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Ladieslunch

A Girlfriend’s Lunch-The Bloggers are Coming!

November 19, 2019 By kimwheeler 14 Comments

Last week I hosted my first real party or meal here since moving back. I don’t know why it took me so long. I had that, ‘I still haven’t gotten to..’ feeling about just about everything here, but heck it was time, especially since I’ve been the guest of these sweet friends and it was my turn.

I told my friends and family last week I was busy getting ready as, ‘The bloggers are coming for lunch,’ and everyone was, oh totally get it, and good luck. LOL! They knew that my blog buddies would probably take pics and share and there was a little bit more expectation than usual.

Mary Ann, who writes Classic Casual Home on the left, came from San Francisco, where I wrote about lunch at her gorgeous apartment, Cindy, who writes Rough Luxe Lifestyle center, came from Carmel Valley, and Elizabeth, who pens The Vintage Contessa (also goes by Contessa), came from Orinda, all long drives of over and hour! I called this photo The Three Graces, as they are all the most lovely, kind and sweet friends.

I spent the early part of last week, freaking out, tidying, and probably unnecessary things like sweeping the porch and cleaning out the toaster (oh brother), and fretting over what to serve for lunch. I finally settled on a favorite recipe from my friend E, who entertains easily and often (something I aspire to), and a fall salad I make all the time. Those two dishes plus a cheese, fruit and cracker board, and cookies from a French bakery in town, made it simple.

I was overthinking it way too much, focusing on what everyone else does, and trying to reinvent the wheel of lunches. GAH! Maybe the best thing is fall back on what you can already do well, and for me that is salads and appetizer boards. Not stellar, but this really works, especially with a group of women!

When hosting a gathering, it’s easy to get hung up on the details. I come from a mom, bless her heart, who was a perfectionist and had very high standards, so much so that she rarely, if ever entertained because she wanted things, ‘just so’. That mindset gets you nowhere because it prevents you from having a lot of fun. It gets you focusing on the floor that needs refinishing, your salad forks that are worn out and whether your glasses match, and other dumb stuff.

You can see here I didn’t have matching glasses- had to use purple and blue. I used some tortoise looking tumblers for flowers. I am not a good floral person, but bought these mums at Bunches, and added olive tree clippings from the yard. Trader Joes has these great autumn colored mums also.

The runner from Crate & Barrel was something I added to brighten up my black steel table. That is also where I bought my gold flatware, pretty inexpensive, which I thought would be useful for Thanksgiving too. The black plates are on sale right now at Pier 1, and the little tree tags are from Crate & Barrel also -on sale now for $2! I love the cork with sparkle on the edges. This would be cute for a Christmas lunch. I was kind of mixing my seasons here.

If you can think about enjoying your friends and making yummy food, you have all the elements you need. I really tried to do that and remember that even if I didn’t have any pictures on my walls, a mirror in the bath, matching wine glasses, all my friends would think of is how nice it was to be at someone else’s home and love catching up. Try and think about that instead of making things perfect.

Most people who like to entertain have list of dishes that work they can rely on without stress. With that in mind, here are the simple things I served that you might try or some variation of them and plan a gathering. The best way also seems to be if you designate a particular day- say like every other Friday to host people, and do it. The more you entertain, the more you’ll be at ease and enjoy it.

Harvest Salad

1 large box of pre-washed mixed greens

1 persimmon

1/2 red onion cut in half rings

1-2 red and green pears cut in long slivers

1 Honeycrisp Apple cut in small cubes

1 bag of Trader Joes’ Candied Pecans

1/2 package of herbed goat cheese

Toss ingredients with dressing and then add small dabs of the goat cheese and lightly toss again.

For dressing combine 2 parts olive oil, 1 part apple cider vinegar, add about a tablespoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of dijon mustard, plus flaky Maldon sea salt. Whisk together and adjust to your taste. Sometimes I’ll add a squeeze of lime or clementine to this dressing. This is a basic and you can add or change the fruit according to season. It’s also great with pomegranate seeds and plain walnuts toasted.

Next to the salad I added a bowl of two shredded rotisserie chickens, so people can add some protein to their meal if they wish, or not. Elizabeth is gluten free so I knew she couldn’t eat my other dish, the orzo, so I was hoping adding the protein would make it more of a meal for her.

Orzo With Roast Vegetables

This recipe from my friend E is adapted from the Barefoot Contessa recipe. I changed it up a bit and added asparagus, and squash, olives and toasted almonds and removed the eggplant, and pine nuts.

1 lb box of Orzo

1 red onion cut into 1 inch diced

2-3 garlic cloves diced

1 asparagus bunch cut into 2 inch pieces

1-2 orange, yellow or red bell peppers cut into 1 inch diced

1 yellow squash cut into 2 inch chunks

1/3 cup olive oil

juice of 2 lemons

3/4 lb feta , 1/2 inch diced

toasted sliced almonds

1 cup pitted Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives mixed

Toss the veggies with 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1 t. of salt, 1/2 t of pepper and spread on baking sheet. Roast for 40 minutes at 425, turning once at about half way through.

Meanwhile boil the orzo, drain and set aside. When done add the roasted veg and all the pan juices and browned bits to the orzo. Add lemon juice and olive oil, salt and paper to taste, toss and let sit until room temp. Before serving add feta and olives, and almonds. This tastes even better if made the day prior.

