November 06 2014

Field Trip: Minted

It’s always fun to take a peek behind the scenes, don’t you think?  Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the San Francisco headquarters for the online stationary company Minted.  You may remember that I’ve touted Minted’s high-quality papers and sophisticated designs before.  No surprise, their offices were just as aesthetically pleasing as their products.

I’d been invited to participate in a focus group discussing Minted’s art prints.  The other women gathered in the conference room were mostly in their 20s and 30s.  We were interviewed about our art buying habits by the company’s founder, Mariam Naficy, while she and several other employees took notes.

I came away with a greater sense of Minted’s mission and what younger consumers are interested in.  There was certainly some overlap in our interests — we all favored limited edition pieces, wanted tools that would help with art placement and shared a propensity for late-night shopping.

Where we differed, I think, was in our acquisitional aspirations.  The younger members of the panel were all about feathering their burgeoning nests. I have plenty of art that’s sitting boxed up in my garage with nowhere to go now that we’ve downsized and modernized. Where the younger women are anxious to fill their blank walls, I’m angling for more negative space.

Nevertheless, I may find myself buying one small Minted piece.  I liked some of the foil-pressed samples Naficy (who, by the way, couldn’t have been more gracious) showed us before we left.  The glittering Golden State map of California just released today was especially enticing.  For about $40 framed, it seems like a good deal and a good fit for my home–not too big, speaks to my story and is quite pretty. (It’s hard to get a sense of the quality and feeling of the piece online–but trust me, it’s very nice.)

I’m still thinking about the first question of the day – “Why did you make your most recent art purchase?” I’ll tell you more about mine in a few weeks when I can show you an image (it’s currently being framed). I’m curious, though, how would you have answered that question had you been in the room?

 

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November 04 2014

Parsi Chicken Soup with Rice

After a week on the East Coast working and visiting our kids I came home with happy memories and a little intestinal bug.  Not big enough to warrant a trip to the doctor–we didn’t bowl in Ebola-exposed lanes while in NYC–but some queasiness lingered for nearly a week.  I looked up my symptoms and learned that I could be suffering from a psychotic illness (always possible) or pregnancy, which at my age would be downright Biblical.  Figuring there was nothing to do but wait it out, I rallied to make my favorite under-the-weather soup.

I can’t remember where I first came across the recipe–the yellowed clipping looks like it might have been in the New York Times Sunday magazine–but it’s called “Parsi Chicken Soup with Rice” and is adapted from The Varied Kitchens of India by Copeland Marks (M. Evans, 1986).  I can tell you that it’s delicious and simple to make and the spices–ginger, garlic, red chile flakes and cumin–add just enough kick to make me feel alive when I’m otherwise dead to the world. As we’re entering flu season, I thought you might want to add this to your medicinal arsenal.

Parsi Chicken Soup with Rice (serves 6)

1 chicken, 3 pounds, cut into serving pieces, loose skin and fat removed*

6 cups water

1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste

3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil

1 cup onion cut into chunks

1/2 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes

1/2 cup fresh tomato puree, or canned

Cooked basmati rice

1. Cook the chicken in the water with salt over moderate heat for 20 minutes.

2. In a food processor, puree the onion, ginger and garlic.  Heat oil in a skillet and over moderate heat fry the onion paste for 3 minutes.  Add the cumin and chile flakes.  Stirfry the mixture for 3 minutes more.  Add the spice mixture to the chicken pot with the tomato puree and simmer over moderatley low heat for 20 minutes more.  Adjust the salt if necessary.

3. Serve hot with plain basmati rice added to each bowl.

 *I’ve also used boneless chicken breasts and prepared chicken broth to speed up the cooking time and further reduce the minimal prep mess. All the better to quickly resume my sickbed Scandal-watching.

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October 31 2014

Friday Things: The Halloween Edition

In our new modernist home, a few splashes of orange around the house and a skeleton on the front bench suffice for demonic decor.

I’ve been experimenting with deer-resistant plants in the front pots and though several perennials have given up the ghost already the nasturtiums are thriving.  Right now a strand is crawling into Mr. Bones’s mouth and should pop out of his eye socket just in time for our first batch of trick-or-treaters.  Boo-ray!

Here are some other spooky things spied this week:

Halloween Candy Exchange Rate.

