Each Little World

CBG Antiques Fair: Inside the tents

The reason we go to events like the Antiques & Garden Fair at the Chicago Botanic Garden is to look rather than buy. This is a rather rarefied level of selling and shopping and for us it's a chance to see unusual things up close and personal. So here are some objects that caught our attention.

This pair of bedsteads were metal so the dealer took advantage of that to have a little fun.

We are always drawn to faces whether in paintings or sculpture and the Fair was filled with wonderful images.

This is the outside of the booth of Thistle, an Illinois dealer who is one of our favorites. We fell in love with this huge piece of African currency with its sculptural appearance. It contrasted nicely with the industrial strainer above it on the wall.

Thistle's space is always filled with lots of objects made of metal and stone and limited in color. They have patina and are never perfect but always catch our attention. Over the years we've bought a few small items from this dealer. 

I was in heaven with the number of dealers who were offering china and silver of all kinds. There were a number of folks who specialized in Majolica (below) and Palissy ware.

Another fascinating face.

This one belonged to a large Santos figure, a religious icon identified with Spain and the regions that country colonized. The cage would have supported a garment. I was taken with the metal bamboo stalk that held little lanterns with votive candles as well as the Chinese pot filled with ceramic flowers. 

There was oodles of glitzy jewelry gleaming on glass shelves behind closed doors. It was too over the top for me and I could not figure out its appeal until I saw the signs indicating the pieces were from big name designers like Chanel and Oscar de la Renta.

Like many shoppers we were dressed for the weather in sturdy boots, jeans, sweaters and rain jackets. But there were plenty of Chicago shoppers who dressed for the event and to be able to match potential purchases to their outfits. 

I was smitten with things like a Gorham silver watering can, a big strand of water buffalo bone beads and these chunky ropes of African amber.

There were lots of antique textiles as well as newer treats like this floral necklet of felt. I almost fell prey to temptation on this one but decided to save my money just in case.

Mark was taken with this giant shop sign of a wooden jackknife.

Partly it was the scale of the item but what really caught his eye was the name — O'Brien — which is a family name.

We ended the afternoon with coffee, a piece of poppyseed cake and a peek at the CBG gift shop. Decorator Michael Smith spoke as part of the special events offered all weekend in conjunction with the Fair. I like a lot of his work but not enough to shell out the money for his lecture or his books. 

I came home with a small religious medal with St. Christopher on one side and Pope John XXIII on the other. I bought it because it was round in shape, appears to be silver and only cost $6, which is the perfect price for something that I plan to add to my charm bracelent. And also because the last time I was a practicing Catholic, John XXIII was on the throne. We thought of him as the "Pope of hope," and indeed the world seemed more hopeful in those youthful days. 

We spent the rest of our time in Chicago with friends old and new, eating and drinking, listening to music and talking art, books, movies, politics and, of course, gardening — the kind of personal interactions that help to keep us hopeful these days. 

NOTE: You can read my other post about the CBG Fair here. Jennifer Boles of Peak of Chic blog spoke at the Fair and posted some terrific pictures of the vendor booths.

Dinner with the New York Times

The New York Times still follows the traditional newspaper schedule of publishing their food/dining/wine section on Wednesdays, and I rarely miss looking through it. Though I save a lot of the recipes they publish, the amount of dishes I actually make from the paper is much smaller. I do, however, have enough favorites that I've amassed over the years to keep me checking the paper each Wednesday.

Last week I was smitten with their Valentine's Day menu and decided that I would make it for Mark and I for our holiday celebration. He did all the shopping in the morning and I set a festive table and did the cooking — except for the steak. We did a strip steak instead of the suggested rib steak but followed the rest of the meal to the letter. It was delicious and easy. But, as always, I would make a couple of changes in the future.

DUCK FAT ROASTED POTATOES: We actually roasted our potatoes in duck fat as the recipe suggested. They noted you could substitute olive oil which is what I would do next time. Finding duck fat meant trips to two stores and I could not really notice any special flavor it added to the dish — especially since the prep also included fresh rosemary. And I would cut the amount of fat in half, no matter what you're using. We actually cooked more potates than the reciped called for and they still were a bit too greasy for our taste. 

