on display

yes, this is in fact the second time in a week i've made reference to melissa gorga's song. awkward. 

well, moving right along, i wanted to share some pictures from last thanksgiving. i was responsible for the decor, and decided that rather than the average flowers and gourds, i wanted to go more literal on the cornucopia idea. i visited the farmers market near my office the day before and picked up lots of kale, carrots, leeks, potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts and whatever else looked good. i corralled them in casserole dishes, vases, and on trays and placed them around the house. at the end of the night, i sent thanksgiving guests home with their own little cornucopia of fresh produce to cook throughout the weekend. i taught ina everything she knows about sending guests home with leftovers, didn't you know? me and ina, we're like two peas in a pod. or two brussel sprouts in a vase in this case.

i was really happy with the way it all came out, and i felt like it was worth the approximate $50 i spent on the produce itself, especially considering that the remains went home with people and continued to be used and used up. for a lot less money, i think you could easily make an abundant display with just a few, really cheap varieties. at the grocery store, you could buy 5 lb bags of potatoes in varying colors and pile them high in bowls placed around. i feel like the more purposeful they look, the less cheap they look. so you might buy two or three different color potatoes and i would display them monochromatically, so maybe on one surface, you'd do all the red skin ones and on the other, the brown or tan ones. you could do the same with the large bags of onions in shades of white, yellow and purple, and that would look gorg as well.

an entertaining state of mind

for some reason, this tableau has me all aglow thinking about entertaining. it's been so long since i've done it in my own home, and one of the things i most look forward to when we (finally) move to a new place (hopefully in the spring) is having a space that's more conducive to that. in the meantime, i'm collecting ideas and looking to forward to thanksgiving, always expertly executed at my parents' house. are you planning for thanksgiving yet? i have to share this totally wonderful interview with ina garten about thanksgiving specifically. she shares so many awesome tips that are great really for any entertaining situation - she just knows her stuff, doesn't she? take a gander. if you don't have the time, here are a few of the best tips she gives:

here's what she says about planning and prep: 

the planning is everything. deciding which dishes you're going to prepare can turn into the make-or-break decision five days later, when you actually serve the meal. so the first thing i'll do is make a list of what i'd like to make. and then i look at it and think, do i really need seven vegetables?[laughs] and i start crossing things off. 

i'll decide upon the appetizers and the dessert; i think about the colors, the flavors, and the textures. if i'm doing string beans, i'll want something pureed with them, because it has a completely different color and texture. and then i'll want something that's sort of chunky or roasted crisp; for instance, the brussels sprouts with lardons are completely different than the celery root — and-apple puree, which is completely different from the string beans and shallots. you want to make sure they all balance each other well. 

the next thing i do is think about how many dishes on that menu have to be made in the moment. and if anything has to be made right before serving dinner, i take it off the list or find a substitute. the third thing i do is a schedule of how i'm going to get the meal on the table. not thanksgiving day, but before i've gone shopping.

i'll do a schedule saying, "i want to serve dinner at six o'clock." i'll work backward. the turkey has to go into the oven and cook for two and a half hours, and it has to rest for half an hour. i'll write, "3:00: put the turkey in. 2:30: turn the oven on." and then i'll figure out: if i only have one oven, what am i going to do about it? can i make a gratin in the oven if i have a turkey in the oven? no, that's out. but i can make the string beans with shallots, because that's on top of the stove. and i can make a celery root — and-apple puree, because that's on top of the stove. so it's really important to figure out what your resources are and what you want to make before you go shopping, to figure out if you can do it.

on leftovers:

oh — i realize i have one other tip, one other thing i love to do for thanksgiving. it makes it a little more difficult, but as long as you're making one of something, you can make two. you can double it. if somebody comes to my house for thanksgiving, they're missing one of the great things about thanksgiving, which is leftovers. [so] i always make twice as much as i need, and then i pack up the leftovers so everybody gets to take some home…i remember at barefoot contessa [ina's former gourmet store in east hampton, ny], on friday we sold as much thanksgiving dinner as we did on thursday, because everybody who had gone to somebody else's house wanted turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce the next day. so i always make sure that everybody has little bags with leftovers to take with them.