5 Historical Haunted Houses to visit.

Eerie interiors.

Eau d’ Halloween.

A spooktacular alphabet.

No surprise, Elsa rules.

Squash Toast with Ricotta and Cider Vinegar.

An oldie but a goodie – teaching kids about the Day of the Dead.

And finally, for those of you who quake and tremble when facing a trip to IKEA – an IKEA Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

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October 20 2014

AT: Lenzburg, Switzerland + Jugendfest

As you may recall from my Europe packing post, this summer I traveled to Switzerland and Germany.  For my inaugural “Away Things” post I thought I’d share some images and impressions of the charming  festival I attended in a small suburb of Zurich. Think Heidi meets The Hunger Games.  The Lenzburg Jugendfest was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.  Come see!

The primary purpose of my trip was to see our son Will who was wrapping up a six month internship at Porsche Engineering in Stuttgart (lucky guy!)  In planning the trip I discovered that Lenzburg, Switzerland—my great-great-grandmother’s home and the setting for the first part of the historical novel I’m working on–was only two hours away from Stuttgart.  A side-trip was in order.

I decided to time my visit around the annual Jugendfest (Youth Festival) celebration, hoping to get a sense of the town’s customs and costumes. My D.C.-based sister Michelle offered to join me and we met up in front of the central clock in Zurich’s main train station for the thirty minute ride out to Lenzburg.  Once there we took a short taxi ride over to the Hotel Krone which has been in operation since 1765.  Situated at the base of the hill below the schloss (castle) and a five minute walk from the old town, the location was ideal and the gummy bears on our pillows set the tone for the rest of the sweet and sometimes silly weekend.

From my research, I knew that the 400 year old Jugendfest celebration included a week of activities culminating with a parade of children dressed in white followed by a mock battle fought between teenage cadets and a group described online as “booty lusting irregulars” (?!) before ending in fireworks launched from the ramparts of the castle.  I thought it sounded ein bischen hokey.  But happily, it proved to be absolutely charming.

Michelle and I spent the day before the main events exploring the beautifully preserved schloss and its cheery formal gardens.

That afternoon we toured the town’s numerous fountains that had been decorated with flowers by local townspeople.  Our tour guides wore the city’s cornflower blue and white colors.

While strolling around we saw firemen stringing evergreen boughs and hanging flower bouquets causing some seasonal confusion. The whole town smelled like Christmas in the height of summer! In the main church where we enjoyed a dress rehearsal of the children’s concert (including an impassioned vocal performance of “Let It Go” and a spirited xylophone rendition of “It Don’t Mean A Thing if You Ain’t Got That Swing”) the floral displays were especially wonderful.

Marching bands and drum corps were everywhere.  An English-speaking woman standing near us for the evening band competition told us that though she and her husband had moved away from Lenzburg they try to come back every year for Jugendfest and their children and grandchildren all participate.  The local townspeople were so enthusiastic about every little detail.

Later that night Will drove over  from Stuttgart and the next morning chatted with more drummers outside our hotel before we headed over to the main square to see the children receive a ceremonial coin from the mayor and then parade with their teachers through the old town.

They were followed by the high-spirited teenage cadets wielding guns with flowers peeping out of the barrels and those “booty-lusting irregulars” which turned out to be adults dressed as marauders from around the globe.

The irregulars were decidedly unpolitically correct. But the adults enthusiastically playing these multicultural villains clearly had no problems with ethnic stereotypes.

After they paraded through town we all marched out to the fields to watch the battles that raged across the farmland.

Finally ending up at the local fairgrounds where a substantial replica of Schloss Lenzburg was burned to the ground.

That night we sat on the edge of one of the decorated fountains in front of our hotel and watched the children parade through the streets one more time–this time with beautiful paper lanterns–before fireworks sparkled above the schloss.

As advertized, the Lenzburg Jugendfest was the festiest of festivals! I almost hesitate to share it with you because I don’t want it overrun with visitors but my, oh my, it was magical and definitely worth attending if your travels take you nearby.

If you choose to go, the annual Lenzburg Jugendfest happens the week leading up to the second Friday of July but the maneuvers are only every other year.  Check here http://www.lenzburg.ch/de/jugendfest.html for further details and look for programs and other information at the tourist information office which is located right across from the Hotel Krone.   

