Life@Home November 2012

A TIMES UNION PUBLICATION

november 2012

Living History in Ballston Spa

plus… Thanksgiving tablescapes • entertaining tips getting organized …and more!

Special appetizer supplement inside!

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life@home is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of life@home magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or email magcirculation@timesunion.com. For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358. life@home is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Rd, Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2012

by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher.

Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.

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content 19 URGE TO PURGE

Things pile up, despite our best efforts

21 WINDOW SHOPPING

Must-have goodies for the home, plus our bloggers’ online favorites

27 THE ART OF LAYERING Mixing and matching makes this 18th-century home stand out

34 DESIGN DEFINED The enduring trunk

36 DESIGN INSPIRATION

Discovering your inner décor goddess

40 PROBLEM SOLVED

If you can’t find it, make it yourself

42 WHAT’S IN A BOX?

Ways to spruce up that boring mailbox

44 GET ORGANIZED Storage solutions are just a publication away

49 10 WAYS TO USE ...

Your hair dryer!

51 GIVING THANKS

Decorating your table for Thanksgiving

54 LIVING GREEN Just say no to junk mail

56 REFURNISHED LIVING Table talk

58 MOSSY MEDIUMS

Terrariums are the new houseplants

60 IN PRAISE OF JOHNNY This reliable flower arrives early and stays late GETTING GOURDY: Use nature to spruce up your Thanksgiving table. Read the story on page 51. Photo by Colleen Ingerto.

64 DESIGN CLASSICS The Barcelona chair

timesunion.com/lifeathome

7

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content 67 HOUSE BLEND

Holiday decorations bring out the kid in us

68 PARTY ON!

Tips to help you enjoy throwing a holiday party

70 STRESS-FREE ELEGANCE Diane Worthington’s book shows you how to entertain without the stress

74 ONE FISH, TWO FISH This chef likes to dish

79 THE VINEYARD

Rich in history, the nectar of the Douro is calling you

80 FERMENTATION NATION The truly organic nature of sauerkraut

85 BEET-ARIFIC

Returning from a week of meat gluttony

89 FIVE THINGS

Catherine Hedgeman’s indispensables

90 PHOTO FINISH Boots all in a row

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks.”

— William Shakespeare

 FANCY FRUIT: Sometimes simple really is best.

Read the story on page 74. Photo by Suzanne Kawola.

Cover photo by Mark Samu. timesunion.com/lifeathome

9

talk back

The story behind the story from our contributors Hold the Gluten Brianna Snyder  I sort of — ignorantly — thought that people with celiac disease were the dietary equivalents of the boy in the bubble. If you can’t eat gluten, what can you eat! Monique Boulet, a nutritionist at Hannaford, shed some light on the many ways of circumventing that tricky dietary allergy, and I feel like this year I’ll have great ideas for what to cook for holiday parties. See Brianna’s story on page 4 of the appetizer supplement.

“It’s amazing what common household items can do!”

Melissa Fiorenza  I’ve accidentally ripped plenty of precious photos over the years when trying to separate them from sticky album pages.

It never occurred to me that my trusty hair dryer could help me carefully remove them. See Melissa’s story on page 49.

Beet-ariffic

Party On! Kristi Barlette  If you start early, and have a well-laid plan, you can feel like a guest at your own party. And, really, isn’t that the goal? See Kristi’s story on page 68.

join the conversation! www.facebook.com/ lifeathomemagazine

win Read the story on page 70, then go to our Facebook page and tell us why you need party-planning help. We’ll pick a random winner to receive this book.

10

Fermentation Nation

10 Ways to Use ...

life@home

a copy of this book!

Caroline Barrett  Our week of indulging in meat was a lesson in moderation. After all that glorious bacon and steak, I realized that consuming veggies and grains and the occasional piece of meat is a better way to eat. But it was fun while it lasted. See Caroline’s story on page 85.

Cari Scribner  I was amazed at the simplicity of the sauerkraut-making process. Everything is based on timeworn techniques, letting the kraut ferment all on its own. I had no idea a hot dog condiment could be so healthy! See Cari’s story on page 80.

Bathroom Upgrades Laurie Freehafer  I wasn’t born with the DIY mentality. In researching easy bathroom upgrades, I learned how easy it is, for example, to replace old caulk. More startling, I now know that replacing plumbing fixtures, even installing new faucets, is really just a matter of screwing things together. I can do that. Read Laurie’s story online at timesunion.com/lifeathome.

We asked, you answered!  How do you organize everyone’s coats and boots and hats and mittens and scarves and bags and everything(!) during the winter? Hooks?

Racks? Mudroom floors? Closets?

Denise: I’m working on a project like this right now.

I’m thinking cubbies with some covered storage that will take little effort to be functionable. Kickable area for shoes, hooks for coats ... and places for large duffle bags and backpacks.

 Is there any advice your mom gave you that you swear by today?

Lila: Don’t be alone in isolated areas!

Merci: You can do anything you put your mind to!

Susan: Don’t wave at the beach. (Your flabby upper arms will flap in the breeze.)

Kathleen: Don’t talk about others. You never know who you are talking to.

 What’s your favorite thing in your house? Why? Richard: Apple iMac — used for work and play Linda: My laminate flooring in the living room. We have 3 dogs & a cat. Makes for easy cleaning.

Kathleen: My Amish quilt I purchased in Lancaster, PA. For many years I have traveled there and always wanted a quilt. All these years later I was finally able to get one.

‘‘ My

wife noticed my motor skills didn’t seem quite right.’’

Kevin Keelan Emergency brain surgery

Watch his story here ellismedicine.org/head2toe

518. 8 31. 8152

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Flip through the virtual pages of our Times Union magazine titles, flipaccessible through theThevirtual pages from anywhere online. same award-winning layouts.

More photos. Links that take you where you want to go. All from the of allcomfort ourandmagazines (we have five!), convenience of your own device at tumagazines.com.

Read all about filling your house with the right things, in our blog by Times Union Magazines editors Janet Reynolds and Brianna Snyder.

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www.tumagazines.com

stories

Refurnished Living Explore the “greener” side of the design and decorating industries with Refurnished Living columnist Alison Grieveson.

GET MORE recipes, including this Sweet Potato Hummus dish from our special appetizer supplement.

Also check out Chef Sarah Fish’s Apple Squash Soup recipe that accompanies the story on page 74.

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READ MORE: We’ve got tips for easily upgrading your bathroom, plus the scoop on recent trends in spices.

12

life@home

We want to hear from you! Join us on Facebook to add your two cents to our discussions, give us your ideas for inclusion in upcoming stories, and enter to win contests.

See more photos of this Ballston Spa farmhouse featured in the story on page 27.

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editor’s note

A

s we enter this month of Thanksgiving, I am struck by the notion that feeling thankful and giving thanks is — ironically — often disconnected.

The Thanksgiving holiday is one in which many are reminded to stop for a moment and recognize their many blessings. At many tables, before the first turkey slice is passed, families and friends exchange moments of sharing people, places and/ or events for which they are thankful.

But how many of us extend that idea beyond the pumpkin pie? How many of us remember to say “thank you” — in other words to literally give thanks — once the food coma is over?

Maybe it’s because I’m dealing with some of the life changes that are increasingly inevitable as we age — sickness, changing family structures — but while I believe I am generally thankful beyond the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m not sure I express my thanks as much as I would like.

And so I plan to change that going forward.. And in the meantime I would like to use this space to thank some very important people.

To my family: I can never really express how blessed I feel that we are all in this together.

To my staff: What you accomplish day in and day out with our lean machine is nothing short of miraculous. And you all do it with a smile on your faces and a camaraderie that makes coming to work easy.

To our sales team: Without you, we are sunk. Thank you for all your juggling.

To our freelance writers and photographers: Thank you for your continued excellence and for caring so much.

And to our readers and advertisers: None of it would be possible without you on the journey. Thanks for letting us know what you like and what you’d like to see done differently and, as always, for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving! @

Photo by Krishna Hill.

Giving Thanks

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PILLOWS TO GREET YOU good morning and to wish you good night. Read the story on page 27. Photo by Mark Samu.

furnishings | gadgets | décor pages 17 - 64

timesunion.com/lifeathome

17

essay

Urge to Purge by jennifer e. o’brien

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/JoKMedia.

H

ow clearly I remember when we moved into our house five years ago. My husband and I marveled over our new space: Four bedrooms! We thought of how we could spread our wings (and stuff) with room to spare.

Our children would have their own bedrooms plus a huge playroom, where I could conveniently close the door when the mess became too much.

That was five years ago and just as gas expands to fill space, so too did our stuff. That seemingly limitless space is not exactly cluttered, but it is most definitely filled. I sometimes wonder what would happen if we had a 10-bedroom house. Would we face the same phenomenon? Probably.

Since the dimensions of our space are not changing anytime soon, our approach has been amended. Basically, I constantly eliminate stuff — papers, clothes, old toys, etc. I make weekly visits to those large donation dumpsters collecting clothes and household items.

I wasn’t always this way. In fact, for a long time I was the type who would hang on to items “just in case.” Then I had my children, and my urge to purge really took off. Seriously, if not for careful diligence, the junk toys that come from kids’ meals or Grandma’s trips to the dollar store could truly stage an internal home invasion.

Many of my friends are the same way, surreptitiously stowing items into “donate” bags while the kids are at school. We commiserate over the sheer volume of papers that come home each day from elementary school.

While I would like to believe my purging is an organized system, it is not — except for the afterschool hour. It is then that mail and school papers are sorted (keep/throw out) on sight.

If either were left to languish on the counter while I turned my attention to another project, they would likely stay there indefinitely. Beyond that after-school hour though, my approach to getting rid of items is haphazard at best. It is a constant battle to keep the clutter at bay.

O

f course, my kids think I am horrible when they catch me getting rid of a toy they have not touched in six

months. Perhaps on paper it sounds worse that it truly is.

What parent grabs the chance to get rid of their child’s toys?

But when I look around their rooms and playroom, and see all their bounty, I sometimes feel a bit sick.

I don’t discard their favorites, of course, but so much just becomes little more than debris at the bottom of the toy bin. They do not even know what they have.

I have been trying to teach them the ideas of “enough” and “plenty.”

Heady topics for a 4- and 8-year-old who want nothing more than another trip to the toy store. Who can blame them?

I am sure I was of the exact mindset when I was their age.

My crusade against clutter and excess is a testament to the difficulty of parenting in such a consumer-driven culture. Yes, my one hand wants to provide them with everything their little hearts desire. My other hand wants to be sure they appreciate all that they have and are aware of others not as fortunate. We have a quasi-system now that before any new toy comes into the house we need to select several that can leave. My youngest even helps sometimes, offering toys and items she has outgrown. I understand that from their view it is hard to believe that they will survive comfortably without the items chosen to go. But I know they will. Most likely they’ll forget all about the item. When I think back over the bags and bags and bags of my own clothing that I have gotten rid of over the years, there are only a handful of items, like my perfectly worn pair of Levi’s, which I truly miss.

My children’s toys are not the only victims of my mass purges.

Household items are always on the chopping block. That great margarita glass and pitcher set I never once used? Gone. The boxes of pictures we never unpacked from our last move? Gone.