ARUGULA AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH BAGNA CAUDA DRESSING: We love the Times' recipe for Midnight Pasta with garlic and anchovies, but found that same kind of Bagna Cauda sauce overpowering as a salad dressing. We lick up every bit of this poweful taste combination on pasta but actually strained it to make a slightly less strong dressing. Lesson learned.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE MOUSE WITH FLEUR de SEL: The real winner was the dessert. I don't know when I've made a simpler, faster, or easier dessert. This recipe is going into my 3-ring binder for the future. We just used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate, not too expensive and readily available. I also divided the mousse into six servings rather than four. Visually it did not look skimpy in my grandmother's antique coupe bowls, and tastewise was more than enough since this is a rich dish.

It took the whole five minutes for my chocolate/water to melt and mix and also the full five minutes of whisking for the mixture to thicken into mousse. I managed to vigorously whisk it for three minutes, then Mark — hearing my huffing and puffing and moaning — came out and finished whisking. Five minutes is a long time unless you're in as good condition as Michelle Obama. My arms rebelled!

Fall baking

Back-to-back pot-luck parties made me turn on the oven for the first time in weeks. I made two batches of my old standby brownies. And then I tried a recipe that I had pulled out of Martha's magazine back in March: Irish-Coffee Blondies. 

Since I had to carry the cookies to the party locations, I pulled out a couple of tins from a collection that I've amassed over the years and use to store/transport cookies rather than a traditional cookie jar. The two pictured above are among my favorites and have held a lot of treats over the years. Churchill was a gift from a long-ago boyfriend. I bought the tin commemorating Queen Elizabeth's Silver Anniversary while I was in Chicago for a day on a job interview in 1977. 

Here I am, pulling the bars out of their travel tins and arranging them on a serving tray. I always cut brownies into "fingers" so I get a few more bars out of the recipe, but also so they are the right size for everyone who just wants a sweet "bite" of dessert. The Blondies are supposed to be cut into 2-inch squares but I cut them in half again — on the diagonal — and that smaller size seemed just right to me.

You can click on the link at the top for Marth's recipe for Blondies and here's mine for Brownies.

BEST BROWNIES I EVER TASTED 

(I gave them this name after I requested the recipe having enjoyed them at a party.)

Melt 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and 1 stick butter (8 Tablespoons) in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup granulated sugan, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and the finely grated rind of a large orange. When this mix is cool, stir in 2 eggs (one at a time). Mix well and add 3/4 cup of flour.

Pour into a 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. You can cook them a bit longer for a cakier texture. I like the brownies in the center of the pan to have the consistency of chocolate truffles: solid but soft, so I always cook them the shorter time. I test with my finger and consider them done when a light touch no longer leaves an impression. And then I double check with a broom straw.

Cut into 24-32 pieces and dust with powdered sugar. The orange rind adds a touch of sophistication to the brownies and is always a surprise that gets lots of rave reviews.

Here's the view from the screened porch at the country party where these photos were all taken. The hosts had big stacks of china and cutlery gathered from thrift stores which you can see silhouetted and long tables covered with bright green fabric where all the pot-luck offerings were assembled. We had a wonderful time and I also picked up lots of great party organizing ideas! 

Cluck. The Chicken Store.

The mere name of this new little shopping emporium (see above and below) makes me start humming that song from The Music Man: "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little, cheep, cheep, cheep." Somehow I never pictured myself falling in love with a business that caters to chickens and their fanciers, and yet there I was: out in Paoli admiring chicken coops. 

And though Cluck caters to chickens, they're only one part of the vision of owner Susan Troller. I am admitting right here that I am a friend of Troller's as well as her former editor, and I know from personal experience that whatever she turns her hand to, it will be well worth my attention. Cluck is no exception.

Cluck is the latest tenant in a hundred-year-old building that has housed everything from a blacksmith to a gas station. The original curved ceiling trusses still bear the painted warning "no credit." You can tell from this view of the shop's interior that Cluck is about more than chickens. While Troller is a lover of many kinds of animals and a "chicken wrangler" with a laying flock of six on her family's farm in New Glarus, Cluck is a much needed new home for all of us would-be domestic divas. Pull up a chair, sit down and peruse Troller's nicely "curated" displays, as the shelter mags like to say. 

