Spring is a Time of Renewal

Spring is a Time of Rebirth

It seems a lifetime ago that I launched the series of chef interviews for my book about master chefs and their gardens.  

So much has changed in the world, in my life, with some of the chefs and their restaurants -- and with the book itself.  Crazy times.

But I remember that beginning like it was yesterday. 

In fact, it’s a sweet anniversary of sorts, as it was just about one year ago that it all began.

Break out the champagne – cheers, darlings!

My first interview was with Chef Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern.

Lucky for me too, as he is the consummate professional: punctual, courteous, dedicated and seems for the entire world to possess a gentle spirit. 

Gramercy Tavern restaurant is within walking distance of our Greenwich Village apartment and the morning of the interview, I set off with contained joy; cutting across Union Square, on my way to what I was sure was going to be the start of a great adventure.

Curious by nature, I couldn’t wait to discover the stories that Chef Michael – and the other leading culinary artists  -- would share about their quiet yet powerful revolution to change not only their menus, and by turns their patrons’ eating habits but to also spark a national desire to know where our food comes from. 

Along the way, the chefs ignited a return to flavor along with good health, helped to foment a foodie or locavare tsunami that altered the political agenda and I daresay, the landscape of food’s influence on our lifestyle and culture.

Whew!  But you’re getting the picture about how important these culinary artists are.

By this time last year, I had painstakingly compiled my list of hoped-for chefs to include in the book. The master chefs I sought had to be leaders – those at the forefront of the emerging  -- in some areas -- and in others a full-throttle commitment to the slow food, farm to table movement. 

Remember, I first started the book in early 2002 with a different publisher than I now have.  However, then as now, I wanted to explore how gardens inspire artists – all great artists, in fact – and no surprise -- wanted to start with culinary artists because they utilize the bounty of the garden and farm in their art and craft. 

For my part, I had been designing and planting edible landscapes for garden design clients since I launched my garden design work in 2001. 

I joyfully rediscovered local food —from New Jersey blueberries and tomatoes and corn to melons and of course, herbs. 

I believed potagers are beautiful and practical and too many Americans hadn’t been exposed to an edible garden. I went to school in Switzerland, traveled and saw beauty and practicality of a potager even in small spaces.  I love even the concept of their jardin potager - meaning the “soup garden” because so many of the delicious ingredients for those all-in-one-meals are there in the garden beds; such as parsley, potatoes, tomatoes, and lots of herbs. 

By the time I had my book contract signed in January of 2009 (see early blog post), eating locally grown, sustainable, organic food was the topic de jour. 

Farmers were the new rock starts.

Michael Pollan was anointed a John the Baptist of food’s holy grail. 

Alice Waters revered as the Queen of the land.  Literally.

At the same time, food headlines screamed of what seemed to most Americans as unthinkable. 

We witnessed way too many E coli outbreaks, tomato blight, and milk warnings.

Pretty scary stuff.

Master Chefs Perspective:

My book takes a unique look at this food movement -- as backdrop; insofar as the master chefs I write about recognized the flavor and inherent good taste of fresh organic food early on and advocated for sustainable, local food as the natural alternative. 

Specifically, my book personalizes the foodie revolution because it tells the stories of how and why these or “my” chefs help ignite the desire for real, fresh food. 

Having eaten in some of the best restaurants but with one foot firmly planted in the garden, I wanted to learn why these chefs sought to move away from food as architecture and theater that heretofore, had been considered a professional badge of honor.

I wanted to know what propelled them to seek another way -- to build personal relationships with their farmers, growers, and artisanal food sources…

 

To learn what sparked their passion for creating recipes that are driven by a respect – no devotion – to fresh food and it’s inherent flavor.

It’s a lot more work. In some ways, cooks might consider all this relationship building and resourcing too much work – out of the realm of their responsibility. 

Not these leading culinary artists.  They forged a new way. 

And I got the distinct impression that while it may have incurred more effort and time – it’s not work as work. 

