Stuff
GIVEAWAY WINNERS!!!!
WINNERS!!
*Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
-Jimena Pena-Garza
Submitted on 2013/04/29 at 7:43 am
I make a killer Apple cake. Cake, not pie. So yum. Gooey oatmeal rasin ookies are a close second. I need to be more brave and try new sweets (a tangerine mixer would put me over that ‘legit baker’ threshold)
P.S. Already following you on Facebook, and Pinterest. CROSSING MY FINGERS SO HARD!!
*Enameled Cast Iron Skillet
1)
-jessica w
Submitted on 2013/05/01 at 10:24 am
I LOVE chicken salad sandwiches on all types of breads!
2)
-SALLY Tews
Submitted on 2013/05/06 at 12:08 pm
good pulled pork with slaw.
*Cuisinart Food Processor
-Kim W
Submitted on 2013/05/05 at 8:37 pm
Favorite pizza topping~spinach, feta cheese, red onion and kalamata olives. Yum!
*Ninja Blender:
-Jessica L.
Submitted on 2013/05/02 at 7:45 am
I love any strong cocktail with a good whiskey in it :)
Heather Christo’s Generous Table: Easy and Elegant Recipes through the Seasons
Today is a very special day for me.
It is the official release date of my new book Heather Christo’s Generous Table, Easy and Elegant Recipes through the Seasons.
It is a book filled with love and it was written just for you.
I chronicled a year in the life of our young family and all of the reasons that we have family and friends over to eat, (I organized it by season, because that is really how we eat) and then I bundled them up in this book!
105 recipes, and tons of photographs.
I also threw in some of my signature entertaining tidbits,
And lots of fun drinks!
But really, it is mostly about the mouthwatering recipes, and the love.
The entire book is about sharing the love of food with friends and family and I hope more than anything you enjoy it.
You can find it at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon and pretty much at all your local bookstores. You can also check your local Costco! Please grab one for yourself, but they would also make a great mothers day gift!! Wink, wink.
To celebrate this exciting day, I thought about what great thing I would love to give away that had to do with the book. I already have a shiny kitchen aid mixer and a gorgeous enameled skillet up for grabs, but you know what else you need??
A food processor. They make the crust on my books Leek, Ham and Gruyere Quiche come together in a snap. The Lemon Tart with an Almond Shortbread Crust is extra tender after a whirl in the food processor. And it makes the dough for the Lemon Raspberry Scones so simple and the Spicy Olive Tapenade a snap. I love my food processor. I really do, so today I am going to put one up for grabs for you guys too.
This Cuisinart 9 cup Food Processor comes in Blue, Red, Purple and Stainless (your choice!) It is a $270 value and it is awesome!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!!!!
If you would like to win this food processor just please leave me a comment below about telling me about your very favorite pizza topping!
If you would like another chance to win this food processor you can do any of the following for an extra chance! (Just leave a separate comment for EACH the following to win additional chances-up to 4 of them!)
1) Subscribe to HeatherChristo.com so you don’t miss any posts!
2) Follow me on pinterest
3) Follow me on twitter
4) Follow me on facebook
This contest will wrap up on Sunday, May 5th at 9pm PT. It is open to continental US residents only please. Winner will be chosen at random! Please leave your correct email address so that I can get in touch with the winner or check back here on Monday. If the winner does not respond in 48 hours I will choose a new winner. Good Luck!!
*Oh, this is NOT SPONSORED! This is just because I want to.
All of the Lifestyle photography in the book (and in this post) comes from the wonderful Jim Henkens!
Easter Eggs
I just wanted to share a little Easter Egg inspiration for you, since this is probably the weekend that you will be doing this pretty little project.
And if you are like me and my family, you will destroy all of your countertops, white bowls and clothes in a single hour of too much fun.
But it might have been worth it. The real artist in the family seems to be Pia. Coco had some interest, but Pia couldn’t get enough, and spent so much time and energy very carefully dying and decorating these gorgeous eggs.
And I want you to know that I tried a technique that I saw on facebook. Where instead of boiling them, you place a single egg in each cup of a muffin tin and bake the eggs at 350 for 20-25 minutes. (the recommended 35-30 seemed to long.) Then I sprayed them with super cold water to stop the cooking process. This process seemed to make them pretty easy to peel and the yolk did turn out a really pretty bright yellow color (none of the weird gray color that you can get with boiling large batches). So over all I would try this technique again.
As far as Dye, we made three different kinds of Easter eggs.
The pale shades of lavenders here. We did this with food coloring and vinegar and water.
The intense purple. We did these with drug store Easter Egg tablets combined with the original food coloring water combo.