The front half of the store is a gallery-cum-gift shop with chicken and country-themed art, old and new. Merchandise ranges from witty tea towels, stuffed pillows, mugs and sets of dessert plates, to vintage ice cream molds and a gorgeous cabbage-shaped soup tureen.  

There are books for kids, practical tomes for those who want to raise chickens (or bees!) and a tantalizing array of titles for the rest of us. I snapped up one on natural home decor and also a delcious cookbook of fall and winter dishes. Both titles are from a UK publisher and a nice change from what I find at B&N these days.  

 "Cluck," Troller's own book published by Wisconsin's Itchy Cat Press, is also for sale as is the new 2013 Wisconsin Local Foods Journal/Calendar.

And for those of us who still can't figure out why chickens are the fastest growing hobby in America, Troller has some adorable peeps in the shop. While they are not for sale, she'll help anyone who's serious abut chickens get started with advice, information, chicken feed and more. Live chickens are one of the few things Troller doesn't stock!

The chickens above are known as Lavender Orpingtons, and while they are beautiful, I fell for this rubber chicken coin purse. There are also full-size versions which are equally tempting. The big ones would also work to carry knitting or whatever project you might be schlepping around. 

Cluck's decor includes this feed sack from Troller's grandfather, Irvin Johnson.

There are chicken coops for sale that are as pretty as they are well made. Cluck will be hosting a meet the coop builders event on Sat. Sept. 29th.

Among the assorted artworks were a series of nicely-framed black and white illustrated covers from a British poultry publication called "The Feathered World." They'd be perfect for adding a spot of color to a kitchen or a touch of history to a library or den.

And perhaps my favorite find at Cluck, this pile of fluff from the British toy company, Jellycat. A young friend of Troller's recommended "Matilda Hen," with the pronouncement that "children love this toy." Matilda and her friends will charm more than children. 

Cluck is open every day but Monday. For times, events and blog posts visit Cluck's website. 

A taste of Milwaukee

Whenever we go to Milwaukee, we never seem to get beyond the Milwaukee Art Museum, our usual destination. So we decided to spend a few days in the city with no schedule to follow. Though we drove from Madison, we parked the car and walked everywhere. Milwaukee has wonderful architecture everywhere you look, with lots of open space making for an attractive urban experience. Since we were on foot, we also noticed that Milwaukee drivers — unlike most Madison motorists — respected pedestrians and always stopped for us in crosswalks.

I had to make a stop at the historic Geoge Watts & Son whose building (below) is one of the most gorgeous retail stores imaginable. Though reduced in size, the store still carries a dazzling array of china, glassware and linens and their Tea Room is still serving Sunshine Cake — a Milwaukee sweet treat for more than 100 years. Today the building is also home to the De Lind Gallery and a bridal shop. The gallery was showing posters by many of the artists whose work is on display in the big MAM exhibit, "Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec and his Contemporaries" (which ends on 9/9).

Eero Saarinen's Milwaukee Country War Memorial

Unknown grande dames

We came across this refreshing little oasis and walked through it to take a break from the heat and sun. Since only a couple of people were enjoying this park-like space, it may not have been intended for the public but just the people who work in the adjacent buildings. 

Since we hadn't taken an official vacation in a couple of years, we decided to splurge and stay at The Pfister Hotel. This is a stunning 1893 masterpiece with a noted collection of Victorian paintings on display. There are big meeting rooms named after presidents of the era when the hotel was built (like Taft and McKinley) and a room whose walls are covered with photographs of all of Wisconsin Governors. The hotel underwent restoration in 2008 and just sparkles.

There's a piano lounge tucked into one corner of the grand lobby and the long-time pianst was playing Gershwin when we arrived to check in. We had cocktails there one night before going out to dinner. 

We stayed in the original part of the Pfister on the eighth floor. I adored the hotel's classic staircase and made Mark walk down all eight flights to the lobby every time we left our room. I wanted to savor every bit of the 19th Century experience!

We did take advantage of the new tower that adjoins the old hotel. It has a spectacular martini bar — Blu — on the 23rd floor where we watched the blue moon rise over the city and light up Lake Michigan.

