Recipes

September 12, 2022, posted by Michelle – We’re sharing the recipes we’ll have for our upcoming September Floral Design Workshop. Did you know that our workshops are full of flowers AND food? We usually serve delicious refreshments and over the years people have requested the recipes. You’ll find all of the recipes we’ve made for the Workshops and other events here on our recipe page. Note: In the sidebar on the right side of the page, all of the recipes are listed by category. If you’re viewing this page on your phone, the categorized recipe list will appear at the bottom of the page.

August 18, 2022, posted by Michelle – We’re sharing the recipes we’ll have for our upcoming August Floral Design Workshop. Did you know that our workshops are full of flowers AND food! We usually serve delicious refreshments and over the years people have requested the recipes. You’ll find all of the recipes we’ve made for the Workshops and other events here on our recipe page. Note: In the sidebar on the right side of the page, all of the recipes are listed by category. If you’re viewing this page on your phone, the categorized recipe list will appear at the bottom of the page.

October 15, 2020, posted by Gina – We had the pleasure of hosting two Floral Design Workshops on October 13, 2020.  The theme was Pumpkins, Petals & Prosecco. In this workshop we incorporated small white pumpkins into pastel Fall arrangements.  We enjoyed refreshments before and during the workshop and want to share the recipes from our evening’s festivities with you.  Enjoy!

September 2, 2020, posted by Gina – Labor Day marks the end of summer and back to school. While many of our days are still warm, our thoughts are transitioning to crisp evenings and bright, sunny autumn days.  Over the years, autumn has become my favorite season.  I love to peruse comfort food recipes, smell the scents of fall and turn my thoughts to holiday entertaining.  Entertaining this year may present some interesting challenges, but I am more than ready to take them on!

I made this pasta salad for my family every time we were at the beach.  It became a mainstay and one that could not be omitted or else I’d find myself in trouble with the family.  It is very simple but somehow seems a like nice treat after a few hours on the beach.  The shell pasta seems right at home while at the beach. 

The following three recipes are perfect for a backyard cookout. Pork chops are sometimes overlooked as a meat for grilling, but they grill fast and taste wonderful cooked on the grill.

A perfect recipe for a brunch or cocktail party: Salmon-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

June 6, 2019, posted by Gina – We served these wonderful Salmon-Cucumber tea sandwiches, along with a few other small bites, at our last floral design workshop. The recipe for these came from the My Recipes site. They are elegant and light and the fresh dill really makes them super delicious. Add these easy-to-make tea sandwiches to your next brunch or cocktail party menu. We also served the best chocolate chip cookies at the workshop and posted that recipe last week. You can check it out HERE.

My love for decorating and entertaining includes making delicious dishes. I pour over cookbooks (and have for years!) searching and testing out all kinds of recipes. Whether it’s a new recipe for a small luncheon or a full Thanksgiving Day menu for a large family, I put a lot of time and effort into creating the perfect menu. For me, attention to detail is so important and my creative juices start flowing from that focus. I’m passionate about all aspects of entertaining, from creating a beautiful tablescape complete with floral arrangements to whipping up a delicious meal!

If you like discovering new recipes and learning about floral design and home décor, hit the subscribe button in the sidebar to the right. Every time we post a new recipe or an article about general décor, it will be sent directly to your email inbox. Also, check out the list (further down in the sidebar) of all the recipes we’ve posted on the website. It’s divided into categories so you can quickly search for a specific type of recipe. Be sure also to head over to our Flower page which showcases our floral arrangements. You will also find our Floral Design Workshop schedule on the Workshops/Tutorials page.

Thank you so much for visiting our website and we hope to see you in our shop soon!

Finally, a chocolate chip cookie so good it’s the cream of the crop!

May 28, 2019, posted by Gina – Working in the shop keeps me very busy and for that, I am truly grateful! I love it but I was also happy to have a bit of spare time on my hands this Memorial Day. So, I took the opportunity to share this great chocolate chip cookie recipe with you. 

Over the years I have tried a million chocolate chip cookie recipes that claim to be the BEST.  I must say I have liked them all and, believe me, not a crumb was wasted. However, I did not find one I felt was “the best”.  Then a few years ago I found a recipe somewhere online and if you are like me, you approach these with caution.  Most of them are good but occasionally you come across one that is not written correctly or the result just isn’t so grea.  For some reason, I decided to try this chocolate chip cookie recipe and I was so happy; I felt I had finally found a true winner.  I think the reason why this recipe is different than others is because of the pudding mix. These are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and for me, this is a perfect combination.  These fall into the “best” category or the “Cream of the Crop”, as I have coined them.

This recipe makes 72 cookies!  That’s a lot of cookies.  I love this because you can enjoy a few as soon as you bake them and you can freeze some too.  

I wish I could remember where I found this recipe.  I hand wrote the recipe which is odd as I usually just print it out.  While I can’t take credit for it, I am happy to share it with you.  It is a straightforward recipe and I made them as directed.  I added the part about the #40 food scoop.  If you don’t have one of these, I encourage you to get one.  It is great for so many things and for this recipe it allows you to uniformly bake the cookies.  

Please give me a shout if you try these and let me know where you rate them.  Or at least enjoy every bite!  Until next time.

April 11, 2019, posted by Gina – Our blog posts have been few and far between lately but we finally had a moment to share something with you.  I hosted my Cookbook Club this week at my home and we enjoyed a delicious meal. We have been cooking out of The Silver Palate Cookbook which was originally published in the 70’s.  We have links to various recipes at the end of this post if you are interested in trying any of these dishes yourself. We hope this inspires you to host your own Spring gathering!

Taking full advantage of the beautiful Spring weather, we started off with crudités and champagne in my garden.

Baked ham was the main dish and it was very good. A Dijon mustard – brown sugar mixture was spread on it for baking. It is served with wine and apricot sauce on the side. I also offered coarse ground mustard and a chutney.

All the side dishes were delicious; we had Oil Roasted Summer Vegetables, Orange & Onion Salad and Leek Tart. The vegetables were roasted with olive oil and salt. That’s all! Simple but super flavorful and it makes such a pretty dish. The Orange and Onion Salad was very refreshing and paired wonderfully with our ham. The Leek Tart was similar to a quiche but with a more silky interior. Delicious! 

And what better way to end this meal than with a Carrot Cake…

With Easter around the corner, I was inspired to work with bright colors and Easter decor that complimented the Easter themed menu.

We hope you were inspired by the flavors of this meal and the Spring colors of the table setting, the flowers and the decorations! Below are links to some of the recipes…

Glazed Baked Ham

Leek Tart

Oil Roasted Summer Vegetables

Carrot Cake

December 16, 2018, posted by Michelle – It’s been a long while since we posted a recipe. In fact, the last recipe we posted was of the Butterscotch Brownies that were served at our Grand Opening! This time we have a hearty wintertime dish to share with you: Venison Bourguignon. On a recent farmers market trip here in Lyon, Le Monsieur and I came across some nice looking cubed venison that the butcher was selling. I asked for a recipe, not having ever cooked venison before, and this is the one I was given. I have asked this particular butcher many times how to cook this or that and I have never been disappointed. Each time I’ve done exactly as he has instructed and each time it comes out great. This delicious dish was no exception. Lesson: always listen to a French butcher! It was very rich and tender and even better the next day. Much better the next day, I would say. I served it with creamy rosemary-garlic mashed potatoes. As for the amount of salt and pepper to use, I always wing it. So use both sparingly and then add more to taste at the end of cooking. I also used a mixture of button and porcini mushrooms. Bon Appétit!