Stylish Stationery

Do you know an easy way to remember how to spell stationery – what you write on, not the standing-still one? It has an E, which stands for ENVELOPE!. If you have a mind like a sieve like I do, it’s a good mnemonic. All of that is by way of showing you some of Dempsey & Carroll’s new line of stationery – and some, just in time for Christmas.I really go back and forth between sending electronic cards and paper cards, and this year, I am leaning towards sending all paper cards to my mailing list of friends scattered near and far. I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t deal with one.more.email! And some days, I don’t even get any mail, let along junk mail, so I know how much I look forward to an actual letter, and I think that others do,too.I love the detail on this one – it’s for when you want to give someone the moon – and it’s designed by Monica Rich Kosann!

I love that Dempsey & Carroll does collaborations with J. McLaughlin,

and Schumacher! How could you not love the iconic Chiang Mai Dragon print?

Dempsey & Carroll asked me to contribute a post to their blog, which I was delighted to do! I did an essay about doctors’ handwriting, which is universally thought of as being quite horrible. But that wasn’t always the case, as evidenced by a lot of the materials at the archives where I work.

To read my post on Dempsey & Carroll’s Eighteen Seventy Eight blog, please click here.

A note to readers:

I have more than 1,000 images from High Point to edit and cull, and then put into stories. I am going to spend part of the weekend working on this project, so next week will be filled with my reflections and recollections from High Point! Between my work schedule and my volunteer obligations, this week has had not a moment of time to be spared for this High Point images!

Scalamandré Haute Décor by Steven Stolman

I received the most beautiful book from friends Janice Langrall and Steven Stolman and it’s one of the most spectacular books in my collection and I’ve got quite a collection of books!! It’s Steven’s new book, Scalamandré Haute Décor, just published about five minutes ago!I am a big fan of Scalamandré in part because of Steven and Janice, but also because they produce some of the most beautiful fabrics imaginable! They have created custom fabrics or reproduced old textiles for some of the most significant houses in the States, including a number of fabrics for the White House. In Jacqueline Kennedy’s restoration of the White House, Scalamandré fabrics were the basis for a number of the rooms.

The book is very personal to the company, with letters praising them about jobs the company assisted with from both corporate and private clients, as well as small antique shops and large department stores.

Scattered throughout the book are wonderful, pithy quotes from some of the leading lights in design and interiors.

In addition, there are myriad images of the most gorgeous rooms you’ve ever seen, regardless of whether the style is to your taste.

As soon as I got this book, I fed the dog, and then plunked down and looked at it carefully from cover to cover, and I have to say, it’s just such a beautiful book!

Steven will be doing book signings all across the country. He’s such a fun and wonderful man, I hope you can go see him speak about the book, and then buy one for him to sign! You can order the book here.

The Jam

This year has been a bumper year for figs in our area, but only because it’s not rained for more than a month. This lack of rain gives the figs time to ripen and concentrate their sugar. If you think about the climates associated with figs, it’s usually hot and dry – just like August 2013 in Baltimore!Fresh figs are a rare treat, mainly because they’re so fragile as a commercial crop when they’re ripe. They are quite soft and smash easily. I was given access to a friend’s fig tree and went over there last weekend to check out the crop. The figs weren’t ripe yet, so we only got about two dozen… hardly enough to make jam, but I managed.

A week of great weather and no rain was all the figs needed! We got tons today! I probably picked about five pounds, and my friend Julie picked slightly less than that. It was then over to William-Sonoma to check and see if they’d gotten in the small Weck jars that I like, which they had. I bought out their stock – all 12 of the 5.4 oz. size and headed home to make the jam.

The recipe is simple (you can find it here from last year) and it is worth repeating. I cut the stem ends off the figs, but don’t peel them, as I don’t have nearly enough patience to do that, and it’s generally unnecessary. I quarter the figs because it’s the simples way to cut them. Cut. Turn. Cut.Toss them in a heavy pan with sugar, lemon peel, bourbon and a pinch of salt.Let them sit for at least an hour and stir occasionally. The sugar will begin to release the juices from the fruit. Once you begin cooking, bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about 35 minutes to cook down, stirring occasionally. I give the jam a couple of whizzes with the immersion blender (the most amazing kitchen tool) and keep stirring. You want the jam to be chunky, but not overly so. Fish out the pieces of lemon peel. You’re supposed to julienne them, but I don’t like the long pieces in the jam after it’s finished. By this time, the jam should be a gorgeous dark brown and ready for putting in the jars, which of course, you’ve sterilized. If you drip any of the jam on the outside of the jar, clean it off with a damp cloth. (If you’re wondering why it says “vegetable” upside down, I use one side of the cutting board for veg and the other side for fruit… nothing worse than garlic-tinged strawberries!)As I mentioned, I bought 12 of the 5.4 oz. jars, and made enough jam for 12.5 jars of jam!Add the clamps to the jars and refrigerate. It will keep well in the fridge… I am not sure about its shelf-life in the cupboard though!I checked the jam in the half-filled jar, and it looks like it’s set up nicely and gelled well! I love this served over a little bit of goat cheese on a nice cracker. It’s also a great size to give someone as a host/ess gift. And it’s great to have for breakfast on toast. Right, Reggie?

