pantry permitting

Hi, I'm not sure if you remember me...

...my name is Maja, and I write this blog. You may have thought I was abducted by aliens, or fell and couldn't get up, but I was actually just really busy.

I don't know about you, but this holiday season kicked my butt! I am still working on getting all my linens washed, folded and put away. We hosted no less than the three major holidays this season: 7 at Thanksgiving, 13 at Christmas, and about 50 for a New Year's Brunch. Over extend yourself anyone?

Lessons learned: Next year, tone things down. No need to host all the parties, no need to bring out all the family silver, and definitely no reason to ever buy a turkey over 12 pounds. Next holiday I hope to report on how to play hostess during the holiday season and actually a) enjoy yourself and b) not spend the event in an all prepwork induced, exhausted daze.

Hostessing aside, it was a lovely holiday season, and my son's first. Family came out from back east and it was great to have a bunch of friends and neighbors over on New Year's Day. The holiday season also treated the store quite well, with the products featured in both Dwell's and Newsweek's holiday gift guides. Time to update the press page!

Oh, and above is a photo of my leftover plate from Thanksgiving's feast. Playing hostess I am nearly always too busy to snap pictures on any of the holidays themselves.

What's next for this blog? I've had my eye on so many great things for the kitchen and tabletop. Now that the holiday rush is over, I'm going to try to do a New Year's resolution to post more often. And, hopefully get my blogroll on too.  ~maja

Mother's Day Brunch

So here are a few pictures that I snapped on Sunday. Brunch came out really quite well (if I do say so myself). When I entertain I feel it's hit or miss, but I'm getting a little better at it each time (more hits). The biggest piece of knowledge I've gained through the years, is to always give your party a trial run. Never try out a recipe on guests unless they are close family. I have in the past, and have served some fiascos. (Sorry friends, you know who you are!)

Anyway, so this little brunch was a hit. Of course, I wasn't trying anything new this time so that helps, but I feel that even pulling this off with a 3.5 month old is a feat these days. Any new parent knows that things just take a little/lot longer when you've got a little peanut to deal with. Lucky me, the night before was the first time Diego went to sleep in his crib which gave me the entire evening to prep.

Here is what I served:

Coffee & Mimosas
Cardamom French Toast with Citrus Syrup
Roasted Tomato, Carrot and Chevre Frittata*
Fresh Fruit Salad
Mixed Greens (for balance)

Nothing too fancy, but put out a nice table cloth and break open the champagne and made it a really nice little celebration.

* This was a variation on a recipe from the Rice Cookbook. I'll do my best to post with notes.

Images: M. Brugos © 2007

Baked French Toast with Cardamom and Marmalade

This baked french toast recipe is always a big hit at our brunch parties. It's essentially a rich bread pudding with citrus syrup that you can make the night before, and bake the morning of. I make it with Challah, since we don't have egg bread, usually cut back on the cream a bit, and up the citrus to sugar ratio on the syrup. But, I suggest trying the recipe as is, because it is really good as-is.

The recipe is on epicurious.com. Link here.

I served this yesterday at the mother's day brunch I hosted at our house, with both grandmothers, an auntie and me (yeay, I am finally a mom!) I snapped this quick picture along with a few others to share (The recipe really is this gorgeous!). Hope to post the images of some of the other courses. It was a fun afternoon.

Image: Maja Brugos

Ideas for Entertaining: Napkins

Perhaps it doesn't make me a true modernist, but I think folded napkins are fun. Maybe because it taps into my love of oragami, or that it's just another way to dress up a table. But, how does one incorporate this old school detail onto a modern table?

Ikea seems to have done it on page 31 of their 2007 catalog, with this great spread of mix and match napkin styles. Having spent a summer bussing at a French restaurant, I'm already one down on napkin folds...so I'll need to do some research on the other two. I'll post instructions shortly for anyone who might want to replicate this look at home. I would definately pair these diverse folds with a clean white set of plates and probably just some understated accents like tealights or small vases of petite white flowers...no need to overdo.

Image: Ikea

Imbibe Magazine

A preview issue of Imbibe Magazine arrived in the mail today. It looks to be a new pub devoted exclusively to libations. My initial impression was that the mag was devoted exclusively to the hard stuff, but upon inspection I saw articles on coffee, tea, and soft drinks in addition to beer, wine and cocktails.

The magazine has a definite West Coast feel, so I was not surprized to find that it is published in Portland, OR. Perhaps something going on in the Pacific Northwest in the beverage sector-- besides  bringing Starbucks to every corner, the Lavender Dry Soda I discovered just last month is also manufactured in Seattle.

This charter issue appears to a sometimes odd balance of Yin and Yang... think Martha Stewart meets Modern Drunkard. I've scanned a few pages to show the unusual combination of refined cocktail recipes and macho beer articles (A subhead of one article reads "Of Microbrews and Men").

In addtion to introducing readers to odd websites such as millioncanmarch.com or beeradvocate.com, Imbibe Magazine could certainly be a useful reference for party planning. In it, one could easily find the perfect boutique cocktail or apertif for a themed dinner party. Additionally, I can appreciate informative articles like the Tips for Budding Wine Collectors on page 38, as well the step-by-step guide to infusing vodka on page 32. It's probably not a magazine that I would refer to regularly, but I will hold on to this charter copy for future reference. It will be interesting to see how this magazine develops over time, and whether there is a market to sustain it.

Visit Imbibe Magazine's website at imbibemagazine.com.

Images from Imbibe Magazine.