At Home with Lulu Powers

This week I teamed up with One Kings Lane to talk about the wallpaper I covet in my home, as well as my bar and accessories. As you can tell I'm obsessed with color, fabrics, and unique finds. I can find a gem in any thrift shoppe or swap meet, but my favorite place is my local Goodwill. I love partnering with One Kings Lane because I get to showcase my love of home decor and design. Being an Entertainologist is so much more then just food. Designing a space in a particular way creates ambiance and sets the tone for any soiree.  Take a look at some excerpts from my feature below, and make sure to swing by my Bar Sale.  

Entering the home of entertaining guru and celebrity chef Lulu Powers is like stepping into a world where creativity reigns supreme. “It’s a happy house,” says the Connecticut native of the 1927 West Hollywood bungalow she shares with her photographer husband, Stephen Danelian. With a growing entertaining empire and a new moniker, The Entertainologist, Powers has a free-spirited and fun-loving approach to food and hosting that beautifully translates into her decorating choices, with bold colors and daring wallpapers around every corner. It’s the offhanded ease with which Powers pulls everything together, though, that really sets her home apart. “There is no rhyme or reason to how I do things, even in my cooking,” she says. “If I think it will look or taste good I just add it.”

LIVING ROOM

Having lived in her house for almost 20 years, Powers has become a master at reinventing her interiors, which may explain her fearlessness when it comes to color. “I just picked a color from our living room rug, and I happen to love blue,” she says of Benjamin Moore’s Bainbridge Blue, the vibrant hue she chose for the walls. An oversize mirror from her husband’s bachelor days anchors Powers’s collection of black-and-white photography, which she’s been amassing since she was 16. “If I like it, I get it,” she says simply of her collecting strategy. After a friend cast them off, Powers re-covered the pair of chairs in her living room using orange velvet curtain panels she found at Ikea and stained the legs a dark brown to up the elegance. “The possibilities are so endless if you think outside the box,” she says.

Filling an unused corner of the living room with stacks of books creates an eye-catching display that’s easy to move when it comes time to mix up the furniture arrangement.

As a genius birthday present for her “backgammon fanatic” husband, Powers completely refurbished an old game table she found in a neighbor’s garage. One flip of the backgammon board and the surface becomes a fully functioning desk.

An antique bust, sporting a hat and glasses owned by Powers’s late father, adds a bit of gravitas and is a killer conversation starter on her ready-to-serve bar. An oversize tray and mix-and-match glassware transform an otherwise ordinary console table into entertaining central.

“When I see glasses that are not your norm I can’t help myself. I have to get them. My parents always had an array of cocktail glasses on their bar, and I realize now it was so chic!” —Lulu Powers

ENTRYWAY

To add impact to the house’s diminutive entryway, Powers papered the walls in Cole & Son’s Lilac Dove wallpaper, which she discovered at Walnut Wallpaper, her go-to source for all the wallpaper in her home. “I love that place,” says Powers. “The owner, Norinne DeGal, is amazing. I could spend hours in there just looking.” Keeping with her eclectic style, Powers tempered the glitz of the wallpaper’s silver sheen with a rustic vintage console and antique rug.

For a more in-depth look into the rest of my home. Check out OneKingsLane.com

Alfresco Dinner a la Lulu

A lovely alfresco dinner with a roaring fire, lights over the table on a dimmer from Target.  A checked table runner was used on the sides with the wood showing down the middle with simple gerber daisies in ball jars. Also I used a ball jar for the water on the table that had place cards attached. A brown tag with chalkboard paint. The lemons we got from the clients lemon trees as well as the rosemary placed on top of the napkin.

We put a big board out filled with cheeses, meats , olives, chickpeas, mustards, cornichons, baked proscuitto.  I think adding herbs (note the rosemary around the grapes) it just takes it up a notch.  I love honey and doused some of the St. Angel cheese which is crazy delicious that I got at whole foods.

The Olives we put in a small sauce pan and covered them with olive oil , lemon and clementine strips and some hot chile fakes.  Brought to a boil and turned off.  Let cool and poured the olives into a bowl with a little of the oil, the chili flakes , and lemon & clementine rind with a sprig of rosemary.  The rest of the olive oil we set out with some grilled bread and people used it to dip there bread in.

I love fried sage sprinkled with salt.  I could eat it like potato chips and that is what I did here on the corner of the board.  In the blue bowl is baked chick peas which are delicious to eat like some nuts.  Drain and rinse off the chickpeas.  Dry on paper towel.  Put on a cookie sheet with a little olive oil cumin, salt and pepper at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Shake after 7 minutes.  Everyones oven is different so cook them until you think they are crispy enough.

