English Country in the City

Have you seen British style-writer and interior designer Rita Konig's New York apartment in The Selby? (Rita is the current T Magazine and former Domino editor.) It is a little piece of heaven. She has turned a small West Village apartment into a sort of "Jane Austen meets modern day magazine editor's" cozy retreat. It feels like a country cottage in the midst of New York City. And how smart, since I can imagine that if you lived in New York, nothing would feel better than coming home to a soothing and enthralling oasis after a day in the city. I am smitten!

Her apartment feels fresh and at the same time evokes a strong feeling of home. Like a little house with a country feel in the middle of the city.

In an interview for New York Magazine, Rita said that the fireplace and the windows were the reason she took the apartment. She goes on to say, "I have always liked decorating my small apartments as though they are just a few of the rooms in a much larger house, so you have the feeling that you could, should you want to, wander off to the drawing room, library, dining room, but for the moment are just choosing to be in this rather cozy study."

The prettiest room is the bedroom. Feminine and romantic, it would be like sleeping in a little garden.  

I love Rita Konig's design philosophy. She says (from the interview above), "You just have to be able to sink back at home. If there aren't comfortable chairs or a sofa, you are sunk. I am more interested in that, really, than the trim on the curtains. Sitting and chatting is what I really like most of all in the whole world."

I couldn't agree with her more. The most inviting homes are a personal narrative of the way people live, a reflection of who they are. Books, art, travel souvenirs, and family heirlooms give a cozy and lived-in look to a home. I once heard a decorator say that rooms should be collected not decorated. I think Rita Konig has accomplished that goal and created a home that is warm and welcoming. 

To see the full tour of Rita Konig's apartment, go here.

Summer Cocktail

Summer is almost here and you may be searching for a fun, new cocktail to serve your guests on a warm summer evening. I have the perfect solution for you and it even has some Jazz Age glamour!

The drink is "Juice of a Few Flowers." Gerald and Sara Murphy made it at their villa in the south of France in the 1920's. Their guests were some of the brightest literary and artistic talents of the time; Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, Picasso, Cole Porter and Dorothy Parker. They were all in attendance at the legendary parties given by the Murphys, considered by many to be the most sought after invitation on the French Riviera.

Everyone seems to be talking about the Jazz Age right now with the release of the new film "The Great Gatsby."  I love stories about the writers and artists living in Paris and the south of France during this era; it was a magical time, beautifully depicted in Woody Allen's film "Midnight in Paris." So I thought I would draw upon a previous blog post and give you the recipe (modified by a friend of mine) for "Juice of a Flowers" to make this weekend.

Here is a description of the parties given by the Murphys at their villa in Antibes:

"Sara had a phrase, 'Dinner-Flowers-Gala,' derived from the notation carried on ships' menus for the captain's dinner: it was Murphy language for any special occasion, and there were many...usually dinners for eight to ten. First there were Gerald's special cocktails on the terrace, cocktails that he claimed contained 'just the juice of a few flowers'...These Gerald mixed, Phillip Barry said, like a priest preparing Mass, and he served them ritually; you were only allowed two cocktails, and you were not offered anything else to drink before dinner. During cocktails the children would come down in their bathrobes and sing a song or dance...afterwards they would go up to bed. And then there would be dinner under the linden tree, by candlelight, the women in their beaded dresses and the men in their dinner jackets, with everyone so young and merry and clever."

-- from Everybody Was So Young by Amanda Vaill

Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall?

Last week a friend made me a "Juice of a Few Flowers." One sip and in my imagination I was there: summers in the south of France and the glamour of the Jazz Age. With summer coming up and everyone talking about "The Great Gatsby," this would be a great cocktail to include in your summer menus. The recipe is from Ina Garten, but make sure you add some simple syrup to taste (as my friend did) and rim the glasses with sugar. Why not infuse your weekend with a little Jazz Age glamour!

