COOKING UP A STORM

When my son Fred is in town, the two of us usually cook up a storm. Since this was a quick visit, I got a jump start before he arrived.

When he showed up tired and hungry after taking the red-eye home, he opened the fridge and found lots of fresh fruit and veggies (like me, he’s only slightly carnivorous), plus:

*Homemade Apple Sauce (from apples picked on our property)

* Pumpkin Ginger Soup (Sue Barnes asked for my recipe for a calendar she was illustrating and I decided to re-test it).

* Pozole Rojo (Mexican pork and hominy stew) from the September issue of Gourmet magazine (a special issue featuring the foods of Central and South America.)

I figured that Fred and I would try several other recipes from the isssue while he was here, so I stocked up on ingredients, such as frozen banana leaves, dried guajillo peppers, frozen yucca and big bouquets of cilantro and mint (we’ve had so little rain this summer that my more delicate herbs are looking pretty sparse.)

On Monday night, we decided to make a dish from Gourmet that called for hunks of meat stewed in a banana leaves. However, we substituted mahi mahi and shrimp for the meat. Instead of marinating ribs for 12 hours, we let the seafood slosh around in the homemade red pepper marinade for only an hour. It came out great.

On Tuesday night, we made Huachinango Veracruzano, which means Red Snapper Veracruz style in English. The recipe we used was from one of my favorite South of the Border cookbooks, Culinary Mexico by Daniel Hoyer. Yes, it's by my publisher, Gibbs Smith, but that's not why I love it. The recipes call for the authentic ingredients -- and since I either stock them or know where to find them -- I prefer "the real thing."

Our side dish was Yucca with Mojo Sauce (from the Gourmet magazine). There was also supposed to be a Spinach Salad but I forgot to make it.

We also whipped up two appetizers.
* Tacos with carnitas (basically spiced up bits of meat “borrowed” from the leftover pozole wrapped in corn tortillas)
* Oyster mushrooms topped with two types of cheese on a grilled red pepper raft. It was my version of something I recently ordered in a Mexican restaurant that Dan took me to in NYC.

Next week, it’s all salads and yoghurt!

*** BLOG DU JOUR ***

Whether you are a vegetarian or just appreciate the great taste of fresh natural food, you’ll want to visit Day To Day From My Heart.

Jan and her husband John run a Victorian Bed & Breakfast British Columbia, Canada. Each summer, the inn is used for cooking classe. Jan's blog features delicious recipes. I definitely plan to try her vegan German Chocolate cake.

THE LOST LAGOON

Astute readers of The Book Blog may recall when I discovered that I’d finished a chapter but had forgotten to post a sneak preview.

Well, it’s happened again! In my headlong race to meet my deadline, I lost track of the cottage on Sunset Lagoon. Here it is.

Located less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco, Michelle and Scott’s California cottage started out as an undistinguished 80s starter home.

With lots of sweat equity and a clear vision of what they wanted, together they created a picture-perfect haven-- giving new meaning to the phrase “hands-on homeowners.”

When Michelle can’t find exactly what she has in mind for a room, she and Scott make it themselves—often using antique items originally designed for other uses.
Scott used old beadboard, for example, to make a desk for Michelle when she couldn’t buy one the right size to fit into a corner of the den.

In the living room, he fabricated a coffee table from a gate, salvaged porch woodwork and some old moldings.

In their daughter’s room, he turned fence pickets into a headboard and doors from an old hotel into side rails for a one-of-a-kind bed. Scott’s mother painted a bouquet of old-fashioned roses on an antique cabinet door that hangs above the bed. Michelle added flea market letters to create the “fun” signboard.

*** BLOG DU JOUR ***

Today, instead of sharing a blog that relates to the Michelle and Scott’s cottage, my Blog Du Jour is sort of a “coming attraction.” In the near future, I’ll be introducing you to a few of my favorite mosaic artists, as well as posting some romantic homes decorated with mosaics, large and small.

Meanwhile, visit Penny Carlson of Lavender Hill Studio for a great introduction to the world of romantic Pique Assiette. (Doesn’t that sound more romantic than broken china?)

DOUBLE DELIGHT: Need something sweet to snack on while learning about mosaics? Stop by Cherry Hill Cottage. Try Tina’s Peanut Blondies or Death By Chocolate recipes or just drool over her luscious photographs.

THE WHITE CHOICE

No you’re not seeing double… just double beds! Even though I just featured white rooms, there was so much more I wanted to share that I decided to go ahead and continue the conversation!

