For me, it starts with food, flowers and getting a bit more organized. Like many people, we take it easy during the summer. A memorable vacation (two this year: one to Italy and one to Florida), lots of al fresco dining and, in general, enjoying some much-needed down time.

Fall, however, inspires me to take stock of our home and garden and think about spiffing things up. Now that the cake contest is behind me (full report to come, I promise), I can concentrate on transitioning to one of my favorite seasons.

To get into the right frame of mind, I visited my local nirvana today: Emily Joubert Home & Garden. The amazingly talented Kim created the stunning floral arrangement above and I couldn’t wait to get home and start brainstorming fall menus and party ideas. Some people consult books and magazines, I confer with my style gurus at Emily Joubert.

As luck would have it, they had just unpacked something I’ve been coveting for about a year: a simple, elegant red wine decanter (below).

I bought the white wine version last year and hoped they would re-order so we could have a matching set. Aren’t they gorgeous? Hurry and get yours before they sell out again!

Next, I began playing with a table arrangement.

This inspired me to start thinking about fall menus with red, green and dark purple things: tomatoes (finally ripening in our garden!), apples (also ripe), figs (in the stores) and grapes (versatile). I’m thinking about a dressing up a classic marinara with a little extra onion and some Italian sausage and creating a salad that combines figs, apples, argula and possibly some walnuts and chevre. What do you think?

We visited Crate & Barrel after dinner at the Yard House to see about replacing our old classic-style pasta bowls (having broken our way down to three). After looking at an updated version of the over-sized, indented ones you see at many restaurants, I decided I wanted something a bit more modern to compliment our flat white dishes (which have no indents). So I selected the plain, wide ones shown above. I knew I had bigger ones for soups and stews and I thought these would be a smaller, pasta-oriented size.

Guess what? They are EXACTLY the same ones we already have! So they are going back to the store this weekend. What can I possibly get as a birthday gift instead? If you have any ideas, please let me know!

One last look before I head to the store to get dinner ingredients!

Until this Saturday that is (!!!).

Luckily, I’m a Facebook fan of Milk Pail Market in Los Altos. Steve (the owner) made the following announcement the other day:

“French yogurt, Poilane Bread from Paris, Delice de Pommand cheese, unsalted French butter, small jars of black truffles, dried French morel mushrooms, Lobster soup bisque, Petite Suisse and several other French foods just arrived this morning from our air shipment.”

Faster than you can say “voila!”, I whipped over and picked up two packages of Echire butter, some lovely lemon yogurt (in stoneware cups no less), asparagus, leeks, strawberries and two loaves of Acme bread (could not find the Poilane as the place was packed). I suffered a bit of sticker shock at the cost of the butter but, hey, I am shameless when it comes to esoteric food items. Happily, my husband, Paul, is like-minded and he was thrilled with my finds.

Thus, we had a ‘butterrific’ Easter brunch with freshly baked Milk Pail croissants, THE BUTTER, Mountain Fruit Raspberry Tart jam and my favorite Blenheim Apricot Jam (now carried at Emily Joubert Home & Garden in Woodside but the jam maker’s name escapes me because we polished off the rest of the jar and it’s already in the recycle bin). We also enjoyed a spiral ham, hard-boiled eggs, strawberries and, of course, Paul’s perfect cappucinos. It was a fairly simple meal but I was in culinary heaven. If you’re in the area, I highly encourage you to get some of said butter before it’s all gone (of course, I might be stockpiling it so be sure to stop by my house and try some if you’re in my neighborhood).

The real irony is that I’m going to Paris next week and will be in intimate contact with a lot of French butter. But the good news is I can abandon my plan to smuggle some home in my luggage!