The different meats, I had them slice at whole food.  Very thin.  The tomato crostini were grilled bread with buratta,roasted tomatoes (which I roasted baby tomatoes for 25 minutes at 350 degrees with a little olive oil salt and pepper.  Took out and let cool.) sprinkled with torn basil and sprinkled with malt on salt flakes, balsamic demi glaze.

This was a rose party where they tried all different kind of Rose’s.  The host wanted to put out a little tequila bar for those who may have not wanted Rose.  Which I thought was fun and all the guests seemed to sip tequila and enjoy trying all the different roses.

Set Sip Serve and Angeleno Magazine Feature

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I had the pleasure of being featured on setsipserve.com alongside Mary Alice Haney, the personality behind the new high end, luxury clothing line, Haney.

"On this night for Mary Alice, Lulu Powers, The Entertainologist, created a beautiful dinner party with a chic colorful table. Lulu has designed the most fun, creative party tents/canopies that she set up in Mary Alice’s backyard where we all gathered to enjoy Lulu’s “Sneeky”. From there, we all got to sit at the dining room table that was filled with eclectic small vases holding colorful flowers. Lulu is a genius when setting a table. Her flair for originality comes out in the details such as the gold objects on each of our plates."

Lulu's Tarragon and Mint Frozen Lemonade with Vodka

INGREDIENTS:

1 Can or 12 oz Frozen Lemonade 1 1/2 Cans vodka (use the can as your measuring cup) 1/2 can chopped cucumber 1/2 can pulled tarragon 1/2 can pulled mint 1 can club soda

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Put the lemonade,vodka,cucumber,tarragon,mint and ice into a blender and blend well.

Step 2: Pour the contents into a pitcher, add the club soda and stir

Step 3: Pour over a glass filled with ice, and add a fun straw, a slice of clementine,cucmber or whatever fruit you have on hand. Enjoy!!

*Recipe Courtesy of Lulu Powers

*Photo by Stefanie Keenan

Lulus Spinach Kale Bites with Sweet Potato Aioli Adorned with Armenian Labne

INGREDIENTS

For Kale Bites: 1 medium chopped onion 2 cloves minced garlic 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. salted butter 6 ounce fresh baby spinach (5 oz. of frozen) 2 cups packed fresh kale 2 scallions thinly sliced 1 egg 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for coating ( I toast Udi’s bread then put in food processor and pulse for gluten free) 3⁄4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Salt and pepper to taste Dash of Cholula (my fav hot sauce) more if you want Olive oil cooking spray

For Sweet Potato Tapenade: 3 Sweet potatoes baked and peeled 3/4 cup almonds 2 cloves garlic 3/4 cup parmesan 1 lemon juiced and zested 1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Optional: 1 stp or more of Cholula

For Armenian Labne: 1/2 cup lane or sour cream 1 tsp pomegranate molasses 1/2 tsp Za'tar

INSTRUCTIONS

For Kale Bites: Step 1: Preheat Oven to 375 Degrees F

Step 2: In a frying pan, heat and melt butter with olive oil. Add onion and garlic. Saute until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and kale and cook until they wilt, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Step 3: Place cooked contents into a food processor along with scallions and pulse for several seconds. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl.

Step 4: Add one egg, ⅔ cup breadcrumbs, and Parmesan cheese. Mix with a spoon until well combined. Add salt and black pepper to taste and a dash of Cholula.

Step 5: In a small bowl or flat dish, put some bread crumbs. Take a teaspoon full of the spinach and kale mixture into your hand. Make small ball with your hands. You can use mini ice cream scoop too. It’s up to you to decide what size you would like to make them.

Step 6: Gently roll ball into panko bread crumbs to coat evenly.

Step 7: Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the spinach and kale bites onto baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm

For Sweet Potato Tapenade: Step 1: Put everything in the Cuisinart but the sweet potatoes.

Step 2: Pulse till chunky, then add peeled sweet potatoes. Pulse to your likeness.

Notes: Bake sweet potatoes and pull skin off when hot, it’s easier. Add the sweet potatoes when they are warm. It seems to mix better this way and enhance all the flavors.

For Armenian Labne: Step 1: Mix all together

To Serve: Put a dollop of the sweet potato aioli on your spinach kale bite and finish with the armenian labne. Please substitute if you do not have the Za’tar and maybe add finely chopped scallions or chives.

*Photo by Stefanie Keenan

Check out the spread in Angeleno magazine below featuring Kale Salad with Mint Pistachio Pesto

Pesto: 2 cups Mint 1 cups pistachio Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Pulse the pesto ingredients in a good processor.

Salad: One head of kale, washed, dried, and julianned.

Toss kale with one tsp. olive oil, one tsp. lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add pesto and toss.

Stevie's Salad Dressing: 1 cup olive oil 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar 2 tsp. Dijon mustard 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 lemon juiced 1 tsp. Tabasco 5 cloves garlic, pressed

Pull out a glass jar, add ingredients, and shake, shake, shake!