Peach + Heirloom Tomato Burrata Salad

July 31, 2014

Isn’t summer just the best? Aside from the hot days and balmy nights, the wide range of produce to choose from at the market is unbeatable. Peaches are my absolute favorite so when I picked up a few too many, I needed to get creative with my cooking and use them up. With tons of heirloom tomatoes on hand, I snipped some fresh basil from the garden and got to work. This salad has easily become one of my absolute favorites and it’s beyond simple to throw together for a quick dinnertime gathering. Pair it with a crisp Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc and your guests will be asking for seconds. Cheers!

Ingredients

6-8 heirloom tomatoes (assorted sizes and colors)
6 medium/large ripe yellow peaches
1 cup fresh basil (chopped)
4 oz. burrata
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes and peaches lengthwise into 8 pieces
2. Slice basil into ribbons
3. Using your fingers, separate burrata into small quarter-size pieces
4. Combine peaches, tomatoes and basil. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and gently toss.
5. Place onto plate and add 6-8 pieces of burrata per serving. Finish with fresh cracked pepper and salt.

Yield: 6 servings
Suggested Wine Pairing: Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

#ONEHOPEHoliday / Snippets from last week…

July 28, 2014

Happy, happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start! Last Wednesday we had our “Christmas in July” / ONEHOPE Holiday shoot for ONEHOPE and the days leading up to it were an absolute blur. From planning to flower arranging and driving all over LA to pick up rentals, it was a chaotic week! While I’m glad to have the stress of it behind me, seeing everything come together for just the few hours of shooting sometimes doesn’t feel like enough. Our table scape ended up being so beautiful that I couldn’t bear the thought of tearing it apart for a few days… even if it meant we had some wilted dahlias and crispy ferns as eye sores for Thursday and Friday. If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve already seen a few of these, but I just wanted to pass along some snippets of last week. Can’t wait to share the professional images (hopefully this week) as well as some of the inspiration behind the day 🙂

Cheers!

Better Than Green Beer

March 17, 2014

As much as I pride myself on being a beer girl, I am just NOT a green beer girl. It seems so processed and food color-y to me. Anyone else feel that way?! We received a request at work from Inspired By This to craft a St. Patrick’s Day drink alternative to green beer and I jumped on it. I envisioned the adult version of a Shamrock Shake (who doesn’t like Shamrock Shakes?!) and decided to tweak a classic Sgroppino recipe to make it as green, delicious and fabulous as possible. Check out the recipe here, as well as some outtakes from my shoot below:

ONEHOPE Pistachio Gelato Sparkling Cocktail
Prep: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients
1 (750ml) bottle of ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
1 ounce vodka (optional)
3 large scoops pistachio gelato
1 cup crushed ice

Directions
1) In a mixer, combine all ingredients and 1/4 bottle of Sparkling Wine.
2) Blend until frothy and serve in your favorite glassware. Cheers!

Apple Pie Sgroppino

January 10, 2014

I’ll tell you what’s not on your list of New Year’s Diet approved drinks: this. This is not on your diet. However, the Apple Pie Sgroppino Cocktail that I put together for work is so good, that I had to pass along the recipe… in case you’re planning a cheat day. And cheat days happen over the weekend… so you’re welcome 😉 If you’re a fan of apple pie, or of sweets in general, this is your girl. It’s an apple pie whipped up into a frothy liquid delight of epic proportions. You will love it, I promise!

PS: This just got featured on Style Me Pretty Living!!! I’m so honored and thrilled to be published on their blog again! Check out the feature here.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup chilled vodka

1 pint caramel apple gelato

1/2 bottle ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine

1 cup ice

Ground Cinnamon (for garnish)

1 thinly sliced apple (for garnish)

4 ground honey graham cracker crumbs (for rimmer)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.
Rim chilled martini glasses with graham cracker crumbs.
Pour mixture into glasses and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon

ONEHOPE Holiday Party

January 8, 2014

Helloooo! Are you staying warm out there?! I can not believe the news coming out of the midwest and east coast! I’m slightly jealous that I’m not there to witness the biggest snow storm in DECADES (my inner 10 year old self would do anything for a snow day), but I’m also thrilled at the fact that I’m not there to experience the super cold temperatures. I think the lowest I’ve experienced is a wind chill of 18 below and I never want to face that again. I feel you, ‘Merica! Stay warm!

