Designing Pies and Giving Thanks

Everyone has their own Thanksgiving traditions – one of ours is all about pies. Our grandmother, Dee Dee, was the pie baker of perfect pies. Feather has continued with her recipes and added some of her own – or in the case of the pumpkin chiffon, Charlie Gibson’s recipe – yes, ABC’s Charlie Gibson! From traditional pecan to classic apple and traditional pumpkin pies, the pumpkin chiffon has joined the ranks at our Thanksgiving table.
I told Feather that if she were to sell these pies, she would have to charge $300.00 per pie as the care and attention to detail that she devotes to each is astonishing. These are not production pies! They are masterful pieces of deliciously edible art – they are flakey of crust and delicate, yet rich of flavors and are even requested by the up-coming generation in lieu of birthday cakes! The kids eagerly await their birthdays to request their favorite pie as their birthday pastry of choice!
Some will want a big chunk of cheddar cheese alongside their apple and others will prefer a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. Some want them warmed and others don’t care. With the initial introduction of the pumpkin chiffon, for example, some were dismayed that they might not ever have their traditional pumpkin again – regardless of how fine and fabulous the new version might be – traditions are hard to let go, which brought us to the detail of brown sugared walnuts sprinkled in the circle on top of Dee Dee’s traditional pumpkin pie – a detail that I adore. Feather piped up that she never cared for the nuts on top – I exclaimed with total disbelief – “How could you NOT love those nuts on the top?” To which she simply replied, “I just didn’t.” “So”, she continued, “I guess you’ll be missing those nuts this year.” which now is bothering me no end as I think about how I love those nuts on top of the traditional pumpkin pie.
Yesterday, when one of the men was sent to the store with a last minute grocery list – one question was “What type of whipping cream?” At which point we all turned and looked incredulously in his direction and I asked “What on earth do you mean, what kind of whipping cream?” To his defense came a kinder voice – “well, I see why you asked that.” He replied, “Well yes, there is whipping cream in the carton and the squirt out of a can – and I guess that’s all.” And she quietly said, “Yes well, I prefer the carton, that’s what I meant.” I can just imagine what would have happened had he arrived with a can of squirtable whipped cream – EVEN if it were to say that it is all dairy! And then there was the package of shelled edamame instead of the requested frozen green peas – well anyone can make that mistake.
So go forth this Thanksgiving Day and I hope that you have the flavors and friends, family and festivity that you deserve and desire – for which we are all very thankful. As for me, I guess I’ll be missing those nuts this year – but other things considered, not much to miss with all the other bountiful things for which to give much thanks.

Gather ‘round and Give Thanks – It’s All Relative!

A community table… in a place, like the “stand-in-line for days until your table is announced – but WELL worth the wait,” Pasqual’s in Santa Fe, is a stimulating and spontaneous experience. You elect to be seated at the “Community Table” where, in the center of the space, you are seated with total strangers to commune over your meal. Not unlike speed dating – because you are placed between people that you don’t know and conversing about whatever comes to mind and connects from there…however, not fast like “speed dating’ nor as engaging because you are not searching for a mate…
So, where does this place us in this blog? Tonight, we gathered at a friend’s for dinner. The hors d’ oeuvres were many and they were placed on the kitchen island where people usually gather for a party. But the hostess had different ideas. She had a perfectly comfortable farm table nestled into a banco filled with grand, over-stuffed down pillows WHICH that very day she had taken out back and vacuumed to a fare-thee-well.
With encouragement and the talents of a herding dog to steer us, we migrated to the table, where the hors d’oeuvres were transferred in the middle for central reach, and where began an animated collective of multiple conversations – simultaneous and energizing. The drinks were generous and the hors d’oeuvres were plenty. Complex and purely traditional cheeses and crackers, toasts with blue and walnuts, Shitake spread and veggies for the crunch and relief from the decadent and cheesy – yet elegant – proteins of it all!
As it becomes that cozy time of year…we gather with friends and make good conversation…durable, moisture resistant Crypton fabrics have made these kitchen banco pillows/cushions, in the aforementioned very real scene, easy to maintain over the years. Now, in an incredible variety of types, styles and colors, Crypton can be YOUR new best friend. Please don’t abuse it with oils…all other liquids will race off the surface – wine, water, coffee and tea – all other than oils – and even with oils, ACT FAST – and you will mitigate the problem.
Nearing Thanksgiving –we give thanks –gather round and know that others have it much more stressful than we – and if you are stressed – put it in perspective and KNOW that there are others less fortunate. Happy almost Thanksgiving! Think About It!!!!!!

