Entertaining - Death by Chocolate Cookie

Seen above is the best chocolate cookie you'll ever eat. There's probably more that could be said, but we're awfully close to Christmas, so let's just get to it. Buy the ingredients below tomorrow morning. The prep is quick, and you're family will love these on Christmas morning.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter softened (use Plugra)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 1/2 oz of fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted and cooled

To make:

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
2. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer (or in a stand mixer on medium-high speed with paddle attachment) for about 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Lower speed to low setting and add flour mixture just until combined.
3. Continue on low speed while you add cocoa, baking soda, and finally the melted chocolate.
4. Form dough (which will be stiff) into a 14-inch log on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll up. Chill dough for at least 4 hours (can be chilled for up to five days, or frozen in a double layer of wrap for 1 month--although you'll want to thaw it in the fridge just until you can cut it).
5. Slice dough in 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices, roll edges in sugar, crushed pistachios, or whatever makes you happy, and bake the slices on an ungreased cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 375 degrees.
6. Cook cookies for 12-15 minutes, cool on sheets for another 4-5 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Gardening - Paperwhites

Perhaps no flower brings a more beautiful smell to the Christmas holiday than a paperwhite. They're quick-growing, gorgeous to look at, and absolutely wonderful to smell. If you're going to plant them, plant them in bulk. One bulb is beautiful, but nine or ten are sublime. After planting the bulbs with 3/4ths submerged into some good-quality soil, just add water and stand back. In just a week or two you'll have plants that are 6-12 inches tall:

Within another week, you'll have buds forming:

And a week or so later you'll have blooming plants standing 24 inches tall. When they begin to bloom, they get top-heavy and begin to droop; just construct a simple frame around them to hold them upright (the one in the picture took four twigs from the yard and about 15 minutes to make) and they'll stand tall:

From there, enjoy the blooms:

As a side note, researchers at Cornell University discovered that if you want smaller paperwhites that don't sag, you can simply water them with a solution containing 5% alcohol (they like the hard stuff--vodka, rubbing alcohol, etc. - no beer!), which will retard the growth. We happen to like the drama of the taller plants, but to each his own. Merry Christmas to all!

Design Tip - The Christmas Wreath

Ever wonder what would possess us to chop up foliage, spin it in a circle, and hang the result on our door? Well, turns out that the Christmas wreath likely has its roots in the pre-Christian Germanic people who gathered wreaths of evergreen and lighted them on fire as signs of hope and renewed light during the cold winters of Eastern Europe. Christians later kept these popular traditions alive to celebrate their hope in Christ, celebrating him as the everlasting light. The Christian wreath, or advent wreath, consists of four candles in a ring of evergreen with another candle set in the center. One candle is lit every night for the first week of Advent with another candle added to the nightly ritual each week. On Christmas Eve, the final candle is lit to represent the birth of Jesus. The wreaths we decorate with today arise from this tradition.

That said, you shouldn't relegate the beauty of the wreath solely to your front door. Get creative and enjoy the season:

on that front door;

on a window;

inside a window;

over a mirror;

over a chandelier; or anywhere else you feel like spreading a little Christmas cheer.

images via Traditional Home and Veranda.

Design Tip - A Christmas Rose?

Speaking of roses, the ubiquitous red rose is not just for that lovers' day in February. The deep red petals and vibrant green stems are as perfect for Christmas decor as any amaryllis you'll find, a whole lot cheaper, and much easier to use throughout your home. By candlelight or the glow of a Christmas tree, they're perfect.

Entertaining - Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Just a quick picture of the roses that served as a centerpiece to our Thanksgiving festivities. Hope you all had a wonderful day filled with family and friends... now on to Christmas!!!

The Goods - A Christmas Sale!

Stop in for amazing deals on timeless Christmas decor.

Entertaining - The Beautiful Dragon Fruit

This is a dragon fruit, and it is simply one of the most beautiful fruits around. Surprisingly, it comes from several species of cactus. Also known as the pitaya, it is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America; although, they are also cultivated in a number of Asian countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, and the Phillipines. Depending on the type, they can have either a sour or sweet, yet delicate, flavor. The texture is akin to that of a kiwi, and whichever variety you choose, their beauty and rarety make them a show-stopper. Here's how to serve:

First, cut the fruit in half.

Next scoop out the inside with a spoon (similar to an avacado)

Finally, chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces,

and replace in the halves for serving.

Enjoy!

Entertaining - Placecards

With the holidays approaching, large gatherings of family and friends are upon us. Consider upping the ante on the entertaining game while at the same time simplifying the confusion. First, get yourself a great set of warming pans or serving trays, add a beverage server for that favorite holiday punch, and then use a set of reusable dry-erase place tiles to label your offerings for your guests. (Honestly, who marks place settings with these things? Let friends and family sit where they want and use these markers to eliminate all confusion about what mystery meat your serving.) The ones shown above are ceramic and come with a dry-erase marker, so you can wipe them off with a paper towel at the end of the night and store for the next gala. Good stuff.

The Goods - A Holiday Open House!

If you're local, please stop in!!!!

Design Tip - Fruits of the Sea

Look to the ocean for great accessories. We love combining great pieces from the sea for a sophisticated and timeless look. With calming tones and a guarantee that no two items are alike, you can create a calming atmosphere that you won't tire of. Whether it's a single starfish to bring interest to a cocktail table or a collection of coral for a cupboard display, you'll love the result.

