The Gang’s All Here

Most things in life are better when we experience them with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, or even people we’ve just met. And those who live near, our neighbors, are often the people we relax with the most.

You may not think of yourself as a party giver, but if you think small, you can get started easily by inviting a couple of neighbors over for tea or coffee. Bake some cookies to go with, or buy some at the local bakery or grocery. If the house is a bit messy, enjoy the beverages and chat on the porch. It can be as simple as that.

Taking a step up, you might invite a few more people and have an activity. My most recent fun afternoon was a cookie decorating afternoon. There were six of us, and all I did to prepare for it was bake sugar cookies to decorate and buy some decorative frostings. It was lots of fun, and everyone took home some cookies.

Taking a giant step when you’re ready, you might do something that is still easy but includes more people. A neighborhood soup supper is a great way to start. Soups are easy and inexpensive to make and you just need bowls and spoons for serving. You can start with only a couple of kinds of soups, and ask the neighbors to bring an appetizer or dessert to fill out the menu. Or you could ask the guests to bring the soups and you provide the go-withs. I have been doing annual soup suppers for 50+ years, and this year I made eight different soups and we had 30+ neighbors here. It was a lovely evening. But you don’t need to start with that many!!!

I know that some neighborhoods aren’t as friendly as others, but you might be surprised at how many people would love to get together. Each time I move, I have made the invitations for our soup supper and delivered them to the closest 20 or so houses. The response might be small, but I have never been in a neighborhood where there weren’t at least a dozen or so people who attended. And getting to know those people makes even the most closed up neighborhoods a better place to live.

Have Your Centerpiece – and Eat It Too!

Next time you want to add some color to the dining or buffet table, shop your favorite grocery. First hit the floral department and select one or two bunches of colorful and long-lasting blooms. Alstomerias are ideal and carnations work nicely too. Then head for the produce aisle.

Green, of course, will go with any flowers, so head for broccoli, brussels, avocados, zucchini (baby ones are nice), artichokes, and any leafy greens. Then add veggies that accent your selected colors. For my example, it was radishes, beets, and red onions. Arrange these in a bowl rather than a vase to lay on as many as possible without any florist tools.

Before the event, take photos of your handiwork so you will remember how you did it. And as soon as the dinner or potluck is over, take it apart! Your produce will still be nice and fresh and you can wash almost all of it and use it in another meal – as part of the menu!

Pure Whimsy with Andy

Andy Warhol was a Pittsburgh native. And Andy was a colorful, imaginative, and whimsical icon. We love him and can’t resist celebrating his all-too-short life. Our 2021 holiday cards were folders with inserts that featured Andy’s Christmas-related art each accompanied by a quote from Andy. We annually decorate our foyer bannister with decorative shoes to complement the Andy Warhol shoe rug on the floor.

Shoes were one of the things that Andy drew over and over again. In fact, he noted that he was paid for his commercial drawings per shoe. Counting shoes allowed him to know how much money he had earned.

Our annual New Year’s Brunch carried the Andy theme into 2022! Although Andy and a friend had created a cookbook (Wild Raspberries), the recipes created by Suzie Frankfurt (and hand written by Andy’s mother) were satiric and not intended to be cooked and eaten.

To plan the menu, I turned to two other sources. First, The Serendipity Cookbook, a product of the owners and cooks of Serendipity 3, a cafe in New York frequented by Andy. The book even contains Andy’s “recipe” for his beloved Campbell’s Tomato Soup.

The second was an Eastern European cookbook that included recipes from Austria-Hungary, the area where his parents lived before they came to the United States. I found recipes that I imagined must have resembled the home cooking of Andy’s mother.

Maybe next holiday season, you can create a whimsical theme of your own to add a new dimension to old traditions. After all, as Andy said, “Everyone must have a fantasy.”

Add a Little Note – a Grace Note!

In music, a grace note is one that is an extra note added as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or melody. Writers, too, use the phrase. To them it means using a single elegant word – a grace note – in otherwise straightforward prose. Are you already imagining what a grace note might look like in your life?

I think of it as something that isn’t needed, but having it (or doing it) can make a simple thing elegant. A plain thing whimsical. A boring thing interesting.

If you read my piece on what la bellitude is, you read about one of the grace notes in my life. My cooking candle and my desk candle. I can cook and write without them, but there is a completely different feeling when they are lit. I add a bit more to them with my choice of matches (Frida Kahlo on the box). Not expensive. Any candles will do, even Dollar Store candles.

