Never Send a Vegetarian to Buy Meat!

So, this weekend, Ramses (my darling dog) was sicker than a damn dog. Scary sick. Of course, this was also the weekend that we all decided to use my "venue" to celebrate our friend Mike's b'day. So, I ferried between my barfing dog and my guests. (Oh, brother! Now, there's a mental picture . . .)

What I learned this weekend? Truer words were never spoken ~ never send a vegetarian to buy meat.

So, we decided to make use of the wonderful weather and do a combination BBQ / picnic.

My next door neighbor, Chuck, thought BBQ'd spare ribs would be great. (OK. OK. My first thought was ~ eeesh but, hey, it wasn't my birthday.) I headed to the store and stood in front of the meat case. Gawd, I had no idea. By the process of elimination, I decided on country style (have no idea what that is) spare ribs. Of course, I also bought wild salmon for me and anyone else who might want to nosh on it.

When I got home, I went to epicurious.com for recipes for spare rib recipes. Oh, dear! The majority of them called for preparation to start the night before. Mmmmm, that's not going to work. I need the fast method. One called for boiling them. That didn't sound so appetizing. Another called for cooking them at a very low heat for several hours and then finishing them up on the BBQ. Bingo! That's for me.

So, here was the menu: BBQ's Country-spare ribs, Smoked wild salmon, red potato salad (used the brine from my pickles for the sauce ~ oh! Yum), Caesar salad, smoked salmon mousse, mixed olive tapenade, sourdough bread, red wine, Prosecco with brownies for dessert.

Here were the successes and more about the misses:

The red potato salad. Utterly delish! Used the brine from my pickles and added diced green onions, chopped McSweet's onions, a little mayonnaise, Plochman's mustard, capers, my pickles rough chopped, garlic, red pepper flakes, Frank's Red Hot, kalamata olives, fresh parsley from my little kitchen garden ~ and other things that don't come to mind right now.

The wild salmon mousse. This was really nice and the first time I've made it. My feeling about most salmon mousse is that it's a whole lot of cream cheese and not really much salmon. Well, I had some of my smoked salmon that I wasn't happy with the texture so I put it into the Cuisinart and chopped it up. It was actually very nice and crumbly, then I added a little cream cheese ~ enough to hold it together but not drown it. Then I started adding things that sounded good. Green onions, garlic, some pica de gallo spice, red pepper flakes, a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce, some nice creamed horseradish, fresh parsley and then started tasting and re-adding until I liked the final outcome. Excellent! 'Course, it made a bunch, so a small container went home with each person as they went out the door.

The spare ribs. Mmmmmm ~ not my finest hour. I believed the suggestion of slow cooking it in the oven for two to three hours and then putting it on the BBQ. I decided to put it in the smoker since it's a very low heat. When the time was nearly up, I added a rack at the top for my salmon. Well, I thought the spare ribs looked dry and over-done. I didn't even think sauce would save them. Yes, everyone ate them but maybe they were starving and/or just being polite. The worst of the smoker drama was my salmon. It was overcooked! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat! Jeeze. What was a surprise though was that it was delicious over the weekend once it had rested in the refrigerator. It's a mystery.

The Caesar salad was very nice. Audrey brought fresh lettuce from her garden on Bainbridge Island.

The pictures are of the aftermath. We got so focused on eating we forgot to take the pretty pictures for the blog. Bad Heidi!

Day 62 Everyday Grateful ~

Cool this morning.

Sunny predicted by this afternoon. 

All is right with the world!

The Romance of a Lilac Hedge . . .

Holy Cow! What a gorgeous week in Seattle (please don't move here!). While the rest of the country has been sweltering and dealing with power outages, we've had one of the nicest weeks this year. Warm? Yes. Sunny? Yes, that too.

One of the things I learned from my dermatologist when I rushed to her office this week is that because of climate change, poison oak, poison ivy and their noxious pals are moving north. Some time last week, I came in contact with one of these and had blisters the size of grapes on my feet (that's what I get for not wearing shoes). Anyway, it was hideous and itchy.

Don't worry. I won't post a picture. I have standards . . . however low.

In the interim, I've gotten behind on my posts.

Now, about my lilac hedge.