Rather, they love every minute of it!  The bond with the growers -- being an important link in the food chain and getting inspiration from the artisanal food adds -- an immeasurable joy and pleasure to the chef’s craft.

They embrace the discovery of like-minded food aficionados and craftsmen – from beekeepers to farmers to fisherman to dairyman to vintners.

The book always aimed to pursue an artful approach to the triangulation, if you will, of homegrown food from the garden and farm, the intrinsic, imaginative elements of the garden as artistic inspiration and the garden as art, to fuel the culinary artist’s talent to create ephemeral culinary art. 

I also wanted to reveal their restaurants as part of contemporary culture. 

I wrote in the very first introduction for the book that every night is “Opening Night” at fabulous, successful restaurants!  It’s full-frontal theater: drama, comedy, music, and fashion.   Few things are more intoxicating. 

Recently, NY Times’ Sam Shifton wrote: “Restaurants are culture as sure as music or paintings. They say something about who we are….”  

Indeed.

The content of the book includes a unique portfolio of artistic elements. 

I write a profile about each chef. 

I also render their garden inspiration as a watercolor

and produce a garden design layout/blueprint and include the garden’s plant list. 

There will also be gorgeous, behind-the-scenes color photographs of the chefs in their kitchen preparing one of the four recipes they will provide for the book, as well as intimate shots of them in their garden. 

As the book evolved, the selection of the chef’s garden inspirations emerged as a delightful smorgasbord. 

Conversations with the chefs about the garden that best inspires their culinary art extended from their own personal garden, to a childhood home garden to the restaurant’s garden, a preferred farmer, or a greenmarket. 

The variety of gardens that inspire these singular master chefs has made for a much more intriguing, fascinating and unique garden tour than I ever imagined!

The book is all the better for the garden diversity. 

I know the readers will eagerly explore the intimate look at the chef’s gardens and the behind the scenes peek into their homes and kitchens.

By way of background, for much of ’08, the publisher was determining the location or region from where we’d select the chefs for the book (Regional? National? Bio regional?) 

I pitched the book as a series and so could see doing any and all of these iterations – from San Francisco to Dallas to Miami.

I had in fact, at my editor’s request, researched farm to table chefs in top areas across the country and presented her with a top-20 list.

Ultimately, my editor wrote in October of ’08 that they “finally came to their senses” J and went with the area “you know best.”  New York and parts of the Garden State.  Ahhhh.

Later they asked if I’d add in the Hamptons.  Why not?!

So, after at least a year of research, refinement, discussion, trepidation, angst and triumph, I was sanguine the list included the very best chefs, who practiced a sincere and almost religious reverence for the just-picked food, along with the gardens and farms that inspired that commitment to their art and craft.

Following is the Master Chefs list (alphabetically) I am honored agreed to be included in the book.   Because some chefs have so many restaurants, I won’t list their entire portfolio but indicate with: J 

Following the restaurant name is their garden or farm inspiration.

Chef Michael Anthony- Gramercy Tavern

Chef Dan Barber - Stone Barns – Blue Hill family farm

Chef Mario Batali – Babbo, etc. J   - Las Vegas Farmer’s Market he launched

Chef David Burke – Fromagerie, Townhouse, etc. J  - Sickles Gourmet Greenmarket

Chef Peter Hoffman – Savoy and Forty Acres – Windfall Farms

Chef Patti Jackson – I Trulli – personal & restaurant garden

Chef Anita Lo – Annisa  - Fire Island personal garden

Chef Eberhard Mueller – Satur Farms  - Seriously!

Chef Marc Myers – 100 Acres, Five Points, etc. J

Chef Chris Mumford – Mumford’s Culinary Institute – restaurant’s garden

Chef Michael Psalkis – Anthos, etc. J

Chef Joseph Realmuto – Nick & Toni’s, Town BBQ, etc. J restaurant’s garden

Chef Michael Rozzi – Della Femina – Balsam Farms

Chef David Waltuck – Chanterelle – Bearsville personal garden

Chef Matt Weingarten - Inside Park – restaurant’s garden

Anna Pump – Loaves & Fishes  - restaurant’s garden

The American Hotel – Ted Conklin  - personal garden

I will write some wonderful, charming and inspiring chapters about these amazing chefs.

