I'm in Salt Lake City this week, attending a blog conference. On the airplane yesterday, the couple in front of me spent the entire four-hour flight attempting to entertain and pacify their antsy two-year-old. They had not a single rattle or toy. The mom sported gorgeous long hair and got angrier and angrier that her little girl wanted to pull it. Well, what else was the child to do?
Read moreDr. Zhivago and Dr. Sharifi
Brrrr. Temps here in Wisconsin are low low low. In Shakespeare's words, "Tis cold as a dead man's nose." Get thee under a blanket, make thee a cup of hot coffee, and let us talk Dr. Zhivago.
The film was released in 1965 but it was in the '70s when I sat up late one night and watched it on television. I loved Omar Sharif. He reminded me of my father. Not just his handsome good looks and his sophisticated charm. Dr. Zhivago was a physician who wrote poetry and loved Lara, a fair-skinned nurse. My dad was a physician who painted watercolors and loved Maryann, a fair-skinned nurse. Omar Sharif was born in Egypt in 1932 and my dad was born in Iran in 1932. Only one letter separated Sharif from Sharifi.
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Downton Abbey's Back!
The object in the photo above is a bootjack, which one uses to remove one's riding boots if one hasn't a valet. It is available at Finder Not Keeper here.
Yes, yes, Downton Abbey is back for its final season. We are two episodes in and the show continues to employ the same old formulas that, by Jeeves, hooked us in Seasons 1-5. Julian Fellowes mixes equal parts gorgeous clothing, settings that show the glory of Merrie Old England, delicious put-downs from Granny/Dowager Countess/Violet and of course a healthy sprinkling of class struggle and snobbish frippery.
Read moreSpace for a Free Spirit
In today's post, you'll read about a special person and see the images of a room I decorated for her and her mother. You'll also get a few design maxims that I applied to this space. They are guidelines that I borrowed from my closet and maybe you can use them in your own house.
So there is this young woman. She is a kind of wild thing. A bohemian. She is also a very good,
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Eight Reasons to Love and Hate the Film "Joy"
How was your holiday? I saw the new Jennifer Lawrence film, "Joy", which is loosely based on the life of inventor/entrepreneur Joy Mangano. I went with some of my college kids who have been home for the past couple of weeks. It's so fun hanging out with them, but I basically had to shutter the shop. Thus, the premise of the movie about a beleaguered working mom felt very relevant personally. Maybe it does for you too.
Read moreWishbones for 2016
I buy things for strange reasons. There isn't really a rhyme or reason. Is that wrong-headed? Time will tell. Today I'm listing some cufflinks in the shape of wishbones. And here's why:
It’s Christmas vacation, and I’m fifteen years old, the self-conscious age when I cringe hourly at my family’s annoying behavior. On this evening
Read moreFrom the Outside Looking In
Indoor animals never cease to amaze. Recently at a holiday party, our sons gravitated towards the mischievous Meeko, a beautiful and friendly fluffball of a cat who, you'd never guess by looking at, is currently on parole from the county D.A. Meeko suffers from a Napoleonic complex and compulsively picks fights with very very large dogs. His last fight landed him in hot water with the authorities and he is now miserably confined to the house. He wants out worse than a teenage girl at a family reunion.
Read moreFrom the Bottom of Our Wooly Hearts
Look at them, an idyllic family, frolicking hand-in-hand-in-hand through the grass on a breezy fall day. I spent an afternoon photographing them for their holiday card and let me brag for just a moment about their stellar qualities. They are very low-maintenance. No one worried about hair or clothes or the cold. They seem to really like each other. Seven people crammed together and not one nasty word was uttered. And talk about patient!
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Old School Christmas Cards
Back in the day, before camera phones and digital uploading made it easy to produce photo cards of happy family moments, people devised very creative ways to send holiday greetings through the mail.
There are a million ways to say 'Happy Holidays' with a card. The imagery and design of the card often conveyed something about the sender's
Read moreA Vote of Confidence from UPPERCASE Magazine
Last spring, in the "trough of sorrow", when I doubted absolutely everything I was doing, I got an email from Janine Vangool, editor of UPPERCASE Magazine. She was including my collections in her new Compendium of Craft and Creativity.
Janine's email stated that The UPPERCASE Compendium of Craft & Creativity would collect the most inspiring work of the past few years into a beautiful print publication. Rich with stories of the makers, it would include interviews, studio tours and delve into the creative process. She
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Dolls
When my son was five, he asked for a Bubble Fairy Barbie. After years of buying Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and G.I. Joes, I couldn't wait to shop for this gift list item. As he opened the pink box, his older brothers teased him, and his growls back at them didn't make much difference. When the doll emerged, wrapped in organza wings with a drawstring cord
Read moreModernizing a Vintage Christmas Cookie Recipe
Let's start the discussion today with a question: flour sifting. Why? Why? I'm all ears. Seriously, does separating the wee particles of flour moments before combining them back together make a whit of difference in flavor?
