Archive for Kitchen ware
JollySmith FiveAday pear pinup board
I need these pin up boards. Seriously. Am I the only person with a “drawer of shame” in the kitchen, full of tax-returnable train tickets, business cards from the hairdresser and randomly important receipts? Luckily JollySmith Design may have come up with the answer to my prayers. With a magnetic pear.
JollySmith is made up of talented designer-duo Scott Jolly and Kyle Smith. Using skills they carefully honed at York St John University for their degrees in Design Practice, they have now joined forces to create and market their own range of products and furniture for the modern home (or office/school/public building).
If these fruity ‘fiveAday’ magnetic pin up boards are anything to go by (and surely they most definitely are), JollySmith are set to be a massive hit in the design world, and with ordinary pear-lovers such as myself too. The pin up boards are all smashing in form and zinginess, but the pear (predictably) is my favourite from the fruit bowl (which also includes apples, bananas, oranges and grapes).
Made from 1mm laser cut mild steel, and powder coated to enhance looks and maintain durability, the boards come packaged in a recyclable slimline box with five magnets and will only set you back £25 each. JollySmith suggest a kitchen setting, but you know what, they’d look great just about anywhere.
I have wanted to blog about these pear-shaped post-it notes for ages, and was heartened to see that one of my favourite bloggers beat me to it recently (if you haven’t already clocked it, sally forth and read KatGotTheCream as soon as you can). The notes complement the pear pin up board perfectly, and you can buy them all over t’interweb, but my personal recommendation is the Victoria and Albert Museum Shop.
Last but not least, if you fancy keeping up-to-date with JollySmith and their exciting new design projects, you can visit their blog here, or follow them on Twitter here.
Pears at teatime
As I was flicking through this month’s edition of Livingetc, I was delighted to spot the pear teapot pictured above. It’s not something you see very often, but as it happened, I had seen another last week, so pull up your chairs and pop on the kettle dear readers: here comes a special pears at teatime blog post.
The receptacle above is from Matalan, and you can grab yourself one instore, or online (here) for a mere £10. Total bargain. The website explains that there is a range of coordinating items available, and all the kitchenware, including the teapot, is microwave and dishwasher safe. Definitely a crucial selling point in our house.
Just for harmony’s sake, it might be pleasing to add one of the above Twinings green tea with apple and pear bags into said teapot. I haven’t sampled this flavour yet, but it is on my to-try list. If anyone has any reviews of this variety (does it actually taste of pear, for example?), then please feel free to leave a comment below.
And if you like pears, but prefer a more sleek, minimal, Italian approach to your tea set design, then perhaps the Alessi Fruit Basket Teapot above is more your cup of tea (sorry, ahem).
Speaking of cups, if you missed the blog post all about pear print mugs and cups, just click here. And if you absolutely have to run with the whole pears at teatime theme, then you’ll need a wipe clean pear print table cloth to mop up dunking disasters (unless that’s just me?). This one is from Tesco direct and it’s only £12.
Now, has the kettle boiled yet?
Habitat pear flan dish, with pear tart on the side
It’s been a few weeks since I spotted this Habitat (@HabitatUK) flan dish while idly pootling along Regent Street. Sometimes pretty things such as these come and go so quickly, but luckily this AVEN porcelain pear print flan dish is still for sale in store and online. And what a bargain – only 15 of her majesty’s finest would be enough to secure you the best flan dish on the market this side of Christmas (who knows what 2011 will bring us on the pear print flan dish front).
I really like the fresh, clean fruit design, the nicely contrasting stalks and the subtle Scandinavian style edging on the outer rim of the flan dish.
And if all of this pear flan dish talk is making you salivate, then get your aprons on: the fantastic peeps at USA Pears (@USApears) have sent me a recipe for fresh Anjou pear tart, which you can access here.
Pears on china
Who knew there were so many pear-printed mugs out there? I’ve found a selection of my favourites, and thought I’d share them with you.
The one above is a Cath Kidston fine china tea cup, designed exclusively for Churchill China. You can buy them on Amazon here, for a mere £4. Bargain.
Next up (above) is this bone china cup from the dotcomgiftshop – a steal at £5.95. Very Orla-esque, but original nonetheless.