A bientot! kathy

Pictured above is the quartet of desserts from the girls’ fall luncheon featured in SCENE magazine:

Chocolate-covered drunken figs (John & Kira’s)
Dates with mascarpone, orange flower water, Sieber honey and pistachios
Asian pear slices with parmeggiano-reggiano and balsamic vinegar
Garden mint squares (John & Kira’s)

You may have heard me rave about John & Kira’s chocolates from time to time. Well, they were the perfect way to end our fall tour of the garden. The chocolate-filled/chocolate-covered figs were absolutely luscious*. There is no better word to describe the sweet, creamy, chewy sensation of these figs. And the Garden Patch mint squares are deliciously discordant. They provide the EXACT flavor of biting into a spearmint leaf, but the texture is perfectly smooth. I’ve never tasted anything like them and highly encourage you to sample them (especially now with all the free shipping offers at www.johnandkiras.com)!

The dates with mascarpone, etc. is a favorite recipe from our friend, Bruce (an insanely talented home chef). Find the plumpest Medjool dates (ours are from Milk Pail Market, in Los Altos) and pipe in a nice squiggle of mascarpone cheese (also Milk Pail). Shake a few drops of chilled orange flower water (available at Miette/SF or Middle Eastern markets) over each date, then drizzle a few bands of honey in a criss cross fashion and top with chopped pistachios. Our delightful honey is by the Sieber Family (brought by my dear friend, Judy; it is carried at Emily Joubert in Woodside); the pistachios are roasted/unsalted ones from C.J. Olson’s in Sunnyvale. This is one of my parents’ favorite desserts; it’s quick, easy and they love introducing it to all their friends.

The asian pear slices with parmeggiano-reggiano and balsamic vinegar (a thick, syrupy variety from Convivio in Florence, Italy) provided a nice contrast to all the sweetness on the plate. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I will be putting downloadable versions of the three-course circle menus, the “Be Warm/Bee Luscious” etc. swag cards and the circle spice label artwork on the dirt & sunshine website soon!

Enjoy!

kathy

*From John & Kiras website:
Noted for their extremely thin skins and sweet, almost candy-like taste, our Spanish figs are filled by hand with a silky dark 64% Valrhona ganache flavored with Whiskey and enrobed in a thin layer of dark 54% chocolate. The Calabacita variety of fig is grown by a family owned company in “Los Llanillos” in the village of Almoharin located in the Extremadura region of Spain.

Judy and I met in the funniest way. About a year and a half ago, I was planning our 2008 Sangria party. We had just put in a new arbor but had not yet invested in outdoor lighting. I had a bunch of candles from Seaglow and was wondering how to use them to decorate AND light the backyard (see my post on Seaglow below re: my extreme love of these candles). I had read about Emily Joubert in a local magazine and decided to ask if they could help me with flower/candle arrangements for the party. I was chatting with the floral designer and happened to mention that flower arranging was not my forte as I was a graphic designer/web designer. Judy, who was sitting about 10 feet away, jumped up and came over immediately. She said, “You’re a web designer? I need a website!”. Our partnership was born in that creative moment and it continues to this day to be a source of joy, both personally and professionally. I am happy to have helped Judy bring her artistic vision for the Emily Joubert website to life and our “business meetings” resemble nothing so much as two good friends hanging out and playing with ideas, beautiful objects, and gorgeous photos. I am blessed with the most amazing clients… thank you all for making my job so much fun.

I’ll have more to come from our fabulous luncheon (captured in the just released SCENE magazine). Meanwhile, love to Debbie, Judy, Julia and Pat for making that day so special. I will never forget how incredible these flowers were; they elevated a sweet little event to something extraordinary!

And that reminds me… time to order a Thanksgiving arrangement to surprise my mother. I love to say “I love you” with flowers!

kathy

[Photo by Kathryn Besser]

I spent a lot of time in Sweden in the early 90’s and fell in love with the local custom of lighting white candles anytime, anywhere. Fifteen plus years later and I find that I have all sorts of little candle stashes in my house – hmmm. Some of them I can’t bring myself to burn because they are either one-of-a-kind or just too pretty (yes, a few of my Seaglow candles are decorative only… what can I say?). But luckily, the ones I do burn last a LONG time, making them an excellent investment in home decor/atmosphere.