We stopped in the lobby each day to chat with Timothy Westbrook, the Pfister's charming artist-in-residence. Yes, the hotel actually has an artist-in-residence program. This program and the fact that Westbrook is a textile artist actually convinced us to stay at the Pfister. Westbrook is creating costumes of the Pfister era using looms and an historic sewing machine but employing recycled material like cassette tapes. 

 You can read more about him on the hotel's blog or his web site.

I go all girly

When Mark and I met, my apartment was clearly the home of an Anglophile: English antiques, chintz, paisley shawls, 19th century British watercolors and lots of blue and white china. You get the picture.

His was all artist angst: black and white woodcut portraits in the German Expressionist style. Over the years we've each come to appreciate the other's taste and developed a style that merges our many interests.

His sisters, however, always felt like he was inhibiting the girly, fancy china, tea party side of my personality. To prove them wrong I pulled out all the stops for a recent tea party we hosted for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison*. Not all the dishes are on the table yet but this gives you a sense of the looks of things. (And no, I did not make all these gorgeous treats).

*HLATC was recently re-named the Center for Integrated Design and combines the textile collection as well as the former Design Gallery and the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library under this title. 

Bennington: Summer memories with recipe

Forty years ago this summer, my friend Monte and I packed up a home-made tent/trailer and drove 7,000 miles (or was it 10,000?) on a massive cross-country trip. We were roommates as well as art teachers, so we left when school recessed for the summer and returned Labor Day weekend. It was a great trip, resulting in lots of adventures which I remember via the first journal I ever kept.

All of this came back to me during my recent visit to Atomic Interiors where I purchased the Dansk BLT plates. Among the wonderful mid-century treasures the store offers was a set of four Bennington Pottery plates and bowls. Potter's Yard in Bennington was one of our stops in July, 1971, and we fell in love with their delightful dishes. I fell prey to temptation and memory at Atomic again and bought the eight pieces of Morning Glory Blue spatterware. Again, at $9 for the dinner plates and $7 for the bowls, Atomic's prices can't be beat. The current prices on-line at Bennington are $24 for the plate and $26 for the rimmed soup/pasta bowl. The pieces I bought at Atomic were made in 1961/62 when I was a freshman in high school; the company's been making stoneware dishes since 1948.

Along with notes and bits and pieces glued into that first journal was the this recipe for salad dressing (below) that we enjoyed at Potter's Yard. 

BENNINGTON DRESSING

• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly cracker white pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepepr
• 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
  
• 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh garlic cloves
• 5 Tblspn. good tarragon vinegar
• 2 Tblspn. olive oil
• 10 Tblspn. vegetable oil
• 1 raw egg
• 1/2 cup light cream

Put all the ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine. Chill before serving. 

Alas, I did not make any notes as to what kind of salad this might have dressed. 

China syndrome

My favorite of the five China-themed exhibits at the Milwaukee Art Museum was "Way of the Dragon: The Chinoiserie Style, 1750-1830," which runs through Nov. 6 in the Decorative Arts Gallery. MAM defines Chinoiserie as "a style of ornamentation that developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries out of a growing interest in the exotic, admiration for the beauty of Asian art, and a curiosity about Chinese people and places." MAM partnered with the Chipstone Foundation in this display of more than fifty decorative objects from their collections as well as local private lenders.

This exhibit is a dream for anyone who is in love with blue and white china, teapots, punch bowls, and fanciful natural imagery. It's also a chance to see rare books by Mark Catesby and Linnaeus. Catesby was an English naturalist whose work was the first published account of the flora and fauna of North American, while Linnaeus was the father of botanical nomenclature. This particular MAM exhibit got all my China — as in dishes — genes pumped up and put me in the mood for shopping. And then my sister-in-law mentioned what she'd recently seen at Atomic Interiors. 

I dashed right over and discovered the Madison shop had three dinner plates created by the award-winning designer Niels Refsgaard for Dansk, and manufactured in the 1970s in Japan. I was ecstatic as I used to have service for four in this design. It was called "BLT" and not for that favorite American sandwich; in this instance the initials stood for "breakfast, lunch and tea." The three-piece set of plate, bowl and squat mug came beautifully packaged in the Japanese style, as this old Dansk magazine ad shows.