And then I found this really cool vegetable based dye at the grocery store (Met Market in Seattle).
Then I made “paint” out of it and Pia and I had lots of fun turning them into little works of art.
I hope that you have fun dying eggs!
Rescue My Renovation, episode 3!
Ok ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 20th marks my 3rd episode of “Rescue My Renovation” !
Here is a blurry photo of me and the crew. Blurry and sweaty. It was so hot.
While all of the families that we worked with were wonderful, Tim and Kathy Burden really captured my heart. Have you ever met those special people in life that are almost surreal they are so kind and generous and brimming with love of life? Sparkly even? That is the Burdens for you. We never spent a day in that home that Tim wasn’t fixing everyone coffee, (or green tea or decaf, or whatever obscure drink he would remember each crew member preferred) and that Kathy had not made some homemade pasta dish or rustled up some fresh donuts and a fruit salad. They make other people feel special. We were all prepared to move in with them.
And Tim and Kathy are smiling and celebrating every day despite a really rough hand. Kathy had breast cancer and Tim was diagnosed with ALS.
When they retired to their dream home in Toms River, NJ, years ago, they envisioned great times with family and friends and endless fishing (Tim’s favorite!)! They knew that they would have to do some work to their home to make it handicap friendly for the years ahead, (although I don’t see them slowing down yet!)
They hired a contractor who gutted their first floor. He installed a staircase wrong, put in a rough shell of the master bathroom and then took off with their entire life savings. He was never really held accountable and the Burdens were left with nothing.
I know. I can’t even talk about it. I had to repress bawling every time I thought about it.
They didn’t even have floors. The neighbors had to come in and lay plywood down. They had no bathroom downstairs. I could go on and on, but inspired by the Burdens, I will focus on the positive!
John and his crew were able to come in and completely replace the staircase.
BEFORE:
Which gave them more of an entry
AFTER:
(These are antique fishing lures we put in Ikea shadowboxes on the tall wall)
I got to give Kathy a dining room back, and I tried to make it a little bit glamorous.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And then we got to give them a fully handicap accessible master bathroom that was huge and featured a “roll-in” shower, “roll up to” double sink on a single slab of quartz, and like 1 million little glass tiles the color of the Caribbean Sea…
Please tune in to DIY at 9ET Wednesday the 20th to meet the Burdens and see way better pictures (that didn’t come from my I-phone) of the transformation!
Love you Tim and Kathy- hope you are enjoying the projects that I worked on ☺
Heather Christo Book Tour!!!
I hope that you all know how much I love you.
I care so much, that I wrote this book for you.
And now as I get ready to dive into one of the most exciting (and scary!) adventures of my life, (um, the part where you guys actually SEE the book) all I can think about is how I might get to meet some of you on my book tour, and It helps to put my nerves at ease a little bit. A little bit ☺
I am posting below how some of the events on my tour are shaping up, but we are not half done yet!! So if you would like to see me in your city, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know!!!!!! (Oh my gosh- please somebody say they want me to come or I will be really embarrassed!)
I will update this calendar as I make changes or book new cities.
I wanted to make sure that I posted the “book trailer” for you. You can catch a few glimpses of my little munchkins Pia and Coco. (You will be able to tell which child was VERY interested in being a “star” in the “movie”) The crew who filmed this also managed to catch what my friends and family call my signature “cackle.” It’s abnormally loud. I think this trailer catches a tiny sliver of the chaos that is normal in our house, and it shows a couple of my favorite recipes from the book – I hope you enjoy it!
XOXO, Heather
BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE:
APRIL:
April 18th: “GIRLS NIGHT OUT!!” in Seattle, at 1000 Spirits in Downtown Seattle 6pm. Bring your girlfriends and come on down and have cocktails with all my girlfriends and family as we celebrate! Appetizers provided, Books for sale (I will be signing!)
Click here to see details
If you do not have a facebook event- just leave an RSVP in the comments or surprise me night of!
April 24-25: Palm Spring, details to follow
April 26-28: The Great Big Food Blogger Potluck, Temecula, CA
May 16th: Bellevue, WA, UW Bookstore, details to follow
May 18th: Seattle, WA, Stulhbergs, (Queen Anne), 10:30 AM
May 19-27th, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, details to follow
May 28th: Lake Forrest Park, WA, Third Place Books, details to follow
June 5-6th Dallas, TX, details to follow
June 7-8th Austin, TX, details to follow
June 9-12th Chicago, IL, details to follow
June 13-14th, Minneapolis, MN
Now don’t forget!! I have lots more room to add your city- just let me know if you want to see me there!