I REALLY wanted to share all of our ONEHOPE Holiday (#ONEHOPEHoliday) images before Christmas for anyone searching for last minute inspiration, but as I detailed previously, that just couldn’t happen this year. Since half of the country is facing winter to the max, I thought I’d still share this little winter wonderland transformed office conference room in case you’re planning a snowy get-together. The second half of the images are of the DIY we did that day where we gold-leafed our own glassware. It was really fun and the results were so unique and gorgeous… definitely something creative and different to do with your girlfriends if you ever feel like having a ladies night in 🙂 I apologize in advance for there being tons of pictures, but I just could not narrow them down further. We had an absolutely amazing photographer, Jen Wiley who crushed it for us. I usually shoot most of our content, but knew that we needed a professional for a project of this magnitude and Jen was SO nice, so receptive, so creative… I could not have asked for anyone better. She captured the day perfectly and didn’t miss a SINGLE detail. If you’re on the market for a wonderful photographer, hire her. Now 🙂

PS: If you’re new to Design Wine Dine and are interested in the background story of why I planned this little holiday get-together, check out my reasoning and inspiration board for the party and decor here. Also, I had this crazy vision in my mind that included a pallet wall, but we didn’t have one at our office… so I made one. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to get it done that I didn’t document a lot of the process, but will break it down step by step and put it up here soon. Stay tuned!

DIY Information

Supplies

Flutes or Champagne Coups – We used these and these to give our guests a little variety.
Gold leaf, adhesive and sealant (available at craft stores)
Paint brushes

Directions

Using a paint brush, apply adhesive to the glass. Get creative with shapes and stripes!
Wait a few minutes until the glue gets tacky (2-5 minutes). We had the best luck when the glue was almost dry.
Place your gold leaf on the glass and press down to smooth out any bubbles or inconsistencies. Allow your gold leaf to set for 15-20 minutes.
Carefully remove excess gold leaf from around the glued areas.
Once all excess gold leaf is removed, brush your sealant on over the gold leaf. This will allow you to drink out of and handle the glasses. Since your glasses are hand crafted with love, please hand wash them with care

Wine: Hope at Home
Coffee: ONEHOPE Coffee
Linens: La Tavola
Gold rimmed glasses and ghost chairs: Classic Party Rentals
Deer Head: ZGallerie
Frames: West Elm
Event/Floral Design and Production: Me!
Calligraphy: Beth Phillips at ONEHOPE
Photography: JWiley Photography

Holiday Table Inspiration

December 29, 2013

___

Happy, Happy Holidays!!! I hope everyone is having some much deserved down time and rest while gearing up for 2014! I think it’s going to be a big one and I’m actually super excited to see what the new year holds 🙂 So, without getting too distracted, I REALLY wanted to get this published before Christmas, but if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen what a ridiculously chaotic yet successful December we had over at ONEHOPE Wine. We more than quadrupled our sales over last year and we had an all-hands-on-deck situation for most of December. Instead of dabbling in anything creative, I was with the majority of our team in our warehouse packing boxes, sourcing product that we’d run out of (eeeek!) and helping to load hundreds upon hundreds of boxes onto multiple UPS trucks daily. The experience of seeing our company grow like that and watching all of our hard work finally pay off was nothing short of incredible and I wouldn’t change being there, smack dab in the center of it for anything in the world 🙂

In early December, I posted a few sneak peeks from our ONEHOPE Holiday party (#ONEHOPEHoliday) at work. Since the wine industry is absolute madness in December every year, in 2012 we didn’t plan anything fun during the holidays. It was the first year that I really felt that the holidays just slipped through my fingertips and it bummed me out beyond belief. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again this year and planned an afternoon for the girls on our team to spend some time together outside of the work madness to decompress and do something fun. We played Christmas music, did a little wine tasting and gold leafed glasses to give away as gifts… It was just what we needed. Since we were going to have a photographer there to capture it as a DIY, I wanted to make sure that we gave our conference room a little TLC and turned it into a winter wonderland. I am SO HAPPY with how it turned out and can not wait to share the images our amazing photographer captured. In the meantime, take a look at my inspiration board for the project 🙂