For the LOVE of Life – Bring the Plants Inside!

It’s here…perhaps a week ago- but soon, if not right now –if you haven’t done so already – it’s time to Bring the Plants Inside!!! There is a fine line between being a slave to your geraniums which seem to rejuvenate and thrive with bountiful clusters of flowers just when the air is the coolest, right before the first frost and the person who can ignore the pending doom. HOW can you possibly let them just die in the cold after such a profuse growth spurt and promise of beautiful blooms to come? That’s the irony of seasonal plants – yet, you can successfully bring them inside to weather out the winter months and return to your patio in the spring!
The problem is – where to put them??? It messes with our Interior Design to impose this wild collection of plants into the interior setting that is so precisely organized. You might even consider bringing an étagère from the patio to the inside of your home for the express purpose of placing/saving these many plants in a consolidated vertical footprint. You might place them on the floor if they are large enough to do so – that means occupying a space probably big enough for a lounge chair!!
But it is a season dilemma –very real and continuously challenging. Then there are those brave souls who make that ultimate decision – to “heck” with them – this year I am vindicated – let the frost take them – I’ll watch them shrivel into little clumps of what looks like cooked spinach!! I’ll just buy more next year! Hmmm, an economical decision – maybe…
Versus those who nurture these babies year after year and watch them change, evolve, and grow who could no more leave them to the sure death in the cruel cold of the seasonal change than stay out there themselves to freeze to death in that quiet way that “they say” that particular type of death overcomes one. No – that would NOT be an option!!
So plan ahead and eek out the space needed to house your precious plants for the cold winter months so as to enjoy releasing them to the warmth of spring on your patios bringing their new growth and joy to your outdoor living spaces!

Get Ready for Thanksgiving You Turkey!

We were in a fabulous candy store in Charleston and the creativity expressed in the confections was hilarious. The holiday season and the art of design – from candy to pies, turkey preparation with gold leafing to Pilgrim Joe’s (Trader Joe’s) Pumpkin Ice Cream, it’s the beginning of the most festive few weeks of the year and the art of designing for the celebrations begins!
Yes, from humor and whimsy to luxurious detail the elements are endless. The craft paper turkeys and pilgrims that come home from school projects and decorate the fronts of refrigerators, dangle from chandeliers over the center of the table and tack onto bulletin boards are the simple basics.
I remember attending a fantastic affair several years ago that featured a gold-leafed turkey as the centerpiece of the table. Get out of town! It was magnificent! Imagine the tedious task of leafing that enormous bird with fine gold foil – it was an art project unto itself. The decadent, edible masterpiece was a show-stopper! Each slice presented with the fine gold strip that carved off with the skin and so delicately detailed the meat.
Then just last week we discovered “Pilgrim Joe’s” pumpkin ice cream at Trader Joes. Although we ate it so quickly that a decorative preparation was not in the picture, I have since envisioned it spread evenly into a flakey piecrust or even a graham cracker crust to create a frozen confection version of a traditional pumpkin pie – top that with walnuts in brown sugar syrup and Voila! A new tradition begins!!
It’s a lot about food and its fabulous presentation – but it also about the table presentation. I saw white china plates in all sizes with fine metal banding for a dollar a piece at Dollar Tree in Tucson. It might be Limoges or paper plates –fine leaded crystal or Styrofoam cups – but the gathering around for a meal to pause and give thanks is a cherished event.
Let’s drape the tables, light the candles broadcast fall leaves, bring out the gilt and silver, gourds and cinnamon sticks – the warm, cozy seasonal signatures and have a little fun too – you turkey!