Soon. I promise…

Meeting Deadlines

By late spring, most of the NYC and Garden State interviews had been completed (all in- person, one-one-one).

Every interview is fascinating and compelling, as you will read in the book.

The chefs offer their personal insight into what built a movement.  How they struggled to source the fresh, local food they wanted. How they had to break out of their kitchens and their whites to build an infrastructure that would provide them with the ingredients they dreamed of.

Along the way, they built the foodie movement.

All the interviews with the chefs were a book unto itself. (If only)

Some highlights are:  Legends Chef David Waltuck and Anita Lo prior to their restaurant’s shuttering for a time of transition.  Change is exciting if unnerving.

Being the first to interview Dan Barber the day his James Beard award as Best Chef in American was announced in the New York Times. 

He kept his appointment with me, if you can believe it!  What integrity.

Go East young gardener...

In June of 2009, I completed the chef interviews in the Hamptons – on a bicycle.

I thought it would be more interesting to see and explore the area on a bike  -- and it was ^:^ but the 40-plus miles I rode did take a bit more time…

I felt right at home staying at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor – perfect place to write too. (www.americanhotel.com) -- the staff and customers were like old friends and my peeps from day one.

I loved making new friends from there, East Hampton, Shelter Island and the North Fork. 

I returned later in late summer with photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith (http://www.jennifercalais.com/) and food stylist, Patty White (http://www.pattywhitefoodstylist.com/) to complete the photographs of the chefs and their gardens. (More on that later too.)

Final Chapter...

I was joyfully and somewhat frenetically pushing to complete the book by a November deadline. 

Then I got an email from my editor that we needed to talk about a change. 

Long story short, the CEO came back from the Book Fair in Frankfurt and wanted a second book (yeah!) but that book would need to come out first... 

The premiere book would need to be an expanded one, focused on Long Island chefs.  The books were to part of their line of a developing Homegrown Cookbook series.

It was time to recalibrate.

Ultimately, I researched, read, researched, networked and produced that expanded list of chefs for this book.  I am happy and jazzed by the noteworthy chefs who represent the best of the Island’s pedigree of fresh, local, homegrown food:

• Chef Starr Boggs - Starr Boggs
• Chef Matt Conners – The Lake House
• Chef Bryan Futerman – Foody’s
• Chef Gerry Hayden – North Fork Table Inn
• Chef David Intonato – Jamesport Manor Inn
• Chef Adam Kopel and Elizabeth Ronzetti – 18 Bay
• Chef Keith Luce -  Jediah Hawkins Inn
• Chef Meredith Machemer – Grey Horse Tavern
• Chef Christian Mir – Stone Creek Inn
• Chef Eberhard Mueller – Satur Farms
• Chef Bryan Naylor – OSO South Hampton Inn
• Chef Jonathan Parker / Ted Conklin – The American Hotel
• Chef Anna Pump – Loaves & Fishes
• Chef Joseph Realmuto – Nick & Toni’s
• Chef Michael Rozzi – Della Femina
• Chef Mitchell Sudok – Bistro M
• Chef Hank Tomashevski – The Frisky Oyster
• Chef Jason Weiner – Almond Restaurant

(one or two still pending…)

At this point: Introduction, overview and first chapter featuring Chef Joseph Realmuto, are turned in.  That includes the profile, the artwork, the plant list and photos. 

“Looking good,” said my editor, Kari.

I had a couple of speaking engagements for the book already, and Kari and her team produced this terrific flyer to give to attendees. 
Here it is posted for the first time.

Seeing the flyer was very exciting --  Makes the book seem more "real" and timely.... 