For me, another grace note is my companion book. I am always reading something. And it goes with me almost everyplace. Why? Because you never know when you might get a chance to read. Waiting for a medical appointment is not bothersome when I can read the book du jour. Waiting for anything, in fact, doesn’t spoil your day when you have your book. And by the way if you don’t have a library card, get one! They have so much to offer. Books, of course, but much, much more.

Possible grace notes you might consider:

★ Keeping some plant life in your home at all times. Maybe flowers you buy, but maybe those you pick, or maybe stems of leaves, a dish of acorns, grasses that you clipped by hand. Whatever it is, it will add interest, life, color, and/or fragrance.
★ Handkerchiefs! Yes, real reusable handkerchiefs. They are easy to come by at vintage shops, and there is a little nostalgia as well as elegance that comes along with them. The ones I love the most are those that were embroidered by someone long ago.
★ A custom blend tea. Experiment with combining several types you like, and keep trying until you find the perfect combination for you. Give your blend a name. Keep it on hand and share it with others. You could probably do the same thing with coffee.

You may already have grace notes in your life but you know them by a different name. If you do, please share them! And if you don’t, I hope you will create one for yourself. It can make a very big difference.

Cookbook Shopping

Most people do not have the ridiculous number of cookbooks that I do, but most people would benefit from having at least a few. Here’s why.

Most cookbooks are not just recipes. They are about methods of cooking, culinary history, varieties of cuisines, and author’s anecdotes. Understanding these things gives you a much deeper understanding of cooking than you get from copying a recipe from a website.
You can write in them, making notes to yourself about what worked and what didn’t work about a recipe. You can add or cross out ingredients so the next time you will remember what you did or how to make it even better.
If you select the really good ones, they become like friends who help you along in the kitchen.

And that last item is what this piece is really about. How do you select a cookbook out of the hundreds – probably thousands – that are available. I can help with that.

First, look for cookbooks that go just slightly beyond your current cooking ability. You want something that will help you expand your cooking skills but not frustrate you with complications you aren’t ready for. Do that by skimming instructions of at least five recipes in the book. If there are one or two things that are unfamiliar to you, it’s probably a good fit. If there are four or five, you may not be ready for that book.

Second, is it a book of recipes that you would really like to cook? Page through several of the sections in the book, particularly those with the recipes you most like to prepare. You should be able to find at least a half dozen recipes that you want to try. If you only find one or two, try looking for those recipes online – don’t buy the whole book for them.

Third, take a look at the ingredients lists. Experimenting with new foods can be interesting delicious, and fun. But if there are many things that you have never heard of, stop to ask yourself these questions:

Do you have time to spend shopping at a number of stores to get the items you need?
Do you want to invest the money in what might be very expensive new foods?
And can you even find these things in the place you live? And if not, are you willing to try to track them down online?

Finally, and really the most important, don’t buy cookbooks because of the beautiful photography. If you are a beginner cook and you’re considering a basic cookbook that has illustrated steps for the recipes, it would be a good thing to have one or two. But other than that, it can be a waste of money.

The food that you make will never, ever look like the photographs in the book. The recipes in the book may have been prepared several (or many) times to get the perfect version, and after that there are food stylists and professional photographers who get to work on them to make them look even more perfect. They can be fun to look at, but this food porn can also be discouraging for even the average cook when you realize that yours doesn’t look much like theirs.

In addition, these books tend to be more expensive and have fewer recipes. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a book with beautiful photographs, but only if the book meets the criteria mentioned above.

Some of my favorites were published decades ago and they don’t have a single photograph, not even a drawing. But they help me make some really good food!

Bon appétit, happy cookbook shopping, and have a la bellitude autumn!

“The Size of a Postage Stamp”

I’m sure that some of you haven’t put a stamp on an envelope in ages. Maybe never. Well, it’s not a life requirement, but a note or invitation or thank you via the USPS mail is still a treat. And the addition of a stamp that fits the occasion makes it even better. Elegance, practicality, and even whimsy are all on display in the stamp catalog.

The US Post Office does a fantastic job of selecting subject matter, artists, and variety. And many of the stamps are beautiful enough for framing. Just in the floral category, they currently offer beautiful, open-to-the-public gardens, a series of still life flowers, and another of stunning cactus flowers.