a couple other great little nuggets are that kosher turkey is always the best because it's already salted, and also that making the gravy a few weeks before the big day and freezing it saves time, space and a lot of last minute shuffling.

but really, you have to read the whole article, i just thought it was such a gem.

vintage HL: what could be bad?

one of the nicest summer pleasures is a simple, rustic dinner, especially one enjoyed outside and on vacation, as this one was for us. using whatever was around the house that felt summery and outdoorsy (bowls of apples, vases of fresh herbs, bottles of wine), i set a simple table on the deck of our house and we had a wonderful summer meal with music, family and friends. as ina garten would say, "what could be bad?"

taking ina's lead, i made a barbeuce sauce that we used on butterflied chicken breasts on the grill. we also had sausage, potato rolls, corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and mushrooms and prosecco, red wine and beer. using the barefoot contessa barbecue sauce recipe as a guide, i made this sauce which was perfect for about three pounds of chicken the first night, and liberal use on sausage and anything else not nailed down the next day for lunch.

the chicken was marinated in about two thirds of the sauce this recipe yields. you can tweak the amounts as your pantry allows, or your tastes dictate. because we were on an island where groceries are outrageously expensive, i used what we had, which in some cases meant supplementing, skipping or substituting. most of my changes made the sauce thicker, which really worked nicely. next time i make it, i think we'll try it on turkey meatloaf and i'll make a double batch of this sauce to keep some in the fridge.

ocean road barbecue sauce (by way of ina garten)

one and a half cups chopped yellow onion
one tablespoon minced garlic
half cup vegetable oil
half cup tomato paste
half cup ketchup
one cup cider vinegar
half cup honey
half cup worcestershire sauce
one cup dijon mustard (trader joe's dijon mustard is amaaaaaazing)
half cup soy sauce
half cup hoisin sauce
half teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
half teaspoon curry powder
half teaspoon smoked paprika

in a large saucepan on low heat, sauté the onions and garlic with the vegetable oil for ten to fifteen minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. add the rest of the ingredients. simmer uncovered on low heat for thirty minutes. use immediately or store in the fridge.

what could be bad?

originally posted 7/20/09

champagne photo from wikipedia, chicken photo from www.smartmeals.com

taking our sweet time...smell the roses

or tulips, in this case.

so remember a while ago, i had the little dots of green starting to come up through the snow outside my front door?

well they've grown so big and tall now, and they're such a pleasure to walk by each morning and come home to each night. they open up so wide they look like they might drop. and then they do drop.

so it's occurred to me that the best way to really enjoy them is to let them open as wide as looks tenable outside and then snip them to enjoy inside. it only takes a minute and then you have fresh flowers (for free!) inside your home or to give as a lovely token to a hostess or friend. i loved this whole idea last summer too. it's a very barefoot contessa moment.

look around your home and see what looks ripe for cutting, because sooner than later, these early spring blooms go away. we have to get all the enjoyment we can out of them!

these grape hyacinths have bathroom bud vases written all over them!

festival of lights

inspired by all the beautiful holiday decorations i love to see each year, i decided to decorate for channukah this year. i committed to blue, white, silver and purple so that it was clearly channukah, and not a more christmasy look. i was very happy to bring the festive feeling into our home, but i have to say, the greatest glow still comes from the menorahs' light. of course the mirrors and tinsel and ornaments (which i'll call "silver balls" for the purpose of channukah) didn't hurt, since they bounced the light around the room.

so in that spirit, and with channukah being the festival of lights, i looked through my candleholder picture files and wanted to share some i think are really special. you know how i feel about candles, so having beautiful vessels for candlelight year-round is very important to me. i also think looking through pictures of pretty candleholders can be a reminder of things you have had long packed away that could inherit new life used in a more modern way.

but i will insist you make one purchase... you simply must get the candle buttons from crate and barrel - ingenious solution for candles that don't stay put, cleaner than melting the bottoms to make them stick.

