The Food Crafting 101 class at The Institute of Domestic Technology, began with bread making. Erik Knutzen of Root Simple, started off by sharing his thoughts on various flours and yeast, followed by a hands on demonstration for making our own Twenty-One-Hour Boule. Now, I know that sounds like an enormous amount of time to make bread, but it's only about 10 minutes worth of work, the remaining time is resting & rising the dough.

A few days ago, on a whim, I decided to treat myself to a day of culinary adventure at The Institute of Domestic Technology. I'd been wanting to emerse myself in one of their classes, since the first time I read about them in the LA Times.

The Man tops off his Raisin Bran with granola nearly every morning. Sometimes he switches things up and has Frosted Mini Wheats, but there is always granola. He's a creature of habit.

One of his other daily eats are nuts. Roasted and salted almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts, cashews...you get the idea. He doesn't discriminate, and will power through an entire bag in no time. So when I was on location in Texas, the homeowner (Thanks, Susie!) shared a granola that was jam packed with nuts, and I knew I had to make it for him as soon as I returned home.

One of my favorite things about my job, is seeking out those hidden gems. People, places, or products that are unique, well made, and somewhat original. In this months Country Living Magazine, one of my picks, Janna Lufkin of Raw Materials Design, was featured in our Making a Country Living column.

I'm so excited to begin sharing my design process for Grove House. We've spent the better part of the last few months working on the layout and design of the home, and all those little details that will make it our own. One of those details, high on my list, was a Dutch door.

When I was shopping the flea markets in Paris, I came across a vendor selling antique ephemera and bought some beautiful old French receipts from him. Although I framed a few, I was always wondering what else I could do with them. Finally, an idea struck me...they would be great to wrap French baguettes as take away party favors!