for starters, mini polenta cakes with goats cheese, palmaham and sage, miam… i used maramiki’s tulip screenprinted fabric as a loose tablecloth…
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So here is Yvette, Jeroen and my food story for the 4th issue of Maria magazine (see the spreads for issue 1, 2 & 3 here, here and here).

Yvette’s idea for this shoot was to create a winter buffet as a housewarming present for some friends who have just moved into a new home here in Holland and are a very busy working couple with two gorgeous girls names Luna and Madelief. We initially moodboarded a golden yellow palette, with warm brown tones, soft whites, and a touch of bottle green. It was a beautiful palette and as it happens sometimes, when I started propping something else came forth… I found a gorgeous old wooden board at my favourite antique boutique that I wanted to use as a backdrop to the buffet table and the colour of the board was this incredible soft turquoise. I just fell in love with it and so Yvette and i decided this would be our main inspiration (this sounds like we decided all this over a series of meetings over a series of days – but it was a series of phone calls over a series of minutes that started with me speed-talking something along the lines of…”oh my god i’ve found the most beautiful piece for our story but its not the right colour but i want to use it anyway i think it will look fabulous and i have this incredible fabric that will compliment it beautifully and so what do you think?!?!? her answer was something along the lines of “you go girl!!”).

On I continued, wandering around Amsterdam collecting props with a skip in my step from finding this maginficent piece of art to use as my inspiration palette. So, along with the above photograph, here it what we created…

… a buffet setting that is rustic and wintry but warm, carefree & inviting. This is a double page spread in the magazine (it’s ALWAYS best to see the images in print as they are much bigger, so if you live in The Netherlands, check out the latest issue of Maria to see the whole story and have all the recipes)…

white winter vegetable soup with brown butter and cashewnuts

portobello pizza

almond apple muffins – aren’t those little apples cute? the girls loved making and eating these!

pineapple and coconut upside down cake.. which we ate for dessert than night for dinner and it was scrumptious.

and here is Yvette cooking with Luna and Madelief.

Do you remember the sneak peek collection of props I showed you last month? Well now you can see what I created with them. The lovely props come from Juffrouw Splinter and my own props cupboards, with special thanks to Julie Arphi for lending me her gorgeous artwork for the day.

photograph credits…

magazine: maria
food and production: yvette van boven
photographer: jeroen van der spek
stylist: me

xx

Happy weekend everyone! Tonight French Boy and I are off to see Emiliana Torrini at the Paradiso and I can’t wait. I’ll see you fresh and energised on Monday, with another truckload of posts for the week which I hope will both inspire and delight. until then!

…these prints, which are pretty gorgeous. And as Liberty Post says, they would look great in individual gilded frames. I’d also like them printed on card and pinned to my inspiration board. Thank you Liberty Post, you always find such wonderful treasures!

xx

Next up, the results of one of my latest shoots.

now I may have neglected to mention in my last post that Leslie has her very own etsy boutique. But I am letting you know right now, with this sublime photograph you see above, from her collection, and this one you see below, both available for purchase…

The reason I neglected to mention this before is because Leslie has something special on offer that deserves a whole post of it’s own – for the rest of February, Leslie is donating $5 of each print purchased in her etsy boutique to wildlife victoria, a not for profit volunteer based organisation who are working ceaselessly in all fire damaged grounds in victoria, australia, performing search and rescue. Due to the recent devastation, hundreds of animals have been taken in for treatment and rehabilitation, with more coming in all the time…

left: i’m not sure where this image is from but it has done the rounds on emails in australia which is how it came into my inbox; right image from hyena in petticoats.

Leslie will also be waiving the shipping costs on her sales for the rest of the month, so now is a perfect time to purchase some of her beautiful work and help victoria’s injured wildlife.

Thank you dear Leslie. Our koalas, kangaroos, cockatoos, kookaburras, wallabies, wombats and plethora of other australian animals in danger will be so very very thankful. And I am more than touched to learn about your endeavour to help our precious wildlife.

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update 20.2.09: for more information about the recent victorian bushfires, please read this brief article, watch this documentary from ABC 4corners, and to help further, please make a donation to the red cross, wildlife victoria, or donate something you’ve made by hand to handmade help. to donate goods, here is a list of drop off contacts around the country.

unfortunately at the same time last weekend, north queensland was under threat from floods. This is also an area of devastation, so to learn more about this and make a donation, please click here.

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isn’t it beautiful? I am captivated by this photograph, taken by San Fransisco-based photographer Leslie Sophia Lindell. The house is situated on the sand at Stinson Beach, facing the Pacific Ocean on the Northern California coast. Perusing Leslie’s portfolio and flickr sets have kept me busy for well over an hour now, I have found so many gorgeous images. I’ve been tempted to show you all of them right here but then i would become the ‘leslie lindell blog’! Instead, go and visit her own blog here, her flickr set here, and her professional portfolio here. For now, I give you just one more…

…and I’ll be telling you more about the lovely Leslie and posting about something else fabulous that she has going on, in just a moment.

Imagine: its night time and you step off the tram and walk through a very nondescipt part of town. You’ve heard this restaurant is a greenhouse of sorts but you don’t see how that is possible because you are walking along a very city-like street and there is no sign of nature anywhere. And then suddenly, it’s all black. You know that’s a sign of nature’s night time presence. And then, you see lights, in what seem to be in the shape of a house. You peek through the grassland and standing alone against the black of night you see the most magnificent structure: a glorious house built entirely of glass…

You find a long wooden bridge that guides you across a little canal and straight to the door of your destination, Restaurant de Kas (the glasshouse)…

There is a man at the door awaiting your presence. He takes your coats, you walk past a gorgeous herb garden into the main dining area which is housed inside this gigantic glasshouse. You walk past a beautiful lemon tree that stands by the entrance way as you are guided to your seat…

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“A kitchen surrounded by fertile soil where vegetables and herbs thrive … Where daylight shines in from all sides and where the chefs are free to express their creativity daily using the best the season has to offer.”Gert Jan Hageman owner of de kas

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Well, what more can I say! Last night’s dinner date was more than I could have hoped for. And that is saying alot, because I had bookmarked this restaurant from a tiny magazine article in Australia four years ago. That was way before I ever intended visiting Amsterdam, let alone living here. I loved the idea of the restaurant and I thought, hmm, wouldn’t it be nice to visit such a place one day. After a year of living here, I finally made it and oh, what an incredible place it is…

photos courtesy of de kas, with first three photos taken by me last night.

The five-course menu is based on what the restaurateurs have harvested that day, and consists of a selection of starters, a main course and a dessert. We started with a glass of champagne that was served with a tiny sprig of oregano picked from the garden. The meal was divine (I could go on and on about each dish so if you are interested let me know and I will tell you exactly what we had), the wine choices perfect, and I just can’t wait to go back! I would like to go for a lunch next time so I can see the garden during the day, and also to go in the different seasons. What a treat. It has made it into our top 5 list of best restaurants to go to around the world.

xx

To read more about de kas, please click here – you’ll find a comprehensive website with lots of lovely photos and information about the history of the restaurant and chefs.