Swede

Easter Day - Colleen Martin at Home

 

Simple Easter Sunday at home.  Here are a few shots around the house today.  I have been trying to pare down my decor and not go crazy with a lot of novelty items for holidays.  Today I am using a few things I have had for many years.  I did put an Easter wreath on the front door - same one I've had for 8 years or so. 

Simple wreath of eggs on my Swedish 1770 cupboard. 

Always love getting this little flying rabbit on a stick out each year. So fun. I've probably had him around 20 years. Wish I had the creativity to create things like this.  Love his egg.

Fried oyster breakfast, a tradition from Rick's side of the family.

Another long time decor piece, this birch wreath with blue eggs on the console table with glass bottles from France and glass floats.

For today's tablescape, I chose a blue charger Lacque de Chine from Haviland. Placemats from Williams-Sonoma. Ricci gold plated stainless steel flatware. 

I started this family tradition of using covered glass objects at each person's place setting for holiday meals. For Easter I have clear glass rabbits from Williams-Sonoma filled with gifts for each guest.  I believe these glass rabbits were made for W-S by Smith Glass of New England.  I've had these about 20 years. 

My theme today is blues and greens fresh for Spring.  Dinner plate is Pompadour by Charles Field Haviland. Love the hand painted birds all round the rim.  Inside the dining room you can hear birds chirping nonstop. Great fit. 

If you know me, my tables are all about the mix of high and low. I don't care where something comes from as long as it can hold its own - trash or treasure.  These bunny plates were about $8 at Pottery Barn. They originally came in different colors but I only chose the aqua ones. 

Simple and cheap stemware - clear and bubble glass. 

I do love the color aqua. This is an antique French monogrammed gravy boat. 

Aqua pedestal cake plate pulled out of the cupboard.

Huge green bunnies for the centerpiece. They are made out of birch sticks and a covering of faux moss. Ribbons around their necks.  Everybody who sees these wants one.  Kicking myself for not purchasing more when I found these.

Rick put a ribeye roast in the oven for dinner. 

I worked in the garden a little bit this morning.  Snow Drops are still pretty as well as the Daffodils.  White Dogwood tree is starting to come out.

And, last, here is a sneak peak of one of my new items being introduced at High Point market in a couple weeks. Not a good shot as it was taken on the loading dock.  Swedish barrel chair with nickel sun faces on the inside back.  For April market, I am introducing Elegant Hand Carved Barn Doors - four styles, some new French shell stools, a Gustavian bench, a huge cathedral candlestick and my triangular sunburst mirror in gold this time.  More photos later after market closes. 

Hope you are having a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Colleen 

 

Tablescape: Valentine's Dinner in Shades of Red

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. 

Here is my table. So many shades of red and berrry:  Cranberry, raspberry, puce, aubergine, strawberry and ruby. In this tablescape for Valentine's Day, I pulled out of the cupboards a lot of red-ish plates and stemware.

I think I got the heart at Hobby Lobby as a Christmas ornament several years ago.

But first, here is my favorite definition of love:

When I Googled, it said the author was Simone Wood and the full quote is: "Love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. To love somebody isn't just a strong feeling. It's a decision, a judgement, and a promise."  With love being so hard to define, I like this one.

I decided not to make fresh flower arrangements and just use items I had in the house like the white Orchids and seashell sculpture for the centerpiece. 

 Antique Swedish Rococo cabinet from 1780. Swede Collection oval-back chairs.

 
I used this white quilted boutis tablecloth because I like how the scallops touch the floor.

Here are the resources I used:

Haviland charger in Laque de Chine Aubergine gold. These are new not antique.

The appetizer plate for soft foods that don't scratch the painting on the plate. This porcelain cherub plate could be made by Nyon of Switzerland [1780-1860] from the fish symbol that is on the backside with no manufacturer's name.  I call these my Florence Vanderbilt plates - set of 12.

The dealer I purchased them from told me they belonged to a granddaughter of Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly [died 1952], who was one of nine children of William H. Vanderbilt. Apparently there was a large set of this china but by the time I found it only the dinner plates were left. According to the dealer, much of the set went to a man who collects Vanderbilt memorbilia. I did not buy them because of the V connection because I thought that was just sales talk, but checking into it further [I Googled and looked on Ancestry.com], I did find the last name of the seller [Burden of Connecticut] and it matched the family name on her family tree. That doesn't really mean the granddaughter got them from Florence. They could have come from another source or even the other side of her family. This is when I really wish antiques could talk and tell the story of their lives. A lot of times there is more fiction than facts to inflate an object's value. I know that I could never sell anything that I inherited from my Grandmother or GreatGM even if I was starving.

