Living MacTavish

Poor bear

livingmytartan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:04:19 -0400

Poor bear

Weekend baking.

livingmytartan — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:18:01 -0400

Weekend baking.

Mismatched compression

livingmytartan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:13:58 -0400

Mismatched compression

NorCal 16 miles

livingmytartan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:12:30 -0400

NorCal 16 miles

High Balenciaga collar all Tudor-like.

livingmytartan — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:01:52 -0400

High Balenciaga collar all Tudor-like.

Snow Drop Cookies

livingmytartan — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:01:44 -0400

So dainty!

But surely you can come up with a better name for these? The day I made these it was pouring torrential rain in Soho. Little Puddles sounded like a better name for a puppy than for a cookie so I held off.

Recipe extracted from an old cookbook of Mummy’s. The meringues were just tasty as the recipe said, no changes made.

2 egg whites

3/4 cup of granulated sugar (not powdered)

1 cup of pecans crushed

about 8 oz of chocolate chips (obviously you could throw in semi sweet, mint, peanut butter, whatever suits your palate)

Turn on oven to about 350F

Beat the eggs (make sure they are fresh from fridge, not room temp) until they are foamy like and then begin to gradually, patiently add the sugar. This mix will get stiff. Now fold in the nuts. (!!!!! what a recipe!). Next, add the chocolate pieces gently.

On a greased baking sheet, drop little mounds of the mix. Put into the oven and immediately turn OFF the oven (ie let bake in a cooling oven). You can leave them in there overnight but they’ll be done very quickly, 45 mins max.

No Man’s Land Park

livingmytartan — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:10:03 -0400

No Man’s Land Park

Lemon Curd Cheese Tart

livingmytartan — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:34:00 -0400

Word is that cheesecakes have been making an appearance since the first Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. Well then! The Countess of Leicester’s household was making cheesecakes in 1265 as noted in her domestic notes. This old Yorkshire recipe uses either cheese curds or cottage cheese. I used the latter as cottage cheese is what I had on hand and I was in a rush, no time for curd hunting. Using curds will result in a richer “pye” than if you use the more mundane cottage cheese.

This is really a savoury pie. It’s supper, not dessert. A bit tangy. Good for a light dindins if you serve it with some greens. Not schfancy. But sure is quick. The recipe .. its simplicity .. lends itself to many additions. Sauteed spinach, soaked currants, others kinds of cheese. (I’m not suggesting adding all of these at once. Complicated!)

1 shortcrust pie pastry (If you’re feeling keen and enthusiastic, you may be making this from scratch. I rarely do.)

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

2 cups of cottage cheese

1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 eggs beaten

Turn oven to 350F.

Bake the pastry on it’s own for about 15 minutes. It might shrink down from the sides a little but, frankly, no one else will notice but you.

Meanwhile, mix up the remainder of the ingredients in a bowl.

Once the pastry has had its initial cook, pull it out from the oven. Now add the remainder of the ingredients on top of the pastry and bake for 30 minutes or so.

Done.

Tartan Creep

livingmytartan — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:01:45 -0400

H&M skirt. Balenciaga shirt.

Balenciaga Dress

livingmytartan — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:01:39 -0400

Lacy

livingmytartan — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:02:00 -0400

Salted Caramel

livingmytartan — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:01:35 -0400

The salted caramel was definitely the winner in this batch.

Picnic - Brooklyn Navy Yard

livingmytartan — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:55:23 -0400

Running by

Ball Brain MacTavish

livingmytartan — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:01:53 -0400

Ball Brain MacTavish

Farmers Market Tart

livingmytartan — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:01:00 -0400

This tart is such a showstopper! And a great excuse to go to the Farmers Market and pick up different veggies that look yummy. I get very excited when fiddlehead ferns make an appearance in early summer and this is a good opportunity to show them off. But really, you can use any variety of veggies on top of the tart. Experiment.

You’ll want to have an 18 x 13 cookie pan lined up (in other words, a shallow big baking sheet). As well as some filo .. make sure it is fresh filo as filo that has been hanging out in the freezer for months tends to be hard to manage. You’re also going to need a brush with which to use the butter to coat the filo.

This will feed a crowd. At least a dozen.

1 package of frozen filo. Let it thaw.

1/2 stick of melted butter

1 cup of full fat ricotta

4 eggs

1 cup of heavy cream

1 lb of fresh spinach

1 lb of green squash (if you’re going with the green theme!)

1/2 lb of fiddlehead ferns

1/2 lb of snow peas

1/2 lb of snap peas

1/2 of asparagus (I tend to use the tips)

Heat oven to 375F

Layer about 5 sheets of filo on the cookie sheet, washing each sheet with a brush of the melted butter. Then mix up the eggs, ricotta, and heavy cream. Set aside.

Saute the spinach so that it cooks down all the way through. Mix that into the creamy, eggy mix and spread that over the filo on the cookie sheet. Have a taste and add salt and pepper as appropriate to your taste.

Thinly slice the squash (a food processor is good for this task) and layer the slices on top of the creamy mix. Bake for about 30 minutes.

While the tart bakes, you’ll want to blanche all the remaining veggies. That means just pop them in boiling water for about a minute. So they still have crunch but are not entirely raw. They’ll also turn a vivid green doing this. Prepare a pot of boiling water. Also prepare another pot of ice water. Dunk the veggies in the boiling water until cooked through al dente and then throw them into the ice water promptly. This will make sure they keep their green and their crunch.

Once the veggies are chilled all the way through, drain them and let them dry.

Remove the tart from the oven and layer the remaining veggies on top.

Ta-dah! Ready. Let the tart cool a wee bit so it’ll be easier to slice.

Put a Shell on it

livingmytartan — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 09:08:41 -0400

(I want these! From Le Papier Studio).

Hipsters put a bird on it from Portland to Brooklyn.

Wasps put a shell on it. As evidenced by taking a quick stroll through New Canaan’s Whitney Shop and scores of copy cat shops up and down the New England coastline.

Wasps have been putting shells on it for a long time. Indeed, way back when in the 1770s, Newport furniture makers were slapping shells on their highboys. Lucky you if you have one! They’re rather lovely and particularly useful if you’re tall. (The top drawers are good for hiding things from Wasp kidlings).

Sunday Night Dinner

livingmytartan — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:01:00 -0400

Light, flowy tuxedo blazer from Wilfred at Aritzia, perfect for summer evenings. Lacy shorts from Top Shop and the raver tevas from another decade made an East Coast appearance.

Wooly Martin Olsen Chair

livingmytartan — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:23:51 -0400

Ohhh! This looks rather comfy. Martin Olsen chair, circa 1947 coming up for auction at Phillips. Estimate is $10,000 - $15,000 but one sold for about $22,000 just six months ago also at auction.

Nakashima Bench

livingmytartan — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:15:54 -0400

Easy on the eye. Nakashima bench, “Conoid Bench with Back, 1978” coming up for auction at Phillips on June 11th. Estimate $30,000 - $40,000.

Connecticut Trails

livingmytartan — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:01:31 -0400

Trail running in Connecticut