Change Can Refresh

Sometimes it just takes on thing in a room – probably a primary piece – to make enough of a change to refresh-renew-redirect…It might be a seasonal change, the change of a partner, the change of a job…but whatever the reason, just one thing can make the difference.
Perhaps it’s to celebrate one of those aforementioned changes…a cause to celebrate – change your bedspread!! Yes, that is certainly a primary piece in a room – the bed in a bedroom is clearly, with rare exception, the largest, most focal piece in that room. So, change the spread – you don’t even have to change all of the bed dressings – keep the bed skirt, and even the pillows and select a fabric that goes with the other elements but, is radically different from the previous throw.
Change can refresh. It can reaffirm, and renew. Its best when it is your choice – change that is NOT your idea can jolt…but if the jolt happened first, then walk into that change with deliberation – make something else change that makes you feel good!! So rearrange you furniture, buy a piece of art – find out about the artist, paint your bathroom, do some regular exercise, and bake for a friend. It will feel good!

Sensational Project by Sensational People

I didn’t quite get it when I was asked to participate in a table-top design event for” Sensational Settings” to benefit St. Luke’s Home in Tucson. I thought…”how interesting could it be for people to buy tickets for an event, in the middle of the day, on a Sunday, to see table dressings?” Whoa, was I surprised!!!
The months of planning upon years of prior events – this is their 15th year – results in a perfectly orchestrated, aesthetically beautiful (right down to the auction sheets – double layered with matching raffia bow attachments) of the bountiful, colorful silent auction…spectacular presentation of the raffled dining table settings, exquisite catering delicacies, party cocktail bar and desserts galore!
Upon entering the room, many designers had started their presentations and our first reaction was “uh oh, we’re not vertical!” The table tops scattered around this big room were towering with decorative regalia and we knew we were only presenting a blue glazed Mexican pottery piece in the center of our table.
As the day unfolded, we were quite pleased with our modest, yet colorfully layered tables dressings… magenta floor-length 120” cloth, topped with a French embroidered chartreuse square and that topped with a loose weave multi-colored Brazilian filet lace. Then, were the multi-tones of the green woven fringed rectangles and wavy woven coral placemats. Upon which were placed the antique blue and white Talavera dinner plates. They were topped with hot pink paper cocktail napkins with a botanical pink-on-pink pattern – upon which was a cocktail glass of Mexican hand-blown blue glass in which was a bouquet of mixed alstroemeria lilies in bright pink, golden yellow and deep magenta – the mix was magic! The additional accoutrements were three hand-blown Tequila bottles from Mexico (yes, I save those beautiful hand-blown bottles once empty – as art forms – porque no?) and glass mosaic votive candle jars white and yellow glass, spiral blue glass hand-blown stemmed goblets from Mexico, and the October 2010 issue of Tucson Lifestyle Home and Garden Magazine in which our casita was featured, and the hot pink, carnation pink, and sunflower yellow cotton napkins in the dyed wooden and woven ball napkin holders from the 50s and the stunning blue pottery piece that was the center of our world. It was a celebration of Tequila and Talavera – Ole! Hence, the name of our table, yes, “Tequila and Talavera, Ole”!
What a fun and fabulous event! Creative energy gathering for a sensational organization. Thank you all!! We loved being involved!!

Life Design – with a Focus – with a Purpose!

The freedom of expression and comfort derived from designing a space just for you is a gift. It might not seem that way at first. But it will become a personal interpretation of your definition of home and life that is simply astonishing. If home is your safe zone and the place you go to get renewed and rejuvenated…it deserves the attention to detail that will bring you the most satisfaction. It might also be the place from which you work. I encountered this tonight and was refreshed merely by experiencing the environment and the manner in which it was programmed, furnished and finished.
A very talented woman has re-designed her life. With that major transition has come a refining of her priorities, culling of redundant accumulations, incorporating of things special, important and sentimental, focusing on things of beauty and those that give her pleasure.
Most of us have accumulated more that we will ever need. Some of this is just life. Years of acquisitions, and gifts…bordering on hording, results in that over-accumulation that is life. Only because we might need it someday or someone gave it to us or we just haven’t taken the time to clean house, we become overwhelmed with stuff. Not to mention, the places to which you could donate such extra things are greatly in need and the many people who also would benefit from you discarding duplicate articles of clothing or household accessories are worth the exercise.
Seeing this new lease on life tonight was so refreshing and up-lifting that is was startling. Yes, it was so positive and so forward-moving that was inspirational. This goes beyond interior design. This was life design – with a focus – with a purpose. And the result was wonderful, complete and had room for new layers of carefully selected acquisitions as her future unfolds.
So, step back and take stock. By peeling away layers of stuff you might free yourself of layers of burden. The result might be a refreshed interior design that will translate into a refreshed lifestyle. A place from which to go forward!

