Tyler Florence Store - Mill Valley, CA

This past February, my sister was visiting from Florida and we spent a day in Napa Valley visiting Food Network Chef Restaurants!  One of her favorite Food Network chefs is Tyler Florence so we visited his store and learned he had just opened a new kitchen store in Mill Valley.  Unfortunately, we never made it there during her visit - but I made it there last weekend and the next time she is in town, I am definitely taking her for a visit!

One of my favorite aspects of shopping is looking at the way the merchandise is displayed, having a love for all that is creative and beautiful.  This store is visual eye candy for anyone who loves vintage things and gourmet food items - perfect marriage of both!

Vintage display pieces are everywhere!  Imagine my surprise when I saw this display of Brown Butter Cookies from my parent's hometown, Cayucos!  Sitting atop a vintage wine barrel and in the many cubbies were boxes of these one-of-kind cookie, topped with sea salt,  made in the little beach town in central California.  These cookies attracted a national spotlight when Marla Bautista, a reporter for That Morning Show on the E! Channel, visited and did a spotlight feature on the company.  Then the New York Times ran a blurb about the cookies which had the company filling orders around the country!

This display of butter yellow enamelware stood out nicely on the vintage ladder.  

Ladders are great for display. They are so versatile I have seen them used to hang towels in bathrooms, as a shoe rack in a closet, and even suspended from a ceiling 

with hooks added to the rungs to use as a pot rack!  

Since they fold up they are easy to store when you don't need them!

These traditional shelves were stocked with jar after jar of gourmet jams 

and jellies!  They looked like jewels all lined up with the various colors beckoning for all to take a closer look.

These hand poured paraffin and beeswax candles fit perfectly in this vintage pull cart. I love the way they clipped little signs onto the displays with a simple clothespin!

This display of patisserie themed dishes, napkins, paper plates, etc., welcomed all inside the front door.  I wanted those napkins down in the basket so badly for a cupcake party I am hosting later this summer, but the $9.95 price tag for 16 napkins was just a bit too pricey for me.  The glass cloches and pedestal plates were just gorgeous and I loved the Marie Antoinette inspired "Let them eat cake!" theme of this display!

These gorgeous wreaths were hand made from vintage cookbook pages.

My friend, Diedre, makes these wreaths and sells them at local craft fairs. But these wreaths had hefty price tags! I am sure to find enough vintage cookbooks to get enough pages to make one of these add to the cost - the small wreath in the top picture, about 10" in diameter was priced at $195. and the large wreath, about 22" in diameter was even more!  Now compare them to Diedre's -

This is the wreath I bought from Diedre for $28.00!  It is about 24" in diameter, is heart shaped and has a cute little tag on it that says "Je t'aime" - a much better deal!  Diedre says she has made them from cookbook pages before and vintage pages would add to the cost of making them but not that much!!

This was a dream table!  All those little pewter salt cellars, spreading knives, crystal cordial glasses - entertaining specialty items that no one really needs but are so much fun to entertain with and so much fun to look at!!  

Beautiful, indulgent items all displayed on a simple rustic farm table.

These all cotton oven mitts are displayed in a vintage wire laundry cart on wheels.

The strawberry theme of this display took me back to my college days, when my roommate coined one of my nicknames 'strawberry' due to my red hair and freckles!  

So this farm girl made it to Mill Valley to gawk at all the vintage farm stuff Tyler Florence displays his wares in - it was a treat!  The beauty of a well lit store with its creatively displayed merchandise relaxes me as I take everything in.  So if you are ever in Mill Valley, stop in and check it out.  You may even run into Tyler Florence 

as he is often there for book signings and special events.  

I signed up to get the stores email news - I'll use any excuse to have to go back!

Spring Break Cupcakes!

It's that time of year again - Spring Break!  A time all college kids cherish!  After the long winter months holed up in the campus library studying, college students make plans to unwind and relax - and most head for sunshine somewhere!  My youngest son, Alex,  is studying Architectural Engineering and spent many long hours in labs this past quarter.  His spring break destination - Hawaii!  Alex was all set to visit his brother, Sam, my second son, who is living in Kaneohe, Oahu.  While Sam was at work, Alex made arrangements to take classes to become a certified scuba diver. Needless to say, Alex sounded elated when he called to say he was on his way home.   I wanted to surprise him with a Bon Voyage treat and decided on cupcakes! After watching back to back episodes of "Cupcakes Wars" on the Food Network I was inspired!    The packaging on this mix caught my eye as it just shouted 'tropical' and the flavor - pineapple with pina-colada frosting - was perfect for a send-off to Hawaii.    But how was I going to decorate these to really create the "Aloha spirit"?!  I had some finely shredded coconut so I decided to toast it to a golden brown.  I had some blue rock candy I had picked up at "Urban Outfitters" on clearance - it reminded me of the crystal blue waters.  I remembered I had found some miniature palm tree picks on clearance somewhere. I think they were supposed to be used like those little umbrellas that you put in exotic drinks, but why not use them for cupcakes?  

My vision started to come together - but I needed cupcake liners.  I searched my stash and nothing I had on hand even came close to looking tropical.  What to do?  I decided to make my own cupcake liners out of brown lunch sacks to resemble raffia hula skirts.  I started by tracing around one of the cupcake liners I had for size, adding about a half inch to the diameter to be sure I had enough extra to make the fringe. I cut out my pattern and then traced and cut out twelve circles. (The mix made twelve cupcakes)  Next, I folded circles in half three times to make a wedge, just like when you make paper snowflakes at Christmas.  Little cuts in the arched side of the wedge created the fringe and then I folded the tip of the wedge inward about 3/4 of an inch.  I unfolded the whole thing and voila!  I had my grass skirt cupcakes liners.  I placed the brown fringed liners in each of the tin cups of the cupcake pan and then put a plain liner inside. I wasn't sure if the cupcake batter would stick to the brown lunch sack paper so I thought it would be best to add a regular liner inside the homemade one! 
  I filled the liners with batter and put them in the oven.  The batter cooked up beautifully and filled out the liners.  Next, I whipped up the frosting mix, included in the bag, with the suggested cream cheese, and frosted the cooled cupcakes. I sprinkled some toasted coconut on one half of each cupcake and some of the blue rock candy on the other half.
 
  One palm tree pick placed in each cupcake was the finishing touch!  I grouped the dozen cupcakes on a green pedestal plate and left it on the counter in the kitchen.  Alex has a five hour drive from San Luis Obispo to Sacramento so he was ready for a treat when he got home!
   While enjoying the delicious cupcakes, we chatted about the past quarter and the adventure Alex was about to embark on. No matter how old your kids are, they always love a special treat.Each time one of my three sons walks in my door is a moment I cherish.  Alex arrived in Oahu the next day and was a certified scuba diver two days later! 
 
I'm pretty sure it was a Spring Break he will always cherish!

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