I love the romance of planting fragrant plants, naming my house and generally creating an atmospheric space in which to live. It's all part of creating a flourishing life. As we all know, a luxuriant lilac hedge is a de rigueur for any fairy tale. It is also true, a luxuriant lilac hedge requires a lovely fence. Lovely fences are expensive. Several years ago, I found wonderful salvage lattice cedar fence sections at Second Use. These fence sections are very cool. The lattice openings are square; not the standard diagonal slats. Square openings make for a very handsome fence.

     

There has always been lilac in the front garden. But, since we live in Seattle, sun is a continuing problem. The front fence gets the most sun. So, I've really been encouraging lilacs to grow here. The problem with a hedge along the front of my property is that as it grows and fills out, it can make backing out of the driveway tricky. 

Since my garden is for the most part planted by God, I am darn near an informational novice when it comes to the care and feeding of particular plants. So, I lean heavily on Wives Tales! The classic Wives Tale about lilac is you must prune it no later than the 4th of July. If you prune it later than that, you won't have flowers next year.

Anyway, what with not being able to wear shoes and hobbling around for the last ten days, the 4th of July came and went. I was out working in my yard yesterday when it hit me. The. 4th. of. July! Oh, jeez! Lilacs! Well, the 7th of July is close to the 4th. Isn't it?

I flew into action; a veritable gardening dervish! I pruned the lilac hedge, mowed the lawn in the front and the back (I could have benefited from hiring Rent-a-Ruminant for the back yard), blew off the driveway, back deck and courtyard. Then, I took all the recycle to the eco-center, stopped by the store for fresh wild salmon, cut it up and set it marinating to go into the smoker tomorrow, fixed a lovely toothsome dinner, drank a little Prosecco with a dash of Creme de Cassis, ate on the back deck (no mosquitoes ~ please don't move here) and, when the day was all over, slept the sleep of virtuous.

Gawd, it makes me tired just to read it! But, it's nice to have a really productive day. All caused by a missed deadline!

Maybe next year the lilacs will be back. Hope springs eternal!

Day 58 Everyday Grateful ~

Sunny and completely beautiful.

A reminder of climate change!

Seattle will soon be like Los Angeles in the '50's

~ blue skies, clean air.

Summer may be here! I must water my pots!

 

Staying in Florence? The Most Beautiful Bathroom in the World!

A while ago, my sons and I stayed in Florence at the most wonderful boutique hotel E*V*E*R! It wasn't that it was so chi-chi or uber-designed or architecturally astonishing. It was just so fully realized and immaculately presented.

I love living in a world knowing that lovely hotel is in it.

I remember in a previous post, I waxed poetic about my pink dogwood overhanging my back terrace saying something like I have complete confidence that the path into heaven is lined with pink dogwood eternally in bloom (or, something like that.) Well, if God or any of his heavenly hosts were staying in Florence, they would certainly stay at The Lungarno.

First of all, it's across the bridge from Palazzo Spini Feroni ~ the Palazzo Ferragamo and shop. Nice neighborhood! I mean, really now, how horrible can that possibly be? Right! Not at all.

We had taken the train down from Milan and arrived in the mid to late afternoon. Well, the Bear (my adored oldest son) is all about Prosecco when we visit. So, we hung out in the lobby toasted each other and laughed up a storm.

The lobby is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! The seating is extremely comfortable and everything is upholstered in cream/white linen with navy blue fringe piped around the cushions and a generous deep navy border around the bottom of each piece. Quiet, summery, inviting.

For me , the art is the showstopper. All original, pen and inks, charcoals, black and white water colours. All interesting and wonderfully presented. It also feels personal. Like the person who curated had an intelligent eye. Each piece felt selected on its merits. Handsome.

When we went up to our rooms, the wonder continued. My bedroom was not large but so immaculately appointed it left me breathless.

But, the bathroom! Oh, dear God, it was so exquisite. First of all, it was small. I mean weensy. Not that one would swing a cat, but, well, there wasn't room for that. As I've mentioned in my other posts, my bathroom is weensy, too ~ 5' 0" x 8' 0". Shower, toilet, vanity. My bathroom at the Lungarno also included a bidet so it was slightly larger than mine at home. And, that is where all comparisons end.