PS: I know Christmas is over, but I truly believe that so many Christmasy pieces can be carried into New Years Eve/Day parties. So, recycle that garland, grab some gold confetti and wintery fur and enjoy your seasonal decor for a few more days! If you’re not diggin’ it, keep this in your back pocket for next year 😉

xoxo

Meg

Pear Salad

December 2, 2013

Following a weekend traditionally made up of non-stop eating, I figured we could all use a salad 😉 Exhibit A:

Believe it or not, until a few months ago I “hated” pears. I’d tried them as a little girl, decided they were “gross” and then never tried them again for probably 15+ years. I can not believe what I’ve been missing!!! When searching around for cocktail ideas for work, I kept coming across pear recipes and decided to overcome my ridiculous fear of pears and surprise, surprise… I completely fell in love with them! You guys, I’m SO happy about this… I think they might be my new favorite fruit and I crave them constantly. When I had a few left over from shooting this, I decided to put them to work in a new salad and figured it would be a nice change of pace from my go-to greens. I found this recipe for a Honey Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (yes, it’s even better than it sounds) and knew that the flavors would pair insanely well with pear.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

5 oz. Mixed Greens (I used spring mix + arugula)
3 oz. Goat Cheese
1 Pear
1/2 cup Glazed Walnut Pieces (I used Fresh Gourmet brand – available in the salad or crouton aisle)

Ingredients for Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients for dressing until thoroughly mixed. I like to put everything in a mason jar and shake it up to get an even consistency. This also makes it easy to save leftovers 🙂

2. Combine spring mix, walnuts and goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing and mix. Top with sliced pear and serve with a crisp chardonnay. This and this are both great options for Chard 🙂

Cheers!

My Work on Style Me Pretty Living

November 29, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!!! Following a grueling drive from LA to SF on Wednesday, Jake and I were so happy to have arrived in one piece in time for a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. It has truly been a tremendous year that has flown by, but aside from feeling a little ~~huge~~ over-indulged at the moment, my heart is full knowing that those around us (as well as ourselves) are healthy, happy and on their way to big things. On the business side, I could not be more grateful to Style Me Pretty Living for featuring a cocktail I created for work this fall. It was one of my favorites that we did and is something light and refreshing to enjoy this weekend… a little change of pace following the holiday yet it’s still bursting with fall flavor and won’t disappoint 🙂 If someone told me 6 years ago as an International Relations major in Michigan itching for some ounce of creativity in my life, that I would be designing, styling and photographing fun spreads for a living, I never would have believed them. Seeing this feature was definitely a pinch me moment of gratitude. Here’s to a wonderful weekend filled with thanks and reflection. Cheers!

Pear and Sparkling Cider Cocktail

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total: 10
Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 cups chilled pear nectar
2 cups apple cider
2 cups ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
4 ounces bourbon whiskey (I used Knob Creek)
1 pear, unpeeled and cored cut into thin slices lengthwise
2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup cinnamon mixed for rimming

Directions

Rim champagne coups with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Combine pear nectar, apple cider, Sparkling wine and whiskey in a pitcher and serve immediately.
Garnish with sliced pear.

*Recipe adapted from here.

Pumpkin Weekend

November 1, 2013

After so much recent travel, Jake and I managed to fly past one another all October long and spent the month apart. I’m looking forward to having a cozy weekend at home together to catch up, visit our favorite restaurants and enjoy fall. I’ll be doing some baking as well and I’m really looking forward to trying out some pumpkin based recipes including these waffles and these yummy donut holes. Can’t wait to see how they turn out! Hope you have a wonderful weekend 🙂

image via

Wine Wednesday (HalloWINE Style)

October 30, 2013

When one of our co-founders at work suggested that we put an adult spin on Halloween and pair our wines with classic trick-or-treat candy, I was game. She conducted a tasting and figured out which flavors would work the best with one another before passing it over to me to style and shoot. The office was FULL of goodies yesterday so we all did our own little tastings and they were AMAZING… Some of the pairings were really different and unique so I didn’t expect to like them all as much as I did, but I guess you really can’t go wrong with candy and wine! It was tough to pick a favorite. Thought I would pass these along for a little Halloween inspiration in case any of you wanted to give it a whirl on your own! And I know it might be tempting, but try not to eat all your kids’ Halloween candy 😉 Cheers!

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