This is Florence Vanderbilt painted in 1896 by John Singer Sargent.  Do I really own her plates? Will never know.

 

Salad plate is signed RB Boston. This color when it was popular was called puce. Lovely plates with the swirls, gold flourishes and hand painted flowers.

Rim soup plate by Royal Worcester marked on the back 1885. Wonderful size at 10" across.

Hubby made his fish chowder of shrimp, clams, mahi-mahi and vegetables.

The dinner plates I think are vintage not antique.

Made by Royal York of Germany. This color is more ruby or cranberry. Flatware is Ricci of Italy in the Raffaello pattern. It is gold plated stainless steel. I love the fish-scale design.

These dessert plates are among my favorite china. Made by Spode Copeland and hand painted and signed by R. Wood.  I call this color ruby.

I am using three pieces of stemware.

In front, William Yeoward's "Pearl", on left a Pottery Barn goblet with ruby stem, pattern name unknown, and on right, Varga's raspberry "Imperial".

Napkin ring by Kim Seybert and Le Jacquard Francais napkin in Graphic Black Current.

Thanks for visiting to see my tablescape.

This week I will be linking to:

Tablescape Thursday: http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Colleen

Photos: Swede

Daily Thing of Beauty: Crowns

 

Continuing from Thursday's Winter Dinner post, here are a couple more photos.  Today's daily thing of beauty is this gold metal crown underneath an etched glass cloche which is sitting on a mirror-topped brass plateau. I love how the gold of the metal looks with all the neutrals.

The plateau is on my dining table and is surrounded by mercury glass votives holding flameless candles. I like how the plastic "ice" garlands from Hobby Lobby bring out the sparkle of the mercury glass.  

Below is a snowflake ornament from Hobby Lobby placed on the salad plate prior to dinner. You could add a name tag to the cord and use it for a placecard or if you wanted to give them as take-away gifts.

I also want to share the receipe for cream cheese white sauce that I use for fruit.  Everyone who tries it wants the receipe and it is so simple.

Fruit is in a rim soup in the Arizona pattern by Charles Field Haviland.  When I have a choice, I buy rim soups and skip purchasing salads and dessert plates.  Using the rim soup for all three saves significantly.

Above, the fruit is cut strawberries and pears with whole dark red raspberries and blueberries.  Sometimes I cut up cantelope if it is for a breakfast.

The sauce is equal parts Philadelphia cream cheese and sour cream. I use 8 ounces of each. Next add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of white sugar. It helps to get the cream cheese to room temperature before combining all ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer. This stuff is so good I eat it by the spoon full without the fruit. 

Summer

Photos: Swede 

Food: Winter Blogger's Breakfast

 

I'm sure you have heard of the Breakfast of Champions, but this is the Blogger's Breakfast for Winter months. I have no idea of calories, carbs or such things in this meal. For some unknown reason, I only eat hot cereal in the winter. 

Here's what you will need for nourishment for all that typing and taking photos:

1. Quaker Oats - old fashioned- 5 minute kind
2. Sun Maid dried apricots, sliced
3. Chopped walnuts
4. Yogurt or 1/2 N 1/2
5. California navel oranges
6. Fresh blueberries
7. Florida red grapefruit juice

And a pretty goblet, bowls and antique spoon makes it taste better. Edward goblet and Apilco bowls from Williams-Sonoma. Tiffany sterling spoon from 1898.

Instant oatmeal does not give it the texture I was looking for so I use the Old Fashioned kind. Prepare as directed on the box. I used water instead of milk.

I used vanilla flavored Dannon yogurt but found it was too sweet for me that early in the morning.  I would recommend a non-flavored variety, or if you want it creamy, use some 1/2 N 1/2.

Yum-yum!  Let me know if you tried it or have other ingredients that you like with your oatmeal.  I know some people like brown sugar, but I am trying to stay away from sugars. I would substitute fresh blueberries or add them if I didn't already have fresh oranges.