If I don’t use it or haven’t used it in a while, it is fair game. Ultimately, I figure I am actually saving my kids lots of headaches down the road. Presuming that life follows its natural course, whatever we do not get rid of will someday be their headache to sort through and decide what goes and what stays. That’s a burden I don’t want to leave behind. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

19

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window shopping photos by krishna hill

shop smart

shop local

Each month, Window Shopping highlights interesting and unique items available at area stores. This month’s picks can all be found in Glens Falls.

 These charming vintage suitcases ($28 each) do double duty as discreet storage. Available at Muddy Boots Décor.

continued on page 22  timesunion.com/lifeathome

21

window shopping continued from page 21

➋

➊

➌

➍

➎

1. Cheerful yarn letters ($12.95 each) spell out your message in fun hues and textures. Find them at Nine » Authentic Goods.

2. This Eucalyptus Stoneware bread basket ($46.95) pops in bright orange. Several sizes and colors available at Sterling & Company.

22

life@home

3. Made from recycled glass, these architectural glass frames ($45-$67) hail from Brooklyn, and are easy on both the eyes and the environment. Available at Sterling & Company.

4. Functional, yet full of character, this antique desk ($130) adds a

rustic warmth to any room. See for yourself at Downtown Charm.

5. Fall’s chilly breezes can't stop you from entertaining when you use this silver napkin holder and weight by Caspari ($48).

Available at Sterling & Company.

➏

➐

➑ Shops featured: Downtown Charm 206 Glen Street, Glens Falls (518) 636-3136 downtowncharmgf.com Muddy Boots Décor 206 Glen Street, Glens Falls (518) 598-7278 facebook.com/MuddyBootsDecor

6. Bring adventure in with these nostalgic camp signs ($35 each). Pick one up at Nine » Authentic Goods.

7. Popular in the early 20th century, Hoosier cabinets were compartmentalized assemblies built around

a base section like this one ($325).

Both charming and functional, it can be found at Muddy Boots Décor.

8. Locally-based Original Winecork Designs by Richard created this unique wine cork tray ($32).

Find it at Downtown Charm.

Nine » Authentic Goods 166 Glen Street, Glens Falls (518) 480-3600 nineauthenticgoods.com Sterling & Company 203 Glen Street, Glens Falls (518) 745-6808 shopsterlingandco.com

continued on page 24  timesunion.com/lifeathome

23

window shopping continued from page 23

our

bloggers shop

facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine

Check out this month’s favorite picks from our local and national bloggers. Then head online to timesunion.com/lifeathome to satisfy your design and décor itch 24/7. Who knows what you’ll find!

House Things by janet reynolds It’s probably not possible to overromanticize that warm, happy feeling of snuggling up and losing yourself in a good book. Tea. Blankets. Soft music. Deep, soft seating.

That’s what we fell for at West Elm, thanks to this Chester Tufted Leather Chair with its high-armed, womb-like chasm, perfect for hiding in coziness. It’s upholstered with topgrain leather, padded with polyester foam and detailed with button tufting. Even the colors it comes in are gentle: pewter, coffee and snow. $799 at www.WestElm.com.

Home Decor@518 by valerie delacruz Whether you are custom designing a sofa or refurbishing a cherished chair, the right fabric can completely transform your décor. This gorgeous trio of coordinating designs creates a color palette that updates a traditional scheme. The crushed velvet stripe offers several colors that can inspire a paint selection; the deep teal gives some solid relief; and the pheasant print on linen draws your eye to drapery that ties them all together. Available at the Calico Corners store on Wolf Road in Colonie, they range in price from $44.99 to $59.99 a yard. Visit www.calicocorners.com.

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life@home

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@home with

The Art of Layering mixing and matching makes this 18th-century home stand out

by brianna snyder | photos by mark samu story begins on page 28 

timesunion.com/lifeathome

27

@home with

continued from page 27

J

ennifer and Richard Lanne bought their Ballston Spa house 10 years ago, and while they’ve made quite a history of their own here, the home’s story stretches back to strange and interesting beginnings.

The compact farmhouse — complete with barn, pigs, chickens and a goat — was built in 1779 by a Scottish exile named Angus McDearmid. Cast out of his country for offending the son of an earl, McDearmid came with his wife and 12 children to New York, where they had run-ins with Mohawk Indians and visions of the devil.

Today, the house still retains many of its original parts. The hardwood floors, for instance, are allegedly the same ones McDearmid and his family walked on in the 18th century. It’s thought that the floors, which are different in the living room than they are in the sitting room, were replaced when a group of Indians came into the house to see Mrs. McDearmid’s spinning wheel. The floor couldn’t hold the weight of that many people and it caved in.

When it was replaced, they used boards wider than the ones they’d used before.

“Aesthetically, (the house) needed a bit of a facelift,” says Jennifer Lanne. She and her husband were looking for a fixer-upper in their price range, and fell in love with the McDearmid home. It had been a farmhouse for many years before being owned by a couple who’d divorced a couple of years before the Lannes bought it.

“There was a lot of work that had to be done,” she says. “We had to replace every appliance, septic, the roof. … We did all the stonework in the barn.

We love that the house had so much original detail still intact.”

T

he house has the low-ceilinged, basic layout of 18th-century houses, and the Lannes have lovingly styled it to preserve its charm. Much of the furniture is antique, shabby-chic and distressed, with dozens of little knick-knacks, pictures, shadowboxes and other interesting pieces crowding tabletops, walls and windowsills. The effect is a delicate organization of many parts, sort of on the brink of chaos. But Lanne, an artist, is expert at layering and pairing. continued on page 30  28

life@home

timesunion.com/lifeathome

29

@home with “I just kind of know to pair or layer things that are similar or interesting.” continued from page 28

“I just kind of know to pair or layer things that are similar or interesting or have some kind of connection — color, texture, a shape,” she says. “I do like putting a lot of like things together. Even if you put 20 things together that look the same, it makes one big piece and it makes a statement.”

Lanne loves “the great little nooks and crannies” of the house, the way “oddball homes get built onto with all those strange additions that ramble,” she says. “We added a modern flare to it that made it livable.” continued on page 33 

30

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continued from page 30

The kitchen sink is the basin of an old water pump, with the pump still intact but retooled to work as a faucet. A narrow loft high above the kitchen is home to the Lannes’ seven cats.

They’re animal lovers, and own more than 20 chickens, a goat and two pigs. Chickens wander around the yard and the barn, where Lanne has her art studio, is filled with large tables and bathtubs full of her paintings. Richard Lanne has a studio of sorts, too; he’s a fan of blacksmithing.

“He does metalworking with anvils and stuff,” says Jennifer.

“He can make anything that needs to be repaired in the barn, or knives or brackets.”

Lanne says it’s taken a long time to accumulate all of the pieces of their home that make it so distinctly theirs. “The house and the shelves and nooks and crannies called for little objects,” she says. “I think, also, the things we’ve collected, it’s not just things. It’s memories. … They’re a work of art looking for a display.” @

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design: defined

The Enduring Trunk by lucianna samu | photos by mark samu

J

ust beyond my reach in the far corner of my gigantic oak desk sits a very old Royal typewriter. I considered pecking out this column on my old Royal, thinking its perfectly legible 1940s-era sans-serif typeface suits my subject of choice this month — the trunk.

To confound my editor further, I considered sharing my affection for the venerable six-board box commonly described as a trunk with the preamble, “Once upon a time.” With an eye toward the elegant and the simple, few possessions transcend the evolution of the American home than the enduring usefulness and universal admiration we share for a trunk, and, once upon a time, it was the prized possession of every American homeowner.

So long lived is the trunk that its use pre-dates the chair and the bed. Indeed, the trunk could easily be described as the first piece of furniture in America. Settlers who made their way to settle the West, especially those traveling from Scandinavian 34

life@home

countries, likely did not consider the novelty of their trunks while making the journey up the Hudson across the Erie canal, over land to Illinois and then up another river (the Mississippi) toward Minneapolis or Iowa. The Indians they passed along the way who surely admired the beautifully decorated trunks would have another story to tell.

Long before the French box maker Monsieur Marechal taught a young apprentice to fashion his own six-board box trunk, boxes with lids that lifted and elaborate decorative embellishments of paintings and carvings were being pulled dutifully by horses or oxen clear across the Great Plains. But it is the French, always keen on style and fine-quality goods, who seared the trunk into the imaginations of travelers. Beginning with its first gray painted canvas with black iron hardware, moving then through years of red striped canvas, the premier French boxmaker sent his signature trunk across the Atlantic in 1896. The Louis Vuitton damier steamer, with its splendid linen interior,

Niskayuna, Cobleskill, Glenville, Albany, Rotterdam, Saratoga Springs, Colonie

solid brass hardware, leather edging, and signature brown on brown checkerboard pattern, had arrived.

Finding a vintage Louis Vuitton in pristine condition is a costly endeavor, and a new Louis can cost upward of $30,000 dollars or more. For practical purposes, the simplicity of an early oak or pine trunk, or those we can only know were once common because they exist in museums, are the trunks worth emulating.

I myself would love to happen upon an early Sears & Roebuck trunk. In 1897, the iconic American retailer offered 19 trunk models. The least expensive Sears models had round tops, considered an ancient shape to 19th-century trunk buyers who preferred a trunk be flat all around.

It is this trunk design — four sides, a bottom and a flat top — that I was not surprised to discover in nearly every aisle of the fall Brimfield antique show. And it is this similar, re-invented hybrid of flat-top-trunk-meets-steamer-trunk design that my very young clients have high atop their must-have list of home furnishings.

S

torage has always been the mainstay of trunks. For vintage trunks (but not an authentic Louis Vuitton!), a good wash with soap and water to which some squeezed fresh lemons are added will eliminate any lingering odors. A cedar sachet will keep stored goods odor-free and fresh. Kids’ toys, games, linens, seasonal clothes and extra blankets are a very short list of storage uses to which a trunk is well suited.

Collections of varying size trunks, stacked high and intermixed with luggage, make the most of storage and display. I’ve pressed a trunk into service as a coffee table, and turned them on edge for use as plant stands, book nooks, or art display.

Painting old trunks and re-fitting them with new leathers, nail heads or flashy hardware are all easy up-cycling ideas for reclaiming any trunk that isn’t looking its best.

Once you turn your imagination toward a new use for a sixboard box, you’ll soon discover you need more than one. Perhaps at least one for storage and another extra sturdy one for sitting atop. Wooden trunks outfitted with four new feet stand higher, and sit easily with another favorite on top — an upholstered cushion. The enduring trunk, its humble beginning and simple form prized for its usefulness and timeless design, is as lovely an addition to the new American home today as it was once upon a time. @

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interior design

Design Inspiration

Bring some color in through plates on a wall as shown here. Each plate has a special meaning to Holly. “Beyond aesthetics, it makes my heart happy to see these plates,” she writes. “That is my goal when I display — to conjure up positive thoughts.”

discovering your inner décor goddess

T

aking the first steps toward creating your own design style can be intimidating. Who can possibly create something as cool as any one of the dozens of style stars on TV, not to mention interior designers who’ve trained for years to get it right?

Home décor/design blogger Holly Becker — founder and author of the wildly popular Decor8 blog, wants to change that thought. And her new book, Decorate Workshop, is her answer to design phobia.

