The True Art of Farm to Table

Now so over-used as if this culinary trend which actually started 30 plus years ago just landed at our dinner tables, farm to table descriptions of valid attempts by independent restaurants to bring fresh local produce and food systems to their clientele are still growing in number. Yet while creative chefs enjoy utilizing the freshest ingredients, often grow their herbs at their cafes and support local growers as they can, it must be the next best thing but can’t beat the sensible tenets of back-on-the-farm’s honest approach to planting and harvesting for your own table .

I read Meredith Ford making the point “that we must vigilantly support eating locally and seasonally whenever possible. We must support food systems that do not deplete the environment, as Big Ag currently does. We must support the fair treatment of small farms and farmers, and we must support the humane treatment of animals in farming environments. When something as sensible as these tenets – embraced by our grandparents as a way of life – have to be outlined as a cause, something has gone astray in our food system.

To that end, the catch phrases are tossed about like the tender field greens that were just picked minutes ago for your salad. Exaggerations of the truth regarding how “local” locally grown really is and over-used fashionable references to slow food models sell well in today’s market. The nostalgic, guilt-ridden and health-conscious will bite. The consumer must sift through the fine flour of it all, make smart decisions and support and enjoy local whenever possible.

But last night was the real deal. With the warm glow of the farmhouse kitchen in western New York state illuminated from the within where happy conversation was exchanged as our hosts prepared the final stages of our dinner, I couldn’t help but whip out my phone and photo the ingredients I discovered in the kitchen and immediately go out to explore the land where most of those oh so fresh ingredients were harvested just minutes before.

Talk about farm to table – we were living it as our dear friends do every day in their picturesque rural setting surrounded this year by large green walls of corn, their bountiful victory garden and abundant orchards. Hard work, diligence, study, practice, attention to detail, appreciation for the good and bad in nature, all contribute to the successful harvest of each lovingly planted seasonal seedling or many years’ nurtured tree.

The light of the setting sun washed a warm bath of a golden aura over the brilliant green of the corn stalks and other garden delights. I caught still scenes of farm equipment in primary colors – so perfectly yet unconsciously placed ready to do the work of the day. I shot clusters of flowers that banked the side of the house. I walked through the tall grass and stepped on fallen sunflowers, tip-toes through the ruts and rows to capture shots of magnificent golden cauliflower nestled in the center of enormous smoky green leaves, green cabbage with heads the size of basket balls, plump aubergine eggplants peeking from their bushy foliage and pale purple flowers, dark green clusters of broccoli florets and left-over picked sprouts going to yellow flower, beets bulging from the earth with their stands of gorgeous green and red leaves, tomatoes of all shapes and sizes punctuating the greenery with blasts of red and then there was the orchard…

Picture-perfect Americana agriculture on the charming scale that paintings romance – the ladder standing ready for access into the taller reaches of the trees – the perfect picker’s perch. I had to climb up and pick a perfect apple and bite into its crispness with wet juice running down my chin. Now THAT’S an apple! Several varieties of both apples and pears were heavy on the limbs. Bushels of fruit ready to be harvested. Grape clusters that begged to be picked. The freshest of fresh!

Farm to table within feet, it was wonderful. Back inside it was all coming together, we enjoyed home-made wine that was crisp, cool and dry, plump baked chicken and savory sausage by local butchers, fresh mashed potatoes, roasted orange cauliflower and broccoli, freshly sliced tomatoes with basil and arugula and finished with a freshly baked peach pie.

It was an astonishingly intimate experience with good friends and good food. Which makes me realize that if only a pot of basil on your doorstep to make a pesto or garnish a tomato, or plant a row of lettuce in your flower garden we can all benefit from the satisfaction of growing your own on any scale. Do it yourself (DIY) farm to table one step at a time.

Posted On September 1, 2013 By pattisays In beauty behold it, design, design trends, DIY design, environment, environmental, exterior - outdoor design, food and interior design, landscape design, seasonal interior design, table dressings / 6 Comments

WARM and SPICY Chases Away the COLD – Color matters!