THANK YOU!!!!! XO, H
Rescue my Renovation.
Did you know that it is national procrastination week. Yesterday I heard that and snorted, thinking “I wish I could just shove everything off for weeks or months, HA!”
Then I sat down to write this post and started laughing, thinking, “oh, I have been meaning to do this for like a year!”
Last February I let you know that I was flying back to New York where I was going to be working on one episode of a new DIY TV show. Then it turned into lots of episodes. And lots of flying back and forth from Seattle to the East coast. For lots of months. Doing Design work. (Did you see that part coming?)
It may seem pretty random to you, and guess what- it seemed kind of random to me too at first. Except that in lots of ways it wasn’t.
I am not a trained designer. (But I do have very strong opinions!)
I am not a trained TV personality. (But I do talk a lot)
What I am: A trained Chef, non-stop home cook and mommy. So I know what a lady wants in a kitchen to accommodate herself and her kids! And I know how to put it all together. At least, I think I do…
Tomorrow night’s episode of “Rescue my Renovation” features a lovely, sweet woman Roxanne Dunn, a single mother (and former Miss New Jersey!!)
I can’t even begin to tell you what we walked in on, and the way this family was having to live.
OK. As if that was not bad enough (and, um, that is REALLY BAD.)
I can’t even begin to tell you what we walked in on, and the way this family was having to live–it was SO BAD.
.For the last SIX years, Roxanne had nothing but a microwave, a hot plate, and a little plastic table to eat off of inside a rotting, molding water-damaged box. They were literally cooking in the equivalent of a camping kitchen set up. Six years. It was CRAZY. Why? Because she got completely scammed and ripped off by a crooked contractor who took all of her money and ran. She hired the guy because her original kitchen had burned to the ground. It was time to rebuild, and she thought she would add an addition while she was at it. That crooked contractor took off just before the poorly constructed roof on the addition CAVED IN!! She, her mother and children were left with nothing but a terrible mess. Again, Six years. It was truly CRAZY
But here comes the great part.
Contractor John DeSilvia and his awesome team gutted the kitchen and fixed the roof and I got to redesign the interior for Roxanne and her family!!!!
Roxanne was super happy which is all that mattered to me at the end of this process.
So please, please tune in! John DeSilvia is the coolest, most natural and talented guy. I was really excited and honored to be working with him and his team. Be patient with me guys. This was freakishly outside my comfort zone and a true challenge for me. But the good news is that I like to push myself to try new things and to channel my energy into projects. And this was project has the most wonderful spirit of generosity and community behind it, and I felt very proud to be a part of helping this family not only get their home back, but a normal life back too.
I am so excited that this episode winds up marking the first of quite a few episodes where I got to do the design work and help make families dreams come true. I hope that you will watch as I make my debut on a real show (EEK!! Can you believe it!!??) with a great cause behind it.
XOXO, Heather
Valentines Day Crafts
Hi guys! Just in case you need some ideas for homemade Valentines Day gifts and crafts, here are some ideas that I made up for my New Day Northwest Valentines Segment from yesterday. You can catch the segment here.
Flower Crayons.
Remember these from last year?
The heart color crayons made from scraps that were the highlight of the class Valentines! Well this year, I made them into the shape of flowers. To make them, just follow the step by step photo directions here.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pops
All my husband really wants is chocolate chip cookies. PLAIN chocolate chip cookies. But it is ok to cute them up a bit for Valentines Day, right? Bake them with lollypop sticks in them and voila! Chocolate Chip Cookie Pops make for a very man friendly bouquet!
Candy Bouquet
I took lollypops on a long plastic sticks and “threaded” DOTS, gummy cherry hearts and cinnamon hearts and then slipped them into striped paper straws for stability and to cover up any stickiness!
Chocolate Kiss Pops
Candy Melts and chocolate molds with a lollipop stick. These are the cutest ever and take 5 minutes to make! You can buy these molds here. They have directions on the package- but basically you just melt the chocolate in the microwave and pour into the molds. Add a lollypop stick and freeze for a couple minutes to set up. Done!
Valentines Day Hats and Magic Wands
Made from Tag board and scraps of wrapping paper, paper straws, doilies and ribbon! Use your imagination!
Paper Treat Cones
I found cardboard cones at the craft store and again, decorated with Tag board and scraps of wrapping paper, doilies and ribbon! Use your imagination!
Then you can hang these and fill them with little sweets or a small gift.
Hope that these maybe lend you some inspiration for your own homemade Valentines!
The Generous Table
The Generous Table: Sharing the Love of Food with Friends and Family.
OMG. It’s actually my birthday today, and I just got the greatest gift ever. EVER.