I couldn’t not include this classic Lotta Kühlhorn design for Scandinavian brand Koloni (below): perfect in its very pearness, and at only £7.95 from Illustrated Living, totally unmissable. (Check out an earlier blog post all about Lotta Kühlhorn’s apple print chopping board here.)
At £10.50, the mug below is a smidge pricier than the others, but the unusual chunky pear design makes up for it: quite a change from sleek Scandinavian curves, this Alice Apple pattern is something out of the ordinary. You can find them on Alice’s website here, and don’t forget to check out her other products on Etsy too.
Finally, to finish, it has to be the Orla Kiely pear mug – originally designed for Target, but available all over the interweb. I found this one chez Illustrated Living (again) for £7.25 and was sorely tempted (again).
Pear half hostess
I’m on a roll with the apron theme. Only this time, it’s not owls but pears. And for a change, here is an example of a fantastic pear-based fabric design on a cocoa background. Just perfect if we’re talking about a cooking-related item of clothing, when mentioning chocolate somewhere in the post is de rigeur. How utterly fab would you feel if you managed to bake some of these pear and chocolate cake pots while sporting this pretty half hostess?
Becky handcrafts these aprons in Minnesota and sells them to the world from her Juniperberries Etsy shop here. They come with a large double pocket and straps long enough to tie around the front on back (depending on girth…).
Anyway, back to pears and chocolate: why not try your hand at some macaroons? These vanilla, orange and chocolate, pear and vanilla scrummies are from one of my fave foody/fashion blog reads – Brigadeiro. Alternatively, there is a recipe for chocolate, pear and ginger tart on page 141 of the Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes book, which I would be v. tempted to try out. (By the way, I can’t wait for the new G&B recipe book to be released – I know I will probably only fawn over the recipes and illustrations rather than actually bake them, but hey ho, you never know. Maybe there’ll be a pear recipe in there too?)
Finally, my love of Lindt’s intense chocolate range is now deep-rooted, following my discovery of their sea salt dark chocolate bar (now available at Waitrose/Ocado) – this stuff is A-mazing. I know there is a pear version of the intense range in the States – I’ve seen it on google, and here it is as proof:
My question is, when can we get our hands on this flavour in the UK? If you have a strong desire to see this in stock, then log in and send Waitrose/Ocado an message here (or an email: customersupport@waitrose.co.uk) and make pear chocolate a reality for everyone in Blighty.
Owl apron and oven mitt
It’s high time for an owl post, any post in fact, as I’ve been more than a tad lackadaisical about them recently. This owl offering is courtesy of the wonderous Jen Green (thanks Jen!), who spotted it on ModCloth, a truly sensational online shop selling all things vintage and retro-inspired. And it’s clever too. For example, should you want to alert your nearest and dearest to your love of any particular ModCloth item (you can check this apron and mitt set out here), you can add it to your Amazon wish list. Nifty.
There are a squillion photos of the apron on the ModCloth website, but I love these details above and below: they show off the stacking owls, the wibbly eyes, and the perfectly placed leaves on the branch. Plus the beak. A lot can be said for a really good beak, and this one seems just right to me. Shame it is going to get a bit singed in the event of excessive cake baking…
And for those of you interested in the details, the apron is one hundred per cent cotton, ties at the back, and includes an adjustable buckle at the neck. Now go forth and bake, secure in the knowledge that whatever your neck size, this apron will keep you covered, in owl style, as always.
Pear tea towel
When I started writing this blog post, I was sitting on the comfiest sofa known to humankind, basking in warm Welsh sunshine and sipping coffee while chatting to friends. As as result, not much blogging was achieved. However, I’m feeling thoroughly domestically inspired thanks to a few days chez the wonderous VDB family at Cwmerchon Farm, and thought it might be high time to write about tea towels.
I was tempted to insert one of my favourite owl jokes at this juncture, but my mouse isn’t working properly so you have been spared.
As I was saying. Tea towels. Have you seen the retro gorgeousness of the one above? This tea towel has it all: pattern, colour, kooky design and it’s practical too. Although with its shades of Lucienne Day and Liberty loveliness, I would be tempted to bung this in a frame and hang it on the wall rather than sully it with old porridge bowls.
This post is reminding me how much I love Crate&Barrel (I am planning a trip to the London branch at Westfield and will report back and let you know if this tea towel is available in the UK as well as the States. Although at $4.95, it wouldn’t break the bank to have it sent over from the US of A…).