Juice of a Few Flowers Cocktail

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup good vodka, such as Grey Goose
Extra lemon juice
Granulated sugar
Fresh mint sprigs

Combine fruit juices and vodka in a pitcher. Dip the rims of 4 martini glasses first in a dish with lemon juice and then in a dish with sugar. When ready to serve, place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker, add the cocktail mixture to fill the shaker three-quarters full, and shake for about 30 seconds.  Pour into the sugared martini glasses and garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve ice-cold.

Recipe via here
Photos via here

A Rose-Covered House

Where does your mind wander when you see an image? If you are like me and enjoy a certain kind of novel or mystery set in the English countryside, then you probably swoon at the sight of rose-covered houses. Is there anything more romantic? It is a sight that evokes the enchantment of a fairy tale. Remember the Madeline stories? "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines..." And it conjures up some of my favorite books and literary characters.   

I can picture a heroine from Henry James, Isabel Archer perhaps, peering through these windows. 

 And behind this window I can imagine characters from Jane Austen's novels -- maybe the Dashwood or the Bennet sisters. Having been forced out of their manor house, they are living in reduced circumstances and residing in a cottage, though a very charming one at that.

This could be the ramshackle castle where the young heroine of I Capture the Castle lived with her eccentric family, dreaming of romance and writing her diary while "sitting in the kitchen sink."

And it is easy to envision a witty Nancy Mitford heroine walking through this door at any moment
with the bucolic landscape of the Cotswolds as her backdrop.

Jane Eyre could easily have looked up and spied these scarlet climbing roses at Thornfield Hall.

 And virtuous May Welland, Newland Archer's fiance in The Age of Innocence, might have trembled as she imagined a not quite suitable female living behind these walls.

This could have been the window through which Miss Mapp first spied her rival Lucia in the Mapp and Lucia  books by E. F. Benson. 

Photo by Kimberly Wold

And Margaret Schlegel of E.M. Forster's Howards End could have gazed up at this rose-covered house and fallen in love with it.

We all have these Proustian moments when we see an image and are taken on a little journey into the past. Rose-covered houses remind me of my trip to the Cotswolds that I took a few years ago. The sight of them also takes me back to some of my favorite books set in the English countryside. Images from travel and books can stay with us forever. We file them away in our memory bank and don't even realize they are there until something sparks a remembrance. And then we are off...

Photos via Pinterest

A Night To Honor Julia

It seems that we can't get enough of Julia Child. Maybe it is because Julia's life story is filled with so many lessons for all of us. As Bob Spitz told the group gathered on Tuesday night to hear him speak about his book Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, she taught us that in mid-life we can reinvent ourselves. At age 40, when she studied French cooking at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and began the journey that would lead to the writing of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking,"she did not even know how to cook. She was 50 years old when her first cookbook was published. And she was 52 when her show "The French Chef" debuted on WGBH in Boston. She had never been on television before and did not even own a television set. It really is amazing to think about.

Julie Robinson and Bob Spitz

On Tuesday night I went to a wonderful event hosted by Julie Robinson of Literary Affairs.  We met at Surfas, a restaurant supply and gourmet food purveyor in Culver City, for an evening called "Dearie and Mastering the Art of French Cooking." The title said it all.  We would be cooking several dishes from Julia Child's "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" under the supervision of Maite Gomez-Rejon of Art Bites.  Afterwards we would sit down to eat the dinner we had prepared, drink some beautiful French wines, and listen to Bob Spitz's warm and affectionate talk about Julia Child. As he happily admitted, he has had a crush on her for a long time.

He told us that he got the opportunity to spend some quality time with her in 1992.  He was in Italy  working on magazine articles when he got a call from the Italian travel commission. They asked if he would like to escort Julia Child on a trip to Sicily. At that point she was eighty years old. He jumped at the chance and spent three weeks with Julia in Sicily, eating and talking nonstop. It was a life changing experience. If his book reads anything like his warm and humorous talk on Tuesday night --he does a spot-on impersonation of Julia Child -- it will be delightful. I cannot wait to get a copy.

