Nest Decorating & Designs by Tamar

Make your own easy Chocolate Pistachio Bark

Sometimes you just really need this in your life! A super easy chocolate bark recipe adapted from the Sweet Pea Chef.

What you will need:

2 packages of 70% Chocolate morsels, chips or chunks (I used Scharffen Berger Semisweet chunks) 

1/2 cup of Pistachio meal crushed into pieces (I put them in a ziplock bag and pound them into small chunks)

1 Tsp of sea salt flakes or smoked salt flakes. 

How to:

1. Melt the chocolate on in a double boiler or in a bowl over boiling water.

 

2. Spread the chocolate thinly and evenly on parchment paper over a baking sheet

3. Sprinkle with sea salt and pistachios

4. Cool in the fridge for about 2 hours or until chocolate hardens 

5. Break into pieces and store (I store it in the fridge in a ziplock bag) great for gift giving too!

Bon Appetite!

xox

 

Make your own easy Chocolate Pistachio Bark

Sometimes you just really need this in your life! A super easy chocolate bark recipe adapted from the Sweet Pea Chef.

What you will need:

2 packages of 70% Chocolate morsels, chips or chunks (I used Scharffen Berger Semisweet chunks) 

1/2 cup of Pistachio meal crushed into pieces (I put them in a ziplock bag and pound them into small chunks)

1 Tsp of sea salt flakes or smoked salt flakes. 

How to:

1. Melt the chocolate on in a double boiler or in a bowl over boiling water.

 

2. Spread the chocolate thinly and evenly on parchment paper over a baking sheet

3. Sprinkle with sea salt and pistachios

4. Cool in the fridge for about 2 hours or until chocolate hardens 

5. Break into pieces and store (I store it in the fridge in a ziplock bag) great for gift giving too!

Bon Appetite!

xox

 

NYC Airbnb and favorite eats

Last month I took a few days vacation and flew down to NYC to visit Mikey at Pratt ( I can't believe he is a senior already! one more year to go in the Architecture Dept.)

I booked an Airbnb in Brooklyn that turned out to be one of the most beautiful places ever! I really could just move in without changing a thing! The place is in Bed-Sty which is a sort of hit or miss, some streets are lovely and we stayed in a few great places there in the past and a few that were pretty bad, but wow!! this place was the best! 

 

The little perfect kitchen

beautiful original details in the living room

the view of urban Brooklyn gardens

I loved the soft muted colors in the bedroom

I bought myself a little pitcher at Leif, they just opened a brick and mortar shop in Williamsburg,  a must see if you are in the area.

we ate somewhere else every day, here are three of our favorites

 

Buvette Grove St. Greenwich Village

Jack's Wife Freda Lafayette St. Soho 

Bakeri Williamsburg Brooklyn

xox

 

 

A summer dinner al fresco

 

I love our summers here in Vermont, there's always a good reason to celebrate and when friends come to town what can be more fun then a dinner outdoors! our friend Ginny invited us to dinner out in her lovely barn and gardens, here is a glimpse.

The barn

 

Ginny her dog and the troop on the way to dinner

a gorgeous Vermont sunset

 

xox

 

Delicious and Easy Sweet Potato Soup

My husband Ronen is a wonderful soup maker and one of our favorites is his Sweet Potato soup, it's creamy and rich in flavor without any dairy (i'm lactose intolerant), this week he added a bunch of rainbow chard! so good!

Ingredients for a big soup that will last a few days:

4 tbs of olive oil

2 yellow onions chopped

4 stalks of celery diced

10 small sweet potatoes (or 6 big ones) peeled and diced into med. size cubes

(you will puree the soup so don't worry about even cube sizes)

1 bunch of rainbow chard (this is optional)

Fresh Ginger (about 5 slices)

6 garlic cloves (smashed)

1/4 tsp. Chilli pepper flakes

1 tsp Graham Masala spice (optional)

1 tsp of Turmeric

1 tsp of Cumin

1/2 freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbs. of  salt (or more to taste)

1 box of organic chicken broth (4 cups)

if you are vegetarian you can use organic vegetable broth instead

4 cups of water

 Instructions

Heat olive oil in a big pot:

Add diced onions, garlic, ginger, and all the spices

Add celery and continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes on Medium heat

Add cubed sweet potato 

Add broth and water to cover the Sweet potato

Add salt

Bring to A boil

Cook for about 1 hour

(optional) Add rainbow chard after about 30 minutes

Once the soup is ready and cooled down puree with an immersion blender until it has a creamy texture.

I like to decorate the soup with a tsp. of pumpkin seeds when I serve it, it adds a wonderful crunch and flavor and looks lovely and I love a good piece of bread on the side with some good goat cheese.

Bon Apetit!

xox

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Travel Journal To Israel Part 2

 When I travel to Israel I always love to go sightseeing, eat in my favorite restaurants and visit family and friends

This year my sister and I spent the whole day walking around the Jaffa Flea Market which is becoming more fun with every year I visit, new shops pop up all the time, there are some great places to eat and the streets are filled with vendors selling everything from vintage furniture to second hand clothes, one of my favorite places to eat is Puaa Restaurant, everything in this place is vintage from the furniture down to the water glasses and cutlery and there are different bouquets of fresh flowers on every table, such a great look!

 

then of course there are some great shops, I especially love everything at Sharon Brunsher's shop

Sharon recently also opened Papier a beautiful shop dedicate to all things paper, if you are in Tel Aviv, it's a must!

another favorite is the Perfume shop Zielinski and Rozen, the shop looks like an old world pharmacy filled with beautiful simple glass bottles and filled with the most amazing scents, they also sell soaps and bath products and I love bringing gift from there, the scents linger in my suitcase and clothes for days.