I will share on Facebook, too. 

Now that you know the background and status of the book, I will share excerpts, conversations, photos and videos from the behind the scenes interviews and photo shoots. 

Fabulous and interesting and inspiring!

I am humbled and awed every time I’m with these outstanding culinary artists…

I hope you’ll continue to follow their stories with me.

Cayuga Pure Organics and The Rye Bread Story

Cayuga Pure Organics – Locally Grown Dried Beans & Grains from New York’s Finger Lakes Region

It all started for me – the love affair with Cayuga Pure Organics, that is – after reading Florence Fabricant’s New York Times’ sweet spotlight on the revived grain growing in upstate New York.

(Well, maybe part of the love was joyfully recollecting my father crooning his beloved alma mater Cornell University's school song, "... Far Above Cayuga's Waters...")  

Florence wrote:  “Packaged under the Farmer Ground Flour label, the flours are sold in paper sacks in Greenmarkets by Cayuga Pure Organics, a participant in the cooperative. The flours are fresh, and have not sat for months in warehouses.”  http://tinyurl.com/ydh8f6u

My husband loves rye bread. 

I make bread every other Saturday morning and couldn’t wait to try out this fresh, pure rye flour. 

I visited Cayuga’s Pure Organics at New York’s Greenmarket in Union Square http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket to purchase my rye flour.  

In telling my rye bread story, and looking over their whole grain recipe and beans and… I was told Cayuga didn’t have a rye bread recipe and they’d be happy to share my recipe at their booth.

I was on it.

That Friday, Cayuga’s unassuming brown paper bag with the rye flour peering back at me from the bag’s window, made the ferry trip back with me to the Garden State and our cooking kitchen there. (In contrast to here in Gotham, where we prefer to enjoy all the great restaurants and don’t cook in the kitchen J)

On the way, I got to thinking that I wanted a more special, perhaps more deserving bread recipe than my usual.  Coincidently, there was a multi grain bread-baking article in Martha Stewart Living’s recent Martha Stewart Living Magazine. (This was turning into a trend, I thought...)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/multigrain-bread

It looked interesting. But then it hit me – I’ll ask my Hamptons sherpa Peter Garnham, Hamptons master gardener at the East End Community Organic Farm, writer, The American Hotel’s Ted Conklin’s garden consultant and bread baker extraordinaire, for his recipe. 

Bingo.

I considered all the recipes, and then massaged them slightly to make the best rye bread ever.

I wanted to call it, “Peter’s Pain” as the recipe is, by and large, Peter’s. 

And Pain is French for bread, if you don’t know... and pain, sounds like pan.

Peter Pan!  How perfect, I thought. 

The name captured the fairy tale and alchemy essence of the bread-baking miracle.

I wrote to Peter to share my excitement about the bread recipe results and my brilliant moniker.  You can imagine how crestfallen I was then when he wrote his pithy response, noting that he had indeed sometimes been referred to as a P-A-I-N. 

I hadn’t considered how it would read. 

Back to the drawing board.

Then, over oysters at Fish Restaurant in the Village with my friend, Beth, I was recounting my failed attempt at naming the bread recipe – and she came up with a brilliant solution. Beth speaks Spanish and therefore recommended the Spanish word for bread: Pan!

We were back to the magic of Peter Pan!

I made up index cards with the “Peter’s Pan” Rye Bread recipe and took it to the Cayuga Pure Organics booth at Greenmarket – along with the bread sample. 

Here are Cayuga’s Ted -- Lauren had just stepped away:

(While there, I had to buy some spelt. I found a really good recipe I want to try out.  Stay tuned.)

Without further delay, here is Peter’s Pan Rye Bread Recipe:

Peter’s Pan

Ingredients:

4½  cups bread flour

¼ +  cup brown sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

2 TB caraway seed

1½  tsp salt

Method:

2 cups warm water

2 TB vegetable oil

2+ cups rye flour

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the K-paddle, combine 2 cups flour,

sugar, yeast, caraway seed, and salt. Add warm water and oil, beat for 2

minutes at medium speed. Add ½ cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed.