There are also stamps that match the occasion celebrated on the card or note in the envelope. They have holiday stamps, of course, but also wedding stamps, Valentines Day stamps, “thank you” stamps, and some that can be used to celebrate anything!

We can learn a bit from them too. Presidents, statehood history, and heroes from our past can be found on stamps.

You will find a world of art in the stamp catalog as well. From famous painters, sculptors, musicians, authors, and poets to the “dark arts” and artists who might be new to you. Our postage service does a very good job of being inclusive and creative in their selections.

You will find favorites and new friends.

I realize that this post might sound like an ad for the USPS. So be it. They do a great job with the stamps, and many people don’t know what they are missing. So if you aren’t familiar, I’m happy to be the one to introduce you! Order a catalog from them. And I hope you’ll enjoy this new friend.

Kitchen Reality – Part 1

It is fine to wash mushrooms. Just don’t soak them forever.
You don’t need gallons of water to cook pasta; you just need a little more than the pasta will absorb.
You can start to fry things in cold oil or other fat. Just not deep frying.
You don’t need to chill most cookie doughs before rolling. Roll first, cut out or shape, and then chill before baking.
You don’t have to use a cake tester to tell if your baked goods are ready. Put your ear down and listen to them. They will slow down their little pops as they finish baking just like popcorn slows down its popping.
You can make soft creamy scrambled eggs without cooking forever over low heat. Heat pan to medium high, pour in prepared eggs, and immediately remove from heat, stirring constantly until they reach the consistency you like, probably no more than a minute or two, depending on how many eggs you are cooking.
Risotto can be made in an oven with almost no stirring and have the same creamy texture as that cooked on the stovetop.
For most recipes, the depth of flavor you get from slicing, mincing, or pureeing garlic will not vary much.
You can cook meat and poultry that haven’t thawed completely. You just have to cook them longer and rely on a thermometer to tell you when they have reached the right temperature.
Pie crusts and shortbread cookies can be made in the food processor rather than cutting in by hand. There is no discernible difference.
You can freeze onions as long as you use them for cooking, not in salads. Once the tears are flowing, you might as well chop a lot!

More later.

The La Bellitude Loo

How do you manage to bring together elegance, practicality, and whimsy in the smallest room of the house? It’s not really that difficult, and when you pull it off you have what I would call a La Bellitude Loo.

First, keep it simple. Too many bathrooms are victims of multiple patterns, styles, and surfaces. This one maintains a silver/gray color palette throughout, expands the stainless steel shower tiles to the adjoining wall, and uses a smooth battleship linoleum for the floor so as not to further eye clutter the space that there is.

We give it a feeling of space and light by hanging on to the tiny exterior window, choosing reflective tiles, glass shelving, putting a half wall with a glass top between the shower and the toilet, and using a sliding shower curtain a la IKEA rather than a glass door (which would have taken up every available inch of remaining space).

Simply framed photos and a table lamp help to make this loo feel more like a powder room. The table lamp is particularly nice, because, although you need bright light when you’re shaving or putting on make up, in the evening having a soft light on a small table or even the back of the toilet is much nicer. It can also serve as the night light.

Also on a shelf or a table, there should be a candle with matches at hand. You probably already know my attachment to candles, but in the bathroom it’s even more important. You know why.

Down to tiny details – get rid of the bright green, bright yellow, bright red, bright blue – you get the picture – bottles of hair products, soaps, tonics, rinses, medication, all of the things that make bathrooms look like you have just wandered into a small drugstore. Decant, decant, decant. Into things you recycle, things you buy, even things you find.

Label Them So You Know What You’re Using!

I found a good, lidded storage basket that fit on the narrow shelves and the back of the toilet so I bought four of them. Once again, a cohesive look and less eye clutter. And 3M hooks in the shower for a few necessaries keeps it tidy. And yes, they stay up in spite of all the water.

Finally, what is a La Bellitude Loo without a touch of whimsy? And this one is one you’ve seen if you read the ceiling blog. Andy and the geese need a day at the micro-spa too. Wouldn’t be La Bellitude without them!

Andy & the Geese in for a Day at the Micro-Spa

Instant Decor! (The secret life of scarves)

I have dozens of scarves, actually it might be over 100 but who’s counting. I bought some, inherited some, and was gifted some. I love them all, but they don’t all necessarily fit into my wardrobe. What to do with the ones that don’t? Oh, so many things!