Summer

Photos: Swede

Travel: Laduree Paris - Bringing Home the Macarons

 

One of the treats Mr. Swede brought me from Paris last week were macarons [French spelling vs. English] from Laduree. This treat was for my big "O" birthday Friday.  The number before the "O" keeps getting bigger.  So I'm another decade older.

 
I, along with millions of others, love Laduree's packaging.  It is one of the reasons you buy them.  They've got marketing down. They've had a few years to get it right, though, since 1862.

 
I wonder if the new New York store will have the same packaging or if they created American styles.

 
The New York store opens this Friday, August 26th.  There is just something about buying the macarons in Paris that make it an occasion. It's the ambiance of the city of Paris that make these cookies special. If you travel, you can find their stores other places in the world -- Kuwait, Ireland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- but they are just not Paris. Read more about Laduree Here.  The macarons are not exclusive to Laduree either as other bakeries in France make them.

 
As of today, they are about half gone. Yum, yum!

All the best,

Summer

Photos: Swede

 

Thanksgiving Breakfast: Fried Oysters

 

 

My husband's grandfather on his mother's side had a tradition of fried oysters for breakfast on Christmas morning.  My husband loved this tradition and continued it as an adult, the only sibling in his family to carry it on. After we married, as a love gesture, I expanded the tradition to Thanksgiving breakfast as well.  If you also had fried oysters for Thanksgiving breakfast, raise your hand!  [I thought so, Smile] Our local stores carry oysters during the holidays because people put them in their turkey dressing.  We don't do that.  We use my Mother's recipe for white bread stuffing. This, of course, is not a foodie blog, but my husband asked me if I would blog about it.   

 

Since there is just the two of us at this meal, two pints of oysters is good. Pacific Coast oysters are not the same as those grown in other locations by taste or size.  They come in size grades, yearling, extra small, small, medium, large and extra large.  This year we could only get extra smalls. There are approximately 18 extra smalls in a pint.  Make sure you look at the packed by date as foul oysters can make you sick.  I always look at the grocery store for Willapoint oysters grown in Washington state since that is where my husband calls home.

http://www.coastseafoods.com/shucked.html

On a visit, I remember driving by an oyster packing plant and seeing the piles of oyster shells on the site piled high -- many feet high.  I see now where the shells are being used for decorative objects like lamps and mirrors frames.

 

Take one package of Nabisco Premium saltine crackers and crush them up in the Cuisinart with the metal blade.

 

If you don't have a Cuisinart machine, crush them up in a Ziploc or other plastic bag using a rolling pin.

 

Add fine ground pepper to taste to the crushed crumbs.  He uses no other seasonings.  Beat three eggs in a separate bowl. Some people add hot chili sauce to the egg mixture, but we do not.  We do not add salt either.

 

Wash and drain the oysters.

 

Dip each oyster in the well beaten eggs.

 

Coat each oyster in the cracker crumbs.

 

Place them all on a cookie sheet.

 

Heat extra virgin olive oil in two pans. This will give them room to fry without touching each other so the hot oil can encircle the oyster. This is the rule for frying chicken as well.

 

Cook over medium high heat for a few minutes and turn when you can see the cracker crumbs getting golden brown.

 

Here they are brown on both sides.

 

A fish plate is in order, of course.  This is Richard Ginori's Coquille pattern.

 

Dish them up and enjoy.

 

Serve them with chunky green tomato pickles.

 

My husband eats them with tomato catsup.  Serve them with red grapefruit sections, scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls and tomato juice.

Ingredients:

1. 2 pints extra small oysters
2. 3 well beaten large eggs
3. 1 package saltine crackers crushed
4. extra virgin olive oil for frying
5. fine ground pepper to taste

 All the best,

Summer

Photo Credits: Swede

 

Finding Beauty: Pike Place Market

 

 

Guess where I was last week?  I'll give you a subtle little hint.

Here's another clue.