Maite Gomez-Rejon created an exciting menu for us to cook from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

Simple Green Salad with French Vinaigrette

Celery Root in Mustard Sauce

Chicken Sauteed with Herbs and Garlic

Tomatoes Stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Herbs and Garlic

Potatoes Sauteed in Butter

Fresh Strawberry Tart

And so we chopped, stirred, whisked, sauteed and appreciated the beauty of butter. After all, these recipes were from Julia Child and butter was in almost everything. It made the food taste delicious! 

I cheated on the last photo (via here). Our strawberry tart needed more time to set up before having its photo taken. But the strawberry tart (above) from Ina Garten is what ours would have looked like with a bit more time.

By the way, for those of you who live in Los Angeles, Julie Robinson and Maite Gomez-Rejon are local treasures. Julie runs Literary Affairs which puts on stimulating book events with writers and  facilitates book groups all around town. Her Beverly Hills Literary Escape is coming up in October, 2013. Maite created Art Bites in order to combine her two passions: art history and cooking. In her cooking classes, she weaves culinary history with hands-on cooking at museums across the country. I have taken a few of her classes and they are always instructive, educational and fun. Like Julia Child, both these women have followed their passions and turned them into a business. I left the event on Tuesday night feeling very inspired!

Spring in Bloom

"Spring" by Vanessa Bell

Spring is in bloom and there are flowers everywhere. It seems as if everyone is inspired by flowers right now. Here are some beautiful creations by florists, writers, artists, designers, and chefs.

Flowers by Hollyflora

The Flower Recipe Book by Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo
Photo via here

Flowers at Stephanie Grace

Peonies at Stephanie Grace

Camellias at Robinson Gardens

Orchids at Westerlay Orchids in Carpinteria

A salad of spring greens and flowers at El Encanto Hotel in Santa Barbara

Floral china at El Encanto Hotel
Photo by Donanne Kasikci

Perennial favorite Colefax and Fowler chintz fabric "Bowood" 

Photo via here

De Gournay wallpaper

Photo via here

New book Flowers by Carolyn Roehm
Photo via here

Art work by Simone Shuback at Taylor de Cordoba
Photo via here

Dress by Valentino
Photo via here

Flowers have always been a source of inspiration. Claude Monet wrote, " I perhaps owe becoming an artist to flowers." There will always be creative spirits who bring flowers into their work for all of us to enjoy. The first days of spring make the heart sing. Gardens are blooming and talented and creative people everywhere are finding inspiration in flowers. Their creations brighten up our days.

Photos by Sunday Taylor unless otherwise noted

A Welcoming Kind of House

"Cecilia's and Emmeline's house was in Oudernarde Road, which runs quietly down into Abbey Road, funnel of traffic and buses. It had big windows, arched stairs and wrought-iron steps at the back leading down to a small garden. Cecilia, hesitant over the agent's order, looking about at the temptingly sunny spaces of floor, had remarked: 'It's a long way from everybody we know...' But Emmeline said: 'We never know whom we are going to meet.' From the first glance the house had smiled at them and was their own. So here they had settled." 

--  from "To The North" by Elizabeth Bowen

********

I have always loved this quote from To the North by Elizabeth Bowen. It is a poignant book about two young women in their twenties living together in London and finding their place in the world. One is an orphan and the other is newly widowed. Finding the right house is of paramount importance to their sense of safety and stability. The idea that "the house had smiled at them and was their own" struck me as so true. It made think about the elements that go into making a house a welcoming kind of place, a house that smiles at us and shelters us from the storm. A house that we love and and want to make our own. Of course it is different for everyone, but here are some ingredients that I think make a house a haven.

A cheerful front door

A cozy sitting room 

A fireplace

Window panes to look through on a rainy day

A sunny kitchen

Blue and white crockery

 A room with a view

A snug bedroom

A touch of tartan

A smattering of red

A room to call our own

Books and flowers

 A writing desk

A reading nook

Candlelight

Outdoor seating

Climbing roses

And last but not least, there is a certain something, a quality that is hard to define. It could be the lighting at dusk, the patina of the bricks or the fragrance of the garden. We may sense past generations who have lived there and we feel a connection. The emotion is strong, even mysterious. We are at home.

Images via Pinterest

Last image from Howards End