Becker got the idea for this book shortly after the best-selling success of her first book, Decorate. While that book is filled 36

life@home

by janet reynolds photos by debi treloar/chronicle books

with inspirational ideas and photos, this book is meant to be filled with ideas created by you. Yes, Becker features plenty of wonderful photos for ideas and inspiration. But what she really wants is to walk beside readers as they discover their own design vibe.

To that end, Decorate Workshop is more of a workbook. Readers are encouraged to write directly into the book and Becker provides plenty of writing prompts and space to get readers thinking and homing in on their design feelings, as well as lots of questions to help fine-tune ideas. What are your “safe” colors?

What is your ideal scent? List five cities that you adore and why.

While some of the questions might seem unrelated to choosing a paint color for your dining room, they reveal Becker’s understanding that design isn’t about “stuff” as much as it is about how you feel.

It’s your interior that will dictate your happiest exterior.

Becker lives in Hanover, Germany, so we caught up with her by email. Here are a few of her thoughts about her newest book.

What prompted you to write this creative notebook, rather than another book?

we’re not so keen on. Same with the home; it’s a matter of learning how to dress the home in a way that accentuates the positive.

Your overall style and approach are very much focused on “regular” folks, i.e. that making your home a special place is within everyone’s grasp. How does this square with actual interior designers who, of course, would hope we would hire them to come up with the great ideas? Do you ever get grief about this from people in your field?

Decorate Workshop: Design and Style Your Space in 8 Creative Steps, by Holly Becker, photographs by Debi Treloar, Chronicle Books, $27.50

I felt strongly that fans of the book would want more of my tips and ideas that would encourage them to dig deeper. They learned the nuts and bolts in Decorate from myself and co-author Joanna Copestick, but in Decorate Workshop, they’d have a chance to really dig deep and consider a layer of decorating that most design books do not cover — the importance of tapping in to your personal style and what story you want your home to tell about you — not the quest to live a “lifestyle” but to tap into how you live and how to make a home support you the best emotionally, spiritually, physically, etc.

Also, I thought to solely author a book about decorating would be an exciting adventure for me and I craved to make a deeper connection to the process of writing in general and to my fans. When you are co-authoring with someone, you have them to fall back on when it comes to exploring topics that you may typically not feel so strongly to write about. …

With Decorate Workshop, I didn’t have anyone to fall back on so I had to dig very deep and really think about my perspective on everything. I made sure every word was from my heart and that what I wrote was something that I myself practice and also believe in.

No, never. There is enough to go around. You need Barneys and you need Target; one doesn’t take away from the other and often people will shop at both depending on what they need or where they are at in their life. When I have more money, I splurge on high-end stuff. I went to Bergdorf’s last year and bought a gorgeous dress for my NYC book signing from Diane von Furstenberg, continued on page 38 

What do you think is one of the greatest obstacles people face about “finding their inner design goddess”? How do you suggest they overcome it?

Self confidence. So much has to do with confidence — everything in our life, don’t you think? Confident people can pull off anything — even bad taste! ... Decorate Workshop helps people to gain confidence in decorating in many ways, but I believe that, mainly, it celebrates the beauty of being yourself and chilling out a bit when it comes to decorating. … In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world if the wallpaper doesn’t end up working; you tear it down and move on or simply learn to live with the things you don’t love (if you rent) and enhance what works for you.

A home is a lot like our body type, nothing is perfect but we dress our body to show off the good stuff and hide the bits

 Mix in some color: Holly painted this bookcase gray to enhance its size and provide a moody backdrop for her books. The stool is deliberately out of scale. “Things don’t always have to make sense or be ‘by the book,’” she writes. “As long as it makes sense to you, then it works!” timesunion.com/lifeathome

37

interior design continued from page 37

But the same day I was at Duane Reade buying $8 lipstick to match the dress.

You need the high and the low and I think anyone who is working with clients who can afford $10,000 sofas isn’t threatened by me in the first place. There are always plenty of clients who can afford the high-end luxury, but there are also plenty who cannot and I’m here to say “there, there ... I’m like you; let’s focus on making what we have better since none of us will ever have the penthouse in Soho. Let’s just pretend we do and give it our best shot and work with what we have.” It’s best to deal with the reality of our situation and then to make improvement from there. But no, I doubt Nate Berkus or Kelly Wearstler are sitting around feeling intimidated by me! I think one hand washes the other in the design world anyway. We all create an energy and drive for design and the need to create, dream, explore, examine … by lending our voices and it’s inspiring. @

Holly’s Instant Update Tips

• Paint a piece of furniture or your walls • Add a new area rug • Swap out throws and cushions with something fresh  Naturally Neutral: Here’s some proof neutral doesn’t have to be boring. Holly urges people to consider the details, as illustrated here.

First step: mix your neutrals. “This keeps things interesting, so try combining beige and cream,” she suggests. And don’t forget texture!

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problem: solved After

Making It Work

Easy Fix: This purple design was painted directly on the fabric to match the room.

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by brianna snyder | “after” photo by emily jahn

Problem In trying to decorate the shared bedroom of two young girls in this Altamont home, finding the right fabric to upholster the cornices was a challenge.

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Solution “I found a fabric that was perfect in almost every way,” says Betsy Rae Mattice of Elizabeth Rae Interiors in Latham. “However, it lacked a little purple to tie in the purple of the newly painted walls and new area rug.” Mattice chose one part of the fabric design to trace and made a stencil. With some purple fabric paint and a stencil brush, she was able to make the upholstery work perfectly. “Now the fabric relates to the room in every way — the style, the feeling the fabric evokes and the color!,” she says.

Top Tip “Don’t be too quick to give up on an idea or to settle. There truly is something to that old ‘Where there is a will there is a way’ saying. With sometimes minor alterations and a bit of tenacity, a good idea can become and even better one.” @

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 “Wooden Board” motif mailbox is weatherproof and UV-resistant. $132.12 at etsy.com/shop/banjado.

What’s In a

Box?

ways to spruce up that boring old mailbox

by brianna snyder

M

ailboxes are one of those functional items we mostly ignore. For $20 at Home Depot, you can get yourself a perfectly reasonable black steel mailbox that functions well and looks, well, fine. Nobody will give it a second thought.

But in an era in which curb appeal is increasingly important — especially if you’re trying to sell your home — a smart-looking mailbox can play an important role in first impressions. Why settle for a black rectangle when you could make a statement?

A friend told me about a tuba teacher, for instance, who had a large tuba as the holder for his mailbox. The rectangle mailbox sat in the large opening of the horn. Cool, right? But there’s more. When you opened the box, sitting at the far end of it was a little stuffed man sitting in a chair playing the tuba and tuba music started playing the minute the box opened. Needless to say, it was a town phenomenon.

Novelty boxes abound on Etsy and Pinterest, and local shops such as Saratoga’s The Country Gentleman make handcrafted, gorgeously designed mailboxes and mounting posts. So how do you know which one is right for you?

“I believe they should coordinate with the home,” says Maria Bortugno of B Designs in Latham. “I have used copper mailboxes for homes that have copper flashing. Also, barn mailboxes are cute with farms. If the home is contemporary, something streamlined and sleek is nice. But it must absolutely work or coordinate with the home.”

Betsy Mattice, of Elizabeth Rae Interiors in Delmar, says city living often curtails mailbox creativity. Space can be an issue if you want to prop your box on an elaborate post, and streetside 42

life@home

boxes are vulnerable to snowplows, wayward cars and mischievous teens with baseball bats. (In 2009, the Times Union reported that two kids smashed over 100 mailboxes in Bethlehem one night with metal bats.)

Rural mailboxes, though, “come in all sorts of beautiful,” says Mattice. She would know. She was a mail carrier before she became an interior designer. She says function, durability, height and other similar pragmatic considerations are as important as the box’s design. It’s likely why so many mailboxes are uniform.

Whatever mailbox you choose, the post office does have requirements, so it’s best to check with your city’s postmaster before you devote yourself to a big mailbox-installation project.

• The house or apartment number should be clearly displayed.

And, if your mailbox is on a different street than your house, the street name should appear on it, too.

• Your local postmaster must approve the

location of your mailbox.

• Put a roadside mailbox where a carrier can reach inside without leaving the truck. That means positioning it about 41” to 45” off the ground and back about 6” to 8” from the curb. (source: usps.com)

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“I can tell you a mail carrier likes the box that has a wide opening and that can be opened with one hand, the same hand that’s carrying the mail,” says Mattice. If your mailbox can be opened with one hand, “your mailcarrier will love you.”

A

well-made mailbox will last more than a decade and can cost up to $1,000. But even the $20 one from Home Depot will give a lot of years, Mattice says. (“The ones that don’t last long are the $6 or $10 metal ones that have the one hole in them,” she says.)

Stephanie Norizsan of Stickley Audi Furniture in Albany says mailbox functionality should be a priority when searching for a mailbox. Don’t get something with a complicated door opening, and make sure to keep plants and flowers trimmed and out of the way. (And don’t plant flowers that attract bees, please, for the sake of the postal worker.)

Norizsan is a fan of magnetic mailbox wraps she buys from a Springfield, Mass.-based shop called Flag Fables.

“They’re very durable and they come in all different types of subject matter,” Norizsan says. “There’s such a variety of covers.”

The wraps — which cost about $17 each — are a cheap, fun way to add a seasonal or personal flair to your mailbox without the cost or hassle of custom painting.

“I’ve been using them for years and I have several I change with the seasons,” says Norizsan. “They’re really fun because they add a little color and interest to the mailbox, you know, covering up the ugly brown or gray or whatever you have.”

Mattice, like Bortugno, says it’s a good idea to make sure the

 “VOLKSWAGEN BUS” mailbox is painted steel, available in myriad colors. $99 at etsy.com/shop/thebusbox.

color of your mailbox complements the color of your house. “I do always think it’s nice to coordinate the color of your mailbox with your home, if that’s possible, especially if your box is near other people’s mailboxes. You can (better) differentiate” between them,” Mattice says.

Your mailbox “can be beautiful,” she adds, “but the most important thing is it’s functional.” @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

43

your stuff

Get Organized storage solutions are just a publication away

▶ Even in a spotless kitchen, the space under the kitchen sink can be scary. (See note about the importance of doors in the linen closet photo at right.) Here are some suggestions to make this place more efficient.

1. Think Sink: Use waterproof doublesided adhesive tape to mount a clothespin inside your cabinet door. Use it to keep rubber gloves handy and dry.

2. Savvy Saving: Stop hoarding so many plastic shopping bags. When they start to overflow a designated dispenser (like the Spectrum Diversified Recycling Bag holder here, int.com), ditch them.

3. Pullouts Rock: All you need to handle most messes is dishwashing liquid, dishwasher detergent, furniture polish, and each of these cleansers: floor, window, abrasive and allpurpose. Store in a pullout drawer like this one here: Sliding Wire Cabinet Organizer, stacksandstacks.com.)

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N

by janet reynolds | photos courtesy hearst magazines

ot sure where to start to end the clutter before the holidays begin?

Need a better system for keeping track of mail and bills than a toppling pile on the kitchen table? Get Organized, a special Hearst magazine focusing solely on all things storage, might be a good place to start.

Created using content from Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Country Living and Woman’s Day — all Hearst properties just like life@home — the magazine is filled with ideas for saving space, how

to declutter, and suggestions for making over trouble spots. You’ll get ideas for every space in your home, from kitchens to bathrooms to everything in between.