Scrape bowl as needed.

Stir in rye flour and enough remaining bread flour to make a soft dough.

Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Adjust moisture if

necessary. Cover and let dough rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Shape each piece into a boule, or place in bread pans.

Place boules on parchment-lined baking sheet. Dust with flour, cover with

plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Slash the tops, and brush with egg mixture. Bake at 400°F for 35 minutes.

Allow to cool on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves             http://celebritychefsandtheirgardens.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think!

See Cayuga Pure Organics to learn more about their dry beans, grains, corn, and soy.

http://www.cporganics.com/live/

Holiday Greens & Festive Food

In what I hope is now a Holiday tradition with my fellow/former Junior League girlfriends, we ring in the holiday season the Gotham apartment.
We enjoy a memorable evening with laughter, wine, good food, wine, family stories, wine, and well, you get the idea.

I start the planning with the decorations, naturally.  I visit the Greenmarket for plants and natural and organic creations to fulfill my idea of creating a warm, candle-infused, magical evening of good food and  friends.

Greenmarket at Union Square always delivers organic options. The conifers were inspiring to say the least.

The River Garden stand where I purchase my eucalyptus -- and this year's elegant lamb's ear wreath:

I  found charming beeswax candles shaped into angels and christmas trees -- and in gold -- perfect colors to match the kitchen!

All the girls chip in for the food and I plan the menu with Celeste from Marquette Restaurant (www.DiFioreMarquetcafe.com), located around the corner on 12th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place.  
Celeste is a doll!  She makes the entire catering experience fun, easy and exciting. 
The restaurant is so charming - I think I'm back in France when dining there - and there is art on all the walls.  Heavenly.


Celeste too keeps a file so that she can pull up what the menu was I ordered in previous years.  


For this party, I like to serve a hot soup  -- like fennel carrot -- or this year's no-cream cauliflower.  
I serve the soup in fun, interesting terrines that look like squash, pumpkins, and other winter vegetables that I got from Williams Sonoma a few years ago (www.williams-sonoma.com and www.wshome.com)  Perfect size too.   
I put two or three of the terrines on the buffet kitchen table and use clear glass expresso cups for soup servers - so the guests can scoop the soup into the cups and walk around while sipping the delicious soup. I find this is a very social -- and healthy and delicious - appetizer.  


Celeste and I enjoyed a lively discussion about food possibilities. She knows  how to work with a budget too :)
And she is most creative. For example, I had an idea for sweet potato "cupcakes." 
Celeste and her chefs were able to deliver beyond expectations.  The "cupcake" concept or "caper" :) was not a dessert but rather a side dish or vegetable -- Just a whole lot more interesting and elegant.  Celeste and I talked about how we/she could do this. But in the end, she took the concept and as always -- just ran with it and achieved a culinary wonder!  


We also agreed on a scallop and a crab meat creation with a roasted red pepper sauce. 
I LOVE what she wrote and did with the salmon.  Celeste suggested  poached salmon and a Scotch salmon.  Why, I asked.  What is the difference between the two salmon??  
It is the "look" she instructed me.  She said there is an old saying that "The eyes eat before the stomach." She said it in a much more eloquent way.... But you get the idea. Celeste explained that the two different shades of pink in the salmon is glorious and visual. 
It made me think the seduction of the glamorous salmon, as she explained it, was indeed perfect for us! 


We then agreed on the more, ahem, mundane items, such as the salad with endive, and the cheese platte.
I love a goat, a brie, a stilton and especially this time of year, a cheddar.  
Marquette also provides great baguettes for my cheese fondue that I love to serve at these kind of fetes. It's decadent (who eats cheese like this any more?); goes perfect with wine :) and from my school days and holidays in Switzerland, I embrace the social and convivial experience fondue offers.


