Dec 26, 2012

Orange Cardamom Scones

Hope everyone had a great Christmas (if you celebrate)! I had a very low-key Christmas here in the city, eating cheap Chinese food and then ordering in pizza at night. I am definitely a bit envious of everyone who does the whole gifts-under-the-tree thing. It's never been a tradition in my family, and every year, I'm like, "That's it. I'm gonna make this happen next year!" And of course, Christmast passes before a blink of an eye, and I'm left thinking the same for the next year. Maybe now that it's in writing, I'll be more pressured to do it finally. ;)

Anyway, a little cooking project I completed recently left me with a tin of cardamom pods. I thought they might be fantastic in some scones. And they were!


I used a tried-and-true Martha Stewart scone recipe and just substituted a few ingredients to make this work.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in center. Place a baking mat on a baking sheet, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives (I like to use a knife and fork), cut in butter until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Stir in orange zest and caradamom.
3. Using a fork, whisk together cream and egg in a liquid measuring cup. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, and pour in cream mixture. Stir lightly with fork just until dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few times to mix well.
4. Pat dough into a 6-inch square about 1 1/4 inches thick. Using a floured knife, cut into four 3-inch squares. Cut squares in half on the diagonal to form eight triangles. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks to cool.

The key is to not overmix or overknead -- my batter always looks like it's falling apart and I wonder how it will manage to form scones, but it always works out for the best.


This tastes great with Anarchy in a Jar's Grapefruit & Smoked Salt Marmalade!

Dec 20, 2012

At home | Lillie Magazine

I recently shot the charming home of Tiziano Agnello for the Teaser Issue of Lillie Magazine. In addition to being a full-time prop stylist, Tiziano owns and designs a line of sustainable pet products over at LoveThyBeast. She generously sent me home with the energy pyramid for Avedon (he loves the darn thing!).

You can check out a free preview of the magazine right here!

Dec 16, 2012

Reynards at the Wythe Hotel

A continuation of my tour at the Wythe Hotel from OHNY weekend.

[Ricoh GR1s | Kodak Portra 400]

Dec 12, 2012

Touring the Wythe Hotel

It feels like ages ago that I shot these on my Ricoh at the Wythe Hotel. The roll sat at home, undeveloped for far too long. I finally dropped it off at the photo lab last week. Back in early October, I went on a tour of the Wythe during the Open House New York weekend. Sharon was kind to invite me along, as she had an extra ticket. Many of you probably already know that the Wythe is a gorgeous new hotel in Williamsburg. I mean if I could model my dream apartment off one of these rooms, I would! From the amazing concrete floors (I WILL one day have concrete floors) to the marble tables to the warehouse-style windows to the mint side tables to the alluring wallpaper, I loved it all. Yes and yes. More, please.

[Ricoh GR1s | Kodak Portra 400]

The photos from outside are on the rooftop bar -- pretty damn nice views, eh? Part two to come.

Dec 10, 2012

A year older

Is it just me, or is December flying by? I rang in a new age on Saturday; for some reason, I feel great the days leading up to my birthday but my birthday itself is always, without fail, a roller coaster of emotions. To be honest, I can't remember the last birthday that didn't end in tears. Maybe it's just a day where reflecting on the year and feeling insecure about the next is naturally magnified. (Hopefully? Please tell me I'm not crazy.) It has been brought to my attention quite a bit recently that my online life, as portrayed via Twitter, Instagram, and my blog, looks pretty hunky-dory. And I know most of you know that isn't true at all, and that I've occasionally let slip my insecurities on my blog in the past. Trust me, there are MANY more that live in my head.

I'm not going to ignore the fact that I've been really, really lucky this past year. I've had amazing travels and equally amazing eats along the way. I get to pursue a job that I am passionate about and very much challenged by. I have supportive parents, friends and boyfriend. For all that, I'm extremely grateful. So why, for the love of god, do I feel so shitty on my birthday? I start to stress about things that are useless to stress over. For whatever reason, rational Alice goes in hiding on that day. For now, I'm glad that day is over. I've got too much to accomplish before the year is over to waste time being stressed and upset. Let me get off before I run my mouth and write something I'll regret later. ;)



Was the fog not ridiculous today?

Dec 7, 2012

An afternoon with 2h flowers

Last Friday, Kelly of 2h flowers graciously let me peek into her world. You all know I get pretty shutter happy around flowers, so this was quite a treat. We had Bloody Marys and I enjoyed harassing her adorable chubby cat, Beau. It was just so nice to have real, live social contact during the day, a rarity for me. Kelly and Ingrid prepped for a Brooklyn wedding with simple but beautiful whites (ranunculus, peonies, roses and anemones -- how can you go wrong!). I hovered over them (literally, standing on a stool on top of their work space) and took a few shots. :)


The next Monday, Kelly surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet I've ever received, delivered right to my door. Even sweeter was that she had remembered I had asked her where to get some pruning shears, and included a brand new pair with my bouquet. I was besides myself to say the least. I have been feeling overwhelmed and under a lot of pressure, and this gesture was more than enough to lift my spirits. I am a lucky gal.

Dec 4, 2012

Unraveled ii

I took apart the shriveled up bouquet seen in this photo yesterday and enjoyed my dried anemones for just a bit longer. I know my past few floral studies posts have been rather dark, so I'm going to aim for bright and airy in the next one. I especially liked how the leaves look in the light -- they seem to have a mind of their own.


(My very simple set-up.)

Dec 2, 2012

Hello, December

Where did November go? Seriously. My birthday is sneaking up faster than I'd like, but hey, it's been a good year. I'll save the long reflective post for my actual birthday -- for now, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who ordered a calendar in November. I felt like almost every day I was printing up more calendars and packing them up to go -- so wohoo! I have donated to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (I'm sure you can guess why I chose them), to their Sandy efforts specifically.

Today was unusually mild out, weather-wise. I headed down near the East River for these photos. I have always admired Joie's lace tops from afar and finally jumped on one during the Black Friday online sales. It's super delicate and weighs nothing -- I'll definitely have to keep Avedon's claws away from this one!


Jeans: Zara // Top: Joie // Necklace: Kate Spade // Bracelet: Hermès + Studio DuArte // Shoes: J.Crew // Bag: Proenza Schouler