My book is up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for pre-order. Seriously.
I might have shed a tear when I saw it. I am just so happy!! It blinded me from the fact that I woke up all chubby from Christmas cookies and brie cheese this morning. It soothed my wrinkly winter skin and too dry hands. It made me believe my skinny jeans looked alright even when they didn’t really zip all the way. It is a miraculous beacon of light on the darkest day of the year (by the way of course I was born on the darkest day of the year.)
The “Generous Table” is 208 pages filled with 115 recipes, tons of beautiful pictures and tips, tricks and ideas for sharing the love of delicious food with your friends and family! Oh, it is also a total reflection of family and friends for me, and was a complete labor of love.
Please consider pre-ordering for your girlfriends or your mom or sister for Christmas! (um, makes a nice stocking stuffer?!) It won’t be on your doorstep for a few months, but it will make for a nice treat when it comes!
Again, I wanted to thank you so much for all of your love and support- I wrote this book for you, and I can’t wait for you to see it.
XOXO, Heather
Homemade Edible Gifts
With so many of you thinking about how to supply gift after gift for teachers, co-workers, neighbors and hostess gifts, I have had many requests for ideas for homemade gifts lately, and I though I would compile some fresh (and pretty easy!) ideas here for you. You can find last years ideas HERE).
-HOMEMADE INFUSED OIL:
I simply took a few slices of meyer lemon, dried chili’s, one sprig of fresh rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic and put them in the jar. I added 2 cups of olive oil and then keep it refrigerated. This should only last a couple of weeks (because of the fresh ingredients). Be sure to tell the recipient to keep it refrigerated. (By the way, I L-O-V-E this oil and have been using it for all my cooking and salad’s since I made it.)
I paired it with a really pretty vinegar, merlot salt and a gorgeous pair of salad tongs for a great gift. (I would be STOKED to receive something like this!)
You could add a dishtowel, pepper mill or a salad bowl for a really fabulous present!
This would be beautiful all on it’s own, or with a bottle of great apple cider to go with it.
-BAKING MIX:
This jar is filled with all of the dry ingredients for my Dark Chocolate Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios – but think of the possibilities!! Cookies, Quickbreads, Cake mixes. You could really make an endless supply of homemade “mixes.” Attach a bow and a recipe card and this is a sweet and thoughtful gift.
-CANDIED NUTS
I found this recipe for candied almonds from David Lebovitz, but you could make my spiced candied pecans, or any other candied nuts that you like and fill a jar with them. These are thoughtful and delicious snack all on their own.
Then, of course there are cookies and cookies and cookies!
Such as these Almond Poppy Seed Cookies with Almond Frosting
Or some of the rest of the 60 something cookie recipes I have here. I think I might have a prob.
There are packaging ideas here!
Here are all of my ideas from LAST YEAR for Homemade Gifts!
I HOPE THESE IDEAS HELP!! Please let me know if you have other homemade edible gifts up your sleeve- I would love to hear about them!
Joy! Our Christmas Card.
I realized that while I have the addresses for all of my family and my old friends, that I don’t have yours. And if a Christmas card is a nice way to let those that you care about know that you care about them, then of course I should be sending them to all of you too. So this is how I could do it. JOY. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. I love you guys.
I also love Christmas cards because you get to see how big everyone’s kids are getting. Pia turned (5) in September and Coco turned (3) 10 days ago. OMG. They are really so funny (Coco) and serious (Pia) and creative and clever!! Don’t all moms think that about their little kiddies? Sometimes I try to rock coco like she is a little baby and she is horrified by me. “I’m big!” or “I’m huge!” follows everything she says.
In case you might be curious, In an unprecedented turn of events, I have already managed to send out my Christmas Cards. For the record, this has NEVER happened before. To make matters clear, I am typically so late to this, that I have had to send them out for New Years before.
But this year, on a cold and rarely clear day a few weeks ago, I got a koo-koo idea, and asked the girls who are pretty much always dressed as they are in the photo to bare with me (and the cold) and come outside for a bit…
I unrolled a huge swath of paper and forced my poor children to lay on the paper covered concrete.
I then barked: “DON”T MOVE!!!” and began to fast as a flash paint around them with some tempera paints. Guess what happened next? They both moved. All over the place and got paint in their hair, on their dresses. Pretty much everywhere.
I had wanted Mason to be in the picture too- but he didn’t fit. Even remotely. Plus, he would have been harder to get the paint off of.
Anyways- I thought in case some of you haven’t done your cards yet, that this idea could be helpful? IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!!!!
And then I just emailed it into an online card company. 5 days later I had my cards. Not bad huh!?