Twenty year ago, I lived two hours north of Seattle on Whidbey Island. We went back last week for a reunion on Mercer Island.  One of my favorite places to always visit is Pike Place Market.  I love the flowers and the vegetables.  It never disappoints. 

 http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

What I love to see when I visit a location is the attention that is given to beautification of public areas.  It is such a visual joy to go to a town or city that has hanging baskets of flowers on every light pole.  It seems that when I travel I notice that more attention is being placed on landscape beautification at street corners, in front of shops, at building marquees, etc.  Even in a bad economy, this budget doesn't look like it was cut.  The unique thing about Pike Place Market is that these floral planters are put at the roofline.  The plants are in their full glory of color and look so healthy. I don't know who the caretakers are or how they reach them to plant, fertilize and water the planters at that elevation, but they are magnificent. So beautiful they almost don't look real.  Beautiful job - Bravo - to whoever planned, installed and maintains this floral project.  Thank you for giving me such visual joy.

These planters are in full public view but don't interfere with the pedestrians on the crowded streets.

These are outside a second floor restaurant.

These planter boxes are no small project. They run along the rooflines of the walkways for several blocks on both sides of the street.  When the planter boxes stop, hanging baskets every few feet begin.

The hanging baskets hang down about three feet. They are just incredible.   Street musicians always draw a huge crowd.

 

Pike Place Market has a variety of things for sale -- fish, flowers and plants, vegetables, seasonal items, etc.  There are restaurants and shops on the surrounding blocks, including the original Starbucks.   

I can find beauty everywhere.  The fruit and vegetable displays look like works of art.

 
The colors in these Cherries are just an eye full.    

Washington's Ranier cherries.

 

I'm easy to please. I can find beauty in a simple pile of onions.

My real joy, though, is to walk through the flower stalls.  You can purchase big full bouquets of flowers for $10 or $15.  The bouquets are so huge I don't see how they can grow them, take them to market and make a profit when they charge so little.  It does make it affordable to always have flowers in your home if you live close by.

Dahlias are in season and the flower stalls were full of all colors and varieties.

 

Look how large these bouquets are!  Here are photos of some of my favorites. Dahlias, Lilies, Sunflowers,  Delphinium --well I probably love most all flowers.

Isn't that Dahlia just magnificent? 

These always remind me of the Delphiniums my Mother grew in Idaho.

I am in awe of how perfect Mother Nature can make these. They just take my breath away. 

These Lilies are just perfection.  I don't know how they could be any prettier.

  

Oh, be still my heart! Just fabulous.
 

  
It just wouldn't be a visit to Pike Place if I didn't show you some fish. The fishmongers were not "flying" the fish when I was there.  Maybe the crowd wasn't big enough for such entertainment.

While in Seattle, you might want to visit the Science Fiction Museum. The roof of the building is certainly an eye-catcher. 

http://www.empsfm.org/

And take a ride on a Duck.

And my parting photo has to be a water scene:

 

Ahhhhhhhh, Seattle.  You are beautiful indeed.

If you don't live close by, I hope you can visit soon.

All the best,

Summer Day

Photo Credits:  All Swede

 

Laduree Paris Macarons

Well, it finally happened.

Yes, I finally got to taste the macaroon cookies from Laduree in Paris. In Paris they spell it "macaron".

http://www.laduree.fr/index_en.htm

I have been seeing blog after blog talking about these cookies for a long time. So I asked my husband, who flies in and out of Paris frequently, to stop by Laduree and bring home some of those famous macarons.  Since he likes macaroon cookies [with coconut] too, he was nice enough to stop by one of their shops and find a sales associate who spoke English to assist with the flavor selection. I had told him that packaging was everything at Laduree and that I wanted to keep the boxes they came in. 

This should be a lesson in every marketing class that packaging sells the product.  Maybe more than the product does itself.  My husband picked out three boxes and asked for raspberry and chocolate for sure. 

So now I can cross macarons from Laduree Paris off my bucket list.  Next step is to get him to shop at the Paris Flea Market for me! 

When I saw photos of macarons on other websites they looked so huge. These are only 1-3/4 inches across.

They have a fragile crust on the top that forms in the baking. Some have cracked and crumbled. Doesn't affect the taste, however, I assure you. The filling in the middle I would describe as a firm jelly.

This is my favorite of the boxes.

 The three boxes are displayed on the plate and when Euros are exchanged, this is about $70 worth.

There was a large selection of packaging to choose from.  Here is what my husband picked.

Laduree also sells chocolates but they are too difficult to get home in the summer heat.  There is also a small restaurant for tea and lunch.

 
Cake plate I purchased as a multiple-piece dessert set in Canada. It is English Royal Worcester from the 1870's. Cup is Old Paris. Pink linen hemstitched tablecloth is from Williams-Sonoma.    