Whether winter where you are is freezing, cool, warm or even hot – the art of color and flavor will brighten you winter scene with table dressings full of color and spicy warm flavors.
Specifically to escape the cold, color can be a key. While most of us react to red as a color of warm temperature, and blue as one of cool perceptions, color can also be rooted in very personal life experiences and certainly even cultural influences. To create an environment that incorporates color to change the perceived temperature, what might you think to do? In this case, bright, bold colors add vibrancy to what might be considered a more dormant time of year. We dined at this table last week. The colors and the spicy flavors instantly created a scene of warm, exotic indulgences.
Soft lighting, warm colors, inviting materials all contribute to comforting sensations when one is trying to escape from the violating effects of the cold. The colors can be somber, earthen and muted tones of red, rusts, burnt oranges, browns, smoky olive greens, yellows, gold and ochre…but add bright splashes and the scene comes alive!
On this trip, as we head south and gravitate to the tropical climes of Mexico, these bright, bold colors are warmed further with the soft lighting, and punctuated with spicy salsas that further infuse the experience with a warm feeling of utter contentment.

Warm and spicy colors and flavors at El Arrayan in Puerto Vallarta!

Try adding bold accents to you table dressing – the tropical accents are not limited to summer, here I found a Bobby Flay recipe that is easy and very warm and spicy.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/skirt-steak-tacos-with-roasted-tomato-salsa-recipe/index.html?ic1=obinsite

Coming soon to PATRICIAN DESIGN – Watch for our new oilcloth table cloths to bring more exotic and fun fabric to your dining scene!

Posted On February 6, 2013 By pattisays In color and temperature re: interior design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design / 4 Comments

ARTFUL DESIGN MARKETS MANY LOCAL PRODUCTS WITH PRIDE

Like little bonnets, the colorful cotton tops that adorn these guava berry preserves make a festive West Indian statement here in the tropical paradise of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. At the same time every year, this round face woman with a beaming smile sets up her roadside table outside her house at the curve in the road on a busy street with a brilliant assortment of homemade jams, jellies, spicy sauces and wine. This island way is an art-form that is slowly fading away. Back in the day, as we are getting sadly so used to saying, many households prepared delightful and delicious treats of the season. Selling them was either a practical practice or one that paired the practical (selling) with a pride of accomplishment, and a decorative presentation celebrating the product, season or region in general. In this instance, these lovely canned sweet and hot treats make happy statements for gifts and just to present with pride and artful design that which she has taken the time to make. This display features an emphasis on bright reds and greens in the fabric patterns suggesting Christmas – but are not limited to that theme in subject matter. Therefore as gifts, they have a wider reach into the year.

As we look toward our upcoming visit to Puerto Vallarta, I see so many possibilities for similar homemade product marketing. Yes the practical food vendors make fresh, warm tortillas and burritos, tamales and posole at home and bring their car trunks full of Tupperware containers to sell to the vendors and laborers for breakfast and lunch each day. This is the aromatic and delicious craft of home-cooking without the adornment – the practical side.

As I ponder the prospects and the value of the happy decorative marketing opportunities, I would love to see a similar celebration of Mexican sauces, jams and treats packaged in canning jars or bottles topped with colorful cotton remnants tied with raffia and presented at produce markets, art festivals, at a roadside table in front of the very kitchen from which they came or along the side streets and even the Malacon. As with anything, to cultivate a following takes time and consistency. Safe food products must gain a reputation for their quality and excellence.

I see the hundreds of Hot Sauces that are bottled here in the Virgin Islands, almost every state in the U.S. and all over the world competing for the best spicy heat and flavor. Chile cook-offs and Spicy Food Festivals abound with a growing following, interest and participation. Visitors love to tasteregional treats. People love to select gifts that are local. Locals love to support their community. There are so many reasons to take the time to create such local treasures.