first, i have to say that neither mitchell nor i have ever loved a judaica item more than the gary rosenthal menorah we received for our wedding. a menorah can be such a special item, and we are both of the opinion that a home can and should have more than one. in fact, i kind of love the idea of there being one for each member of the family, as well as a group one. i know it's late for this channukah to share menorahs i love, but they do make a great gift, and really, since they're a perennial item, they are fine for buying year round.

from the jewish museum shop:





i also really value candlesticks being part of dinners and holidays, because they form traditions that are not soon forgotten. i grew up lighting candles set in my parents' brass candlesticks, that had come from my mother's childhood home. and every time i see a set of brass candlesticks, i feel the warmth of memory and familiarity.

as wedding gifts, we received both the calvin klein tula candlesticks, and the nambe sabbath candlesticks.

i love them both equally - to make me choose would be like sophie's choice set in bloomingdales, and really, it's not necessary. i love having more than one "special set." i've also, over the years, collected several pairs from antique stores, yard sales and flea markets, and i love using them in different combinations to create different tablescapes and looks, including using odd numbers, varying heights, etc, as i've blogged about before. i love to think about how many tables those candleholders have sat on -how many romantic dinners or festive holiday meals they've shed candlelight on. a sense of history and provenance, even when it's unknown, is a wonderful thing to bring into your home.

from crate and barrel, i love their entry into the nambe space with these stainless arden candleholders.

and i particularly love their sculptural kavali candlesticks. they remind me of the ones ina garten has on her kitchen's mantle from ted muehling, but they're much more affordable.

the loopy loop candlesticks are a fresh, modern take on the silver look which i think are very cool too.

i also really love the whole branch look, especially as wall sconces. my most favorite version is the west elm manzanita tree branch, which they have insanely discontinued for some reason. can you believe? it can either sit on a table or hang on a wall. WHY would they do away with this?

along similar, but not as awesome lines, is the crate and barrel twig wall sconce. if crate was smart, they'd rip off the manzanita and start producing it ASAP. in the meantime, i have half a mind to buy the cb twig set and spray paint them a non-flammable high gloss silver so they look more like the manzanita.

you know what's also really nice about having lots of "special" things like candlesticks in your home? that when you get home late and your husband has made a nice dinner, he also dresses the table with a cacophony of linens (which i sort of liked, actually) and beautiful candlelight.

that's special (no quotation marks).


all non-original photos from linked sites

honey gift files...all booked up

i think books sometimes get a bad rap for being boring gifts, and they can be, especially if you always get books for the same people. but i make the argument that receiving the gift of a book well-suited to you is a real treat. here are some terrific picks for right now, and they run the gamut of genres and styles.

i cried while reading an excerpt of cherries in winter in oprah magazine last month. here is a link to the excerpt. this would be perfect for anyone who loves food and cooking and the role it can play in family dynamics and memory.

other top picks for books for cooks and gourmands include gourmet today, a contemporary compilation of health-conscious recipes edited by ruth reichl which highlight our changing and ever-expanding foodscape. this is a particularly good choice since gourmet magazine was one of the recent casualties in the publishing world's economic upheaval.

i also love love love the concept behind ten, by sheila lukins, described as "all the foods we love and ten recipes for each of them." the book includes ten very different takes on burgers, steaks, ice cream, chocolate, chicken, etc. the concept reminds me of one of ina garten's directives to master three good versions of your favorite recipes for variety and rotation. love this! it parallels what is always said about writing- there are no new stories, only new ways to tell them.


i think park avenue potluck celebrations is also an interesting idea - it's full of entertaining ideas and tips from park ave socialities that anyone can do at home, and is based on the idea that taste is all about how you put things together...be it a tabletop, flowers, handmade invites and other small touches, and the generous spirit behind them. i think we can all agree on that. and as such, the book's purchase benefits memorial sloan kettering.

