Apps and Apps

APPS!
If you're hosting the Turkey feast this week, or if you're a guest, you may need to have some great appetizer recipes at the ready.  Even though Thanksgiving dinner is typically huge, many folks make a marathon out of the eating, complete with apps earlier in the day to kick off the celebration.

For Thanksgiving, especially, I think appetizers should be super easy and nearly idiot-proof.  If you're the hostess, your kitchen is packed with all the meal prep and you don't need to be fretting over a platter of high-maintenance hors d'oeuvres.  If you're a guest who was told to bring an appetizer, you need something that can travel well and won't need any attention in your hostess' kitchen upon arrival. 

Dates Stacks

image via Lola Lobato

Slice dates in half lengthwise.
Sandwich in beween each halves a piece of walnut and a small slice of your favorite cheese (bleu is great, as is a creamy manchego!)
Stick a toothpick through the stack, or tidily pack on a dish with fresh herbs as garnish.  


Onion Mushroom Gruyere Tartlets

image via BrownEyedBaker

Caramelize 1 thinly sliced onion in butter over medium heat, adding thinkly sliced mushrooms, garlic and thyme after 20 minutes.
Unfold thawed sheets of puff pastry and cut out circles from the dough, placing them evenly spaced on baking sheet.
Dollop each round with the onion mushroom mixture, leaving a small border around the edge of each round.
Top each round with shredded Gruyere cheese, and brush the edges of the dough rounds with the egg wash.
Bake at 400 until the pastry is golden brown, about 15 to 25 minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve warm or room temperature.


Insalata Caprese On A Stick

image via Pinmarklet

Use long, stylish food picks to layer mozzarella balls (use the pre-marinated ones), two leaves fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. 
Arrange all finished sticks on a platter, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Serve chilled.


Honey Walnut & Brie Tartlets

image via Joelen

Use prepared phyllo shells to fill with a heaping chunk of soft brie cheese.
Drizzle with honey and top with toasted crumbled walnuts.
Serve immediately!




APPS DUEX!
Let's talk about some awesome design-related iPhone applications.  For one, the app that Schumacher finally launched!  This is helpful app seems to be designed in the same style of the Kravet & Lee Jofa apps.  To the point, easy and full of inspiring photos.




Speaking of inspiring photos, have you downloaded the Remodelista app?!  Similar to the ever-popular Houzz app, this site's endless supply of fantastic photos will keep you busy and entertained on your iPhone.  via Remodelista.com/app

Lastly, give yourself the treat of the Design Icon app.  If you're a fan of midcentury modern design and love name-dropping your Breuers, Bertoias and Jacobsens, this is the app for you.  Part pop-quiz, part design lesson, the Design Icon app tests your knowledge of designer's product names, and design eras.  Currently there are apps for Iconic Chairs and Iconic Lighting, as well as a fun one on typography!  Lots of fun and sometimes a great challenge! via failforwards.eu

Happy App-ing!
Cheers,
Whitney

Um, Yum?

Sometimes, I think I'd like to make my prized-turkey more prize-like.  And I'll bet a golden delicious apple would be better if it was actually golden?

A team of Germans culinary geeks apparently thought the same thing, and developed edible spay paint in metallic colors.  No Joke.

This is by no means whatsoever an endorsement for this product.  I have never tried this product and don't know if the FDA is side-eyeing it or not.  But when I saw it I simply had to blog about the bizarreness.  It's a concept that is both delightful and terrifying. 

According to reveiws, the spray contains only a few ingredients, including ethyl alcohol and numerous food colorings depending on the color. The spray's producer, The Deli Garage, promises that the paint is completely tasteless, and will do nothing but enhance the appearance of your dish.

I might foresee using the product in prop-styling or maybe with certain food-specific crafts (like gingerbread houses!).  But somehow the idea of drowning a perfectly good food item in a "harmless" chemical spray paint seems a little foodie-sacrilege.  I mean, Julia Child would clutch her pearls, no?

photos via Geekosystem and Deli Garage

The product, called 'Food Finish' won't be selling in the USA for a while, but it seems like you can order from the Deli Garage website.  Just watch out for your teeth.  Happy spraying.

Cheers,

Whitney

Make Breakfast This Weekend.

For some of you lucky ducks, this is a three-day weekend as we celebrate the ever-controversial figure Christopher Columbus.  A long weekend often brings guests from out of town, or calls for an 'occasion' to be made out of that extra day of personal time.  I saw this awesome video over at Petunia Face (she called it food porn, ahem!), and wanted to share it here.  Talk about an easy breakfast when company is in town!  Make a dozen of these with very little work and wow your guests.  Or, make them for yourself.  You deserve it!   



Cheers,
Whitney