It’s All Relative…Yet,Fine is Often Fine for a Reason…

Being cost-conscious and responsible…being thrifty and sensible…being reasonable and realistic, being tight and miserly…in today’s economy one might see these distinctions better than when times were moving and shaking across the economic kidney belt. Now that the belt has tightened, many are making these critical observations about their own decisions and others around them.
Yet, regardless of tough economic times, why spend 1,000 on a small solid surface engineered countertop or granite, for that matter, versus a pre-fabricated top of a suitable material? Consider the use, the focus and the budget…what warrants such expansive gaps in cost difference between two like-kind functional elements. Is the expense directly related to the quality or the availability (sometimes things are expensive merely because they are of limited quantity/availability), or due to exceptional engineering, content and even serviceability?
If form follows function, then it is reasonable to assume that the function of an element comes first and therefore, how that element is used starts the process? However, is the “function” of a piece merely for status, balance or color accent rather than true functional serviceability? Hmmm, sounds boring to have that criteria even listed!!!!
If that aforementioned countertop is to be used daily for many functions, then the decision to use a more stout material might be in order. Could that same surface (small as it is) be fabricated out of a scrap piece of the better material rather than cut from a new slab? But, with limited use, might the lesser durable surface be perfectly suitable for an area with less use?
Get out there!!! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure…great fodder for an up-coming blog!!
So, let be realistic…there are many – too many to count -design decisions that are ruled by trends, peer pressure of a simple lack of knowledge about what’s available- harder/easier to acquire…With that in mind, study the overall concept that you are trying to achieve. How much is functional and how much is merely aesthetic? Then ask, why?
If the area requires certain durable or easy to maintain criteria, then that’s the first order of business…but if the look is perfectly fine with a lesser expensive, not as durable material – make a choice. Like those rooms where they show you “This room costs $50,000 to furnish and this seemingly mirror image room cost $5,000.” Well, compare and see where durability might have been compromised in favor of a suitable aesthetically pleasing design element to coordinate with the scheme. Just think… the selection might have been intentionally made to use a lesser durable, fine representation of a piece, in favor of accomplishing the finished product with style on a lesser budget. Heaven forbid considering that it was an exercise in showing the attractive interior design of two spaces with diametrically opposite priorities for the selection process.
Fine things are often fine for a reason. However, they are not often “necessary.” What one admires is not always what one can have – or needs to have. Being comfortable in your own skin about what is of value and what is not -what is perfectly serviceable and of great value – without benefit of knowing the name brand (saved for another blog- for sure) is a talent that is worth cultivating. One other point here…to defer to name brands is a safety thing. It is like having insurance against an otherwise poor decision. Saved too, for another time, is the concept that taking care of things in a less disposable way creates appreciation, history and an awareness that replacement costs are not always even. Hmmm

Accent Walls – Defining the Structural Design

Accent walls…how passé…yet people still believe that by fragmenting their interior with splashes of color on one wall that they are accomplishing something effective. Sorry my dear that I use you to illustrate this very common concept. But I run into the desire by clients to do so – very often!
Read the space. Read the architecture and the masses. Read the forms and blocks of structure or perceived structure. Those are the elements that define a space. Then once identified, address them. IF they can stand alone, then an accent color might be in order. Like Legoretta with his bisecting planes of hot pink and sunflower yellow – they define the architecture.
However to want to apply an accent color just for the sake of doing so is not necessarily of aesthetic value. Ok, the head wall of a hospital room (more for the visitor than the occupant) can serve to distract from the issues at hand. They might add animation, color enhancement or relief. But in most interior spaces, the opportunities for effective accent walls of color are more restrictive.
So find that wall that is recessed or confined by interior corners, stands alone – perpendicular to the space – and go for it – it defines the architecture. Today we selected a hot spicy cayenne pepper red. It will be confined within two inside corners. It will draw from the fabrics and art of the space. The spicy red/orange color will add punch and pizzazz while staying framed by the adjacent elements.
Voila! A splash of color, confined within the architectural lines reads well, adds desired color emphasis and breaks up the monotony of the space without fragmenting it which would result in a busy background not of value to the overall design. Check-out the space…see what makes sense within the forms of the space and have fun!!!