Marble! Marble wainscot. Marble floor. Marble moulding around the door frames. Marble base. Marble shower. Marble vanity. Beautiful. Heavenly. Marble.

Not certain of the kind but reminds me of crema marfil. It's deeply creamy. If you ever think of marble as edible. This is the one!

The towels thick and white. The linen towels crisp and white. The spa robe? You get the drift . . . yah, thick and white. The fixtures and fitting? Matte nickel ~ either by age or by design.

 



The bedroom walls were a true butter cream. The mouldings, wainscot and millwork were white. Did it have the best view in Florence? No, but I loved looking out at the old ivy covered walls. It was very much like a secret garden. Romantic and atmospheric as hell!

So, if you are planning a trip to Italy and Florence is on your itinerary, think about staying at The Lungarno. Is it expensive? Yes. But, if you stay in pensiones and small out of the way places on your trip, this is the place to splurge!

Day 38 Everyday Grateful ~

Coffee with my next door neighbor, Chuck

Started out bright blue skies. Now a little cloudy

Group of us having dinner this evening.

A perfect Seattle day. Lovely.

http://www.lungarnocollection.com/en/the-collection/florence/hotel-lungarno/5-stars-hotel-in-florence

Shopping in Venice

When my sons and I went to Italy the first time, we were absolutely "Innocents Abroad." Gawd! It's painful now to think about how utterly clueless we were. 'Course, Rick had just died and we were fleeing Christmas in Seattle, so I guess we had an excuse.

We landed in Milan, stayed the night and took the train to Venice the next day.

Psst ~ The next time you go to Milan and take the train ~ look up when you get to the station. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I know. I know. Yes, it was a salute to Fascist power under Mussolini but it is a wonderful mix of very strong Art Deco and thirty years of design ideas from the beginning of the project in 1906. Overlooking Mussolini and all his really terrible pals, it's a really wonderful train station.

When we got to Venice, it was dark, raining and Logan was sick. We stayed at Hotel Paganelli (Go there! Stay there!) overlooking all'isola di S. Giorgio. For people who knew nothing, we stumbled into paradise. The Bear has been living in Italy for over four years and he still stays at Hotel Paganelli when he goes to Venice and recommends it to friends.

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world ~ those who loathe Venice and those who adore it. I'm in the adoring camp. Serenissima! It rained like hell the entire time we were there. The water was literally jumping up six to twelve inches high as it percolated up through the cracks in the stones in the piazza (acqua alta); the city had put up elevated walkways all around the city; the wind was rattling the shutters. It was glorious!

Just to give you an idea of what aqua alta is all about, when you go through the San Marco Basilica, look at the floor. Acqua alta is the main reason the sublime mosaic floor looks like a washboard. An ankle breaker but, atmospheric as hell.

Mostly, we walked around. Since we were so completely stupid, most of our stay in Venice was tourism by braille. We literally fell over wonderful places. The Guggenheim Museum with its Picasso Studio retrospective for one.

But, if you are shopping in Venice, you need to know these things:

First: Fortuny. I have complete confidence that God's apartment in Heaven has Fortuny lighting, some wonderful tassels and maybe a throw or two. There isn't one thing in the Fortuny showroom that isn't utterly divine and perfect in every way. Bring your wallet. Expensive but every dollar will be well-spent.


Second: Murano glass. Two things: It's expensive and really, really beautiful. I recommend loving it there and buying it used / vintage in the US, if you can.

When Rick's parents went to Venice in the 50's, they came back with a little Murano chandelier which they put up in their dining room in Windermere. When they sold their home in Seattle, the little Murano chandelier came to live with us. It is entirely too small to be a ceiling fixture. So, I took it to Harold's Lighting in Wallingford and had Kim retrofit the stem for me.

In my mind, I thought of the little Murano chandelier as a lamp not a ceiling fixture. I had Kim give me a really long raw brass extension from the ceiling to the chandelier so it ends up sitting about where you would expect a lamp shade to be over a table. I just love it! It's the perfect solution for a very small Murano chandelier.

