C'est Inspiré is simply that - what is inspiring. Where the words end, images continue to speak. Seeing all that is around us, we seek some aspect of something that is life enhancing... something that you would like to be reminded of - to revisit. Something to capture and bring into your world, not leave behind... . That is why I take a camera everywhere; have spent countless hours organizing images in scrapbooks and pouring over them later to revisit the place, the people, the memory.
So, C'est Inspiré may be a single photo - or it may be 50, it may mean one thing to me, another to you - the meaning isn't important. Did it inspire? Did it make you smile? Did it bring back a pleasant memory? One or all of the above will do.
During a brief period of his life, the legendary art historian Bernard Berenson kept diaries where he wrote about how to see - and what he saw. These diaries were published under the title The Passionate Sightseer and edited by Raymund Mortimer.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime can be a passionate sightseer - just look.
I always look forward to going home to Virginia. My most recent trip was three days and three cities this Autumn.
Traveling to Charlottesville, I visited Monticello. My visit ended most graciously with a lunch for four in Mr. Jefferson’s greenhouse. After a morning of history and culture…I chose an afternoon of commerce! I went to visit my friend Kenny Ball’s antique shop on Ivy Road. Kenny, unfortunately, wasn’t there as he was in New York running the NYC marathon that weekend. Whenever I am in Charlottesville, I always find time to visit – and I always find something – or in this case somethings. I found a brass and leather tray table, a red Moroccan leather box, a large pair of tole planters and a French Empire Chest.
After Monticello, off to Somerset to see the farm of a friend – a leisurely visit amongst enormous boxwoods in the shadow of tall white pines and walnut trees. A restoration in process – I can’t wait to see their progress every step of the way. We talked through the cocktail hour over icy martinis, then I was off to the Downtown Grill in Charlottesville to have dinner with family.
Saturday afternoon I headed to Richmond down I-64 awash in golds, ambers, russets and reds as the maples painted the roadside. I have not been to Richmond for a while and I was very eager to get back to Kim Faison’s shop on Grove Avenue.
Layers of furniture piled high, mostly French and Italian, cabinets full of delft and Faience…. I spied a pair of Empire arm chairs, a pretty French settee, a Spanish Samovar and a small and shapely Italian hall settee.
You can not do antiquing in Richmond and not go to Kim’s store. An antique gene and finely tuned eye must run in the family. Her mother Caroline Faison has a shop in Greensboro, North Carolina. And when I was in Kim’s store this particular Saturday, her son Ben Cochrane was minding the store – three generations.
That evening I went to a cocktail party – my school reunion. It was a walk down memory lane, full of laughs, with a background of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Gladys Knight & the Temptations – the best dancing music EVER. A trip to Starbucks the next morning, and back on the road to Irvington, Virginia.
Carter’s Creek is where my sister lives by the water. A river view from every window – a postcard of Virginia. Leaves turning under the warm Virginia sun, neighbors’ sailboats gliding by – the banter of Canadian geese was the only thing interrupting the silence. Martha took me on a tour of the area…a trip to the “riv-ah” – the Rappahannock – and then to visit Comer & Co., where Alison Drake opened up early so I could shop. Comer & Co. is a brand new store in Kilmarnock, the new ‘go to’ for antiques, decorative accessories, great paintings and watercolors, lamps, books, fragrance, etc. Among my purchases was a bookstand where my own book was being displayed, a leather wing chair, an Empire chest, a gilded mirror, some creamware, a blackamoor, and…Woops! Gotta stop there – the rest are Christmas presents!
Three Days, Three Cities, Three Great Shops…
Kenny Ball Antiques – Charlottesville
2125 Ivy Road #7 · Ivy Square, Charlottesville, VA 22903
www.kennyballantiques.com
434-293-1361
Kim Faison Antiques – Richmond
5605 Grove Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226
www.kimfaisonantiques.com
804-282-3736
Comer & Co.
21 North Main Street, Kilmarnock, VA 22482
www.comerandco.com
804-435-2100
All photography by Charlotte Moss.
Graphics & layout by Matthew Kowles.
November 18, 2009
For a real buffet experience, check out The Buffet Party exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center in New York, especially the live event on November 17th! On that Tuesday, from 6:30 – 9:00 pm. a festive buffet reception, as well as silent auction of delightful buffet “gear” will compliment the exhibition and benefit the Bard Graduate Center Scholarship Fund.