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October 17 2014

Friday Things: The Long Shadows Edition

Reading about the young Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, this link to an earlier film about her life appeared.  Watching it I was struck by her shy smile, the rushing waters where she lived in northern Pakistan and the inescapable violence that surrounded her.  But I was also fascinated by her parents–the never photographed mother and her charismatic father.  Early on in the video her father explains to the filmamker that though Malala wants to become a doctor he wants her to go into politics because he thinks she could effect more change in the world that way.  His statement is chilling knowing what we know now, that little Malala would later be shot in the head by the Taliban but would recover and go on to be an activist for female education eventually becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some time ago I read a study showing that though a mother can do much to direct a girl’s life, a father’s example and expectations have an even bigger impact on his daughter.  Certainly Malala’s did on her as my father’s did on me.  Their shadows stretch out long before us much like the shadows of me and two young parents as we recently watched their children play in the surf.  May the shadows we all cast on our children be ones of encouragement and sound direction. May they provide shelter for them as they navigate troubled waters.

Some other things that caught my attention of late–

Furnishing a “galactic ark.”

Brainy Octopi.

Why short men make better husbands.

Do design pros have an obligation to dress up? 

For the glasses wearers and writers out there, a curmudgeonly but thought-provoking interview with Thornton Wilder.

How to tour a museum using the “slow art” method.

Is your stationary stash up to snuff?

And finally, Annie Lenox puts her own spin on a classic.

Happy Weekend All!

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October 09 2014

Touring the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market with Designer Michelle Wempe

Do you live near a landmark attraction that you’ve never explored?  The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco has been one of those places for me. Frankly, I’ve never felt the need to drive into the city to shop for produce since I have a wealth of farm-fresh options right here in the East Bay. I subscribe to a weekly CSA box, frequently shop at Berkeley Bowl and can drop in on other area farmers markets nearly every day of the week. But I’ve always been curious about the highly touted market outside the Ferry Building. So I was thrilled to have Oakland-based interior designer Michelle Wempe, a terrific cook and farmers market enthusiast, offer to tour me around some of her favorite vendors there.

“Cooking is just another avenue to design,” said Michelle as we talked about the intersection of her work and play.  “It’s about melding a lot of different flavors just as we combine colors and textiles and furnishings in a residential design.” She assured me that the vendors at this market were the best of the bunch and that even if it meant getting up early on a Saturday morning and driving into the city, I wouldn’t be disappointed.  She was right.  Come see what I saw.

Michelle and her partner Harris arrive early to meet friends for coffee and do their shopping before the crowds show up around 9:00.  The Market is held outside the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero and waterfront sides of the building which is part of its appeal.  I mean look at this view.

And check out the well-fed regulars.

Inside the Ferry Building you’ll find upscale food vendors like Acme Bread and Cowgirl Creamery along with housewares purveyors like Sur La Table and The Gardener.  Outside, September’s bounty includes some of my favorite fruits – plums and pomegranates.

The last of the corn and tomatoes.

And the beginning of the winter squashes. Such a cheery sight as the days grow shorter.

It also brings a new crop of heirloom apples.  Here are some of the varieties sold by Stan DeVoto of DeVoto Farms. Part of the fun of touring with Michelle was having her introduce me to the farmers.

After all,  I grew up on a potato farm in southeastern Idaho and know how much farmers like my dad and brother care about their crops and love to talk about them.  I just wish my dad was still alive to see all the varieties of potatoes available today.

We were hosting friends for dinner and though I had my main course in place I asked Michelle for some ideas for easy produce-inspired appetizers. “I usually opt for something simple like seasonal fruit and cheese or some sautéed peppers,” she said, leading me over to Happy Quail Farms where she introduced me to owner David Winsberg in his pepper-printed shirt.

He showed me some gorgeous Piment d’Anglet—long red peppers also known as Basque fryers that are cousins to the Jimmy Nardellos sitting at home on my countertop.  They would make an excellent side dish for a main course sometime, but for an appetizer both Winsberg and Michelle agreed that the Padron peppers sauteed until they were subtly charred and then finished off with a good salt would be a good bet. “They’re mostly sweet though every tenth pepper can be as hot as a cayenne, which is part of the fun,” said Winsberg.  Ok, so Russian roulette pepper appetizers it would be.

Then Michelle helped me pick the perfect figs at Knoll Farms as a second starter.

