Fab find
Cupcake decorating kit, $12.95; Williams-Sonoma.
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{ Posts Tagged ‘williams-sonoma’ }
Fab find
Bee pressed-glass bud vases, $29 for set of 3; Williams-Sonoma.
Fresh flowers are blooming everywhere and it makes me want to bring those beautiful, bright buds home! It’s amazing how a few freshly cut florals can impact a room, so why not elevate the look with some textured glass vases? These honeycomb vases come in a set of three and I love that they’re shaped differently for an eclectic, yet unified arrangement.
What’s your favourite way to display flowers?
Happy Thanksgiving! In the past week, I’ve shared how to cook the perfect turkey and prepare yummy side dishes à la Williams-Sonoma. Now, it’s time for a few tips on baking delicious desserts.
Tips for pumpkin pie:
- When it comes to organizing your meal, pumpkin pie is one of the items you can make the day before; just keep refrigerated.
- Making a flaky crust works best when you handle the ingredients as little as possible. Avoid overblending the butter for the crust, because it’s actually the ice water that holds all the ingredients together.
- For an easy and delicious filling, try Williams-Sonoma’s Pecan Pumpkin Butter, that just has to be mixed with eggs and cream. I can’t get enough of it!
Tips for pumpkin bread:
- Instead of using a bread pan, try an autumn-inspired cake mold or even muffin pans, perfect for making individual portions.
- Try Williams-Sonoma’s Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Quick Bread — just add butter, eggs and water!
- Serve with drizzled orange glaze, jam or sprinkled confectioner’s sugar.
Enjoy your feast!
xo,
Lauren
Last week, I posted some great tips from the experts at Williams-Sonoma on how to cook the perfect holiday turkey. In part two of three, I’ll be sharing a few of the secrets I learned about making side dishes, like mashed potatoes and stuffing.
Tips for preparing stuffing:
- For bread, Williams-Sonoma has great seasoned focaccia stuffing from La Brea Bakery (better than regular ol’ bagged bread).
- Technique class guide, Christopher, shares that using leeks is a great alternative to onions for stuffing.
- Turkey must get to 165 °, but the stuffing has to be cooked at 180°. If you do stuff the turkey, try lining the turkey cavity with cheesecloth, then stuff, so you don’t run into any hygiene issues.
Tips for preparing mashed potatoes:
- In the photo above, technique class guide, Jackie, demonstrates the easiest way to make mashed potatoes — use the All-Clad multipot with mesh insert. You just boil the potatoes, then remove the insert and dump out the water from the pot when the potatoes are cooked. This is genius for those of us (ahem, me) who struggle with attempting to dump water out of a heavy pot while trying to keep the potatoes inside.
- To keep mashed potatoes warm while the rest of your food is cooking, put them in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.
- If making mashed potatoes the day before, only use half the amount of milk or butter when mashing. Heat them up the next day before your meal, adding the other half of butter.
Check in tomorrow to see Christopher and Jackie’s tips for making yummy Thanksgiving desserts.
xo,
Lauren
When it comes to delicious food ideas and fabulous cooking products, no one does it better than Williams-Sonoma. In fact, whenever I go into their store on Bloor St. and I’m overcome with the smell of goodies baking and the sound of Michael Buble spilling out of the speakers, I seriously contemplate moving in.
This past Monday, I attended one of their weekly technique classes that are held for free in the store kitchen. I will be assisting in the creation of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner (sorry Mum, the turkey’s all you!), so I thought, what the heck, I’ll take a class on how to perfect a classic Thanksgiving feast.
The class was lead by two Williams-Sonoma associates, Christopher and Jackie, who were absolutely wonderful and had a ton of great tips. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll be posting all the secrets that I learned at the technique class, plus sharing some pictures of the yummy food that was whipped up (did I mention I got to eat it? Well, I did. Actually, I devoured it.).
Part 1: The Turkey (gobble, gobble)
Isn’t she a beaut? Part 1 of my Thanksgiving feature is all about the ol’ bird — the holiday just wouldn’t be the same without it. To be honest, I thought preparing a turkey consisted of simply defrosting it, sticking it in a pan with some water, and letting it cook all day until everyone was salivating. Boy, was I wrong.
Christopher and Jackie had been cooking that bad boy throughout the day and were more than happy to share their secrets on how to get it juicy and full of flavour. Here are their tips on how to prepare the perfect turkey:
- Plan ahead! Decide on what kind of turkey you’ll be purchasing (frozen or fresh, kosher or Butterball, etc.) and plan for how long it will take to prepare it (i.e. frozen turkey’s usually take 3 days to defrost in the fridge)
- Brine the turkey. A lot of people skip this step, but it’s necessary if you want to make sure the breast meat is juicy and not dried out. Williams-Sonoma carries a lovely Apple and Spices Turkey Brine that the pair used on this one.
- Truss the bird well. Trussing is the process of tying the bird’s legs down in order to help with the browning process {see image above}. By tying the wings down and legs together, it ensures an even cook. Check out the Williams-Sonoma trussing video for a step-by-step.
- Cover the turkey. For the first 3/4 of the bird’s cook time, cover with tin foil. Or, if you prefer the bird to be more brown, cover with cheesecloth instead and spread some butter over top.
- Take precaution when carving. Let the turkey sit for a little bit before carving so that the flavourful juices can settle in the meat. Also, use a cutting board with pyramids when carving, as it will grip the bird when the juices are running out.