The Goods - Lay Your Head...

As Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, and other major home "decor" retailers strive to update their lines with something beyond the tired mission-style lines they've offered for decades, note the inclusion of a few printed pillows with Parisian themes. Then, come note that we've loved these items from the start, and offer the real deal. The mall is where you find homogenized clothes, food, footwear, jewelry, and, yes, decor. Come see us if you'd like to stand out.

The Goods - Gift of a Beautiful Scent

As you may have noticed, the days are just starting to draw shorter. That can only mean the holidays are nearing... Accordingly, we're starting to stock the store with some great gift sets, like this one from Antica-Farmacista. Great stuff. We'll continue to post some fun little gift ideas as we inch toward our favorite time of year.

Entertaining - The Outdoor Room

The fall season is nearly upon us, which means cool breezes and long nights are coming soon. For us Floridians, the most wonderful weather of the year is close. It's the late fall through early spring seasons that bring us mid-seventies, dry air, and the most perfect excuses to host garden parties. If you need some help planning your next event or just want some help creating the look above, stop on in.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !!!

Gardening - Figs

It's that time of year when the first figs of the season ripen. If you can convince the birds to leave enough for you, there's nothing quite like a tree-ripened fig. For those that haven't grown them before, figs are simple, hardy, beautiful trees. The figs themselves, although typically thought of as a fruit, are actually the flowers of the tree. This type of flower is known as an inflorescence, or false fruit, where the seeds and flowers actually grow together to create a solid mass of goodness. Whether you call it a fruit or a flower, it grows curiously from the tree's branches. Starting out green...

...with some actually ripening green, dark blue, or brown. The one seen here is a brown Turkey fig, which adopts its name from the country, not the bird. It's a cultivar that grows well in Florida.

If you love figs, try reducing balsamic vinegar to a syrupy consistency, and then drizzling it over cut figs. It's awesome. If you're really looking to impress, throw a little goat cheese on top too.

Lifestyle - Bok Tower Gardens

"Tampa Bay" is the loose title generally associated with the Tampa, Clearwater, and Saint Petersburg metro areas and their sprawling suburbs. That said, Tampa Bay's central location on Florida's west coast puts us within striking distance of countless daytrip opportunities. It's one of these trips that took us to Bok Tower Gardens yesterday.

Bok Tower Gardens is a National Historic Landmark, dedicated as same by President Calvin Coolidge in 1929. The visionary behind the gardens, however, was Edward W. Bok, a Dutch immigrant and humanitarian. Born in 1863, Edward Bok immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands when he was six. From there, the American dream took over. Edward became an office boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company at thirteen, later working his way up the publishing ladder through jobs with Henry Holt and Company, Charles Scribner's Sons, and The Brooklyn Magazine, eventually helming the Ladies Home Journal for many years as its editor. After retiring in 1919, Edward and his wife began construction of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida--about an hour from Tampa.

The gardens are located on one of peninsular-Florida's highest hills (still only 298 ft. above sea level), with the tower itself crowning the hill. That tower, which can be seen from miles around, was designed in a neo-Gothic and art deco style by famed architect Milton B. Medary, and was ornately crafted by the stone sculptor Lee Oscar Lawrie, perhaps best known for the Statue of Atlas in Rockefeller Center. The tower itself stands an imposing 205 feet tall, and includes a teakwood door weighing more than 1000 pounds that's overlaid with thirty hand-crafted panels in brass repousse, which depict the Biblical story of creation. The effect, frankly, is surreal.

The sheer magnitude of this sculpture is breathtaking...

...and the view from the hill over the surrounding orange groves is beautiful.

The base of the tower includes a sundial over a plaque commemorating President Coolidge's dedication.

Near the tower, an exedra stands on the site where Edward used to survey the surrounding territory on his hikes up the hill.

Ultimately, though, the place isn't called Bok Tower GARDENS for nothing, and a stroll through the acres of gardens surrounding the tower brings you up close and personal with an amazing array of flowers and greenery. The gardens were designed by famed landscape architect and wildlife conservationist, Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr.

Also located on the property is an old Mediterranean Revival mansion known as Pinewood Estate, which was built in the early 1930's as a winter residence for an executive with the Bethlehem Steel Co. Maintained as part of the gardens, it is equally inspiring.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy discovering its formal gardens and hidden grottos.

Speaking of children, the gardens are quiet and peaceful, but all ages are encouraged to enjoy them. There's plenty of room to run and play, lots of animals to discover and watch, special activities for the kids... and don't forget to feed the koi.

Bok Tower Gardens is a lesson in Florida History, showing again that for those of us who live here, there's a heck of a lot more to this place than mouse ears and beaches; there's real history and beauty. Of course, you may still be wondering why this column is here (despite the tower, house, and garden design), so you should note that among his many accomplishments, Mr. Bok coined the phrase "living room." Noting the stuffiness and uselessness of the old "parlors" and "drawing rooms," he once wrote, "We have what is called a 'drawing room.' Just whom or what it 'draws' I have never been able to see unless it draws attention to too much money and no taste..."
With that said, go enjoy the serenity of this place and remember the words of Edward Bok's grandmother--"Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it."