Fun fact—Michelle and Harris actually met at the Farmers Market when he was helping Rick Knoll out on busy Saturdays.  “Harris waited on me every week which eventually led to a dinner invitation with some other market friends, and the rest, as they say is history.”

Along with all the beautiful produce and fresh flower vendors, there are a fair number of prepared food purveyors.   Bottled products like jams or pepper sauces would be great for gifts as the holiday approaches.

There are also a number of bakers selling bread and pastries.  I picked up a few pie slices from Three Babes Bakeshop to take home to M.J.before heading into the Ferry Building to grab some pain epi from Acme to serve with dinner.

Laden with my bags of treasures (Michelle says she often brings a little rolling cart if she’s doing serious shopping) I made my way to my car in the small Ferry Building Parking Lot across the street.  Alas, I didn’t realize I needed to have my ticket validated by a vendor and almost paid a hefty sum for parking.  Fortunately, the toll taker gave me the benefit of the doubt —“this time only”—when he saw all my bags of produce.

So, if you live in the Bay Area or are visiting here on a weekend and want to make the most of the celebrated Ferry Plaza Farmers Market remember to get your parking ticket validated and follow designer Michelle Wempe’s top three tips for navigating the market:

1. Come early. The market officially opens at 8:00 but you can often start shopping at 7:30.  That’s also the best time to spot the professional chefs doing their shopping.

2. Be Flexible. This isn’t a supermarket that will have everything available in all seasons. Some people love the summer market best, but there are always interesting and tasty options here. Let the market inspire you.

3. Get to know the farmers.  They know their produce better than anyone and can educate you about how best to use what you see at the market.

Thanks for a terrific tour, Michelle. I loved seeing the bounty laid out on my kitchen counter.

And that night the figs and roasted peppers were outstanding.

It really was worth the drive. Can’t wait to go back!

 

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October 03 2014

Friday Things: The New Sink Edition

No wallpaper decision made yet, but the new sink is in!  Isn’t she a beauty?  Perhaps you recall this moment of impulse renovation when we ripped out the old odd powder room vanity with no plan for what would take it’s place?

Four months later we have new things in the room including floor tile (Ann Sacks), a beefy wall mounted sink (Sonia) with a sleek new faucet (Gessi) and a glamorous P-trap (Kohler.)  Feeling fancy.

Other final projects completed over the last few weeks — foam roof recoated, new doors installed and hung, sheetrock and mud work in various areas finished and outdoor trellises removed.  A little stucco repair and we’ll be ready for the return of the painters.  And then we’ll rest from our labors for awhile.

Speaking of rest, we’re off to the Monterey Peninsula for the weekend.  Should be a lovely break from work and work projects.  Hope you’re finding some R&R, preferably near the water, as well.

Happy Weekend All!

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September 27 2014

Friday Things: The Wallpaper Edition

I grew up in a farmhouse where most of the rooms were covered in wallpaper.  Flocked wallpaper in the entryway became the backdrop for my wedding photos.  Big orange and white panels of wallpaper led the way to my bedroom. Fish swam on bathroom walls and English gardens bloomed in the kitchen.  In my grown-up homes I’ve tended to paint walls rather than paper them.  Though I did use a charming toile filled with spy planes in a powder room in the Edwardian home our kids grew up in and I’m now looking for some interesting textures to put on the walls in our new modernist home.  As you can see from the samples above (pinned on top of wall colors I first considered) it will be a hard decision!  If you’d like to know more about trends in wallpaper check out my BANG story about wallpaper.

Some other things worth looking into this week:

Iconic portraits with John Malcovich.

What’s your sofa personality?

One student’s assault becomes an art statement and what it’s like to carry around that mattress.

Emma Watson‘s speech about feminism before the U.N.  Lovely (and not just because of her British accent.)

Actress Viola Davis on her career and hitting the big time.

Would you be polite to your favorite female celebrity if you met her?

Happy Weekend All!

 

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September 22 2014

Lunch Cake

We were lucky enough to have old friends over for Saturday lunch.  The wife is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor and after nine months of procedures is just now taking short trips out and about.  Longtime friends, we used to camp and hike together when our children were little. Now I worried she wouldn’t be able to make the seven steps down from the driveway to our dining table.