At the Estudio Café in Nuevo Vallarta (322-297-0820) each Saturday morning, fresh mini-loaves of nutty banana bread are sold by an enterprising young girl in front of the cafe at the art fair along the marina.

I hope to encourage the many talented home-makers in Puerto Vallarta and elsewhere who love to prepare their regional and family traditional treats to venture forth and make their special salsa, can it nicely in a jar, top it with a little fabric remnant (cut with the zig-zaggy pinking shears if possible) and tie with a strand of straw and introduce your special regional flavorful talents and traditions to your friends and visitors!

Posted On December 8, 2012 By pattisays In art as gift ideas, DIY design, food and interior design / 7 Comments

Organic Table-scape With Bling

Organic table-scape with Orrefors bling!

Bring the outdoors in and the indoors out – mix it up, for the sheer pleasure of it!

So, the plan was to have a near-last-blast of summer patio dinner party…but the forecast was dim. In the high desert to have 30% chance of rain might mean that it comes and goes without a trace. But then again, it can produce a deluge and soak everything like “hope somebody called Noah.”

In an effort to thwart the storm, I planned an alternate indoor table setting, just in case. Usually that – like washing your car and the rain comes – will produce the opposite outcome. So by having the alternate plan I felt confident that the patio party would be saved. But, alas…

The theme was Mexican. I had planned a shrimp cerviche appetizer (fresh corn, serranos, onions, avocado, lime, tomatoes, cilantro…), followed by a shredded beef taco – baked and marinated in a richly savory coffee-chipotle-cinnamon-garlic-tequila reduction, freshly made (that very morning from a local mercado) lovely, light corn tortillas – accompanied by an array of salsas: garden fresh pico de gallo (vine-ripened tomatoes and equally freshly picked peppers), luscious guacamole, tart tomatillo, sour cream with traditional Hatch, New Mexico roasted green chile, and tropical twist mango salsa. The plan was festive, the weather was suspect.

In anticipation of moving the fiesta indoors, I needed a table-scape that fit the scene. The scene needed to be a combination of the theme and the setting. The patio had been the better setting for the brightly colored combination of linens and accoutrements that I planned – but inside was a more formal venue and required a bit of restraint – but no less fun!

Therefore, the so loved beach table-scapes that we have enjoyed creating in Mexico came to mind. But we were NOT at the beach so a modification was in order. I went to the local stone yard and hand-picked river rock to scatter down the center of the table. Mixing that with gravel from our side-yard gave the sense of a randomly stone-strewn arroyo. The focal point was a large, verdant green pottery “lotus bowl” by local artist Penne Roberts into which I placed a clear glass Revere-like cache-pot and two succulent aloe plants. Now, the rocks work for a desert-scape, but, the aloe is decidedly tropical and not native to our high desert – but the combination was richly organic and had that hint of south-of-the-border that was needed to carry-off the Mexican feel. The bling came with placing the Orrefors “lightstones” among the river rocks. The combination was fabulous. The solid, heavy, clear, smooth shapes of the tea-light ” lightstones” perfectly complimented the primitive, raw rubble of stone scattered down the center of the table.

We love to bring the indoors outside and the outside in – melding the two – creating ever-expanding living spaces and experiences.
For more information regarding artist Penne Roberts pottery – large lotus bowl centerpiece

http://www.patriciandesign.com/retail/art_piece.php?product_ID=190&match=penne&pageNum=2

Posted On September 11, 2012 By pattisays In DIY design, food and interior design, table dressings / 12 Comments

Design a Brunch – Alfresco Dining

Brunch to me used to mean “blow the day.” I have always viewed brunches as over-eating buffets that require the balance of the day to recover. However, I am renewed with a fresh approach to brunch to start the day, gather with friends and celebrate, in this season, the pleasure of dining outside.