The colors and scents are amazing, too; the coconut smells just like Hawaii and the grapefruit has the CLEANEST scent I’ve ever smelled in a candle. Best of all, the glow that occurs when the solid core begins to melt is truly unique. FYI, I like to put a glass votive in the center section once the wax is melted to the bottom – it makes the Seaglow candle last indefinitely!

Kathy

[Photo used by permission: Seaglow Candles]

A few months ago, we went to LA to celebrate my brother’s 40th birthday. While in town, we visited my friend, Kathi, baker extraordinaire and newly minted fashion designer (check out her gorgeous cashmere line at http://zlarris.com/). Kathi made pancakes from scratch and introduced us to the most wonderful and flavorful ground cinnamon. It’s called Korintji and is truly superior to any cinnamon we’ve encountered. We were excited to have our own and subsequently placed an order online (http://www.culinarydistrict.com/). The price in bulk was so good, we decided to order two pounds instead of one (thinking in advance of the November giveaway, of course).

Now a pound of cinnamon is A LOT for just one family! Spices have a shelf life and are much better (i.e. more flavorful) the younger they are. We decided to share ours as much as possible, hence the need for a simple delivery system. The glassine envelope and round label above are from Paper Source (various locations and also online at http://www.paper-source.com/). The font is my current favorite, Typeka, available at http://www.myfonts.com/. The small serving spice packets make lovely gifts and if you’ve been at our house in the past month or so, you’ve probably gone home with one!

I hope this month’s winner will share our fun in distributing Korintji cinnamon; the prize package includes one pound of cinnamon, 12 labels and 12 glassine envelopes. Enjoy!

Kathy

To me, 24 hours is enough time to realize the very best parts of staying
at a top-notch hotel: a walk or two around the grounds, time at the pool,
a drink in the lounge before dinner, a romantic night with my husband on
high thread count sheets… And, of course, we enjoy a nice breakfast the next
morning. That’s all I need to feel like a princess.

I tend to save travel magazine articles about fantasy places and have a
future list that is quite long! A few ideas for you (including ones we’ve
enjoyed in the past) are as follows:

Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo, Florence, Italy
http://www.torrebellosguardo.com/en/index.htm

You might remember this lovely hotel from an earlier blog entry. We stayed
here, a 15th century nobleman’s home, in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2007 – I
just could not get enough of the special atmosphere of the place and it
remains my favorite hotel in Europe (closely followed by my other
favorites in Edinburgh – see below).

Ikies Traditional Houses, Santorini, Greece
http://www.ikies.com/index.html

This place takes my breath away. FYI, we have not yet stayed here so I am just going on a gut instinct. However,
it’s on my list for a romantic getaway a deux!

La Case Grande, Arcos de la Frontera, Spain
http://www.lacasagrande.net/

We are planning to visit this luxuriously rustic hotel during our next
trip to Spain (hopefully in 2012; if anyone wants to join us on another
family villa vacation, let me know, stay tuned for details).

The Glasshouse Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland
http://www.theetoncollection.com/content.aspx?pageID=450

The floor to ceiling windows in place of exterior walls make this 5-star
hotel a truly unique experience. We’ve stayed twice, once by ourselves and
once with the boys (getting a suite the second time was perfect, the boys
loved the balcony and heated bathroom floors; my husband loved the
complimentary Talisker whiskey that came with the Talisker Suite!)

Dalhousie Castle, Bonnyrigg, Edinburgh, Scotland
http://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/

This is one of my all-time favorite places to stay! The hotel is a real
castle, a 13th century fortress on the banks of the river Esk. The best
part is the falconry right on the grounds. Our children flew owls and
hawks just like Harry Potter! It was amazing to say the least. There is an
aqueous spa for the adults, an old-fashioned library where you can enjoy
tea and chess, a gourmet restaurant in the dungeon, and many other treats
to be discovered. If I ever win the lottery or sell my movie script, we
are going to rent the entire place for a week and invite family and
friends to join us!

Note: The photo above is from Dalhousie Castle.

[Photo by Kathryn Besser]