Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Jewels....

OK, so check it .. as I was surfing the web.. (as I usually do, looking for all things awesome) I stumbled upon these lovely ladies: Lisel and Diana;



they team up to make one of the most fabulous sites I've seen in a while dedicated to everything delicious and wonderful:

As I looked through their site I fell in love with their recipes and with the over all feeling I got (simply from admiring their recipes and photographs.. as they not just share their recipes but are incredibly successful in creating an environment ... an environment I'd be a part of)

Oh, and did I mention that they were invited to go on the Martha Stewart Show where they showed off their AWESOME Valentine's Day Cookies...

They sell Holiday Cookies through their website (They look amazing BTW .. I'll admit I'm more of a cake person.. but they look so amazing I think I'm going to have to buy some.. )

So of course I contacted them.. and asked them a few questions to share with yawl...

here we go:

First of all.. How was working with Martha? (as in La Marta Stewart) I saw the segment and you guys looked totally chill and cool... I would've been a nervous wreck .... (mostly b/c she looks to be such a 'particular' person (lol))

" It was truly and honor to work with Martha. Of course it was a little intimidating at first because we all know that she is the Queen Bee of the home. A master at cooking, crafting, style...you name it. Her staff on the show was amazing, they made us feel calm and relaxed before we went on. It also helped that we had friends and family cheering us on in the front row. Martha herself was very nice and professional. "

I must ask.. the flavors for the cookies.. lychee? prosecco? you're killin me! I love all that! How did you decide to try those flavors out?

"Initially we were inspired by the classic thumbprint cookie. The natural colors that come from the jam are so beautiful we decided to use that as the focus of the cookie. We then experimented with different flavor combinations until we found something we thought would work well for Valentine's Day. A source of inspiration was Pierre Herme's classic Ispahan combination of raspberry, rose and lychee but we added our own twist with bubbl
y prosecco."

... Moving on

So I am totally curious.. you both come from very different backgrounds (Cali and Puerto Rico-- which i happen to be from
btw) both culturally and also career wise.. how has this influenced your work now with Jewels of NY?

"I think that one of the things that is very cool about living in a place like New York is that you get to meet talented and creative pe
ople from all over the world. The fact that Lisel and I come from different backgrounds helps to bring a wider perspective to our work. The food th at we cook is what most people would consider to be New American, which is to say it is very focused on what is around us locally and seasonally. Basically no matter your ethnicity or where
you come from, you can put together lovely meals with this philosophy in mind."

I love your website.. its very ... lovely...
I was wondering a couple
of things...

how did you become interested in cooking? besides being exposed to food at a young age through family and sharing meal ideas with friends, what gave you the culinary "know-how" to produce such an awesome page (and business)?
"Our interest in cooking has always come naturally and we have taken some technique courses in cooking schools from time to time. Dating cooks has been helpful too!
Since we are visually driven people, this also translates into our cooking. We develop the flavors first, then decide how colors, form and presentation are going to all come together to create a mood. We wanted the recipes to be very simp le and straight forward. Clear communication and easy navigation is key to our site."

how do you decide which recipes will be featured on your website?

"Every week we post a new recipe based on something we are insp ired by. This might be an amazing little shop we discovered that sells that best homemade pasta or it might be a weekend trip with friends apple picking upstate. Overall we try to stay in tune with the seasons and what is going on around us locally."
what is your vision for "the jewels of new york" in the future?
Do you guys plan on selling more things other than the popular jewel heart cookies?

"In the future we plan on launchin
g a home collection and book, we are super excited to be heading in a direction that allows us to combine our passion for cooking and design. We are currently selling our Faberge inspired Easter Cookie Collection in our online shop(March 23-April 6th) and will continue to make special cookies through the holidays."

Check out their most recent Easter Cookie Collection..




I mean seriously.. how adorable are those .. and they look super YUM!

here is one of my favorite recipes from their website:
Chocolate Pots de Crème with Rosemary Whipped cream

awesome... I am going to venture into trying to make those this weekend..


So do you agree with me? Are they not awesome?


PLEASE

check out their website ... you'll probably love it as much as I do

THE JEWELS OF NEW YORK

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