Following a splendid dinner party, what does one remember? The ambiance. Their hosts, and the good company of fellow guests. And the food, especially the food – and the manner in which it was served!
What better way to ensure that guests leave with such memories than a spectacular buffet?!
The buffet, as we now know it, has had a lengthy evolution which can be summed up quite simply in that buffet-style entertaining is the best way to serve a large group of people, with a small staff, and guarantees that food will be piping hot and beautifully presented (if the hostess has done her homework). Much more so than a seated dinner, a buffet-style meal also frees up the hostess to spend most of her time with her guests, and the options for decadent and creative recipes are endless….
More on chafing dishes…Eleanor Roosevelt was a big fan of chafing dishes and presided over one at her informal Sunday night dinners. She would scramble eggs in one for her guests. As the story goes, one of the first things she asked when she came to the White House was if they had a chafing dish. (They did not, but quickly acquired one for Mrs. Roosevelt.)
In their book entitled Corned Beef and Caviar for the Live-Aloner, Marjorie Hillis and Bertina Foltz impart recipes and advice for great entertaining. Marjorie Hillis, as you may know, was an editor at Vogue and in some ways the Carrie Bradshaw of her day. She was witty and was a positive role model for single women in the 1930s. She advised single women that one way to entertain was to host an informal Sunday night supper where she cooked dinner herself – or at least pretended to. She suggests the live-aloner mix canned spaghetti, onions and garlic in a chafing dish in front of her guests, and that by doing so, she would appear “appealingly domestic.” Carrie Bradshaw indeed.
Domesticity, while appealing, can be slightly more developed than the charming approach of Marjorie Hillis… Think about these ideas for creating a beautiful and impressive buffet spread.
What to serve…
1. Make dishes that can stay hot for long periods and by doing so become even more delicious. Some of my favorites, and other great recommendations, are listed here.
2. I would rather have 2 dishes of the same casserole because one large one often looks like its been massacred after a while. (Not very nice looking!!)
3. Try to avoid individual seasonings, dressings and sauces that complicate the one plate approach.
Setting the table…
1. Use china plates, even if you have to combine several sets. For picnics, decorative metal plates are great. Paper plates can easily backfire -depending on what your serve. A basket or a rattan charger can be very elegant.
2. Use oversized napkins, 22″ – 24″ square, that your guests can lay over their laps (and your upholstery!). I roll them around flatware, and stack them at the end of the buffet table.
3. Stemless glassware is a smart choice! We love the new stemless wine glasses from Reidel.
4. Use trivets to keep hot dishes off the table.
Entertaining large groups indoors…
1. Make a mental map of the evening. Picture where everyone will sit, what adjacent furniture will be used for eating or resting a drink.
2. Create opportunities for guests to mix and mingle between courses.
3. I love the double buffet-line approach – duplicate your serving dishes so that two lines can move simultaneously and nobody has to wait!
4. Always have someone supervising the buffet, waiting for the inadvertent spill, and replenishing dishes. Your guests will also appreciate a little help as often they are busy enjoying themselves (the true measure of your success)!
The Buffet Cookbook, by Ruth Langland Holberg. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York. 1951.
The Perfect Hostess Cookbook, by Mildred O. Knopf. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1950.
The Gift of Southern Cooking, by Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 2003.
Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make At Home, by Ina Garten. Clarkson Potter, New York. 2004.
The Perfect Host, by William Yeoward. CICO books, London. 2009.
The Weekend Cookbook, by Mary Merrill and Mildred Falk Loew. Coward-McCann, Inc; New York. 1957.
Corned Beef and Caviar for the Live-Aloner, by Marjoria HIllis and Bertina Foltz. 1937.
Martha Deane’s Cooking for Compliments, by Martha Young Taylor. M. Barrows & Co., New York. 1954.
Come for Cocktails, Stay for Supper, by Marian Burros & Lois Levine. The Macmillan Co., London. 1970.
And of course, Emily Post’s Etiquette, edited by Elizabeth L. Post. Harper Collins, New York. 1992.
Graphic design & layout by Matthew Kowles.
November 9, 2009