I also added our caviar that is, in turn, a gift from our long time friends, the DiMasi's.  They are truly amazing friends and parents ( more about that later). But I get to sing their praises every year with a select few family and friends, as we share the unbelievable good fortune of this spectacular treat.  
And make no mistake. I LOVE caviar more than you can imagine. 


Accordingly, we must offer great champagne to accompany the caviar. 


And god forbid there is any left over - ha - we will carry over to the chocolate dessert.  And this year - I went with the social fondue theme and we enjoyed chocolate fondue with strawberries and dried fruit, including apricots.  

Thank you Celeste. 
And my Tannins.
Glorious, glamorous, memorable evening.


And New York cleans up from Christmas faster than anyplace I know... Too soon...
Coming back into town after New Year's, I saw the trees on the curb for take away.  So pretty.
But they must not realize there is a mulchfest every year the city provides to turn the trees into mulch...


Nevertheless, the trees still look beautiful to me as they await their next chapter:

And the First Presbyterian Church across the street (always gorgeous) is still dripping in wreaths and red  berries.

and our foyer tree (resplendent with decorations and train tracks underneath) came down right after this was taken - and prior to Little Christmas.

What day is that exactly?  I thought it was the 12th...

Cheers.  

Putting the New in New Year's Eve

I had a conundrum.  “New” multiplied by a factor of at least three.

To spend NEW Year’s Eve in NEW York, as we’ve done for the past so many years and go out to dinner and dancing and spend the weekend at our apartment? 

Or spend NEW Year’s Eve in our NEW Jersey home?

(That’s three New's, right?)

I am so busy writing the books -- and the snow made me feel like staying put and working in the “igloo,” as I’ve come to refer to the windows on the world view with the winter wonderland on three sides and the peerless view of New York City skyline before me. 

So it was settled then.  The New Year would be welcomed in New Jersey – aka The Garden State.

Plus, I was hosting a “girls” luncheon for my mother, my older sister, Linda and her roommate from Vassar days, Janet on Wednesday.

The luncheon menu was to be festive and fun.  And of course, lots of dreamy holiday music – always complements the dining experience…

Appetizers of smoked trout mousse from the family party of the 18^th (more later), Herring on pumpernickel mini bread squares, and crab pizza on a crust of Filo dough (brushing 20 layers with butter is a labor of love!); Bloody Mary’s. 

Entrée of broiled Salmon, jasmine rice and the broccoli au gratin my sister Linda made.

Dessert was espresso-sized hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in our beautiful jewel-like cups

And Panettone with glazed chestnuts cake.

And cookies and pecan goodies from our neighbor, Suzanne.

We enjoyed the apps down in the bar room; lunch in the dining room and espresso that followed the hot chocolate, in the living room in front of the fire. 

It was Janet’s first visit here and it was a perfectly clear day to enjoy the view J

We caught up and determined we will go to the opera together next week at Lincoln Center to enjoy Der Rosenkavalier J

Coming off of no less than five holiday parties that I hosted this year, not to mention the ones I was lucky enough to attend, I was so looking forward to the easy, delicious New Year’s Eve menu of fish: caviar, two kinds of oysters, littleneck clams, and lobsters….

And to be consumed in an easy, casual, when-we-want-to way…

Upon returning home from the Lusty Lobster and picking up my winning Murano glass bowl from Thomas Hauser Designs

http://gardenglamour-duchessdesigns.blogspot.com/

I put the bag of seafood outside to keep it cold.  I thought I’d take a picture of our handsome lobsters before it got too dark

And after the flash, our big guy here just roared up!  He arched his claws and his tail fanned out and he gave me the hairy eyeball! Yikes!

I quick got him back in the bag but then worried the whole time I was waiting at the dock for my husband – thinking our lusty lobster might’ve gotten out of the bag and headed off on an escape trail – into the snow!  I thought I should’ve done the leash thing like we did in Boston years ago. Ha!   

But all was safe upon returning home. 

