It’s all About Salad – Part 1 I have been doing it wrongly

Elizabeth — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:11:41 +0000

Gordon Ramsay showed me a better way…..watch him below.

Is your life all about salad at the moment?

If, as I did,you made some sort of vague resolution about losing weight, or eating in a more healthy fashion in 2012, your life is probably all about salad at the moment as well.

So I bought some new salad cookbooks. Misnomer,very little cooking in most of them,salad are more about tossing together.

The best of these I bought for the store. This one above, is wonderful,the chunky cookbook on salads. Chock a block full of interesting recipes and great pictures

And one of the Womens Weekly salad cookbooks. You can’t beat the WW cookbooks for great, basic,delicious,every day recipes. Both of these books are in the store at the moment.

So, I have been eating lots of salads and learning even more. For example….dressing a salad. Typically I would make the dressing and pour it over the greens in the bowl. WRONG!

You don’t have to watch many youtube or celebrity chefs to realise the intention is to COAT the leaves….GLAZE the leaves. I think Gordon does it best. I love his big timber bowl.

We have big bamboo bowls on special at the moment. Were $39.95 NOW 19.99 until they sell out. BACK TO GORDON. The quintessential vinaigrette.

See you in the store.

Colours for 2012 – cont.

Elizabeth — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:08:16 +0000

Scroll down to my previous blog post and you wil see the colour predicted to be HOT for 2012. Very dark.
There is also a link to a wonderful online catalogue from a company called Serena & Lily.

Another inspirational image from them.

My dream bedroom had been very pale and linen-y before I saw this.

The colour on the wall – I mean WOW!- is close to a Dulux colour call MELON BABY, which even I would have hesitated to use……but now I am tempted. Especially with the gloss white.

Think about some bold splash of colour in your home this year.

See you in the store.

Colours for 2012

Elizabeth — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:09:12 +0000

I was talking about our preference for whitewashed and neutral colours in my blog post the other day. We, I mean coastal dwellers. It suits us. Light and bright.

Well, take a deep breath. The hottest colour predicted to make it big in 2011 is very dark. Different paint companies call it different things. Here it is on a wall.

I LOVE it!
Here, quite rightly, it is used on one wall, in a space you just pass through. VS. all walls in a living or bedroom where you spend more time.

In Dulux I would choose a colour called HATSTAND. You would need lots of natural light in the room to make this work well.

BY THE WAY.

The picture above is the cover of an online catalogue from a company in the US called Serena & Lily. CLICK HERE to have a look at the full catalogue. One of the most beautiful I have seen. Their products are WOW! their use of colour, very directional.

See you in the store.

Ebay broke my heart.

Elizabeth — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:34:08 +0000

Well, I don’t blame eBay, so much as some greedy nameless bidders who made me realise I am still an eBay newbie.

But I am learning QUICKLY !

This is it…..

how lovely is this table. I know, wonderful right?

Just the right amount of things done to it, and not done to it. The peeling paint, the stipped back top.

I had the place picked out for it in the store. I could picture the stylish merchandising I could do on top of it.

I placed a bid last week, just to get my hand in the game. Then I set my phone alarm for 15 minutes before the end of bidding last night. My limit…..$450.

At 8.10pm last night, mine was the highest bid at $320, so I thought, maybe I’ll get a bargain here…..bidding would end at 8.15pm.

At 8.13pm I was out bid at $400, so I bid again to my limit. AND THEN IT HAPPENED.

In the last 50 seconds, bidding went from $450 to $950 and I watched while two bidders took that table our of my hands and up to $1,195.

It was amazing and heart breaking all at the same time.

Well…I have a bid on another table. Not nearly as wonderful. But, its probably best to get back on the horse.

I am off to watch a video on Youtube about how to bid on eBay.

See you in the store.

Great Colours in the Window

Elizabeth — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:22:18 +0000

No one is more aware than I the preference we Noosans have for white washed and neutral colours. They are an easy choice.
I taught colour theory to interior design students at TAFE for many years, and even they had trouble using bright colours in their assignments.

