Winter Wonderland

The weatherman keeps predicting snow for our area, although we live below the usual snowline. No snow yet, but one mighty hailstorm that covered the garden and hills with white. Here's a glimpse.

Thanksgiving 2008

We have much to be thankful for this year. Our family is enlarged by one, is healthy, and is cooking.

An Antique Linen Party in Town

A few weeks ago I attended an antique linen party at the home of my friend, Claudia, who collects and sells vintage tablecloths, napkins, pillow shams and other linens, many from Europe. Claudia hand washes, mends and irons her wares, all of which are delicate and beautiful. Another friend, Lucy, was selling some frocks she crafted for little girls from embroidered tablecloths. The ladies also put on a sumptuous tea party for their guests. We enjoyed our tea on Claudia's patio amidst the abundant greenery, and admired her celadon pottery displayed on the mantel before leaving for home with our chosen treasures.

Mourvedre

Before setting off to visit our daughter and son-in-law for Thanksgiving, we stopped at one of our favorite local wineries, TKC, to buy some of their famous Mourvedre, a Rhone varietal. Fall at the wineries is particularly beautiful. The vines pictured are head-trained.

Some More of Marius

Barely can a day go by without some new addition of Marius & Victorine photos and such. This poster was designed and printed in 1973 by Berkeley graphic artist, David Goines, for the Marcel Pagnol film trilogy, "Marius, Fanny, and Cesar." It is photographed on the wall of our newly decorated upstairs bathroom. Alas, Mr. Goines has apparently designed no poster titled "Victorine."

Get Away to the Country

Here are some rooms from country houses that I particularly like. Just above is a sunroom in the High Falls, New York house of Carol Schuster. The photo is from the December 2007 Elle Decor. I love the natural materials, graphics, and stone floors. The grey room with chandelier is of a French country house appearing in Cote Sud of June-July 2007. The two-story great room is in La Porchiglia, outside Sienna. The beamed bed and beamed sitting room are in the 13th century house of Monique Germain in the Coulommiers Valley of France, with interior design by the firm of Paul Mathieu and Michael Ray. With all these neutrals, the reader would think that my own home is comprised of neutrals too. But such purity is not to be, perhaps owing to my husband, Marius, the artist, who fills our walls with paintings, prints, scrolls and such, all of which add their bit of color to the mix.

Three Lovely Bathrooms

Since we recently finished sprucing up our upstairs bathroom, I have been looking at bathroom pictures for inspiration. The room with the footed tub is in the West Sussex home of Harriet Anstruther (wife of Henry Bourne) and appears in the April 2004 Elle Decor. The double sink room is in the June-July 2007 edition of Cote Sud and is from a French country house. The room with the single black sink is another by Axel Vervoordt, this one from a Belgian house.

Some Rooms That Inspire Me

The first photo is a room by the master, Jean-Michel Frank. Depicted is a townhouse drawing room. Next is a room in a Dutch townhouse by Axel Vervoordt. Finally, a room from the Paris apartment of Pierre Hardy and Nicolas Ghesquiere appearing in the April 1998 edition of British Elle Decor. I love the use of mid-century icons in this beautiful, traditional space.

Table set for cassoulet dinner

Cassoulet Dinner

We recently had some old friends over for dinner and decided to make one of my winter favorites, cassoulet. We combined three recipes, the inspiration from the November 2008 issue of Food & Wine magazine, together with some ideas taken from the New Joy of Cooking and a recipe from the French cooking classes I took in the early 1970's. To make our version of cassoulet you will need:
Olive oil
4 oz. pancetta diced to 1/2"
Med. white onion diced to 1/2"
1 Lb. dried Great Northern beans, soaked
and drained
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 qts. water
1 qt. chicken stock
1/2 head garlic, separated into cloves,
peeled and sliced into 1/4" pieces
Sea salt
2 med. ducks, about 4 lb. each
1 lb. large link sausage (we used
turkey-apple) cut into 1/2" pieces
4 oz. bacon, cut into 1" pieces

The Food & Wine recipe called for duck confit, not easily obtainable by us without driving into the city, so we opted to "crispy-roast" the ducks. Preheat oven to 300.
Remove neck and giblets, and excess fat from inside the birds; rinse and pat dry. Use a sharp metal skewer to pierce the skin in 20 to 30 places, taking care not to puncture the meat. Salt the ducks and rub into the skin. Roast breast side down in roasting pan for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Drain fat from pan. Up the oven temp. to 350 and continue to roast ducks for another 30-45 min. or until skin is crispy. Let cool, and then cut ducks into serving-size pieces, legs, thighs, breasts etc.

In a small skillet, brown sausage and bacon.

The remainder of the recipe we made entirely in one pot. We used the 9 1/2 qt. oval Le Creuset Dutch oven I bought in the 1970's. Heat 3-5 T. olive oil and then add pancetta, cooking over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add onion and garlic and continue to cook until onion softens. Add beans, water, chicken stock, and thyme and simmer for about one hour, skimming foam as needed. Discard thyme. Use a slotted spoon to remove about 1/2 of the beans to a large bowl. Position duck on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Cover with the beans. Then top with the sausage and bacon. Preheat oven to 350, and cook covered for about an hour, until liquid is bubbling and duck is hot. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes or so before serving. Enjoy.

Parisian Shops

The models for my fantasy country store, Marius et Victorine.

More Urban Rustic Style

Another of my interpretations of the Urban Rustic style. This was the first time I set the table with my "Dansk Jette" flatware, collected painstakenly from e-bay.

Axel Vervoordt

I have recently been taken with the design work of Axel Vervoordt. His particular brand of elegance coupled with rusticity fits well with my idea of how to live in the country. This arrangement on my coffee table was my effort to create some of that urban-rustic style. The table itself belonged to my parents, and was made by Drexel in 1959. I used some of my collection of celadon pottery together with boxes, shards, and other bits I found around the house.

Someone named Victorine.

This painting by Manet of Young Woman in 1866 is said to be of the model Victorine Meurent, who also posed for Manet's Olympia.

Someone named Marius