As you can guess, this post is an opportunity for me to nitpick. Or, more diplomatically, it's a break-down of what it takes to modernize an old-school recipe. I'm taking my favorite Christmas cookie recipe, which came from my grandma, which she got from dear Mabel Shauber who, God rest her soul, might have been the original prototype for Dana Carvey's
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Hurray for Handmade!
It's Cyber Monday and I'd like to know who coined that hideous term. There's nothing wrong with internet shopping, but Cyber Monday sounds like an evil robotic cyborg named Monday who sucks cash out of your wallet and leaves you empty and staring in disbelief at the confirmation emails. In response, my Cyber Monday offering is handmade. Hand-painted. Stitched by hand. And it's on sale.
Read moreUnconventional Holiday Style
Yes, we are back in the 1960s. Isn't it so pretty? Like every other trend, holiday decorating goes in cycles, and the current one is less about red and green and more about sparkle and shine. As you can see from this series of photos (everything available in the shop, of course) I am leaning towards soft shades of turquoise warmed up with aged gold.
It has taken some time to track down all these vintage holiday items. Most of it is from the 1950s-60s and when I see it at estate sales, I pounce.
Read moreWeekend Listicle // A Few Secrets from a Busy Cook
'Tis the season to season! Family is arriving and I'm busy in the kitchen, whipping up delectables. My feet ache already so this post is short and easy. Just a few quick hints and kitchen shortcuts from me to you.
This pepper is great in stuffing. I like the very subtle smoky flavor. I also sprinkle it in cheesy potatoes for the day after Thanksgiving. The jar is pricey but lasts a long time.
Milwaukee Iron is delicious on any comfort food. It's a yummy way to jazz up plain ole frozen corn. The Spice House, here in Milwaukee, created it to commemorate the 95th anniversary of Harley-Davidson, also a Milwaukee original.
In last week's gravy recipe, I referred to French salt. This is the kind I use. My grocery store carries it.
If you have the oven space, this blasted broccoli is the best roasted vegetable recipe ever, I kid you not. I now make two trays because it gets gobbled up like popcorn. Here's the recipe from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The smaller you cut the stalks, the better. The drier the broccoli, the better. Also, the recipe states that you should use your oven's convection setting, if possible. They're right. I've tried it in a non-convection oven and it doesn't turn out nearly as crispy.
I love cranberry chutney. This year, I'm serving it with cardamom whipped cream.
If you don't want to roast an entire turkey, this recipe is super easy and yields a rich stock for gravy. I make it once a month all winter long. The next day, we have Monica's turkey sandwiches with the moist-maker middle.
Have a wonderful holiday!
P.S. The salt and pepper shakers are new in the shop. They remind me so much of my parents. My mom is peppier than a Milwaukee Bucks cheerleader and my mustachioed father is salty in that interesting, unexpected way that all immigrants share when they verbally go to town in a non-native language. Photo by Renn Kuhnen.
Forty Cups of Gravy
Gravy: the liquified essence of a bird's life. A good one has hints of sunshine, rain, corn mash, and even slaughter. Hyperbole, you think? Never!
My grandmother taught me how to make gravy. Hers was a basic recipe, nothing extra added in, other than the sheer effort it took to make a few gallons of the stuff. That's the catch, you see.
A three-gallon batch of gravy takes on a life of its own. But when the family swells the way that ours has, it is a necessity. So now, my job at Thanksgiving
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Sending Love
Below are the links that brought me some comfort last weekend. I hope they help you too:
A traveler, powdered sugar, and a cell phone come together in this lovely short essay that will heal your heart.
"No one leaves home, unless home is the mouth of the shark..." by Sarah Jameel on Medium.
These are the kind of monsters that actually inspire kids.
A view of Paris from Connecticut.
My own love letter to France, written a little more than a year ago.
Ten Silly Decor Ideas from a Skeptic in Wisconsin
Good design begins by breaking rules. It challenges the suppositions that society places on an object's use and look.
This set of built-in bunks (above) is a fine example of good design. The designers, Tim Barber Ltd., take a kid's furniture staple, the old rickety bunk bed, and beef it up by enclosing it, painting it an interesting non-kid color, and basically turning it into an architectural element in its own right.
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Guest Etiquette
I am featuring this pretty water carafe and tumbler because its rightful place is on a bedside table, perhaps in your guest room. Yes, it is upon us! The holiday season lurks and the delicate dance between guest and host will soon commence. Lucille Ball sums up the complexity when she says of her cousin Ernie, "He stayed overnight with us for a couple of weeks once."
Read moreAdult Ed
Have you gone back to school as an adult? Do you think that the first day jitters are worse than when you were young?
Last winter I took a class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. On my first day, I was nervously digging out coins for the parking meter when a skateboarder came rolling towards me. “It’s free parking on Saturdays, you know,” he said. “Really? That’s not what the sign says,” I responded. He was already halfway down the block and over his shoulder he hollered, “Guess you’ll have to follow your heart.”
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