Get Organized is available for $6.99 and can be purchased at your local supermarket, newsstand or bookstore until Dec. 25th.

A digital edition is also available at Zinio. com or Nook.bn.com. For more photos and inspiration, check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/hearstspecials and Pinterest at pinterest.com/hearstspecials.

Let the organizing begin! @

◀ For most of us, the best part of the linen closet is that it generally includes a door to close so no one can see the embarrassing scene behind it. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as this organized closet shows.

1. Bin There: In a perfect world, this closet would be for linens alone. But here on earth, where bathroom storage is at a premium, we also have to stash extra toiletries. Corral them in bins, baskets or boxes.

2. Raise the Bar: To save space, hang special occasion tablecloths on an over-the-door towel bar. Bonus? They’ll be less wrinkled when it’s time to set the holiday table.

3. Clean Living: Organize bath towels by set, except for the washcloths, which tend to get lost in the stacks. Instead, roll them up and pop into a cheapie plastic sock-drawer divider for easy grab-and-go.

4. Got it Covered: Protect delicate textiles from snagging by lining your closet shelves with contact paper. Labels help sheets make it back to the right place after laundering.

See our exclusive story on easy bathroom upgrade ideas, online at timesunion. com/lifeathome.

timesunion.com/lifeathome

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household tips 10 ways to use...

Your Hair Dryer by melissa fiorenza

Taming your tresses isn’t the only good reason to keep

a hair dryer handy. Those watts can do a whole lot of good elsewhere around the house, and if you think that’s just a bunch of hot air, read on. Our Facebook fans weighed in, too!

1. Remove a wrinkle

6. Tidy up shower curtains

2. Preserve old photos

7. Make your cakes look great

“I spritz lightly with water and gently tug at the bottom of the item, being sure not to touch the garment to my skin while blow drying. Voila, the wrinkle is gone,” says Michelle (Facebook).

Ever have trouble getting a photo off a sticky page from an old photo album? Blow the back of the page using the medium setting; it should make it easier to release the photo.

3. Melt wax

From removing a sticker on furniture and bumper stickers on your car to cleaning up candles (or a crayon attack), your hair dryer on high can melt wax, making it a lot easier to wipe up with a damp cloth or sponge.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ppart.

4. Dry wet shoes

Got stuck in a downpour? Blow your boots or shoes with warm air to dry them out (then tuck newspapers into them and leave overnight to nix odors).

5. Winterize your windows

Colleen on Facebook says she uses her hair dryer to “tighten up the plastic on windows for winter insulation.” On high heat, run it across the plastic until the wrinkles are gone; just be sure to not to hold it too close or it will burn through.

Plastic shower curtains and tablecloths are wrinkle-prone and can look messy easily. Run a hair dryer on them to nix creases; again, just not too close.

Serving dessert? Cool air from your dryer can help set icing, giving it that neat, professional bakeshop look.

8. Top off a mani

Use your hair dryer to dry nail polish, suggests Claire on Facebook. After you’ve prettied up your nails with polish, switch your hair dryer to the coolest setting and aim at your nails for one to two minutes.

9. Dust anywhere that’s hard to reach

Can’t get to the top of bookshelf? Blow the dust off with a dryer and sweep up wherever it lands. Same goes for other hard-to-reach places such as in between your computer keys.

10. Dry your bike

This one’s for all the motorcyclists out there: Lisa on Facebook uses a hair dryer to dry her motorcycle. “It blows the water out of all the little parts.” @

When a hot shower fogs up your bathroom mirror, use the hair dryer to clear it up instantly.

Coming up: Wine Corks

Got an interesting use for wine corks? E-mail your tip to mfiorenza@gmail.com along with your first name and town. And find life@home on Facebook; your comments and tips may appear in an upcoming issue!

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49

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tablescapes

Giving Thanks

Naturally

decorating your table for thanksgiving by larissa lytwyn | photos by colleen ingerto

N

ot sure where to begin creating a special tablesetting for Thanksgiving? Why not look to Mother Nature for inspiration.

Denise Maurer of Denise Maurer Interiors in

Troy loves bringing seasonal elements into her work. Her Thanksgiving tablescape is no different. “The key is be true to yourself and have fun with it,” she says. continued on page 52 

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51

tablescapes continued from page 51

TABLESCAPING TIPS: Sprinkle candy corn on the table for both decorative — and edible — fun.

Maximize seasonal items, such as gourds and squash.

Choose items for their versatility.

That burlap tablecloth, for instance, can do double-duty for a summer BBQ next season.

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life@home

If you want a more formal look, go for symmetry, Maurer says. Balance heights and spacing evenly. For a more casual, funky look, arrange items asymmetrically.

For a rustic look, consider a burlap fabric for a tablecloth. Maurer got hers from a local fabric shop. For a more traditional look, a creamy white cloth is a classic choice.

Use unusual items for name-cards — like fruit, such as these pears.

Write on them in edible color markers.

timesunion.com/lifeathome

53

living: green

Just Say No to Junk Mail 10 tips to reduce unwanted catalogs, flyers — you name it by cari scribner

• Weighs in at an average of 41 pounds per adult each year.

• Costs millions of dollars in dumping fees each year.

• Fills three percent of America’s landfills.

• Destroys 62 million trees a year.

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life@home

• Creates 28 billion gallons of waste water (used for paper processing) per year.

• Is unopened and unread nearly half the time.

While the vast majority of paper can and should be recycled, envelopes with a see-through window present a challenge because of the plastic used. Many mailings are glossy, which means the paper is coated and not easily recyclable. The best way to deal with junk mail is to prevent it from ever landing in your mailbox.

Some years ago, one clearinghouse was available to remove a home or business address from most unsolicited mailing lists.

Today, as more information is shared across the Internet, and direct marketing becomes increasingly sophisticated, it takes more effort to clear your information from every database. But by investing a short amount of time, you can do your share to be eco-friendly, and save yourself the headache of unwanted mail.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Yusaku Takeda.

J

unk mail is the epitome of junk. Sure, many of us succumb to opening the envelope to see if we’ve won the grand prize, but most of us file it immediately in the trash. It’s wasteful for the sender, who pays postage, albeit a bulk rate since direct marketers typically flood mailboxes in one fell swoop. Postal carriers waste energy delivering unwanted mail.

It wastes our time as well, although we determine in nano-seconds what’s valuable mail and sort out unsolicited mail. But the biggest hit is to the environment.

According to ecofuture.com, more than 4 million tons of paper are wasted every year on junk mail. How wasteful is junk mail? Let us count the ways:

“When my car needs any service or repair, there’s only one place I trust.”

10 tips for reducing junk mail: • Product warranty cards are often used to collect info on your buying habits and income, for the sole purpose of targeting direct mail. They are not required in order to return merchandise, so don’t fill them out and send them.

• Contests or giveaways in which you fill out a brief entry form are almost always a method of compiling names and addresses. Avoid these — unless it’s a local raffle and you know the organization, such as your child’s school.

• Register online at DMAchoice.org. DMA Choice divides direct mail into four categories: credit offers, catalogs, magazine offers and other mail, such as donation requests, bank offers, and retail promotions. You can request to stop receiving mail from individual companies within each category, or better yet, from an entire category at once. You’ll be asked to supply an e-mail address when registering; DMA will send an e-mail with a link to verify your registration.

• Register names of deceased family members via DMA online. The organization has a “Deceased Do Not Contact” list.

• Opt out of pre-screened credit card offers by registering online at optoutprescreen.com • When you receive unsolicited first class mail, cross out the address and bar code, circle the first class postage and write “refused: return to sender.” Drop in any mailbox, and it will be returned to the sender.

• If you’ve moved, be aware that your change of address card, filed at the post office, can be used by direct mail marketers. If possible, contact your correspondents individually and avoid filling out the post office form.

Many magazines, for instance, have an online change-ofaddress option.

• Whenever you order a product or service online, include in all caps in the comment line, “DO NOT SELL MY NAME OR ADDRESS.” • Read the small print. When ordering items online, some companies include a box to check if you don’t want to receive mailings from their “pre-screened” list. You’ll likely find this option in small print at the bottom of your order form or online shopping cart.

• If you contribute to a charitable organization, request that it send only one donation request per year. Hold onto that request for the time of year when you donate to worthy causes so it won’t slip your mind. @

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refurnished living

Gather Round by alison grieveson

T

hanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. No gifts or gimmicks (mostly). Just a time for family and friends to get together, give thanks and enjoy a delicious feast. I thought it was high time we give props to the piece of furniture that literally brings us together.

➋

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 Using salvaged, recovered and

recycled materials, Natural Edge Furniture out of Bend, Ore., makes truly green tables. This beauty is 42”x82” and is book matched which means that when you fold open the tree (like pages in a book) the grain is a perfect mirror. Another favorite feature, besides the natural edges and bench seating, is how the angular metal legs strike the perfect balance to the natural table top.

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➋ For a more modern, glam look

go with a vintage table like this one. The Milo Baughman by Thayer Coggin dining table has a mirrored chrome frame with lattice glass

top. It includes two leaves that expand the table from 60” to 80”.

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➍ For on top of the table: consider

contacting a local farm that raises turkeys organically and humanely instead of picking up one of those huge frozen birds at the grocery store. You will pay a bit more, but peace of mind and improved flavor are well worth it!

EkonkhillTurkeyFarm.com @

Alison Grieveson is a graphic designer who enjoys exploring the “greener” side of the design and decorating industries.

For more green tips, check out www.RefurnishedLiving.com.

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life@home

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interiors

Mossy Mediums

terrariums are the new houseplants

by brianna snyder | photos by robert wright/stc craft

T

errariums have almost a kind of silly joy about them. For one, terrarium construction is usually associated with grade-school science projects, and so conjures all kinds of giddy nostalgia for younger years. And in Tiny World Terrariums, an illustrative primer on terrariums, the mossy displays feature all kinds of scenes from the ecstatic to the sublime to the serene.

The book’s authors, Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow, are Brooklyn-based green-thumb artisans whose operation is known as Twig Terrariums. Both women are avid crafters and the story, as told in Tiny World Terrariums, goes like this: A few years ago, Inciarrano bought a little glass cruet and decided to make a terrarium.

She consulted the Web and an old chemistry professor and made her first little mossy planet. Then Maslow joined in, wanting to make her own, and the two started making dozens of them together and selling them from a booth at the Brooklyn Flea.

“They looked like gardens to us and we decided they needed little people,” says Inciarrano in a phone interview with Life@ Home. “We went crazy from there.”

Maslow, who never really had a knack for plants growing up, says she’s since developed quite a relationship to greenery. “I’m like the Dr. Doolittle of plants now,” she says.

Tiny Worlds is a happy jaunt through the world of mosshunting, container-shopping, tool-accumulating and what the writers call “mini-scaping,” in which scenes are staged within a terrarium to add layer, depth, dimension and personality.

“Terrarium,” Tiny Worlds tells us, is defined as “a transparent enclosure for keeping or growing plants.” The container allows plants to remain in their original soil, maintain their own air climate, and stay moist. They’re separated into two categories: closed, which allows higher-moisture plants to thrive without too much sun; and open, for plants that don’t need a lot of moisture but do like sun.

B

uilding them can be quite an undertaking, just like starting a little garden.

