easter), sea urchin candle sticks and salt and pepper pots . . . her talents are endless, and very inspiring. 

Wayward Tulips:

 

Ingredients
Branches of budding beech (Fagus) trees
Blossoming hawthorne (Crataegus)
Vintage white porcelain pitcher
Viburnam tinus
Red and yellow bicoloured parrot tulips
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum x hybridum) in muted colours

1. Arrange the branches of beech and hawthorn in the pitcher first, to create a base shape.
2. Add the viburnum, tulips and Solomon’s seal.
3. Stand back from the pitcher to see if the display can be improved and move the display accordingly.

Primroses for Tea

 

Ingredients
Gravel or wood chips
Pretty china bowl and cup with saucer
2 primrose (Primula vulgaris) plants
Potting compost
Sphagnum moss

1. Put a ½ in (1 cm) layer of gravel or wood chips at the bottom of the bowl or cup.
2. Position the primrose plants in the centre and fill in any gaps with potting compost.
3. Decorate the top of the potting compost with pieces of sphagnum moss, and water well.

Hydrangea Pom Pom

 

Ingredients
Fishing wire or ribbon
12 inch (30cm) diameter ball of florists’ foam
Thumbtacks (drawing pins)
4 dried hydrangea heads
Small scissors

1. Tie the fishing wife around the middle of the ball of florists’ foam, leaving two long ends.
2. Secure the wire in place with thumbtacks (drawing pins). I used about eight, to be sure it would hold.
3. Knot the two ends of the wire together.
4. Break off small florets from the dried hydrangea heads, making sure that their stems are strong enough to pierce the foam ball.
5. Start inserting the florets into the ball, keeping them all very close together to hide the foam beneath. When this starts to get a bit fiddly, you will find that pushing them in with a pair of small scissors is much more effective than using clumsy fingers.
6. Continue until the whole ball is covered. Hang it from the knotted wire in a place where it can be admired and enjoyed.

 


Inspire The Art of Living With Nature by Willow Crossley is published by CICO Books and is available from

RYLANDPETERS.COM

and anthropologie.eu

Inspire Launch at Anthropologie

I had the best time launching my new book in Anthropologie last week.  The whole day was spent in the store preparing for the workshop I was doing in the afternoon and party in the evening.  I'd been potting cabbages with spring flowers all week and then the wonderful Tom and I - head of visual merchandising for their Kings Road store - got to work on our transformations, turning our area into a magical woodland.  I used red, white and savoy cabbages and filled them with pansies, cowslips, old fashioned primulas and grape hyacinths.  They were then nestled in among moss covered branches and logs and ended up looking like something from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Delicious organic nibbles from Daylesford

 Chaz and I

 Sarah Corbett Winder, India Langton and Chloe Delevingne

 Chaz, Charles Delevingne and Numa Heathcote

 Me and Ari Dunn

 Alice Naylor Leyland and Ellie Shepherd

Sacha Forbes, Jules Konig and Chloe Delevingne

To buy Inspire, click here 

Inspire in Vanity Fair

What to read Meanwhile for enchanting home-craft ideas, it's about Willow Crossley's new book Inspire. The stitched spine and pretty hardback cover hints at the treats within. Fifty projects to bring the outside in, include making tea light holders from globe artichokes, weaving whispery ferns into delicate wreaths, making edible flower filled ice cubes and creating spectacular hydrangea pompoms. Alongside shop bought flowers, where possible Willow encourages using foraged feathers, beach combed pebbles and hedgerow treasures. Willow's career started after she moved to France and began writing a blog.  An agent spotted the blog and soon after Crossley published her first book -The Art of Handmade Living. She has since moved to Oxfordshire with her husband and young boys, from where Willow works as an interior dresser (she'll spruce up your house with fresh fabric and furniture ideas) as well as writing and trying out new design and creative ideas. For crafting novices or young families, Crossley's is the perfect starter book. Simple ideas, well explained with the prettiest of pictures. Inspire is a must for the Easter holidays. Inspire by Willow Crossley, £16.99.  Published by Cico Books. Exclusively stocked instore and online at Anthropologie, to buy click here. www.willowcrossley.com

Review on My Baba

Inspire 

The Art of Living with Nature 

by Willow Crossley

Thursday, 13th March, 2014

I’ve just ordered the gorgeous Willow Crossley’s latest book and I cant wait to get my hands on it.  It’s titled, ‘The Art of Living with Nature’ and is packed with projects of bringing the outside in.

It’s that time of year when I go foraging with the children in the woods and come home with a full nature table. I love the idea of doing something with what we’ve found and incorporating things I already have like vintage bottles and jugs.

Willow is the ultimate when it comes to effortless chic and I can’t wait to take note and bring some magic inside.

Willow Crossley Inspire – The Art of Living with Nature