I'd been dreaming of replacing what had been broken over the years but most on-line sources were selling the plates for $65+, which put them outside the realm of possible purchase. But I snapped them up instantly when I saw Atomic had them priced at $35.00 per plate. Not exactly cheap but very reasonable given what I've seen elsewhere. So now I have four plates again (!), which means I'm only lacking one mug and two bowls to have my service for four.

Mark was very sweet when I brought them home as they are not really his favorite dishes. But I bought them when I was just out of college and in my first apartment, so they have huge sentimental value for me. And besides, he just got a new Trek bicycle in anticipation of his 65th birthday next month, so he really couldn't complain too much. 

FYI: If you love mid-century modern and Herman Miller, Atomic Interiors is the place for you. In its various locations over the years, they've always had an eclectic collection of items ranging from dishes to jewelry to lamps and fabulous furniture — all with reasonable prices and Midwestern friendliness.

A Centennial Supper

On December 29, 1910 my maternal grandparents held a New Year's Banquet. Since I have a copy of the menu I decided to hold a dinner party on the same night — 100 years later. I used the antique menu as a starting point and re-interpreted it for 21st Century palates. I lightened it up a bit and spiced it up a lot. 

I turned the condiments (olives and pickles) served with the original appetizer (oysters) into the appetizers themselves: black olive tapenade and daikon and red radish pickles. The old menu makes no mention of beverages other than coffee with dessert. I followed that tradition, but we began our banquet with champagne.

You can read the rest of the menu if you click on the photo above. I put a menu at everyone's place and on the back printed the original menu my grandparents served. I planned on setting the table using some of my grandparents' china but Mark said I should go all out and empty the pantry of all their gilded stemware and every specialized plate, bowl and cup.

I set the table before I went to work that morning, which is when the photos were taken. The effect that evening — with candles aglow and every place marked with a stack of glittering dishes topped with placecards and menus — was a bit more glam than in early morning sunshine.

The decor down the center of the table is the inspired creation of my sister-in-law, Sara, who trimmed three little Christmas trees with notions: thimbles, buttons, bobbins, garlands of tape measures and chains of quilting pins. It was a charming nod to my grandfather who was the buyer for the notions area of a large department store in Buffalo, NY.

He and my grandmother gave their 1910 banquet for all the employees who worked in the Notions Dept. under his supervision. Their party actually took place in the Tea Room of the store, J.N. Adam, and all the dishes were named after various sewing accoutrements sold in the department, like salmon with "veiling sauce."

My 2010 homage banquet was almost as over-the-top as the original event. It may not have been the fanciest feast I've ever made but it certainly will hold the record for the number of dishes and glasses that had to be washed by hand.

But mainly it was a wonderful excuse to gather with old friends, remembering how we all met and our shared experiences over the intervening years. It also gave me the opportunity to surround myself with family treasures, remembering all the holiday meals my grandmother served on these very dishes; my grandfather at the head of the table doing carving duty.

I got to indulge my penchant for all my favorite little worlds: china and dishes, cooking and food, design and decor, family, history, and holidays. What could be a more perfect way to end one year and begin another?

 

Plucking flowers and ideas

I am always on the prowl for new ways to display the garden's floral bounty, and was very taken with this arrangement in a cup. I like the way the designer contrasts black and white with the colorful bouquet. Then there is the contrast of hard, shiny materials and a graphic number with the softer textures of the flowers. Finally, the designer plays with scale by using a large, dark stand to throw you off balance visually. You have to find a familiar flower and gauge its size relative to the cup to determine the actual size of the holder — which to my eye is definitely oversize. 

I was also struck by the fact that Japanese anemones — which grow tall and willowy in the garden — have been trimmed back to their flower heads, another change in scale. And the designer has used color masterfully combining pink with red-orange and acid greens. All in all, a cupful of inspiration.

 

My blog almost exclusively uses photos taken by Mark or those used with permission from the photographer or institution like Olbrich. I don't know where or when I found the image here. So if you recognize it, I am happy to give proper credit or remove it if necessary.