Getting started requires picking the right vessel, the right plants (ones that can survive in the climate you make as well as ones that aren’t poisonous to any pets or kids), the right placement 58

life@home

Tiny World Terrariums: A Step-by-Step Guide to Easily Contained Life, by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow, photos by Robert Wright, STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book, 120 pages, $24.95.

(which often depends on the plants), and then getting the right soils, mosses, ferns and rocks or twigs or other little figurines or decorative setpieces.

Today, Inciarrano and Maslow have their own terrarium shop in Brooklyn and have done customized terrariums and installations all over the city, including at the New York Botanical Garden. People have come to Twig Terrariums for different kinds of terrarium settings — weddings, homes, anniversaries, any kind of commemorative event. They’ve had requests for terrariums with zombie scenes — little zombie figurines chasing people figurines up little mountain props — and they’ve had people ask for recreations of momentous times in their lives.

“Sometimes we’ll get really bizarre requests,” says Maslow.

Take the couple who loves to parachute together: “One time, the husband literally got stuck in a tree and they had us recreate the moment of him landing and getting stuck in the little twig tree in the terrarium.”

So far, the Twig Terrarium ladies remain enthralled with “terrarin’” (so dubbed in the book). “We still very much love it,” Inciarrano says. “We play with a lot of different ideas in the terrarium world.” @

timesunion.com/lifeathome

59

down the garden path

In Praise of

Johnny

Where can you buy Johnny-jump-ups?

Mail-order nurseries such as Gurney’s (gurneys.com) or Burpees’s (burpee.com) carry seeds, and many local nurseries, such as Hewitt’s Garden Centers, stock violas in spring.

this reliable flower arrives early and stays late story and photos by colleen plimpton

N

ow that the garden has been tucked into bed and the trees are bare, scant color remains in the yard. A few stalwart flowers, however, hang on into the depths of winter, brightening our spirits and keeping us dreaming of warm spring days. One of these adventurous sorts is the wild pansy, or Viola tricolor.

Also known as heart’s ease, tickle- my-fancy, Jack-jump-andkiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, the plant is most often called Johnny-jump-up by gardeners. The given name Johnny conjures up a dependable fellow, doesn’t it? He’s likely a guy who loves his mom and works hard for an honest day’s wage — which is exactly what our Johnny does in the garden.

The self-sowing flower, however, has a dollop more impulsivity than the man, as one never quite knows where he will appear. In the cracks of the sidewalk, perhaps? Unperturbed in the vegetable or perennial garden? Unwanted, unbidden, in the lawn? No matter, if he pops up where he shouldn’t, he’s easy to pull out and compost. But give him a chance. He’s one of the garden’s latest bloomers as well as one of the earliest arrivals in spring. He’s impervious to insects and disease, ignored by 60

life@home

deer, and arrives adorned in vivid combinations such as yellow and blue, white and purple, and, of course, violet. A regular Joseph’s coat of colors.

In the flower patch Johnny puts on quite a show in spring before going dormant during the blistering summer months. Come the shorter, more temperate days of autumn, he’ll often make a return appearance and linger until true, bone-rattling cold, when he’ll fade once more. But it’s heartening to see the tiny flowers during fall and early winter, when he does indeed warm the heart with his bold and handsome appearance in our drab yards.

J

ohnny has an interesting backstory. Native to Spain and the Pyrenees, Viola tricolor was introduced to North America in colonial days and has spread widely since then. This heirloom flower has an extended history in folk medicine as a putative cure for chest ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and upper respiratory infections.

The flowers were also used to make yellow, green and blue dyes.

And in the Victorian “language of flowers” Johnny-jump-up is associated with thought. This plant is the progenitor of the various forms of cultivated pansy that we know, grow and love.

Store Opening Fall 2012 Johnny-jump-up is a useful fellow.

Here are a few ideas for Johnny:

Add HIM to a lovely small bouquet. In early spring, place the flower in a vase with lungwort, Virginia bluebells, hellebore, corydalis and pieris.

[and Fourth]

Press him, either in a flower press, or between the pages of a book. Splay the petals flat, close the press, wait a couple of weeks, and then use the dried flowers as table décor for a spring party, to make gift cards, or in scrapbooking.

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Eat him. Pick, wash, and toss Johnny-jump-ups into a salad as a colorful garnish to your greens, or add as a sprightly embellishment to a cheese tray. The flower is totally edible.

One Franklin Square Saratoga Springs 518.584.3700 ww www.23rdandfourth.com

Find us on:

My bumper crop of Johnny-jump-ups hitched a ride in a barrel of compost hauled from my former garden in New Jersey.

I hadn’t planned on transporting him, but for a variety of reasons I’ve never regretted his determination to live in colder climes. Johnny grows enthusiastically in many exposures, ranging from semi-shady to semi-sunny. He’s not especially fond of hot, dry, full sun, but almost anywhere else he’ll be happy. I like to see him in front of my shrub beds, in containers and as fillers in between perennials. For something unusual, an entire bed of Johnnys makes a handsome display.

Johnny is grown as an annual or short-lived perennial. Selffertile, he’s pollinated by bees and generally tops out at eight inches, with a six-inch spread. If you wish to start him from seed, sow directly into your garden, or start in seed trays indoors for early spring planting out. Cover lightly with a smidge of soil, and be patient. Germination is at a snail’s pace, though use of a heat mat may speed things up a bit.

Once Johnny is up and doing well, transplant into the garden in April. No fertilizer or supplemental water is needed for these sturdy little soldiers, and they’ll thrive in ordinary garden soil. As with most flowers, deadheading keeps the blooms coming, although I don’t deadhead mine, and they do just fine.

However, when he turns lanky and ragged come the heat of July, compost him. He’s likely sown enough wild oats so that you’ll see his progeny in the fall and next spring. @ Garden communicator Colleen Plimpton writes about, teaches, lectures, and coaches gardening. Visit her website at colleenplimpton.com.

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design classics

Shadows in the Design World the barcelona chair by kim messenger | photo courtesy knoll

N

o single piece of design cries “modernity” with more clarity and authority than the Barcelona Chair. Designed for the German Pavilion at the Barcelona Exhibition of 1929 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the T-Rex of modernist architecture.

Yet, as much as I admire the chair — and as much as I’ve love to own one — I can’t look at one without feeling a shadow of tragedy. It seems to me that there is a darkness that follows the chair — maybe it is simply because no object is so iconic and representative of modernism, and yet so trails with it so much of the bloody history of its time.

You will definitely have seen one of these. They pop up in Mad Men or they brood in the lobby of countless modernist office buildings. So often, they seem to say “look at me, don’t you dare sit on me, “ which I think is a pity and more a result of their sculptural functionalism than their virtues as a chair. I have a friend who has one that is so old that I think it may be covered in the pre-1950s pig skin, and the cushions have flattened, but it is a joy to sit in his window in the ragged old thing and watch the swallows fly over the rooftops.

Van der Rohe became the director of the Bauhaus Movement, a German design movement founded by architect Walter Gropius in 1919. It was a highly influential attempt to marry the principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement — good design, handmade quality — with a democratic, functional idealism. Good design should reflect sound engineering, should be beautiful and not embroidered, without unnecessary filigree.

“Less is more” is one of his expressions.

The school attracted the best designers in Europe, and the faculty included Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marcel Breuer. Its influence increased as it moved toward increasing functionalism, until it was closed by the Nazis in the 1930s — 64

life@home

at which point most of its influential faculty came to the United States within a few years, exporting Bauhaus principles to America, where it took hold and gave us the skyscraper, among other things.

B

ut that is to get ahead of our story. The chair was designed by van der Rohe and his lover, Lilly Reich, and was inspired by the folding “campaign” chair of the Romans and the Egyptians, hence its slightly martial, imperial feeling. It was designed for a king really. How ironic that it was introduced in Barcelona, just a few short years before the end of the Spanish Republic and the civil war that was to follow. When I see the chair and think of the Barcelona Pavilion, I see dark clouds on the horizon.

Dark clouds also for Lilly Reich. It may well have been that she designed the chair. She was a designer of textiles and women’s apparel. She met van der Rohe in the 1920s, and they were lovers and collaborators until he emigrated to the United States in 1938. She came to visit him in 1939 and did not stay, returning to Germany as war broke out. In 1943 her studio was bombed. She was put into a forced labor unit for two years and died in 1947 at age 62, all the while having preserved Mies drawings and designs. Is the chair design properly hers? Many people think so.

Ironically, just who gets to own the chair remains a bit of a debate. Officially, the Museum of Modern Art retains the rights, and it is licensed to Knoll. An official Barcelona Chair has Mies van der Rohe’s signature stamped on the bottom and will cost you a little over $5,000. There is also an ottoman.

However an “Ibiza” chair replica can be had at Regency Shop for $459, and they argue convincingly that “Barcelona” furniture is in the public domain and that their chair is an interpretation, an homage if you like. So the shadow lingers. @

Missing a beet: Veggie dreams after a week of meat gluttony. Read the story on page 85. Photo by Paul Barrett.

family | food | wine pages 65 - 90

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65

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house blend

Happy Holidaze by merci miglino

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/photoandvideostock.com.

D

ecorating for the holidays brought out the kid in my mother. The kid, I might add, that was pretty much locked in the cellar most days of the year. Starting the week before the holiday, she dragged out boxes, bins and bags of all the trappings of the season.

These were the days before the Christmas Tree Shops and other notorious outlets that sold cheap holiday bric-a-brac for every holiday imaginable. Most of my mother’s decorations were passed down from her mother, bought sparingly at New York City department stores or handcrafted by us kids or by my parents. This included a truly memorable piece of plywood, cut to the size of the front door, painted bright red with gold sparkle stars: it was nailed to the door each year, blocking what little winter light there was from entering our front room.

For many years, I re-created this magical mix of decorations that signaled the arrival of the most wonderful time of the year, with its bite-size candy, turkey dinners, and presents galore. But it’s gotten to be too much: too much clutter, too much work, and way too much time. This year, I decided to establish some rules regarding any further accumulation of holiday swag.

So, before you pack up those fake Jack-o-Lanterns and Halloween scarecrows and drag out the Thanksgiving dinnerware, Christmas lights, Hanukkah candles, Kwanzaa fruits, or Winter Solstice evergreens, take a look at my new rules. Following them will help you scale down and style up your holidays and prevent you from being featured on that hoarding reality show where folks are being buried alive by their own stuff. (Some “seasonal” stuff is always among the piles of papers, clothes and pet dung.)

Rule 1: Take Inventory If you do not use an item for two consecutive years, it’s time to toss it. There’s no point in keeping things you’re not going to use. If you are saving it for future generations, make sure it’s in tiptop shape or have it preserved somehow. I remember when my mother sent me the Christmas tree bulb I chewed on when I was 2. I loved that. But what was I supposed to do with the

dozens of mostly-broken bulbs that came along with it? Sorry, Mom, but they’re in the trash.

Rule 2: Less is Better When you get dressed in the morning, do you put on every accessory you own? Not unless you are Coco Chanel, and even she recommended putting something back in the drawer. The same goes for your home. Unless you’re going for that authentic Plymouth Plantation or “hot merry mess” look, resist the urge to put everything up or out. Select the decorations that you can’t live without and store the others until next year.

If they stay in storage for more than two consecutive years, see Rule #1.