When I was growing up my mother’s friends frequently gossiped about a neighbor who had an all-white living room. They assumed her poor little girl was kept locked in her bedroom.

“Who’d want dirty hand prints or peanut butter and jelly stains on the cameo white sofa or snowy carpet?”

Plus, they assumed the neighbor was totally uncreative.

“Why would she use only white when there are so many pretty colors you could decorate with?”

Although I kept my mouth shut, I thought the white living room was blindingly beautiful. And, I knew for a fact that my schoolmate did her homework sitting on the couch.

I remember her once telling me how she’d accidentally gotten crayon marks on the couch. Her mother made her promise to be more careful but didn’t kill her.

While all-white rooms are supremely serene, White-Plus-One schemes let you have your cake and eat it too!

Can’t decide on what color to team up with white? Let nature be your guide.
Step into a flower garden, It’s a no-fail source of color schemes.

DOGWOOD: Green and white always look fresh.

LOTUS: Yellow makes surrounding whites appear warm and cozy.

BLUE SALVIA: Blue and white has a nautical feel.

ROSES: Pink and white whispers romance.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS: Pink, Green and white are ultra feminine.


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For those who still haven’t gotten their fill of wonderful whites, a must-visit site is A Vintage White. If you love antique linens and lace, this is a daily read.

DONE!

I just realized that I took a swan dive into the weekend without letting my friends in Bloglandia know I turned in the last installments of the book to the publisher at 11:04 am on Friday. More on Monday. I'm off to play with my dog, play in the garden and cook exotic spicy foods for my son, who is home for the week before his classes start. (UCLA is probably the only university where classes don't begin until the last week in September!)

NOT DONE YET

Yesterday morning, I finally e-mailed Sue’s story to my editor at Gibbs Smith, along with the acknowledgements.

If you are keeping count along with me... only the captions stand between me and a celebration dinner!

Polishing up the captions for the Introduction shouldn’t have taken more than a few hours, but at the last minute, Dan and I added extra photos.

We now have nearly 40 photos our Art Director can use for the introduction or title pages.

Of course, more photos means more captions! Now you know what I'll be doing today.

Today's first two photos are from the Intro. The sailors knots were made by my friends Ben and Spencer-- Boy Scouts, extraordinaire!

So, before I get back to my captions, I thought I’d share an excerpt from a note I received from a fellow blogger.

“Hello Barbara! I wanted to thank you for featuring my blog on your Blog ! If you are ever out in California, we live a stone’s throw from LA on a good traffic day, so be sure to come by and visit!

We live in "Horsetown USA." There are more horses than people! I guess its appropriate for me as my Mother was an actress in the 40s.

She was in many westerns and one of them was Ronald Reagan's very first movie! Her name was Betty Brewer. She was under contract with Paramount for several years until she got married and quit the business.

She was also a singer and sang with the Big Bands and on NBC radio. (Don’t you love 40s music) It's fun to look her up on Ebay and see what pops up! I have paper dolls of her that were illustrated by Ruth Wood. They are fascinating! And get this, her best friends were Susan Hayward and Mae West! Susan actually bought my Mother a Scottie dog!"

That’s what I love about my blog, you never know who you will meet!

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It’s always a good day for something pink, but since I’m wearing a pink and white pinstripe shirt, I’ve chosen Pink Latte today. It’s written by Helle Greer. Helle lives in California and collects vintage typewriters. She went to a great estate sale yesterday and I think you will drool over the photos she has posted.

BOOKS, BEAUTIFUL BOOKS

My morning began with a 5 am phone call from my mother’s 80-year-old cousin who was having serious back pains, and wanted to know if I thought she should go the Emergency Room. She said her doctor, whom she had been seeing about a disk problem, is out of town this week.

I told her that if the only alternative was doing nothing, the Emergency Room might be a good idea. About 6 phone calls and 3 hours later, she painfully got ready, dressed and called for an ambulance.

Since I spent all day yesterday working on Sue’s story (2 photos above and one below were taken in her garden) and working on a surprise new project, today I planned to catch up on my blog mail and post about Decorating With Books.

I think Sue’s story really captures both her personality and style but I’ll leave it alone for a day, then re-read it to see if I still think it’s ready to fly. After that, I need to write the acknowledgements and add a few new captions to the Introduction. Then, the book is done.