So we started off with the caviar and martinis. Then the oysters and littlenecks accompanied by the special stout my brother Jimmy, the fabulous musician who has several bands –jazz, rock (he opens for Marshall Tucker) www.tenfoottallband.com; www.jpopik.com, www.blackdiamondjazz.com;

And knows a thing or two about style, got us for Christmas.  It is brewed here in the Garden State, especially for oysters. And celebrates and pays homage to the area’s heritage of oyster riches!

Try it - You'll love it's rich velvety without being overpowering...

Then to the amazing lobsters with Roederer Estate Brut Rose champagne (haven’t had that in awhile and it was great)

And that sexy Murano glass came in handy for our shells… :)

And all kinds of Max Brenner’s wonderfully rich chocolates (www.maxbrenner.com)

From the Union Square locale near the apartment. It is like a Willy Wonka experience.   And I love taking out of town visitors here.

Wonderful evening.  We chose the best of the "New" this year.

Finally, lots of calls, texts and Facebook to family and friends to bring in the New Year – with love. 

Cheers, darlings!

Post Thanksgiving and sledding into Christmas

OK so it took entirely too long to write about the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and family day L  But I have to.  The food was wonderful.  And there’s no expiration or “sell by” date.  I figure it’s always a good time to talk about food, right?

My mother and I planned the menu while sipping wine and sitting on our sunny terrace that overlooks the Atlantic Highlands marina, Sandy Hook, and the glittering New York City skyline.  And it was November (thank you climate change ^:^).  We were inspired by the delicious recipes in Bon Appetit magazine, especially the farm to table offerings.  (It reminded me: we miss Gourmet magazine already….)

We chose to get a free-range turkey, of course.  I Googled where to find a turkey near us in the Garden State and that search pointed me to Whole Foods.  I ordered our 18-pound bird online: very easy.  And my husband would pick it up the day before Thanksgiving.  It wasn’t till later that I saw an advertisement in the local paper, The Two River Times, for locally raised turkeys, available at Dearborn Market Fine Food & Garden Center (www.dearbornmarket.com Farms (www.dearbornfarms.com

Dearborn Farms is the place where I get some of the plant material for my garden design clients, particularly for the seasonal container displays.  Dearborn Farms also has a gourmet food store.  Sickle’s Market (www.sicklesmarket.com) is another spectacular source of garden & fine food items, many of them local.    Both establishments “get it” -- meaning good food and beautiful gardens are two sides of the same coin – fresh food and the locally farmed bounty make a natural.  And both were once solely farms – who grew the best peaches, apples, strawberries, Jersey corn and tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables.  It’s in their pedigree to offer fresh from the farm food and garden plants.

It begs the question that if retailers and smart consumers get it, why can’t the nation’s large food suppliers?  Industrialized Food contributes just as much, if not more, to the increasing healthcare issue.  Cheap, bad food and defiance of farming and grazing -- as if it’s not the natural order of things is crazy.  Look what we get!  Fat, sick people L

Whew – I’m back.    Anyway, I also saw the stand at the Greenmarket in Union Square near our home in New York City that featured Di Paola Turkey Farms, from Trenton, New Jersey.  I think that was that same turkeys offered by Dearborn Farms – although they may have advertised turkeys from Hamilton, New Jersey.  Regardless – both are terrific.

For our Thanksgiving menu, my mother, Virginia, took the baby winter squash with spiced orange currant stuffing from Bon Appetit to make.  She said it was a lot of work but everyone raved about it.