Walking around Tel Aviv is always an interesting exprience and a feast to the eyes, the modern city is so much fun, the colors, the food, the beautiful displays like this one of vintage phones hanging on a wall in a trendy shop on Shenkin st.

or this cool knitted bicycle

or fresh squeezed juices at the new indoor Sarona Food Market complex

I also love visiting my friends homes and studios like my friend's Hagit  fantastic studio, I wrote about her and her amazing home here

and finally my annual favorite visit is to my sister and brother and law and my beautiful nieces who live in the countryside, I usually stay here for a couple of days soaking in the sunshine, it was amazing to see the vegetable garden! our garden in Vermont will not look like this until July!

I hope you enjoyed my little tour!

xox

 

 

 

November in Vermont and a recipe

I love November, the beautiful serene landscape is full of washed out browns and greens, I love crunchy leaves under my feet and cool and crisp air that still allows you to go on long walks without absolutely freezing. The lake is like a mirror, a pale blue green calm and serene without a boat in sight. Ronen and I take long walks almost everyday, we love hiking down the LaPlattte Nature Park that sits right smack in the middle of our village behind the post office, or, we go up the trail and down the lake in Bay Park and finally our favorite, the trails at Shelburne Farms, all about 5-10 min. from our home. 

Some news from home: we put final touches in or kitchen and dining room including a marble counter which we love

the living room couch is back in it's grey slipcover and the room feels nice and cozy with the wood stove burning

and finally, I gathered all the left over apples we've been picking and made a giant batch of apple sauce to give as gifts (left some for us of course, it was gone in a day...)

It's a super easy recipe, I've been making this since they boys were babies:

10 apples or more up to 15  (I use whatever variety I have at home )

1 tbs brown sugar (or more to taste)

1tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup of water

juice of 1 lemon

mix all ingredients together in a pot, cook until the apples are soft about 30 min., when the apples cool place in blender and blend until completely smooth.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

xox

Boston weekend

We had the best time in Boston this weekend! our good friend Jen just moved back to Boston after a few years here in Burlington, Jen has the most amazing taste and she is a real inspiration, her bohemian style is just the thing I love and her apartment is nice and roomy in an old victorian house in Watertown, a big one bedroom with amazing light! I love the wonderful mix of color, textiles, vintage and ethnic with country rustic, I couldn't stop taking photos...

 

 

We also visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, It was my first visit there and I loved it! The little patio garden! 

In the evening we went down to the harbor to peek at the ocean

We had a few wonderful meals including a wonderful lunch at Sofra Bakery and Cafe and great dinner at Sarma a mix of turkish and Middle Eastern food. It was delicious!

Here are some beautiful business cards I collected this weekend, I do that when I travel, I get a business card form every restaurant and shop I like and keep them for future references.

 

xox

 

Wonderful Apple Pie Recipe- First posted Sept. 13th 2014

 

 

After visiting our local Apple Orchard

 

 

 I was so inspired I made the yummy apple pie recipe that was printed on the lovely bag and what can I say it was the best apple pie I ever made!!! 

 

The recipe is Nick's, who is the owner of Shelburne Orchards, with a few little changes made by me and some photos I took of the process, enjoy!!!

APPLE PIE RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

CRUST (for one pie, two crusts)

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 and a half sticks of cold butter

1/3 cup ice cold water

pinch of salt

Mix flour, butter (cut into 1/2" chunks), water and salt in a food processor, mix until the mixture starts to thump around, less than a minute. Cut the ball of dough in half and press down to form two discs, cover with Saran Wrap and place in the fridge to cool.

when the filling is cool (see bottom for the recipe for the filling) take the discs out, roll out the bottom crust, using plenty of flour on the rolling pin and on the dough. When the size is right (a 10" circle for a 9" pie), brush off the extra flour and set the dough in the pie plate. Roll out the top crust.

Filling:

8 good sized apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces (I used all kinds of apples I had at home)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to taste

1 tablespoon instant tapioca (it's optional but I loved this little addition!)

simmer everything in a large skillet until the apples have softened.

 

Put the apple filling into the crust lined pie plate

trim away the excess dough, slightly wet the top edges of the bottom crust, pop on the top crust

pinch and trim the dough and work your way around the crust pushing the dough between your fingers to make a ruffled edge. Cut holes in the top of the crust for air escape (I am sure you can be a little more creative with your design then this...)

OK, now into the 350 degrees oven for 35-40 minutes.

If desired you can use this optional crust treatment at 15-20 minutes, I thought it really made a difference!

you'll need:

3 tablespoons butter, 1 egg white, sugar.

Soften the butter and mix with the egg white, if the butter is soft enough it can be brushed on the crust while it's hot. Brush it on the ruffles and all over the top of the pie after 15-20 minutes of baking, sprinkle sugar over this and return to the oven.

When the pie is done the crust will be slightly golden brown and the filling will bubble and ooze a little. You can also poke a fork into one of the holes to see if the apples are soft but NOT sauce!.

let cool.

 

eat!

yum!

xox

Roasted Pecans with Sea Salt and Herbs

Roasted Pecans with Sea Salt and Herbs
I made this for a dinner party gift last night, super easy!! here is the recipe:
pre heat oven to 400F
Mix together:
2-3 cups of raw pecans
3 TBS melted butter
2 TBS of coarse sea salt
1 TBS of Herbs Des Provence (I use these herbs in everything...) dry oregano works well too
Spread on cookie sheet and place in the oven for 8-10min, flip them over and put back in the oven for 5 min.
let cool.
Try not to eat them all at once...:)