After responding to message from a French blogger, I found myself checking out the blog of a British woman who has several chickens in her backyard, which led me to an Australian site. I feel as if I’ve taken a mini-vacation while drinking my (second) cup of morning tea.

I’ve wanted to write about books since I read A Focus On Books, posted on June 11th by Clare of Vintage-Home (vintage-home.blogspot.com). The post features dozens of stunning vintage books displayed with style. Check it out.

Then, several weeks ago when I was at Fabulous Fifi’s (www.fabulousfifi.typepad.com) cottage in Sarasota, Fifi and I chatted about What To Do With An Ever-Growing Stash Of Books.

I snapped some photos. Here's my take on Decorating With Books:

1- Two short stacks look nicer than one tall one.

2-Never buy furniture that cannot hold a stack of books.
3-Tuck baskets under and next to tables when you run out of space.

4- Color coordinating your books is the key to visually attractive displays.

5- When your books won’t cooperate, you can always make pretty book covers. Photo by Dan Mayers.

What’s your best trick?


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I’d like to introduce you to Barbara. We discovered each other several weeks ago. She’s currently traveling around Britain, so you will have time to catch up with her older posts on Ramblings From An English Garden before she returns. Barbara is an avid gardener and has a “cheeky” outlook on life.

CARMEL QUICKIE

It’s Sunday night and I finally feel almost normal. The trip was actually very nice -- too hurried, but memorable.

DAY ONE- WEDNESDAY: My first flight arrived in NYC on time and the flight to California was uneventful. I really like Jet Blue.

Getting out of the airport, picking up our car, grabbing some tamales and fish tacos and driving to Carmel took longer than expected. We didn’t arrive at Sue’s house until after 4pm.

I was a little star struck, as I have been a fan of Sue’s artwork for many years. Sue is Susan Wallace Barnes, an artist known for her illustrated calendars, notecards and dozens of other household items emblazoned with coastal scenes and seasonal sketches.
Sue welcomed us with a table filled with cold drinks, bowls of fruit and scrumptious cucumber shrimp tea sandwiches. I felt as if I had stepped into one of her illustrations.

After chatting a bit, Dan and I photographed the view from her bedroom window, her bathroom (I barely had the energy to iron out the creases from the linen towels) and a few close-up shots. There wasn’t time for more, as we were very tired.

Sue insisted that we head to the beach to catch the tail end of sunset of the Carmel Point. How could we refuse? About 200 yards past Sue’s house, a narrow trail led down to the shore.

At 9 pm Pacific time we arrived at The Holiday Inn Express® Monterey Bay in Seaside, California. I was expecting the usual motel room but this one was really stylish. The chairs and fabrics looked as if they had been borrowed from Starbucks® and the freestanding wooden sink vanity was downright chic! Since we’d nibbled at Sue’s and it was already midnight (our time), we decided to skip dinner and pass out.

DAY TWO - THURSDAY: We left the hotel a few minutes earlier than necessary so we could walk along the beach before starting the day’s shoot.

Since we need to send the art director at Gibbs Smith portraits of ourselves to publish on the back flap of the book, we decided to snap photos of each other sitting on the rocks with the sea in the background.

The waves were gentle, but one surprised us, splashing my back and soaking both of our shoes. At 9 AM, showed up at Sue’s door with soggy and sandy shoes.

The shoot went great. Each room is filled with personal treasures.

Whether living in Maui, Nantucket or on the California coast, or traveling in Nova Scotia or Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, Sue has gathered treasures that speak to her. There are abalone shells, unique rocks, original paintings of the sea, carvings of water birds, vintage glass floats and books about her favorite subject – The Oceans.

From the number of books in her cottage, it was obvious that Sue is an avid reader. Throughout the day, Dan and I jotted down dozens of titles we plan to add to our own bookshelves. Her library includes books on life in general, coastal topics, wildlife, nature and especially whales.

Images of whales – whether in one of Sue’s paintings, on a Claire Murray hooked rug (see below) or hanging from the ceiling of the living room -- appear in almost every room.

Even before we met, I knew that Sue was very active in several organizations to safeguard the environment. However, I hadn’t realized the depth of her commitment to educate young people about our ocean’s fragile ecosystem. An active member of Whale Trust (www.whaletrust.org), Sue has also collaborated on several projects with National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklen.

At the end of the day, Sue sent us off with nibbles for the plane and numerous other gifts. Getting to know her was the most precious one of all.

*** BLOG DU JOUR ***
For more California dreaming visit Lisa's My California Cottage. Her shell crafts are simply gorgeous!