Rule 3: Have a plan Before you start plastering every inch of your home with holiday accoutrement, stand in each room for a couple minutes and devise a plan. Then select just a few items from your inventory and evenly distribute them to create a balanced look. Try not to remove year-round décor to accommodate your stuffed cornucopia or dancing snowman. Not only is it more work when it comes time to take down the decorations, but it’s a sure sign that your home is looking more like Party City than a place where real people live.

Rule 4: No Post-Holiday Sale Shopping These days the after-holiday sales often start a week before the actual holiday occurs. Caught up in the season, I used to buy too many new decorations, all under the guise that it was on sale. This did nothing for my budget or my attic, and even less for my vision of a simple and sophisticated holiday. So now my rule is no holiday shopping until New Year’s Day. And don’t worry that “all the good stuff will be gone.” You likely have all the good stuff already. And less choice means you’re less likely to buy more stuff that will only cause you the angst and agony of deciding what to throw it out next year. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

67

entertaining

Party On! tips to help you enjoy throwing a holiday party

Photo: Š iStockphoto.com/Terry Katz.

by kristi barlette

68

life@home

 Want more advice? Read our story on stress-free recipes on page 70.

J

ust as too much salt can ruin a perfectly good holiday way around that overwhelming feeling. “If you don’t want to be cookie recipe, excess stress can spoil your entire holiday. so stressed out, you have to surrender some control,” says the But it doesn’t have to — if you follow a few tips. life coach. “And if you aren’t willing to surrender control, the The most important suggestion may be planning ahead, says stress is inevitable.”

Jessica L. Laviano, owner of Simply Elegant Event Planning in If a formal, sit-down dinner is more your flavor, create a samAlbany. While “there’s always tomorrow” is a simple idea, it can ple menu and invite friends over the month before to be your create increasing angst as the even nears. guinea pigs. You’ll see if you struggle cooking for eight, you’ll Instead, sit down as soon as you decide you are going to host never manage a multi-course dinner for 18. And you know the a holiday fete and make a list. This list will soon become several number will be around 18 because you made that rough guest lists, but we will get to that. list, remember?

“You’ve got to determine your priorities,” says Claire WieEven if you’re not the next Mario Batali, a party featuring tortello man, a life couch/counselor as well as the clinical director at puzzone is not impossible, especially if your budget is catererEllis Medicine Inpatient Mental Health in Schenectady. “Make friendly. If so, ask friends (social media is great for these things) columns of the non-negotiables. What are the things you could and look on Yelp and other review sites for recommendations of live without doing, or do them not the way you used to?” local caterers. Then get estimates. You’ll find a wide range of pricOnce your party-related priorities are in place, create a new es and menu options from different caterers, says Laviano. list with every single task you need to do to host an in-home afNow that you know what you want to serve, firm up your fair. Since these are items and tasks you’ve invites. Ideally, the party is six weeks away labeled as “needs,” you can think of them as at this point but those invitations need to be Wieman’s “non-negotiables.” This includes printed, or written and addressed. everything from a date to a general idea of “The three- to four-week mark is enough List-making who will be invited (a rough idea of party time for people to plan ahead to attend all the is the key to size is important) to what you may serve to parties at once or at least break it up,” says securing an outfit and shoes, if such a thing Laviano. By “break it up” she means guests maintaining is in your budget. who have more than one invitation for a parparty-planning Ahh, budget, that six-letter word that ticular day can plan how to make both events so often feels like a four-letter zinger. But, work, even if that means the husband going sanity. whether your budget is three digits or five, to one event while the wife attends another. you can throw a nice affair, as long as you One other tip on the invitations? Set the plan out the details.

RSVP date for one week prior to the event.

Let’s say your bank account is more Simpson than Huxtable.

This will give you enough time to shop not just for food, but Skip the sit-down dinner and go for cocktail-type food. Before also napkins and other items. (Laviano suggests Christmas you huff “well I never!,” this doesn’t have to mean chips and dip Tree Shops and area craft stores for affordable, and tasteand a veggie platter. ful, décor.)

Hot foods that will have people going back for more are posOnce the invitations are mailed, you are in the final party sible. If you’ve got the freezer space, start clipping coupons stretch. A week in advance, give your home a top-to-bottom and shopping sales — now. cleaning. This doesn’t just include the basics such as vacuumNot sure where to begin with the menu? Pick a theme. Pering, dusting and scrubbing the bathrooms, but also removing haps you fancy Italian fare, buy (or make) meatballs, flatbread (or relocating) clutter and bringing the home up to a level that pizzas and antipasto. Buy a case (or two) of red wine, and make makes you feel confident and proud, Laviano says. sure you’ve got some grape juice for those who may want to With the nitty-gritty cleaning out of the way, you will just bypass the alcohol. To lighten the cost, and honor the wishes of need to do a few basic cosmetic-type chores the morning of, guests who ask what they can bring, pass the additional liquor such as running the vacuum again, wiping down the counters and dessert along to them. and making sure you have fresh towels in the bathroom. The If they want more specific guidelines, share your theme and party planner suggests you give yourself an early call-time, so make suggestions. Who wouldn’t rather hear “can you bring you don’t feel that last-minute crunch. cheesecake?” rather than “oh, I don’t know, just bring a dessert”?

She also suggests being dressed and ready an hour before.

This will allow you time to make sure the food and drinks are ometimes passing on the tasks is tough, especially for perready, that you’ve cleared an area for people to put their coats fectionists who tend to worry that guests will forget to and handbags, and to check that last task off that list you made bring what they promised, says Wieman, but they should find a back on day one. @

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timesunion.com/lifeathome

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entertaining

Stress-Free Elegant Entertaining diane worthington’s book shows you how

Prosciutto-wrapped figs: For this recipe from Rossen’s Seriously Simple cookbook, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

 Want even less stress? Read our story on holiday organizing on page 68.

Win

a copy of this book!

Go to our Facebook page and tell us why you need party-planning help. We’ll pick a random winner to receive Diane’s new book.

Seriously Simple Parties: Recipes, Menus & Advice for Effortless Entertaining, by Diane Rossen Worthington, photos by Yvonne Duivenvoorden, Chronicle Books, 224 pages, $24.95

by janet reynolds | photos by yvonne duivenvoorden/chronicle books

I

f the phrase “stress-free entertaining” is an oxymoron to you, Diane Worthington can help. An award-winning radio show host and the author of more than 20 cookbooks, Worthington has created a mini-empire of cooking and entertaining without stress. Seriously Simple Parties is the latest in her “simple” series, following the popular Seriously Simple and Seriously Simple Holidays.

And it’s a logical offshoot, Worthington says from her California home. “I get a lot of people who freak out that they’re going to entertain,” she says of frantic e-mails from readers. “I realized it’s more than the holidays. People don’t even want to do parties. They’ll cook during the holidays and no other time.

There are plenty of reasons to plan parties all year and if you plan it, you can enjoy your own party.”

The book breaks party planning into bite-sized pieces — which also alleviates stress, obviously — and offers readers handy suggestions about tools to have on hand, recipes and helpful information such as how to know how much alcohol to buy for parties of various sizes. Worthington also creates potential menus for various kinds and sizes of parties. She breaks them down into seasonal options too.

In the menu area, Worthington includes a party-prep tip that indicates what part of the recipe can be done ahead and how much earlier. Certain recipes also feature a tidbit from “the clev-

er cook.” In the recipe for Parmesan dip, for instance, the clever cook could use just one of the cheeses to simplify, double the recipe for a large party or serve the dip on toasted slices of French baguette.

In talking to Worthington, it’s no surprise to discover she has her master’s degree in counseling, with a particular expertise in helping people with anxiety issues. Some people have social anxiety about going to parties. “But this is a different part of it,” she says of people’s agitation about hosting a party. “You don’t know how to give them.”

Those who didn’t grow up watching their parents host the cocktail parties of the Mad Men era don’t know where to start.

Add two-career couples with not a minute to spare, and it’s no wonder people get anxious, Worthington says.

“For most people giving a party is one more hideous thing you have to do that’s work. It’s not fun,” she says. “I‘m here to say wait a second you’re living your life in a crazy way. My mantra is life is short. Give a party.”

And, of course, keep it simple. “The secret is making lists.

And if you can’t make all the things, make it a potluck party.

Have everybody bring something or order the roast chicken from your favorite place and make the side dishes,” Worthington says. “It doesn’t all have to be made by you with beautiful sterling silver. People don’t live that way.” @ Get a recipe for oven-baked paella on page 73  timesunion.com/lifeathome

71

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entertaining

Top Party-Planning Mistakes People Make continued from page 71

• They wait until the last minute to do everything.

Oven-baked paella

• “A biggie is making last-minute dishes for a party. For me, almost everything has to be made in advance unless it’s a participatory party.”

Serves 6-8

• They make a menu completely out of their cooking comfort zone.

Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 pound Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 1/4 teaspoons smoked paprika salt and pepper to taste 1 pound medium-grain rice, preferably bomba or Arborio 1 cup clam juice 6 cups fish or chicken broth 1 teaspoon saffron threads 1 pound mussel or littleneck clams, or a combination of the two, well-scrubbed 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 pound pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage, sliced 1/2-inch thick 1 1/2 cups frozen petite peas 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish

method Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil over mediumhigh heat in a 14-inch paella pan or 13- or 14-inch ovenproof sauté pan. Saute the onions until softened, about 7 minutes.

Add the bell pepper and sauté for about 2 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the chorizo and sauté for about 2 minutes, or until well-coated with the oil. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and paprika and cook about 1 minute, until slightly darker in color. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat the rice without browning it. Pour in the clam juice and 1 cup of the broth, and move the pan around so the ingredients are in an even layer and mixed together. Cook until the liquid is absorbed, 4-5 minutes.

Add the rest of the broth and the saffron and bring to a boil. Cover and put in the oven. If you don’t have a cover, use aluminum foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the liquid is almost absorbed. timesunion.com/lifeathome

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One Fish, Two Fish

this chef likes to dish

by steve barnes | photos by suzanne kawola

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he color and subject of Sarah Fish’s tattoos reflect her general emotional state during the periods of her life in which she acquired each. At a dark time in the past she had an ankle inked with a ring of black skulls. A scene on her left shoulder, in contrast, is a more recent artwork — a riot of pastels and nature, depicting a woman kissing an angel. She’s even got a tattoo of the bluebird of happiness with the notation, “Est. 1979,” the year of her birth.

Through it all, food has been a constant, an anchor, for Fish, who turns 33 this month. She has vivid sense-memories of the smell of freshly dug potatoes on her grandmother’s 90-acre Rensselaer County farm, where she also caught crayfish in the creek. “I am so in love with food,” says Fish, who owns The Hungry Fish Café in Troy.

“When they say you should eat to live, not live to eat — I think that’s a load of crap. I don’t subscribe to that at all,” she says.

“Food to me is so much more than physical nourishment and a source of calories for your body. It’s about your mind, your experiences, what matters to you.”

After work in a variety of fields — “Banking was just not my gig. Not at all.” — and an attempt at college, Fish endured a period on disability and welfare. Among its trials were overcoming medical misdiagnoses that included prescriptions for medications that were more damaging than helpful, causing

Fish to vow to rework her health and her life.

“Instead of Prozac and cheeseburgers from McDonald’s, how about drinking a glass of water, going outside and eating something from your garden?” says Fish.