The second thing about Murano glass ~ jewelry. When my daughter-in-law went to visit friends in Dubai before the baby was born, the Bear and I went to Venice. He and I walked around being tourists. While he looked at gold coins to have made into cuff links (another wonderful story), I looked at the multi-strand, small glass bead necklaces in the shops along our path. This was true window shopping for me. Mostly because it felt like the necklaces were a million dollars. I couldn't even desire them, they were so expensive.

And, then in a very small shop, I saw a wonderful  gold-filled glass bead multi-strand necklace. Oooh, it was so lovely. The Bear scooped it up and bought it for me on the spot for my birthday. "Isn't a trip to Italy enough of a present?" I asked. "No, " he said. "You need something with a bow on it."

I love that boy!

Third: Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Carnevale masks. Carnevale di Venezia is the festival that leads up to Lent. It is street parties, masked balls, a riotous time had by all. If you are going to buy a mask in Venice, get a nice one. One worth lugging around for the rest of your trip. Stay away from the touristy places and get one you'll be glad to have when you get home. A friend brought me a wonderful leather mask painted in harlequin that I tucked into the base of a lamp in my dining room. And, hanging on the wall in my bathroom, a fantastic mask with a crown of playing cards with images of cats. Amazing.

The thing I love about Italy is how generous and friendly the people are. It really is La Dolce Vita twenty-four hours a day. Sure there was that whole unpleasantness with Mussolini and his band of thugs, but mostly all the men look like George Clooney; the women are beautiful, the food is wonderful (I'll tell you about wild Sardinian artichokes later); the art is jaw-dropping; Prosecco for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it doesn't even seem weird. I mean, really, this is a culture where buying a champagne sabre to open your Prosecco is not considered a gag gift!

Is that a great country or what!

So, if you're going to Venice . . . tuck a Donna Leon novel into your carry-on, go shopping, eat lots of good food, walk along the Riva degli Schiavoni, hang out in the Piazza San Marco (the living room of Europe), drink lots of red wine or Prosecco, get lost in the windy streets and have a wonderful time.

Day 28 Everyday Grateful ~ 
jobs checked off my list
great night's sleep.
Happy

http://www.fortuny.com/
http://www.venetiastudium.com/
http://www.hotelpaganelli.com/
http://www.donnaleon.net/
http://www.haroldslighting.com/

The Champagne Sabre

My oldest son, known far and wide as The Bear, has a heightened sense of fun. When he's not being Mr. International Law Attorney in Milan, he's being Mr. Wine, Mr. Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil, Mr. LaScala, Mr. Lake Como, Mr. Italian Sensibility.

He is, in fact, Mr. Enchanted April.

And, Mr. Steeltrap Memory. At dinner, I never know whether we'll hear a full rendition of Monty Python's swallow and the coconut complete with all the voices or a thoughtful analysis of how the Italians ended up hanging out with Hitler. Fascinating young man.

A couple of years ago, I was visiting at Christmas and the following ensued:

"Here, hold this and follow me," he said, as he handed me a Champagne flute. We walked out onto the balcony. And, with a flourish, he hauls out a sabre. Yikes, I thought ~ that looks deadly.

"Now, get ready."

"Get ready for what?" I said.

"You'll know," he said. With a sweep of his arm, he quickly and firmly slid the saber up the neck of the bottle of DOC Prosecco and P*O*P! The entire cork with its cage and the neck of the bottle flew off and sparkling wine bubbled out into my flute.

I mean, how fun is that!!!

I am a firm believer in having a case (or, in these lean times, at least six bottles) of a nice Champagne or DOC Prosecco on hand to be able to celebrate any occasion large or small in style. Your best friend just decided to join the gym? Champagne. You've finished your taxes? Champagne. Your neighbor just met a lovely woman? You're gonna need Champagne. And, if you just can't think of how to spend a couple of hundred dollars, you might consider a Champagne sabre . . . or, a very large kitchen knife.

At the rate we are launching Champagne corks off my son's balcony, I predict, we will very soon have enough basketed corks to decorate the Christmas tree. Now, that is something to celebrate!

Cheers! Salute! Cin-Cin!

 

http://www.amazon.com/HomeAndWine-com-Laguiole-Champagne-Sabre/dp/B000U8CXK2

http://www.wikihow.com/Open-a-Champagne-Bottle-with-a-Sword