More Lettuce (sort of)

I wrote about the Lettuce Ware last week and right after that I went to a huge yard sale at the Greek Church close to my office, as I mentioned yesterday. One of the things that I picked up was two green leaf plates.

Not lettuce ware, but green majolica.

Of course, the first thing I did was flip them over, as I do to pretty much any china I see (that’s not in a private home!). I am always so interested in the maker’s marks. When I was looking up to see if I could find any information about plates similar to these, which are unmarked, I discovered that Wedgwood also made a lettuce leaf-style plate.

The Wedgwood pattern seems to come in several iterations including a dark green, a leafier green and white.

There also seems to be a huge price range on these plates on Ebay, ranging from $9.00 to $70.00 for one plate!

Some of the plates are lettuce/cabbage leaves and others are strawberry leaves.

I am always amazed that you hear or read about something, and then all of a sudden it appears everywhere! What fun!

Weekend Update: Late August

What a gorgeous weekend we had here in the mid-Atlantic. Clear, cool and cloud-free! In fact, on Saturday night, I was chilly. I had been at a dinner and we ate outside. Once the sun went down, the temperature fell to about 61* and I got a chill. I had to turn on the heated seats in my car on the way home! In August!!! Who’d have ever thought. The whole evening was worth every second, especially getting to meet the host’s newest acquisition, Miss Peale, on the left. The one on the right is going to live with friends! Not a whole lot cuter than a couple of eight-week old Jack Russells!

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I had planned to go to an auction on Saturday morning, but about halfway there, I decided that it was too pretty a morning to spend it inside at the auction rooms. There were really only a few lots that I was interested in, and they had high estimates on them or else there was more in the lot that I didn’t want than what I did want.

I’d have liked to swoop up this bar-cart, but I don’t really have a place in my house for it. Also, it was a bit too orange for me.

Maybe it was owned by the same person who owned these crazy Mid-Century Modern chairs!

I liked this lot of silverplate, but I still have a bunch of pieces from the last auction.

I did go to a yard sale Saturday morning and grabbed this fun piece.I haven’t decided what I am going to do with it yet. Any suggestions?

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Friday morning, I went to the huge annual yard sale at the Greek Church that’s a half a block from our offices. What a bonanza! Since I was practically the first person there, I got first pick. Isn’t there a whole genre of blogs of vlogs that just show the “haul” from a shopping trip? Ugh. There were three or four other rooms filled with furniture, books and baby and children’s gear. I am sure that they made a ton of money to support the good works that the church does – in fact, they were very generous to the children at the organization where I used to work.

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I want to thank everyone who took the time to fill out the survey I had last week. If you didn’t yet have a chance to answer the fewer than 20 questions, there’s still time. The survey is here. Anyone who fills out the survey before September 1st, and leaves their name, will be entered into a drawing for Mark Hampton’s On Decorating book. Your input will be invaluable as I move forward with Pigtown*Design! Thanks!

Peach & Bourbon Preserves

My neighbour, an older Greek man who is the most amazing gardener, brought me over some peaches from one of his trees. While they weren’t the biggest or the most beautiful peaches, I know that they were grown with love, and without lots of chemicals. Since I had just gotten some Maryland peaches the day earlier, I pondered what I could do with them. I remembered last year when Mr. Stephanos had given me some figs, I made fig & bourbon jam from them, so I thought Peach and Bourbon are a great combination, so why not try it.

I hunted around for a recipe, and found a simple one – basically meaning one that meant I didn’t have to leave the house to get any of the ingredients. The recipe came from the Chicago Tribune and it was so easy.

I wasn’t sure how much my peaches weighed, so I just estimated. I also didn’t have any tapioca, so I used some pectin to help it gel.

To make skinning the peaches easier, I did the boiling water/ice bath technique.

Put the fruit/veg in boiling water for about 30 seconds, but not long enough to start it cooking, and then plunge into a bowl of ice-water. The skins will peel right off. This is great for tomatoes, too!

I cut up the peaches, but perhaps not as small as suggested and then added everything to the pot. I added one of the peach pits because, if I remember correctly, they impart some pectin.

After about five minutes, everything began to boil and soften. Oh, where it says to add a half-teaspoon of bourbon? Ha! It was more like a half a cup. I also used sugar that had a vanilla bean in it.

After cooking for another ten minutes, it was really starting to break down, but to hurry it along, I gave it a couple of wizzes with my immersion blender.

Then I decanted the jam into some of my Weck jars. It was pretty true to the recipe and made about two cups. I got four of the small jars with a 5.4 oz. capacity and one with a 12 oz. capacity.

The peaches might be a little chunkier than I like, but that’s okay. I checked the jam/preserves this morning and the jam had set nicely. The bit I tasted last night was good, but I think that after sitting a little while, it will be even better!

For the recipe, click on the image to enlarge it, or click on this Chicago Tribune link.