A self-taught cook with a fresh-local-seasonal approach, Fish develops her own recipes and uses food grown and produced at area farms, the names of which she lists prominently on her restaurant’s website. She’s also apt to feed customers with vegetables and herbs from her Wynantskill home’s garden, a tangle of greenery that suggests natural fecundity as well as unconcern for neatness. The garden’s wildness says: Food grows here, and it tastes good. Across the backyard, nestled behind the home, is a hot-dog stand under a tarp, which prompts Fish to say, “That’s a dream for someday. I am notorious for getting into too much.”

F

ish’s house, where she has lived for 11 years, is a little cottage, not even 900 square-feet overall, and it’s more suburban than where she imagines herself ultimately ensconced.

That home, surely to be located in the country, will have a kitchen for daily use and another, larger space as a production facility, where she will do large-volume canning, bread-making, breads, beef jerky, soups and stocks and sauces and stews for freezing — all techniques she taught herself. Fish has her eye on an eastern Rensselaer County farm from which she envisions buying some acreage to set up a garden, café and educational center for cooking classes.

She expects to do work on that future rural house, just as she did on her current home and on the café. Both her house and the restaurant have the same color walls, and Fish and her husband of three years, Ben, built counters and finished the café space.

Fish’s drywall expertise is such that she says happily, “I am really good at mudding and Sheetrocking.”

“I don’t believe in luck,” says Fish. “I believe in hard work. I feel like the harder I work, the ‘luckier’ I get. It was like that with the café.”

She had wanted her own café since age 15. The dream motivated her for the next decade and a half, until she was able to open a small place in Wynantskill in the fall of 2011. By the end of that year, though she’d been open just a few months, Fish had been chosen as a Rising Star Chef for the Wine & Dine for the Arts festival in Albany. A growing reputation and customer base enabled her to move the café to a larger place, just over the city line in Troy, only 10 months later. continued on page 76 

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When they say you should eat to live, not live to eat — I think that’s a load of crap.

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chef@home

continued from page 74

“I couldn’t have done it without Ben,” says Fish of her husband, who works at a sawmill and races motorcycles on weekends. “He’s been so amazing and supportive.”

The pair met at a country tavern when Fish stopped in, lured by a sign promising free food during a football game. Ben’s company was as attractive as the food was forgettable.

“I knew he was the one because he was able to keep up with me,” says Fish. “I would just go, go, go, and he would go, go, go with me.”

Their romance brought them to Albany City Hall to get married. Fish admits to a moment of anxiety immediately before the exchanging of vows. She says, “I thought, ‘Wait a minute — what am I doing here?’” But she realized the fleeting trepidation was rooted in traditional expectations of matrimonial pomp and flourish, which she and Ben both rejected.

“Eloping was right for us,” Fish says. “There were so many people telling us what our wedding should be. We didn’t want a big, crazy wedding. We just wanted to be married to each other, so that’s what we did.”

“

So many people are afraid of what might happen if they try, if they make an effort, if they really go for it ... I want to be worried about what might not happen if I don’t. ” Their love may be mutual, but many of their tastes are not.

He pops hot dogs into the microwave and drinks Coors Light.

A lunch for her is apt to include homemade bread, hummus she spun up in the food processor that morning, cheese from a local artisan and beer that Fish home-brews.

She says, “I had a taste for very expensive beer, and I realized that I made just about everything else myself, so why not make beer?”

Her husband still prefers his mass-produced lager, but, Fish says, “If he’s out of Coors Light, he’ll drink my homebrew.”

He’s also awakening to the pleasure of his wife’s cooking. Fish knows she’s wowed when Ben says, “You can definitely make that again.”

She smiles at the memory of the first time Ben said that. Her happiness and peace were hard-won, Fish says, but she does not wish the hard times never occurred.

“So many people are afraid of what might happen if they try, if they make an effort, if they really go for it,” she says. “I want to be worried about what might not happen if I don’t.” @

Get Chef Fish’s recipe for Apple Squash Soup at timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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Hospitality means...

 Country White Bread ingredients 12 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons of salt 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast 4 1/2 cups of hot water method Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all but the water in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the middle, pour hot water in. Water should be hot enough that you can touch it without burning yourself.

Using a bowl scraper, blend the mixture until it starts coming together without falling apart. Empty the bowl onto a work surface and knead until it feels like warm, damp skin. Coat your mixing bowl with oil, put the dough in and cover with plastic wrap until it doubles in size.

Re-knead dough and form into 3 equal pieces in loaf pans or shape with your hands into 3 loaves. Let rise once more, then bake at 400 degrees for roughly 35 minutes.

Creating an evening that makes your mouth water just thinking about it.

Note: For Rosemary Olive Oil bread, as served in the Hungry Fish Café, replace 1/2 cup of water with olive oil, add 1 teaspoon diced garlic and 1/2 cup dried rosemary.

 Hummus ingredients 1 15-ounce can chickpeas 2 tablespoons of Saratoga Spice Rub’s GSSP (see Note) 1 teaspoon diced garlic 1 /2 cup olive oil About 1 tablespoon water method Add first three ingredients in food processor and puree as you slowly add the olive oil until the mixture becomes the desired consistency, adding water as necessary.

Note: A substitution for the Olde Saratoga blend is 2 1/4 teaspoons each of smoked salt and garlic powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper.

Big, Big Chocolate Cake photo by Michael Gallitelli

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the vineyard

Port

rich in history, the nectar of the douro is calling you

by alistair highet | photo courtesy of w. & j. graham’s

I

went on a long road journey recently, and took along my companion Richard Sharpe — the most remarkable man to have fought with the Duke of Wellington. What I mean, of course, is that I listened to Sharpe’s Havoc, a historical novel by Bernard Cornwell, whose main character is an orphaned rogue named Sharpe, born of a prostitute in “Cat’s Lane” in London, a runaway chimney sweep and pickpocket who slowly fights his way up the ranks of the British Army during the Napoleonic wars while killing a lot of French soldiers and bedding beautiful women. It’s dashing stuff — lots of smoke and powder and shot and horses and steel, and just the stuff to keep you awake for 17 hours on the road.

In this story, Sharpe finds himself as a second lieutenant in charge of a company of riflemen during the second battle of Porto in 1809. It is thanks to Sharpe that the British find barges that allow them to cross the Douro River, so flanking the French forces of Marshal Nicolas Soult by setting up a fortress in an abandoned seminary (this is all true). The French panic and flee Portugal in disarray through the mountains and back into Spain, chased by Sharpe all the way (this part is not true).

What does this have to do with wine? Everything, because the Douro is the third-oldest designated wine region in the world (1756) — after Chianti in Italy and Tokaj in Hungary — and it is the home of port, one of the truly great wines and one that we almost never think or read about.

The fighting in Cornwell’s novel takes place in the vineyards and Quintas of the port trade.

Great vintage ports are said to be amongst the greatest wines of any kind, and because they are fortified, vintage ports from the 19th century are still in demand.

P

ort is a fortified wine, meaning that it owes its sweetness — and its head-splitting power (do be careful) — to the addition of a grape “brandy” called aguardente. When the “brandy” is added to the wine, the fermentation stops, and so the residual sugar that would otherwise ferment remains as sweetness, and the alcohol level of the wine is increased to about 20 percent. The wine is then stored in cellars and aged — sometimes in oak but sometimes not — and then filtered and bottled.

Traditionally, the vineyards that line the Douro are home to unique wine grapes, such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela and

Tinto Cao. These grapes grow in small, tight clusters, and yield very sweet, succulent fruit.

Back in the day, the wine was taken down the river to the city of Porto on great barges called “barcos rabelas.”

Today, it comes downstream in trucks, sadly.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that Port is very much a British thing, and most of the great port “families” are of English or Scottish origin, even though they may have been in Portugal since the 17th century. The great Port names are Croft, Dow, Graham, Osborne, Sandeman, and currently it is the Symington family who own and operate the six largest houses, including Graham, Cockburn and Dow. Again, history has everything to do with it.

Wine was much loved and desired in England, but by the end of the 17th century continual warring with France meant that French wine was impossible to get. Portugal was close by, and so English merchants came to Porto to set up shop. They found that the wine often spoiled on the journey to London and discovered that if they added a little brandy, the wine would keep. The Port trade was born.

By the time that Richard Sharpe was dashing about killing the French in Portugal, many longstanding English families, and English property interests, were in Portugal. Indeed it’s one of the reasons they decided to throw Napoleon out of the place. Port was a big, British business.

We rarely see port at the table today, although every good restaurant will have one or two on hand. Ruby port is the most popular, as in the Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Porto that I have been enjoying recently ($28). The six grapes are the ones I mentioned earlier, and the marking on the label is an homage to the old way the barrels were branded. The Grahams set up their operations in the 1820s, and the Symingtons — also a Scottish family originally — took it over in the 1970s. Dark, smooth as velvet, the fruit is sweet and luscious — ripe cherries, dark plums, dark chocolate and mocha. It’s been cask aged, and has a pleasantly expensive leather and forest aroma mingled with the ripe berries.

This should be served as a desert wine on its own or with chocolate. However, what I really enjoy port with is with strong cheeses — Stilton, of course, during the holidays, but also Gorgonzola or old cheddar. Delicious. But be careful; it goes down very smoothly and it will give you a terrible headache if you have too much. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

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Fermentation

Nation

the truly organic nature of sauerkraut by cari scribner | photos by natalie cartz

T

ake cabbage and salt, let them stew in their own juices and what do you have? A certified-organic raw food with an array of health benefits: Hawthorne Valley Sauerkraut.

The kraut is made by hand at a 400-acre biodynamic farm that includes dairy cows, vegetables, a creamery, organic bakery, and a farm store with a full line of natural foods. It’s an idyllic setting in the rolling hills of the Town of Ghent in Columbia County, about 40 minutes from Albany and about a mile off the Taconic State Parkway. Turn onto the old county road, though, and the highway will quickly become a distant memory.

Calves are among the 60-head herd grazing in fields. They are left with their mothers in keeping with the farm’s mission of bowing to the rhythms of nature. Other livestock are raised in pastures free of hormones and antibiotics.

The Kraut Cellar is in a red wooden building in a cluster of unassuming barn structures. It is here, through an unmarked screen door, down a small set of stairs, in two surprisingly small rooms with a couple of storage nooks that the kraut is created. Kraut production begins in late August when bins of huge, healthy heads of cabbage begin to roll in from New York State farms. Onions, carrots, peppers and fresh herbs and spices are also ingredients in some of the 10 varieties the farm creates; hot sauce and Beet Kvass, an organic beverage, are also made on premises.

The foods comply with standards set by the National Organic Program, administered by the USDA. Every ingredient in the sauerkraut is sourced from a certified organic farm, providing a direct supply chain from the grower to the final retailer.

While the foods may be pesticide-free, kraut-making itself is “messy business,” says Paul Hess, Kraut Cellar manager.

Unless you count the runaway cabbage leaves escaping from the one large grater used to shred the 3- to 4-pound heads of cabbage, the process is well organized. After the dozen or so huge bins of cabbage heads arrive, one person scores the stem to loosen the leaves, and removes any outer leaves that look damaged. Following the “no waste” policy, the excess leaves are fed to the farm pigs.