Fresh lavender and mint – both out of the garden. In the winter we long for the days when we can go outside and enjoy the warm weather and gather growing things to eat and adorn our tables. I love fresh mint – refreshing to chew – I like parsley too – everyone teases me when I eat everything right down to the garnishes! Dining outside is another one of those examples of expanding your living space in the summer months. Even if you have a tiny balcony – setting up a table with your morning coffee or a glass of juice is so relaxing and feels like a mini escape. Even if you don’t have a balcony – moving a small table to a space beside a window that you can open will provide a sense of that connection to outside that we miss for so many chilly months that force us to be encapsulated indoors.

In this photo you can see the lavender in full bloom in the background. The mint grows invasively along the side of our house. The luminous blue glasses, indigo placemats, large chartreuse chargers used as the individual serving plates punctuated with hot pink napkins dressed-up in silver napkins rings speak of all the colors blooming in the surrounding gardens. Local NM Gruet bubbly with fresh squeezed orange juice in these lovely little vintage cut glass stems, fresh seasonal berries, slivered almonds, fresh quail eggs raised by a friend…hard-boiled little delicacies laced with a light curry-cream sauce, plump sizzling brats just grilled, fresh asparagus roasted crisply, English peas, ripe tomatoes topped with a fried egg…a lovely way to start the day.

Posted On July 7, 2012 By pattisays In DIY design, exterior - outdoor design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design, table dressings / 3 Comments

Successful Design is Attributed to the Entire Experience – Rancher’s Club, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Seasonal trends…seasonal cocktails, seasonal venues…I am a big proponent of seasonal things…I like context – have you heard that from me in the past? So in keeping with that embrace…I like dining indoors in a cozy setting in the wintertime and in the freshest of outdoors in the warmer scenes.

Tonight we visited a local favorite that for some reason does not stay on our radar – and for that reason, tonight was a special treat, a welcome change which made us feel as though we had traveled outside our norm to experience such a wonderful dining experience.

I almost ordered a Manhattan – exclusively a wintertime beverage for me, warm, rich in color and flavor…but opted instead for a Hendricks’s martini – extra dry with a twist, as we began our evening in the lounge of The Ranchers’ Club in Albuquerque. It has a most cozy interior, where the low-lit lounge offers several groupings of over-stuffed leather sofas and chairs with cow hide accents, zoned into seating areas around a live piano with vocal accompaniment and a handsome bar area. The classic ranch décor punctuated with taxidermy paired with Victorian touches, crisp table linens and full china presentation is quite welcoming. It is a manly, yet refined old fashioned dining venue that appeals to the most discriminating of etiquette practitioners.

The rooms are nicely lit – dim, warm golden glow, ample for reading the menu which is printed with a generous font size, but soft and sexy, intimate and comfortable. And the menu has offerings of domestic game such as bison and fresh catches as tonight’s special, striped sea bass with a curry cream drizzle. Other shellfish and fresh fish filets are offered as well as slow-cooked oso bucco and hearty stews.

When the entrees are presented beneath gleaming silver domes, the stage is set to anticipate the dishes that have been suggested all evening with the wonderful aromas wafting through the dining rooms since we first were escorted to our seats. The unveiling done in unison is a “ta da!”

The service is attentive yet not over-powering. The wine list has a wide range. The deserts are delightful as we experienced in the chocolate pyramid. And the dessert wines were well chosen.

The success of the design is attributed to the entire experience. An attractive dining interior without the proper service, quality of food and smart presentation is flat. A successful interior design has to have life. It has to breathe all of the elements that make the space function as intended.

Cheers to all who make a date a Rancher’s! Patti’s pick!

Posted On February 20, 2012 By pattisays In food and interior design, seasonal interior design, table dressings /

Wall Treatment of Scribbles and Scrawls Speaks Volumes of Almost Accidental Design

Scribbles and prose as graphic backdrop

Habana – Cuba that is…reconstructed elsewhere in the bars of Bogedita del Medio and the resulting fantastic feel that is created by the once unconscious lexis of ultimately decorative elements that are the walls of words and markings. Graffiti you say? Yes, after a manner. It is an atmosphere of festivity – an interior that speaks of layers of revelers enjoying the music and mojitos. Yet it all blends into a graphic design that is exceptionally unique and interesting.