I made the brussel sprouts with mustard and apple glazed pecans. I didn’t make the slaw of the brussel sprouts, as directed from the recipe but rather used our garden fresh sprouts in full form and all their glory.  We grew exciting brussel sprouts in our Back Forty or Bill’s Garden (that’s my husband J) at our Garden State home this year.  Even Windfall Farms’ owner/chief farmer, Morse Pitts (www.windfallfarms.com) admired the photo I showed him of our first-ever, homegrown sprouts.

and our potatoes

Morse said we had very impressive sprouts + more – which is high praise, as Morse and Windfall Farms is a Greenmarket leader.  Chef Peter Hoffman, Savoy Restaurant, (www.savoynyc.com)

elected to have his “garden/farm” photo shoot for the book at Windfall Farms and that is how we were most fortunate/blessed to visit and get to know owner/farmer Morse Pitts and his team of Farmers, including Kevin Caplicki. Kevin blogs for Windfall Farms too. He is an artist.  And he also works at the Greenmarket for Windfall Farms. Be sure to catch him there. www.cenyc.org

And with all due modesty – it was our first year to grow brussel sprouts – and potatoes.  Wow - were they delicious.

I also made the fantastic Chipotle Cranberry Sauce.  I cannot recommend this enough. We used our homegrown chiles, which made it even more special.  Regardless, the recipe took a blah Thanksgiving jello-like staple to another level – completely! With cumin, fresh cranberries, cinnamon, and the chiles, the cranberry sauce was memorable indeed.  I adore leeks and so made The New York Times’ Mark Bittman potato and leek gratin – which is the same recipe, essentially, as the one I tore from Smith & Hawkin’s catalog.  

My mother was on Pie Patrol and made three of them!  Apple, cherry and coconut custard. 

My husband purchased a case of Silverado wine and we brought a bottle to Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy – as well as a bottle of French Chablis.  (We bought some cases of 1997 Silverado on a memorable visit to Napa Valley with my cousin Jeff and his wife Suzanne a few years ago – and boy, was that vintage spectacular.)

Overall, Thanksgiving was fun, easy and delicious.  And the added bonus is of course, to see family and friends. My nieces were too adorable:\

Thanksgiving has long been my most favorite holiday. Why?  It’s uniquely American and as a patriot with English and Dutch and Native American ancestry (I’m Czech too but that doesn’t seem to relate to Thanksgiving ^:^) This holiday is just the best – all about food and family and celebrating the Harvest.  I honor it.
Here is my niece learning to set the table with her grandmother...

And the long Thanksgiving weekend always gave me the opportunity to gracefully approach Christmas…

My friends and family will tell you that mine is the first Christmas card they receive every year. How wonderful!  But honestly, it’s not the idea of “first” that got me to start this tradition; but rather the love of sitting in front of the fire, relaxed (which given the nature of working schedules is more than a challenge!); writing Christmas cards to all to all our favorites and to relish the love and joy of the year.  As a writer and communicator, I always thought, what could be better than to reconnect with those you love using the written word?  And I love using that wax sealer on the envelope…nice formal touch.

I would always purchase my Holiday cards from a Junior League colleague, who has her own line of cards with Crane's that feature her original watercolors: beautiful and unique, to say the least.   Because I worked at New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org) and Brooklyn Botanic Garden (www.bbg.org) I celebrated the holidays with their special holiday cards for years.  Not this year. 

I have long admired and used Kate’s Paperie for stationary, stamps, and even for BBG. When our beloved president, Judy Zuk died, I purchased a handsome album so that visitors who came to the Garden to pay their respect, could sign the Guest Book and we could then preserve it in the BBG archives.

On a more pedestrian level, I ordered two customized stamps from Kate’s last year – one for our name on the cards (helps me, as I have terrible handwriting) and an initialized one for napkins (or whatever). 

This year, I purchased all our Christmas cards from Kate’s. And I ordered a special garden themed stamp for Duchess Designs to use with my holiday cards for the garden design clients.

I decorate for the Holidays primarily with plants, flowers, nature  (pine cones, birch trees, etc.) and candles. 

Starting to get the ball rolling here in the Garden State:

And shopping at Union Square Greenmarket, I found the perfect wreath made with greens, snippets of lambs ears and blue grey thistle. Perfect for our NYC apartment door!

Looking forward to a lovely, peaceful Holiday.  Lot’s of parties too, of course!