Below, my tray of veggies before roasting..

The cheese and fruit board was a made of brie, goat and manchego cheeses with pears, figs, apples, an assortment of crackers, including some gluten free ones, dark chocolate, and walnuts and pecans. I love my new cheese board, which I also got at Crate & Barrel that is part marble and wood. I needed something larger and it’s the perfect size.

I had bottle of still and sparkling water, and wine on hand. Cindy brought a lovely Rose we enjoyed.

I also made something I call Audrey Palmer. I named this after my friend Audrey who always loves them. This is a house specialty and like an Arnold Palmer is half tea, half lemonade, but you use sparkling lemonade, so it makes it a bit more fun and festive. That day I used the San Pelligrino Lemon Mint and Tejava. Pour it all into a pitcher and add lots of ice.

I had the front patio door open. It was a beautiful fall day!

We loved Elizabeth’s bag and especially her pom poms!

I hated to see them leave. Like any fun time, the afternoon went by in a flash and everyone had to get on the road before traffic…

I hope this gives you a little motivation to have friends over. I’m no great cook or entertainer, but now that I’ve done this, each time is easier and I can use the same menu with some variations and changes.

Thank you Cindy, Elizabeth and Mary Ann for letting me share this and your photos too. I feel so lucky to call you ladies my friends!

What’s your tried and true recipes for entertaining? Do you have a strategy for entertaining without fuss? Love to hear any tips you can pass on!

Kim

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: #bayareastyle, #bloggerlunch, #californiabloggers, #californiahomestyle, #californialunch, #entertaining, #lunchmenus, Ladieslunch

Lunch at a Beautiful San Francisco Apartment

May 8, 2019 By kimwheeler 15 Comments

Well another week flew by without being able to sit down and blog about so much that is on my radar.. I especially wanted to get this one out about my lovely lunch before it becomes a month ago..

I had to share with you all some photos from the gorgeous San Francisco apartment of my sweet friend Mary Ann Pickett. Mary Ann is one of those graceful and chic women you want to be like someday, when you’ve got your stuff together.. She is an interior designer who has been published in magazines and writes a great blog- Classic Casual Home. An empty nester, Mary Ann has raised two kids and right now lives in the a beautiful 1920’s San Francisco apartment with her husband and darling Boston Terrier. I love this selfie we all took in her foyer.

This home has the most charming details and panoramic views…

At the lunch she hosted for a few of us blog gals a week or so ago, we got to get a peek into her world and to meet her cute dog Chief, who we all fell in love with and has his own Instagram!

Mary Ann in her cool kitchen. Don’t you love that floor? Look at her view..

We came from all over- my pal Annie of Most Lovely Things blog the farthest -all the way from Connecticut ( I was so excited to finally meet her), and Cindy of Rough Luxe Lifestyle from the Carmel area and Elizabeth of Vintage Contessa from Orinda.

From Mary Ann’s home you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and little cable cars go up and down the street! If there is a spot to live in SF this is it at the top of a hill in a wonderful neighborhood. You can walk to everything and of course it’s gorgeous inside too as she has beautiful taste and every room is a jewel box. She has lived all over because of her husband’s work and has done stints in Paris, Chicago, and Florida, just to name a few and still maintains her home in Newport Beach where she is from- and she went to Santa Clara University. Her home reflects her travels and is a pretty that has that California casual feel her blog exemplifies! Look at this view from her dining room…You can see Alcatraz and little ships and boats floating by.

The living area has that view and another towards the Bay Bridge..San Francisco Bay on all sides here people!!

Love the styling of the shelves with a mix of books and treasures from her travels.

How great is her guest room with hooks for guests that Annie was using? So cute and clever.

The hanging lamp and blues here with seascape paintings..so perfect for a SF home by the Bay. Who wouldn’t want to be a guest? Her master was also dreamy and if you check out the other ladies’ blogs, especially Annie and Cindy’s there are more photos, more details, much better than mine.

Mary Ann had the table set with some purple flowers that were from the flower market. Annie below, helped and she matched them herself in a cute duster coat Contessa brought that fit her tall slim frame so perfectly! Annie is as kind in person as she is on her blog and I wish we had more time together.

The yummy lunch was a Mexican Lasagna and a great salad. All the recipes are on this link to Mary Ann’s blog today! Annie hiked a few miles to North Beach, San Francisco’s Italian Area and picked up some addicting Italian cookies for us for dessert !

We all went home with a brown sugar face and body scrub Mary Ann made herself. What a treat. It’s so rare to have friends for lunch and I made a note to try and do this. It’s much more special than a restaurant and memorable.

All these women are all uniquely talented, kind and supportive and I feel fortunate to be friends. I would have never met then if we weren’t all blogging. One really nice benefit of doing this. We ran out of time as you always do when you are having a ball and vowed to plan more time to get together.. Hopefully next time at my house when it’s done.

Go check out all of their blogs – links at the beginning, for more on her beautiful home and the lunch details. Especially visit Mary Ann’s own blog to see her style and the way she lives the San Francisco gal life which makes me want to move there too and one day be like her!

Braving a little wind with Chief!

Have a lovely week and plan a lunch for your girlfriends!

Thanks to Mary Ann for letting me share her home here!

Kim

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: #californiahomestyle, bayareabloggers, Ladieslunch, sanfranciscohomestyle, sanfranciscolunch

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