Ever the trooper, she did just fine.  We celebrated the grown-up developments in our childrens’ lives and swore at the too-young-to-be-facing-this direction her life has taken.

I chose to keep the food simple and ready to eat the minute they arrived in order to make the most of her limited energy reserves.  Using the eggplant and tomatoes from our weekly CSA box, I made a quiche (remember those?) that could be served at room temperature and some vinaigrette to dress a green salad.  Good bread from a local bakery rounded out the meal.

Talking over the menu with M.J. beforehand I suggested a chocolate cake but he thought that seemed like a “supper” cake not a lunch cake.  I think chocolate cake is pretty much appropriate for any meal—including breakfast—but I continued to look through recipes and settled on a favorite gingerbread from Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen by Northern California-based cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan.

The cake features three types of ginger—powdered, fresh and crystalized–and is made with apple juice, sunflower oil and no eggs so it could be used for a vegan meal as well. It has a wonderful flavor with a modern zing from the fresh and crystalized ginger.  For Saturday I decided to make some homemade applesauce to accompany the cake.  So good together.

Here’s the gingerbread recipe in case you too want to celebrate life in all its complexity with a lunch cake.

Triple-Ginger Gingerbread

Makes 2 Gingerbreads

1 cup apple juice or water, heated

1/2 cup dark molasses

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped crystallized giner

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sunflower oil

Confectioners’ (icing) sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 8 by 2 inch round cake pans.  (I only have 9 inch and they turn out just fine—cook for the same amount of time.) In a bowl, whisk together the apple juice, molasses, vinegar, crystallized ginger, and fresh ginger.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the oil and the molasses mixture and combine with a rubber spatula just until blended.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Let cool completely in the pans on wire racks.  Turn out the gingerbreads onto the racks and sift confectioners’ sugar over the top.

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September 19 2014

Friday Things: The Near Miss Edition

Last Friday I put together my Friday Things post and stepped away from my desk to meet a friend for lunch.  Twenty minutes later I was hit by a car as I was crossing the street to meet her.

Yes, I was in the crosswalk.  And no, I hadn’t looked both ways before crossing.

I was a few minutes late, having stopped to talk with my handyman who had just shown up to install some trim in the downstairs bathroom.  Rushing across town, I hurriedly pulled into a spot across the street from the restaurant and waved to my friend who was waiting across the way.

The next thing I remember was seeing the hood of a white car.  I recognized that I’d been hit by said car but had no idea where it had come from.  A second later I had flipped 180 degrees and was face down on the ground searching for my glasses which, amazingly, were still on my face.  There were screams and a rush of people heading my way.  I made it to my feet noticing that my left foot was hurting.  The rest of me seemed ok.

Kind merchants found me a chair and offered me a dixie cup of water and treats from a plastic jack o’lantern.  Paramedics assessed me, a policeman questioned me.  The driver stroked my arm as he apologized for hitting me, offering up that he’d swerved as soon as he saw me.

The cop ran his name and discovered that the driver had a suspended license and multiple DUIs. He also suffered from cataracts. At the time he seemed dazed or drunk or high but thankfully he somehow snapped out of it soon enough to swerve when he finally saw me and only caught me with the front right side of his car, not straight on.  The cop thought I would have died if he hadn’t swerved.  I certainly would have been injured more severely.

As it is, I have some general aches and pains and a scraped and swollen left foot.  No broken bones even though it’s likely that the car actually ran over my foot.  It’s miraculous that I limped away so relatively unscathed.

After a week of replaying what happened and taking stock of what’s to come—near misses will make you do that—I  just wanted to say that I’m glad I’m still here.  Thanks for letting me share that.

Some things that caught my attention this week as I was icing, elevating and taking note of some exceptional sunsets.

Clever ceramic figures exploring cultural and language differences.

Good advice for creating something–“I squeeze a ball of yarn (tube of paint/head of lettuce/keys of a keyboard?) and see what it wants to be when it grows up.”

Learning to self-soothe.

Why aren’t there more women guiding toy companies?

A plus size article about plus sizes.

The dishy new fashion-focused memoir from Bergdorf Goodman’s Betty Halbreich. Here’s a little glimpse into her world–

Happy Weekend All–Stay Safe!

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Kathryn Pritchett

writes about Things Elemental — where we find shelter, why we connect, what sustains us and how we strut our stuff.

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