in a different way, but still about food, i highly recommend the omnivore's dilemma, which i'm in the middle of right now and is about the food we eat and the big business behind it. all i can say about it is HOLY CORN. also from michael pollan, in defense of food, a "razor-sharp analysis of the american diet" gets rave reviews. a twist on the same concept, mark bittman's food matters discusses the relationship between our environment and the food we eat, and includes recipes that are healthy and earth-friendly as a part of the discussion.

i have to note about these books as gifts - i'd be careful in giving them, that you're giving them to someone you know is tuned into their diet and finds these things interesting and non-offensive.

for people who love talking about, thinking about, and of course reading about home design and style, here are some well-reviewed picks. of course, the domino: book of decorating is a worthy purchase for any design lover and is a good fix of the much-loved and missed domino magazine.

other good design choices include the comfortable home: how to invest in your nest and live well for less, by furnishings masters mitchell gold and bob williams and hue by kelly wearstler, this year's most buzzed about interior trendsetter.


lists for life by rory tahari includes checklists and pointers for navigating through some of life's more difficult and overwhelming feats such as buying a house, planning a wedding, preparing for a hospital stay and selling a car. granted, it could be a little morbid-seeming, but again, know who you're buying for and let that guide you. i can think of a few people that would like this book - half amusing, half very seriously useful. also along the lines of useful how-to's, i love the idea of how to carve a turkey: and 99 other skills every man should know, from popular mechanics. "witty yet authoratative" in tone, this is a great choice. again, i don't know that a wife should give this to her husband...he might think you're trying to imply something...

just reading about guardians of being, by eckhart tolle (oprah prophet) put a smile on my face. illustrated by patrick mcdonnell, creator of the mutts comic strip, the book "conveys a profound love of nature, of animals, of humans, of all life-forms [and] reminds us of not only the oneness of all life but also the wonder and joy to be found in the present moment, amid the beauty we sometimes forget to notice all around us." sounds good to me. this is a perfect one for animal lovers.
if you know a reader with a great sense of humor, you simply must get them a copy of david sedaris' book from a few years ago me talk pretty one day. when i tell you i laughed so hard i cried (and continue to every time i revisit it), it's a total understatement of what happens to me when i read this book. it's ridiculous, honestly. if you haven't read it, get yourself a copy too.

do you think you could sum up your life in six words? it's an interesting thing to consider, and this ingenious little book provides six word "nano memoirs" from over 300 people, famous and obscure. not quite what i was planning is clever, and funny at times ("no wife, no kids, no problems"), sad at others ("cursed with cancer, blessed with friends"). a very cool, giftable book for sure, and a compelling concept for discussion and thought.

f.u. penguin: telling cute animals what's what is a hilariously funny, cynical romp through the world of "adorable" pictures and videos always circulating through our emails. check out the link on amazon and read through the book a little to see if you like the style. very specific, and very different from guardians of being (above), but very funny.

on the more literary front, there is commited: a skeptic makes peace with marriage by elizabeth gilbert who brought us the much-loved eat, pray, love. i love that this book is an evolution for her, and builds upon the incredible openness with which she wrote her last book. here is what amazon has to say, among other pieces of praise: "committed attempts to 'turn on all the lights' when it comes to matrimony, frankly examining questions of compatibility, infatuation, fidelity, family tradition, social expectations, divorce risks and humbling responsibilities...and is ultimately a clear-eyed celebration of love with all the complexity and consequence that real love, in the real world, actually entails."

love this idea! now THIS is a good one from husband to wife, and vice versa.

note: 'committed' is a pre-order, since it's not being shipped until january 5th, but for someone who loved gilbert's first book, it would make a nice gift to look forward to!

added note: if you or someone you know has not read eat, pray, love, you ought to.


the help by kathryn stockett is getting rave reviews from everyone i know who has read it, and was included as a "book of the year" by usa today. it's a "nuanced variation on the theme" of the black women working for white families during the civil rights movement in mississippi where they "were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver." stockett's take, and the "new resonance" she brings to the story seems like a page-turning read, and that's what i'm hearing from everyone.