 

Thank you, sweet husband.

All the best to you,

Summer

Original content:  Swede

Photo credits: Swede  

Class At The Southern Institute of Faux Finishing on Time Aged Finishes

I want to share with you a very fun class I took in Time Aged Finishes at The Southern Institute of Faux Finishing, http://www.fauxfinishbiz.com/, in Brandon, MS the first of July.  It was about a 3.5 hour drive south of the Memphis International Airport through the very green landscape of rural America. Brandon is near Jackson. This was my first class in faux finishing although I've experimented and tested some products and attended demos in the past, some were failures, some with okay results. I won't mention my Venetian Plaster episode.

Over the past few years I have painted quite a few furniture pieces; a queen Baker bed, Karges console, John Widdicomb desk and chests, Henredon table desk and chest, etc.  I will do a post and show you before and after of those sometime.  Generally, I purchased French pieces made by these makers on eBay because of the quality of manufacture.  Karges and Widdicomb are just tops for quality. If I am going to put my time in on redoing a piece of furniture, I want to start out with something that needs updating but is not junk but is not a priceless antique on the other hand.  These pieces were built to last. I've gone through my phase of re-dos of older pieces and am now only painting new ones.  So, I attended this class to learn more about painting new furniture with an aged patina. 

I am always a little unsure about signing up for classes with a concern for disappointment in the instruction.  Believe me, I was not disappointed!!  If you have any hesitation about the kind of instruction you will receive at the Southern Institute, don't hesitate!  I would say I have high expectations when it comes to paying for instruction and my expectations were exceeded.  I could not have been more pleased with the entire experience and I highly recommend this Institute for the quality of instruction and the overall experience. In this class we did six different aged finishes on six-inch moulding boards. The paints used were Faux Effects International silver line which are sold at the Institute.

 

 
Candela and all the supplies.

 
In the front of the studio are samples of finishes for walls as examples of boards that a student would prepare in other classes. 

 
The second one from the right was 2die4 -- so unique. 

 
An easel full of boards you can look through for ideas and examples of the wonderful looks that can be created.

 
These silvers were fabulous.

 
So yummy!

 
I believe this was a stencil.  Very lovely.

 

Of course, you would expect the walls of a faux studio to be painted.  Here are some of the hallways and walls.

 
This was the bath.

 
 

 
Notice how the switch plate was done.

On the back wall of the studio were samples of kitchen and bath cabinet doors and furniture finishes which are covered in another class.

 
I just loved these cabinet door finishes below.  My favorite is on the upper left.

 
Hard to choose when there are so many fabulous options. I also liked the mercury glass one which is second from the left on the top row. Here is a close-up of the one I liked with the gold in it.  Virginia said she designed a special tool to do this finish.

 
  

Here are a few samples I pulled out of the pile that attracted my attention.

 
Italian finishes of green and gold are always at the top of my favorites list.

I just loved this.  Even though I love a white or neutral Swedish room, these blue-green pieces just steal my heart.

Here are a couple of the paintings on the studio walls over the prep sinks.

 
This silver panel's texture was incredible close up.

Virginia told us about a sale on fireplace over-mantles at Lakeland Moulding near Flowood, MS like the one she has here.  I went over and purchased one a little smaller than this.  Now to decide what color to paint it and take a class in antiquing mirror glass.

 
There are many classes taught at the Southern Institute by Virginia Weathersby each month.  I signed up to return for a class in August.  The first thing I noticed was how strikingly beautiful Virginia is in person.  Move over Gwyneth!  And, more, she was lovely, extremely knowledgeable, very experienced in her trade, has a great artistic ability, a wonderful teacher who is willing to share her talent including all tips and tricks and trade secrets.  Her mother was there helping as well as her assistant, Candela. The studio can seat probably 20 students, but we were lucky in that we had a small group so received nearly private instruction. 

When I showed my husband the photos, he said, "Looks like all you did is eat!"  Can you believe that Virginia made a fresh Tomato Pie and Giant Stuffed Mushrooms for us for afternoon break!  The Tomato Pie was fabulous, and she was kind enough to give us the recipe. Remember, a tomato is a fruit. Oh, this was sooooo good.  

 

It was a very fun experience and I look forward to my next class.

All the best to you,    Summer.