Day after day I assist customers buying paint, and long to direct them to the brighter end of the colour spectrum. No more White Watsonia, Antique White USA and Hogs Bristle.

So, yesterday I decided to have the strength of my own convictions when painting the wall of the front window display.

It is hard to go wrong, using some of our beautiful Craft Studio table linens as the inspiration. The jumping off point, a colour scheme called ROCK.

Olga is wearing a Craft Studio apron in the Rock colour scheme. (I think she put on a little weight over Christmas. But then, didn’t we all).
Our Olga has an interesting background. click here. to find out more.

We also have tea towels, oven gloves and double mits to match. If you don’t want to repaint, maybe just some bright tea towels!

See you in the store.

FoodieCrush – an on-line food magazine

Elizabeth — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:46:52 +0000

Are on-line magazines the best invention of the 21st century? Well, in the big scheme of things……probably not, BUT, terrific just the same.

This magazine is quirky. Foodie Crush. The first edition published only two weeks ago. I have not read it from front to back but got stuck on page 44. A wonderful 20 page spread on cookies. AND, some of the tastiest looking cookies I have seen for a while.

If your baking with the kids over the holidays, you might find something new and interesting to bake together.

See you in the store.

Christmas Day – Noosa 2011.

Elizabeth — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:32:54 +0000

The weather is very unpredictable today. There is a low pressure system off Fraser Island. Considering this, there is a surprising amount of blue sky.

Tony left early to look at the surf. The verdict is ‘epic’. So much so, A. there are no car parking spaces B. it would probably be too big if he could park and get his board in the water.

So, back early, by 7am we have had our croissants, coffee, and bucks fizz.

I have read the special Christmas book I bought a few weeks ago. (Just a coffee table book. Not so much reading as looking at the beautiful pictures.)

Now I am on to the on-line magazines. I have posted about Sweet Paul before. On an overcast day this is a wonderful read.

Click on the image to go to the Sweet Paul web page. Make sure you look at the chocolate pages. The photography is breathtaking.

Prawns and oysters on the menu next. I love Christmas!

See you in the store.

Jingle all the Way – how lovley is this !

Elizabeth — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:59:38 +0000

It is two days before Christmas. The weather in Noosa is bliss! The water is clear and the sky is blue. Everything we ‘Noosans’ love. Everything people travel to Noosa for.

Did you go to Lions Park on Gympie Tce. last week to sing Christmas carols? What a terrific crowd this year.

Speaking of Christmas carols. You have certainly heard about videos on YouTube that ‘go viral’.

This one has had nearly 3 million hits. And no wonder.

I could not think of a more wonderful way to wish you all Merry Christmas.

We are closed on Christmas Day. Back open on Boxing Day.

Merry Christmas.

See you in the store.

ABOUT YOU – Micah Sherreff

Elizabeth — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:23:39 +0000

A new member. This is Micah with his best friend.

Micahs favourite place to eat out is Canteen in Noosa Junction.

He is a good cook. Loves cooking a lamb roast. His secret ingredient, he says, is a dash of love.

His favorite song is a hard choice. Mason Jennings or something from Jack Johnson.

Micah loves shopping in the Junction because it is easy, and close to home.

Congratulations Micah.

You win $50 to spend at Simpsons Mitre 10.

See you in the store.

New Display with a Beachy Theme

Elizabeth — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:05:31 +0000

Well, it’s Christmas in Noosa. The beaches are BEAUTIFUL. The water is as clear as I have ever experienced it.

After a life affirming swim in the river last week, I was inspired to develop a display for the shop with a beach theme. Not unusual for my business. We have a shell section and a ‘whitewashed beach decor’ wall, and this is a lovely addition to those.

We are in the middle of our HUGE 12 Days of Christmas Event.

This always adds a level of excitement and joy to each day. This will end on Christmas Eve. But before this, on Friday night 23rd, we will host a VIP only night of shopping with some wonderful bargains on the night. A great night to come in and have a look at this new display.

See you in the store.