- Don’t overcook it. If your bird is done before the rest of your meal is prepared, wait until the oven gets down to 200 degrees — at this temperature, you can put the turkey back in to warm, without having it cook any further.
You see? There’s so much more to it than just shoving the bird in the oven and having a glass (or two!) of wine while waiting for it to cook. Check in on Tuesday for tips on making yummy side dishes!
xo,
Lauren
Fire up the barbie for another one of my Top Fives!
This time, we’re seeing what’s cooking at Williams-Sonoma this summer. I hope you’ve eaten, because positively scrumptious food photography follows, and I won’t be held responsible for growling tummies.
Here we go…
1. Zoku Quick Pop Maker
The DIY popsicle goes high-tech, and the results are absolutely gorgeous… Simply pop the Zoku unit in the freezer to “charge” it with subzero strength (24 hours should do the trick), remove from freezer, add your fave fruit juices (pop in a few fruit slices for good measure), and in as little as seven minutes, you’ve got chic-sicles that look as good as they taste. At $75, it’s officially my fave summer gadget from Williams-Sonoma.
2. Le Creuset Round Grill Dutch Oven… in BLACK!
It’s the same iconic Le Creuset enameled cast-iron Dutch Oven so beloved by our mothers and grandmothers, but with a bit of a twist… Not only is the new Black colourway ferociously au courant; this model’s fitted with stainless steel knobs that make it suitable for use on outdoor grills. Crazy clever, right? AND the matte black finish means you don’t have to worry about discolouration after exposure to open flame. I can smell those short ribs already…
3. Williams-Sonoma “Cooking From the Farmers’ Market” Cookbook
The release of a Williams-Sonoma cookbook is always cause for celebration, but this one has me counting down the days to the opening of North York’s Thursday Farmers’ Market. The ultimate guide to what’s in season, how to buy what’s in season, and what to do with what you’ve bought that’s in season. 245 recipes designed to help you make the most of fresh produce.
4. Fire Wire Flexible Grilling Skewers
Another one for the “Why did nobody think of this before???” file. A flexible, stainless steel skewer that makes marinating a breeze: simply spear the yummy bits and bobs on the bendy cable, and they all fit beautifully into a bag or bowl…
The skewer tip can drape over the edge of the grill so that it doesn’t get too hot to handle, and after the backyard bash is over, you can pop the whole kit and kaboodle into the dishwasher.
5. Breville Stand Mixer
My kitchen is stocked to the gills with Breville’s super-sleek, brushed stainless appliances, so the completist in me is coveting this new Stand Mixer in the worst way. The coolest innovation here (apart from Breville’s predictably swish aesthetics) is that scraper beater with flexible edges that continually scrapes the sides of the bowl like a spatula – reducing mixing times by up to 60 per cent.
All products available at Williams-Sonoma.
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Although I don’t have any little ones running around my apartment, I can appreciate a good product when I see it. Check out the Babycook from French baby food maker, Beaba. This small counter appliance multitasks as a steamer, warmer, blender and defroster to prepare fresh food for your babe. It basically steams the food first, then purees it to the desired consistency. What a great way to save some cash and be absolutely sure what’s going into your baby’s food.
Available at Williams-Sonoma, $150 US.
I’m not sure about the rest of you Canucks across this fine land, but summer here in Toronto has been less than desirable, to say the least. Alas, this does not make my cravings for ice cream dissipate, and I’m constantly feeling the urge to pound back a tub of mint chocolate chip.
Check out this neat-o White Mountain electric ice cream maker at Williams-Sonoma. Just follow the instructions, and your gallon of ice cream or frozen yogourt is ready to go in 20-40 minutes. It’s also available with a manual crank, but I’d rather be sipping on a mojito while waiting for my frozen goods to be ready.
$170 for manual or $230 for electric, available at Williams-Sonoma.
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I may not be a Parrothead, but heck, take me on down to Margaritaville! As my boyfriend and I complain like a broken Jimmy Buffet record about the heat in our apartment, I can’t help but crave everything frozen. Ice cream, popsicles, a frozen drink… or two.
Williams-Sonoma eases my sweat-laden woes with their Premium Margaritaville Trio Frozen Concoction Maker, which has 3 pitchers available to hold 72 oz. That’s a heckuva lot of margaritas, perfect for a pool party (speaking of which, anyone have a pool I can frequent?). This frozen drink maker is truly heaven sent, as it features two mechanisms: one for shaving the ice, and a second for perfectly pouring the right proportion of ingredients and ice into each pitcher. With 6 different blending settings, you can easily concoct the most delish margaritas, mojitos, smoothies, or mudslides. Save one for me!
Premium Margaritaville Trio Frozen Concoction Maker $500 US, Williams-Sonoma.
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Thought Williams-Sonoma was out of your price range? Think again!
The buzz from Williams-Sonoma HQ in San Francisco is that we should expect a noticeable drop in the one-stop-entertaining-shop’s opening price points rather soon. Aaaaaannd, because Pottery Barn is owned by the same company, we’re looking at ultra-affordable opening price points at that decor destination as well…Â
Read the full story here.
Although I’m doubtful that core European-sourced staples like the gorgeous scalloped Queen Anne dinnerware from Pillivuyt (above) will get the red-ticket sale treatment, I’m excited to see what Williams-Sonoma has in store for this recession-friendly approach…
Pillivuyt Queen Anne porcelain dinnerware
Price: $540 per 20-piece set
Available at: Williams-Sonoma
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