Salsa – dancing and flavors. The complexity that is found in the movements and ingredients -pairing the dance and the food – both are spicy – and the scene is warm and energized. These walls of markings, names and poems, tributes and proclamations are a backdrop of expressions from layers over years.

When else might this work? I’m fascinated by the effectiveness of this design treatment – a celebration of reactions, emotions and personalities all marked for everyone to see. Bold or meek, artful or mere blocks the styles speak with the words.

Perhaps the free-form walls of a child’s playroom – if isolated to these wall and not the whole house…it affords a huge blackboard – chalkless board for freedom of expression. For adults perhaps a party room might invite this kind of signature expression – layers of good times recorded on the walls – texture and design in an all-over pattern of script, lettering, lines and figures.

I like it a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed the scene and wanted to share the possibilities for this unusually free-form treatment in your interior design.

Posted On January 23, 2012 By pattisays In art and interior design, context of interior design, design, design trends, DIY design, food and interior design, multi-media design / 1 Comment

Caribbean Rum, Words, and Relaxation

Cruzan island rum with limes and mango – cheers!

As the white dots of cyber snow float across my wordpress screen, I realize that it’s telling me that its winter. Unlike real snow however, it does not accumulate lest it make it impossible to write the text necessary to post this blog. So rather, it dissipates as it cycles – nice. But it does conjure up cold and that’s when I long for the warmth of southern climes.
What says vacation…relaxation – some might say iced tea and a hammock -sounds awfully nice. As a foodie and partier I like the booze and food of the local environment to accompany my activities. The context of it all – like “when in Rome”…it’s blue agave tequila in Mexico and it’s sugar cane RUM in the islands and in this case, the US Virgin Islands. Rum punch or, for me, just rum and water – with a squeeze of lime if available…it’s much of the history of the Caribbean. Here our very own St. Croix “Cruzan” rum – along with that lime and a couple of ripe juicy mangoes on the side – just for good measure- and it certainly makes a gorgeously colorful photo op!
And BTW, that’s CARIB-BEEEEEAN – stressing the EEEEEEE! Yes, the Carib (Care-ib) Indians…have you read about them? Try Mitchner – a lengthy beach read. It was not a British affectation to start the Carib (accent on the rib)ean falling off the end. Actually, even in the BVI, back in the day, everyone clearly said Carib-beeean with that lovely accent.
No, at some point, it was decided by some to make the change. In the case of the Caribbean, was it Carnival Cruise Line and/or some marketing upstart behind some “new” pronunciation campaign to design the “new” image of the islands? Hmmm…thought it sounded British?! ”You say tomato and I say tomatto” as the song goes!
When you listen to Bob – Marley, that is – need I say? He sang and his recordings still sing today “In the heart of the Caribbeeeeean. ” He sang it loudly and clearly with his magnificent, melodic and authentic Jamaican accent – old pirates! Weren’t they listening?
So you go to the sun…feel the balmy breeze – “Christmas wind” – greet you as you climb into a cab at the airport and the question that has been puzzling you for some time in advance of this trip comes out…and you ask the driver “Down here do you say Ca-RIB -ean or do you say Caribbeeean”? To which he answers “We say West Indies.” Ha – what a great answer – to keep above the fray!
Perhaps you’ll put on some music and relax with your mind adrift – just design your holiday getaway around what is fun for you. Cheers!

Posted On December 14, 2011 By pattisays In context of interior design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design, travel and design /

Fine Art and Fun Art at the New Mexico State Fair

Graphic inflated animation at the NM State Fair

Take your own fun art shots at the Fair!