While the ingredients are pesticide-free, kraut-making itself is “messy business.”

continued on page 82  timesunion.com/lifeathome

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For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome. continued from page 81

Next, the cabbage head, still intact, is fed into a shredder that funnels into a 55-gallon blue barrel. Salt is added by hand to the plain variety; other flavors such as ginger, caraway, onion, jalapeno and curry are seasoned with fresh organic herbs. The barrel has a heavy-duty plastic liner, and, once filled, a weighted bag is pressed on top of the full barrel to ensure every shred is immersed. Not a single drop of water is added. Then the barrels sit. And sit. For eight weeks.

“There’s no secret to making sauerkraut,” says Gene Talbott, Kraut Cellar floor manager. “Anyone can do it at home. But people don’t have time to make it, so they buy it from us.”

During a natural process called lacto-fermentation, the veggie shreds produce lactic acid, known as nature’s preservative.

Any harmful bacteria are killed, leaving behind a safe, all-natural food that doesn’t require boiling, canning or any kind of preservatives. Pickles and sauerkraut, both with the distinctive tangy flavor, are the most well-known foods today made via lacto-fermentation.

“We ferment the kraut in an airtight environment unrefrigerated for up to six months, but once we expose it to air during the packing process, we store it refrigerated and transport it in refrigerated trucks or in coolers with ice packs,” Hess says.

Once opened and stored in the fridge, the kraut stays fresh for 12 to 24 months.

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hink about fermenting cabbage, and you might want to plug your nose. But while it’s tightly sealed in barrels without air circulating, the concoction is odor-free. “We label every barrel by date and variety so we know when they’re ready,” Talbott says. “But once we open them all up and pack the kraut, people around the farm start to complain about the smell.”

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The kraut is bottled in 15-ounce jars, as well as one- and fivegallon buckets. The larger quantities are purchased by largescale customers south of Ghent, including health food stores and New York City hot dog sellers. The kraut is also sold at the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, at organic food stores in southern and western New York. You can also buy it online (hawthornevalleyfarm.org).

Talbott’s favorite is the spicy kimchee, a traditional Korean food made with ruby red cabbage and seasoned with whole garlic cloves. “After fermenting, the garlic is mellowed,” Talbott says. “You won’t end up with garlic on your breath.”

Hess is a jalapeno kraut enthusiast, and encourages people to use it in recipes. “Try it mixed in salad and you can skip salad dressing,” Hess says. “I eat it right out of the jar. It’s not just for hot dogs!”

Any monetary gains from the sale of Hawthorne Valley Sauerkraut are put back into the farm to support educational programs, keep the farm running and research new natural farming principles. “We’re not in this to get rich,” Hess says. “I live here, and we all heartily support this social model.”

Talbott is also a firm believer in the down-to-earth mission of the people and products at the farm. “It’s a cool place here,” Talbott says. “Processing season until January is busy, but there’s downtime. This is a true organic farm with good things going on. There’s a real community here.” @ Learn more about the biodynamic farm at hawthornevalleyfarm.org.

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Around the Year illuminates the changing seasons and special annual celebrations with outstanding, rarely-seen examples of Tudor’s original art for greeting cards, children’s books, and holidays.

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Overlooking Otsego Lake, the Fenimore presents a variety of compelling art exhibitions April through December.

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(1) Subject to credit approval on a Cub Cadet credit card account. Additional terms may apply. Please see your local Cub Cadet dealer for complete details. *Product Price – Actual retail prices are set by dealer and may vary. Taxes, freight, setup and handling charges may be additional and may vary. Models subject to limited availability. Specifications and programs are subject to change without notice. Images may not reflect dealer inventory and/or unit specifications.

(Detail) Untitled, 1973, Illustration for a Christmas card (1973) and Drawn from New England (1979) by Tasha Tudor, Watercolor on paper, 8.5” x 9.25”, Collection of Jeane�e and Gerald Knazek ©1973 Tasha Tudor. All rights reserved.

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Flip through the virtual pages of our Times Union magazine titles, accessible from anywhere online. The same award-winning layouts.

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table@home

Beet-arific

returning from a week of meat gluttony

by caroline barrett | photos by paul barrett

M

y daughter Lucy is a vegetarian. It all started in the spring of 2010, and, to be honest, I had hoped it was a passing phase. Selfishly, I didn’t want to do all the extra work. You know, two dinners and all that.

Since she’s become a vegetarian, we’ve all become part-time vegetarians. Sure, I still put burgers or a steak on the grill, and easily make a veggie burger or a grilled mushroom for Lucy. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Soup, for instance. I’m not going to make two pots. So we eat vegetarian soup.

Still, the rest of us like our meat. I like to think we do it responsibly, eating red meat occasionally, fish and chicken once or twice a week. But that’s another story. This one is about a vegetarian in the house. Or, rather, a vegetarian out of the house.

Lucy was on a trip with a school friend for a week not long ago. I missed her terribly. She was out of state for a full nine days. Our house was a little quieter. Agnes the dog looked in

her room and sniffed around the bed, wondering where the one-who-walks-her-most had gone. Zoe didn’t have anyone to argue with about the first shower. Elliot was pretty happy with only one sister to boss him around.

While we missed Lucy and talked about her and sent text messages to her faraway place, we filled up on meat. Oooh, did we ever. I started with a trip to Oscar’s Smokehouse. My basket was filled with bacon, ham and hot dogs — and a package of chorizo.

The menu at our house looked wildly different that week. We indulged in hot dogs on big soft buns. I made rice and beans — our usual vegetarian standby — but this time I stirred in bits of the spicy chorizo sausage. I cooked up bacon and made stuffed hot peppers with goat cheese and pieces of glorious, salty bacon. We ate cheeseburgers and thick slices of ham. continued on page 86  timesunion.com/lifeathome

85

table@home

continued from page 85

One night I chopped up some tomatoes and garlic and made a fresh pasta sauce. Zoe tossed up her favorite salad: balsamic vinegar with lettuce leaves and Elliot grated cheese for the table. Just as I poured the vegetarian sauce over our steaming hot pasta, I paused. Some hard salami was left in the fridge.

It didn’t take long to decide: I pulled it out, chopped it small, and stirred it into our tomato and herb sauce. Our one night of vegetarian eating was happily traded for a few pieces of tasty, flavorful sausage.

I did miss having someone who likes to eat spinach with avocado and tomatoes with goat cheese. Lucy will eat curried cauliflower and ask for more. Vegetarian or not, she’s a good dining companion. At the end of our week without Lucy, I started to dream of some of the vegetables we cook together. Roasted onions and Brussels sprouts. Big heirloom tomatoes. And beets.

The deep, rich red ones and the delicate golden variety.

86

life@home

I

planned this beet and pasta dish for the night Lucy came home. We ate it with a green salad; it was detox of sorts after our meat-laden bender. While we don’t usually pair beets with pasta, they make a good pair for this main course. White beans add protein. You won’t even miss the sausage.

When Zoe came home, Agnes went wild, licking her over and over and turning in circles. I hugged her close and didn’t want to let go. Her father got a big hug and the siblings even admitted to missing Lucy a bit. We talked and talked the night she arrived home, hearing all about the adventures she’d had.

We didn’t have much to tell. Our cat caught a chipmunk, snuck it in the house and dragged it up the stairs while I screamed.

We watched a movie together. It was all the usual stuff. The one change was all the sausage and bacon and steak we cooked and happily ate. Did we mention what we ate while Lucy was away? Well, she didn’t ask. So we didn’t tell. @

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Pasta with Beets and Creamy Cheese Use whole milk ricotta in this recipe for the best results. Red beets work in this recipe but the pasta and cheese will turn bright pink.

Photo: 漏iStockphoto.com/Neustockimages.

method Heat oven to 375 degrees. Trim greens from beets and set aside. Wrap beets in foil and roast for 30 minutes, or until soft when pierced with a fork. Open the foil packet and cool.

Cook the pasta in a pot of liberally salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, trim the stalks from the beet greens and chop. Cook the onion in 1 tablespoon oil until soft and fragrant. Add the greens and tarragon; stir until just wilted and turn off the heat. Peel and slice the beets.

Place the pasta into a large serving bowl. Stir in the onion and greens mixture and the beets. Dot the top with spoonfuls of ricotta. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the cheese. Season with salt and plenty of cracked pepper.

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ingredients 3 medium sized beets with greens 1/2 pound trumpet pasta 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 1/2 onion, sliced thin 1 stem fresh tarragon 1 14-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup whole milk ricotta sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

The Return to

november 17&18 To purchase your tickets, visit

www.timesunion.com/harvestfest

five things story and photos by suzanne kawola

Hedgeman’s Five Things: 1. Photo on the Steps of the Supreme Court: “You have to get admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States,” Hedgeman says. She had a case that was headed to the Supreme Court, but it was resolved before it got there. Still, she was prepared and gained lifetime admission before she was 30 years old. “It’s a stringent process. It was very intimidating. You go there and they swear you in and you’re in front of all the Supreme Court Justices. This is the picture of the admission of the class that I was with.”

five things

i can’t live without

Catherine Hedgeman CEO, The Stakeholders

K

ate Hedgeman is passionate about many things. A busy attorney and founder of the volunteer organization The Stakeholders, Hedgeman has dedicated her life to helping people. “I always wanted to be a lawyer,” Hedgeman says. “I went to law school because I wanted to be an advocate. And I wanted to advocate for people who needed help.”

Early in her career, Hedgeman was a trial lawyer. But she soon realized that to do this type of work meant long hours.

“To counteract that, I began to get involved in the community,” she says. “The more I started to volunteer and get involved, the happier I was.”

Hedgeman is the founder of The Stakeholders, which began with an education program for volunteers on board service, arts and culture, and community sustainability. “We became a NYS Regional Volunteer Center (last year),” Hedgeman says.

“Now we have eight counties that we’ve expanded into.” This past July, the Stakeholders received a $150,000 grant from the state.

“We kind of just blew up from this really small nonprofit with no budget to serving eight counties and really being the goto source for matching volunteers to volunteer opportunities,” she says. As the recipient of the grant, the Stakeholders’ goal is to recruit 20,000 new volunteers per year.

2. Golf: “I absolutely love it! It unplugs me. Mentally, it makes me focus on that versus everything else.”

3. GenNEXT, NYS Commission appointment and Stakeholders pins: Two years ago, Hedgeman was appointed by Governor Paterson to the NYS Commission on National Community Service, an organization created to increase the verylow rates of volunteerism in New York state. Hedgeman says that watching young people who participate in The Stakeholders educational programs and succeed makes her realize that she created the opportunity because she wanted to do it and now others can too.

4. My car: “I am a car fanatic and I have only had German automobiles. I’m crazy about it. I only had Volkswagens and I just got a BMW,” Hedgeman says. What is it about German cars? “They’re sporty, and you can turn it on a dime and they’re fast!”

5. Coffee: “I like to try different kinds of coffee — not just brands but the flavored kind,” she says. She needs her coffee fix every day. Professor Java’s (on Wolf Road) is one of her favorite places to go for coffee. She says like some people turn on music to ease into their workday, she finds the smell of brewing coffee to be calming. “If I don’t have it, it’s like I forgot to do something. It’s a ritual,” she says. @

photo finish

BOOTS all in a row. Read the story on page 27.

Photo by Mark Samu.

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life@home

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