Decorate with them – your home, your purse, your pet, and more. Start with an easy one – make a scarf into a table runner. The long, narrow scarves are naturals, but other shapes can be folded to work as well. It can be an easy way to change the color and feel of your home as the seasons change. Bright flowers for spring, autumnal colors in October, and a knitted “outdoor” scarf on the table for the holiday season.

With larger scarves, you don’t have to settle for a table runner. You can use them as an over cloth or as the actual tablecloth. You’ll probably want to use something as a table pad under the scarf, and if you don’t have a pad then a folded blanket will do. Just remember that if the table will be used for dining, the scarf may take a spill or two. I wouldn’t use the favorite or delicate ones for this.

Tie-backs for curtains or drapes is a good use for scarves, and so is a door knob. Square scarves can be tied to cover a square pillow to give it a new look without a stitch of sewing. And if you have a really large, artsy scarf you can hang it and use it as wall decor.

You can, by the way, still use them to decorate yourself but in different ways. They easily function as a casual belt, and smaller scarves can be tied to the handle of your purse a la the style of the 60s. It still looks pretty and playful!

The 60s place for a scarf is still cool.

A scarf for your puppy love instead of a bandana with bones on it can give her or him a real fashion-forward canine look.

And you know we’re in favor of reusable gift boxes, so we would also recommend using a scarf to tie/wrap small presents. The recipient can enjoy the gift and then use the scarf to gift another.

Try the mantel for the long narrow ones.

One more thing about scarves. If you don’t have a collection but would like to try some of these inexpensive decorating ideas, there are usually lovely scarves to be found at thrift stares, just waiting for you to take one or two home to brighten up a room.

I would love to hear your ideas for keeping the scarves in play. I still have a lot of them waiting to be used!

Porch Perfect

One of the best days of the year for me is the day that we put the rug, the furniture, and the other essentials back in their places on the front porch. It is a second living room/den/dining nook for us from the first warm day in April to the last almost-warm day in the fall.

Pittsburgh is blessed with many old and healthy neighborhoods with porches on almost every house. Big, small, wraparounds, screened, fancy, or plain, each of them is just asking to be the site of someone’s next sit down. And it amazes me how few people take advantage of them. Porch-sitting is relaxing, interesting, and a great way to meet neighbors. You see your home and your world differently from the porch than you do from the inside.

The basics for a good, livable porch are simple. A few seats and a table or two to hold drinks, snacks, books, phones, and other necessities of life. And of course, as many plants as you can muster. But to really make the most of your porch time, it pays to go a little farther.

A rug is the first thing to think about adding. I don’t bother with the indoor/outdoor versions. If I pop out for a porch moment when I’m shoeless, I want to feel a nice soft rug, not woven plastic. If your porch is covered, the rug will last for about 4-6 years*, fading a bit more each season, but that adds to the beauty.

Next, a table lamp. You may not want to end your porch sitting when the sun sets, and a small, inexpensive table lamp will provide a much nicer feel than an overhead porch light.

A soft throw or an old quilt or blanket should also be on the porch with you. It might get chilly before you are finished reading or talking or whatever, and having it right there is much better than having to go in search of one in the house. Once in, you might not even come back out!

pup on porch — Asta Likes to Be On Top of the Quilt

And on the other side of the coin, a fan is an essential for hot afternoons. If you have a ceiling fan, that’s great. We do not, but we found a great little retro table fan that makes the porch a comfy place even when the temps are high.

Okay, now we’re getting into the lesser items, but I must confess that many of these are absolutely essential to me as well. Here’s a list to get you started:

Comfortable cushions
Waterproof tablecloth
Treats and water for the dog
Charging places for our devices
Candles and matches
Scissors
Pens or pencils
Paper
Bug spray
Speaker
Plant snippers
A water-resistant lidded box to hold most of these items
Broom
Watering can
And a tuffet

I realize that not everyone has a porch, but the joys of “sitting” can also be had on a patio, a balcony, a deck, whatever you have. But if you have a front porch, I highly recommend that!

*NOTE: Rugs, other textiles, and small items should be removed in the winter. Leaving the furniture out might be fine depending on the type of furniture you have.

Where elegance, practicality, and whimsy come to play!

Category: Let’s Talk About . . .