Its Fair time and it’s a sensory extravaganza! See the sights, the colors and lights! The sounds of kids screaming with squeals of delight! From corn dogs to turkey drums and pizza galore it’s a feeding frenzy for all ages – check your diet at the door!
It’s really so exciting and with the weather cooperating – it’s a must! A combination of New Mexico’s finest, mixed with funky products and crazy food stuffs! The colors and products presented by the vendors create a tapestry of form and fun. There are fine art exhibits and walls of balloon cartoon characters for sale, Rastafarian bananas and white tigers to win. Signs, lights, graphics, music, barkers, animals, vegetables, minerals and more – the festivities are magical. The slogan tells us, “It’s like all the holidays rolled into one!”
The season’s end of summer’s bounty brings feelings of home and hearth as the air takes a turn toward the fall. Harvest time, Indian summer, its flowers and sky, pumpkins and cider. Cinnamon from the German nut roaster wafts through the air. International shows like the incredible flying Chinese acrobats and our own macho cowboys of the rodeo all present fine skill and athletic prowess – defying gravity and displaying artful dance. Big cats and little dogs the lions pace and perform and the dogs dash and leap for joy. It’s a wild time in the old town tonight and for the next few…you have through the 25th!
So get out there and eat a turkey leg and bite off some cotton candy, swig a brew and pop fists full of kettle corn then take some photos and blow them up! Wall art – here’s my example. Dora meets Sponge Bob and Spider man creating an animated, inflated collage – this colorful pattern of camp cartoon design! Suitable for framing!

Posted On September 18, 2011 By pattisays In design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design /

Epazote Restaurant – Santa Fe – Fine Cuisine & Fine ART!

Art and art…food and paintings…a very nice pairing. Tuesday night, at Las Companas in Santa Fe, the Country Club held one of a series of guest chef’s events – this time featuring celebrity chef Fernando Olea from his sensationally intimate Santa Fe restaurant Epazote. If you have not been there, you are missing an extraordinary culinary treat!
This night, a private seating offered the rare opportunity for 40 guess to experience a multi-course meal of beautifully artful presentations and startling flavor bursts of fine subtleties that tantalized the palette. Beginning with a very convivial cocktail hour where guests stood among the tables and shared familiar conversations and new introductions while well-coached wait staff pleasantly presented “hors unique d’ouvres”, the enchanting evening began.
At his restaurant, Epazote chef/owner Fernando Olea offers a relaxed environment where he creates “inspired world cuisine” influenced by the Aztecs. Bringing sensational combinations of flavors and specializing in the unique flavors of the mole sauces of Mexico, Olea continues to surprise.
Each taste is a lovely flavor experience. Each taste is savored for the incredibly imaginative and surprising and pleasing combination that it is. Even if you have experienced savory moles south of our border, the creations that Olea combines are deliciously exquisite. And with that in mind, he has created a very unique mole especially for New Mexico which includes indigenous ingredients including pine nuts, pecans, red chile, apricots, and from Mexico, rich, white chocolate. If you visit his restaurant – he will share this delectable and complex recipe with you!
This signature recipe is depicted in a grand fashion on the primary focal wall of Epazote in the manner of a great oil painting on canvas – by prominent Mexican artist Federico Leon de la Vega. This richly detailed mural – stretching the length of the main dining room, nearly 20 feet in length – re-creates the scene of these marvelous ingredients gathered in preparation for the making of Olea’s own New Mexican mole. As Olea states, “nothing evokes the mystery of fine Mexican cuisine more than mole, a regional dish from the heart of the country.” This “thick sauce of complex flavors” defies one’s understanding of the individual ingredients. The festive spices and remarkable combinations result in astonishing flavors beyond accustomed characterizations.
Paired with his artful cuisine, Olea partners with Michael, a very talented art curator whose last name escapes me (lo siento), to present a gallery of fine-art speaking volumes of various styles and media, from the white-washed plaster walls of this historic convent – now a prestigious exhibition space for well-known New Mexican artists.
It is a must-see to experience an evening of fine dining and fine art in this quiet little structure across from the historic Our lady of Guadalupe church on Agua Fria in Santa Fe. Tell chef Olea that “Patti Says” and you agree that this is an exceptional multi-sensory experience!

Posted On May 20, 2011 By pattisays In art and interior design, design, food and interior design, multi-media design /

food and interior design