my last recommendation is to browse through the selection of special editions of classic books, beautifully bound and available through waterstones. aren't they just gorgeous? looking at these, i can almost understand the idea of faux-book wallpaper. ALMOST.

do you have any must-read books to share?

all photos from linked sites

a labor day lunch

over the holiday weekend, mitchell's mother and brother were in town and staying with us so we hosted a labor day lunch at our house. it was a good way to get everyone together and served as a nice official end to summer. my goal was to do it economically, but also to make it delicious and special feeling. and oh yeah, relaxed and stress-free too.

against my greener instincts, i gave in to paper goods rather than my standard dishes and glasses. i always resist it because it feels like a waste of materials and money, but also because i have so many sets of dishes from my bridal registry that i feel like, when else will i use them? but for ease and because it was an outdoor afternoon party, i succumbed. and it confirmed for me what i had started to suspect - that used in the right circumstances, when they don't work against the look and feel of the event, they are one hell of a tool. and they actually can contribute to the relaxed feel.

i was very happy with the bare by solo products i got at target - light kraft color plates - a definite indication of their green-ness, but also pretty and natural looking --perfect with the green and yellow color scheme i had decided on. at $2.50 for 15 plates, they were a great deal, considering what decorative paper plates can cost (usually around $3 for 8, often more). i also found small yellow paper plates for appetizers and salad (regrettably not bare) that were $1 for 10 (target bins which i always love for good finds) and used plain white plastic silverware bundled in green napkins and tied with yellow raffia.

now that i've found the bare products which are recyclable/renewable/sustainable, i don't know that i would ever choose other paper products. i would just use the basic plates and cups (very pretty, as you can see) and add color with cocktail napkins and appetizer plates, as i did this time. seems like a good compromise for those times when you need the ease of disposable.

i finished the look with yellow tablecloths, a tan pop-up gazebo for shade, and small white flowerpots filled with sprigs of oregano and parsley and vinca stems grown just for the occasion. okay, if i'm being honest, it was overgrowth from my uncontrolled herb garden. but they were terrific as relaxed and unfussy table decorations. (note to self: be a better gardener next summer.it all started off so nicely...)

i also placed bottles of perrier and carafes of still water on each table. i chose the perrier bottles specifically because their green color further enhanced the look of the tables and drove home the color scheme - a great example of how money spent on one function (beverages with lunch) can also fulfill another (coordinated color scheme). the picture below is pretty bare, as it was before anything else was on the table, but it'll give you an idea of the trailing little green arrangements.

other drink offerings included assorted sodas, sangria and prosecco and were self-serve in clear solo bare cups with bright yellow straws. while the coals were heating up, we snacked on a gloucester and stilton wedge, an emmenthaler swiss wedge, a chianti smoked salami, sliced apples and whole wheat crackers. the definite star was a platter of (kelly's invention) parmesan-stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and baked until crisp and bubbly. her original version actually included toasted pecans too, which i would definitely try next time.

for lunch, we served chicken cutlets slathered in the barbecue sauce i first made on our week on fire island, along with hot italian sausage and hot dogs, a green salad with fresh dill, cucumbers, scallions & bricks of feta and a pesto and pea pasta salad (n.b. i made this with whole wheat pasta and i think it would have been far better with plain old white pasta. also, i skipped the pine nuts, which i shouldn't have. and another n.b. the hot dogs were hebrew national 97% fat free, 40 calories a piece and were fully enjoyed and polished off by all, serious hot dog enthusiasts included).

i liked using the sangria and barbecue sauce recipes which had been created over the summer as a little full-circle touch on the very last day. for dessert, we had old timey italian ices in cups -- chocolate and cherry -- and used the flat wooden scrapers, a lucky score when i thought to ask the guy stocking the freezer section at the store. sure enough, he had just enough for my party laying around. pays to ask!

happy additions to the party were our neighbors with bottles of homemade wine and new baby in tow, the same new baby who was not yet in the world on memorial day when we drank sangria at their summer barbecue. i love when things come full circle like that, especially in the form of a party.

here's to the end of summer and the start of a whole new season sure to bring good things all around.