Super cute video for Ruschmeyer’s,  a summer camp-styled lodge we need to check out this summer… brought to us by the talented folks at King and Grove.  On the property is a dreamy restaurant that serves up razor clams and other seafood delights paired with “biodynamic, sustainable, and organic wines”.  Up the road is the equally adorable Surf Lodge by the same crew… Love the lanyard keychains. Arts & Crafts anyone?

Opened in 1921 by Helen and Ed Power, the Nut Tree was, according to the press, a “culinary and curio oasis in a desert of endless roadway.”  With furniture commissioned from Charles Eames and artwork by Wayne Thiebaud the restaurant was light years ahead of its Pacific Standard Time – every detail from the furniture the the dishware to the way the food was presented was art-directed by Don Birrell, the Nut Tree’s head designer from 1953 to 1990.  ”We had a master plan for everything, from the design of the billboards to landscape architecture, interior design to the way food was arranged on the plate,” Birrell says. “We wanted to create a certain feeling, make people remember us.”

Credited as a visionary forerunner of California cuisine, the Nut Tree served up “heaping portions of comfort food with the freshest fruits and vegetables… Every meal came with a loaf of freshly baked bread along with the ubiquitous mound of cottage cheese or potato salad.”

The technicolor foodie-land brought in the celebrities in droves – Herbert Hoover scarfing up some turkey tamales shortly after losing the presidential election in 1932, and Humorist Will Rogers dined and Bing Crosby making pit stops on their road trip.  The kitchen staff also catered Queen Elizabeth’s 1983 state luncheon with the Nut Tree staff brewing 50 types of tea in ornate pots so that the Queen could choose her favorite.

By 1990, The Nut Tree finally succumbed to suburban sprawl and competition by every other roadside chain, but you can still check out a the historic eye candy on this Vacaville, Ca. website.

My guilty pleasure…  Must consume at least one dozen every summer… preferably with bacon or jalapeños blended in.  Total cost for Eames-era chic entertaining: $6.49.

Ok, I’m about to start a trend… Fave new drink is the oh-so-chic Martini Blanc (Martini Bianco). Absolutely the ONLY cocktail a girl needs for the summer.  Neat or on the rocks, in a super chilled glass, it’s a sexy blend of dry white wine, an herb infusion (thyme is in there somewhere, I know it), and some sweetness… garnish with thyme sprig or olive (preferably on the branch).  Drank these all over Morocco, always in a magnificent setting.  I’m telling you, they taste like that place feels.

You heard it here first.

Forget chocolate, if you really want to flaunt your gift-giving savior faire it’s all about marzipan. I love the stuff. Whether it’s marzipan fruits or marzipan babies (after the jump) delight your lady with these and she’s sure to be impressed. Then tell her how the malleable almond-based confections date back to medieval times and were presented to the king and queen’s guests after a banquet feast. (Trivia is sexy!)

Normally these are served around the holidays but the little fruits are pretty irresistable year-round.

Run by two families since the early twentieth century, the Piedmont Candy Company still uses the original recipe for its pure sugar candy, producing over 2000 pounds per hour. These people know their peppermint sticks and puffs. The perfect packaging doesn’t hurt either. Get yours for Christmas at your local CVS, Eckerd/Rite-Aid, Walgreens, or Dollar General.

Wow. These are the most perfect cupcakes I have ever seen.

No this is not a Parisian shoe salon. It’s Fauchon, a luxury food shop on Paris’ Place de la Madeleine in the 8e arrondissement.

Founded in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon, the pâtisserie / boulangerie serves up delicacies that are as much a treat for the eye as for the palate. Yes, those are gold bakery walls. And yes, the bread is monogrammed.

Of course.

Also check out the magnificent Éclairs in perfect little rows below. This is pink gastronomic perfection. Their New York outpost closed a few years ago.

Of course.

Visit Fauchon HERE.

I think this is the year my favorite concoction makes its comeback to my cocktail party repertoire…

The Brandy Alexander is for me everything cool about being a grown up. When I was a poor kid growing up in Queens, I’d watch my mom’s super cool hustle-dancing boyfriend order these at the bar of the Hawaiian restaurant we went to while we waited for our flaming PuPu platter and he slipped me coins to toss in their illuminated tiki fountain. He and my mom would share one nutmeg-rimmed glassful and I would think they were the most fabulous sight I’d ever seen.

Now that I’m older and more comfortably situated, a Brandy Alexander is the perfect complement to my fall wardrobe. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather be sipping in my high stack-heeled tassel & kiltie “pumps” (I’ve been dying to use that word!) I suggest you all do the same. So break out your grandma’s classic coupe glasses (no cheesy martini glasses please!) and mix up a pitcher of lusciousness. Some footwear and cocktail coordination is long overdue.

Here’s the recipe:

1 1/2 oz Brandy
1 oz Dark Crème de Cacao
1 oz Half-and-half or Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp grated Nutmeg

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the brandy, crème de cacao, and half-and-half. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the nutmeg. Sip while wearing high-heeled oxfords.

This summer my boyfriend and I took the fam to a favorite summer destination, and (we’re convinced) future “Hipster Hamptons.”

Wildwood – a Jersey Shore gem full of enough mid-century motels to make any design nerd drool. You can get your fashion photographer, vintage freak, and family man alter egos off at the same time – not to mention secretly indulge in the most awesome rides, waterpark slides, skeeball contests, malt vinegar fries, and orangeade the the Garden State has to offer. Go HERE.