I used to work in an office with one of these intensely stylish Stendig calendars on the wall, and at the time, C&B was the only place you could get your hands on one. Nowadays, you can order them direct from the manufacturer here.
The photo above is from one of my new fave blog spots – Obsessilicious – where you can track Griffo68′s spot-on interior design acumen. The calendar, originally designed by Massimo Vignelli back in 1966, measures three feet by four feet and looks absolutely incredible on the wall (as you can see above, in Griffo68′s newly converted loft).
An added bonus: at the end of each month, you can use the sheets of paper to wrap presents, or cut out the numbers and make a fantastic collage for any kidults you have lurking around.
Owls at teatime
Gawd – there’s so much rain outside I’ve been forced to cook fish pie and dig out a cardigan. I guess summer is over, and it’s time to succumb once again to dark afternoons, cold toes and muddy jeans. So by default, it’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy all the pleasures a good cuppa can offer. Speaking of which, here are a few owlish teatime fancies to tide you through the autumn.
The owl gocco coasters above are de rigeur: you don’t want to scorch your table top. Thank goodness for Kerry Beary’s mid-century modern designs, printed on 100% recycled paper (which is then pounded into a sturdy chipboard bar coaster) and oozing with seventies chic. By the way, if you have fallen for these owl designs, Kerry has also created a set of limited edition, hand printed versions for you to hang on your wall.
While escaping some of the rain today, I found myself steaming in Debenhams (literally) and spotted these owl mugs. Nicely down to earth, with a light-hearted pattern and good ceramic finish, and all for a fiver. Bargain, right? They’ve a touch of the old halloween theme about them too, which is good preparation for the coming months. You can buy them online here, if you prefer to stay dry and shop while you sip…
For a more traditional owl, it’s gotta be Emma Bridgewater, every time. Check out John Lewis for this particular earthenware barn owl design.
Now a proper cup of tea normally involves a scooby snackette too, and if these owl biscuits from an earlier blog post are just too plain, how about an owl cupcake instead? These ones are baked by the Artisan Cake Company, and look just about chocolately enough to warrant a second cup. Roll on winter.
Pears in the kitchen
Just spotted this pear coloured KitchenAid mixer (for, and on, sale) online and thought it would be a good introduction to a few pear-related goodies I have waiting in the wings. I love our red version of the mixer, but this shade is so retro it needs to be used to make something very kitsch and probably green. With this end in mind, I am coveting these beautiful copper coloured, pear-shaped cookie cutters from Amazon, which I reckon you could use to make a huge pile of iced biscuits, perfect for mid-morning snacks, afternoon tea, and everything before and after too.
Check out Cookie Creatives by Jennifer for inspiration – it’s a custom cookie boutique (based in the States, of course) and they have made perfect pear biscuits into wedding favours … or whatever they’re called in Britspeak.
Pear ceramics by Yoyo, Orla Kiely and Noun
Once again, I am drawing inspiration for this post from another of my favourite online reads – Yukkiie – a blog that “celebrates design that is out of the ordinary and unique”. I am head over heels in love with a recent post all about pear-shaped pots from UK-based company Yoyo ceramics. Now there are some pretty horrific ceramic pears out there (as a quick google image search will reveal), but Yoyo offer something practical (I like anything with the label ‘kitchen tidy’ – you can only hope), wholly aesthetically pleasing, and polished shiny bright too. In fact, totally out of the ordinary and unique. Seriously, this pear would cheer anyone up, especially if the rest of the kitchen looked anything like mine…. This is a piece you could truly focus on. Plus, Yoyo also do a fabulous tea and toast set, again, with a retro-tastic pear print which would mean you had to finish your marmite crumpet pretty quickly in order to fully appreciate the delectable design underneath the pools of melted butter.
Of course, another classic ceramic pear objet for use in the kitchen would have to be Orla Kiely’s supreme pear design canister (see here for an earlier blog post about the Orla Kiely pear print chair). I think I’d store some ginger nuts in this container, or possibly, for a true colour explosion, some pink wafers and party rings to boot.
And then there is Stephanie Sheldon’s shop Noun, which stocks these utterly adorable ceramic pear vases, which quite frankly, you’d need a clutter of to really hammer home the perfection each one exudes. You can check out the Noun shop blog here – it makes up for the fact that Portland, Oregon, is really quite a long way from Surrey.
