Antiques: Luxury Recycling

Recent articles are touting the comeback of the antiques market: prices are generally at least 20 to 30 percent lower than two years ago. We’ll be testing that theory at the NYC semi-annual Pier Antiques Show  March 13-14, at Pier 94.

The Details:

Moi Tip: The New York Times usually has a $5 discount ticket coupon several days before the show.

Be Green – Buy Vintage

Forget the t-shirt: I’ve discovered the perfect souvenir gift: small, inexpensive, and comes in all sizes and colors: Socks!

A recent weekend in Vermont yielded these adorable moose themed sockies for my favorite 2 year old niece and nephew. I even bought a pair in xlarge for one of our fave guy friends celebrating his 56th!

My trip to Holland found me wearing these hot pink delft socks

Guests visiting me in NYC love to take home these subway map patterned socks

One of my favorite gift shops is Little Miss Matched, where I can find colorful, mismatched 3-to-a-pair socks for kids of every age: and even little coin purses made out of socks

A perfect baby shower gift is this adorable boxed set of Trumpettes

And of course, what would a Notre Dame fan do without a pair of Go Irish socks

Who Knew? Sock it to me!

Shopping means different things to each of us. For TBG, shopping equates to buying. For Moi, shopping is most frequently free, and involves looking and thinking and deciding and training my eye to love new things, or to adjust my view of old, everyday things to new uses. I shop very slooooowly, but when it speaks to me…

I spend alot of time shopping; shopping is looking at everything out there…whether its in a shop window, worn by a passerby on the street, glossily glaring at me from a magazine, blinking at me from my laptop, carelessly displayed on a cluttered flea market table, or stashed away in a forgotten corner of my closet. And sometimes, when I’m very lucky, design inspiration occurs.

I had a design need. Years ago I re-appropriated my old lingerie chest as a jewelry chest. I like to keep the boxes that nice jewelry comes in, so I’m lucky to have my drawers cluttered with boxes from Cartier, Hermes, Tiffany, Georg Jensen, Baccarat, and Louis Vuitton. The boxes make me happy! But they take up alot of space, hence the jewelry chest.

For my everyday casual fun jewelry I went to the Container Store and purchased little organizer trays that come in different sizes and stack…so I can have a stack of earrings, a stack of necklaces, a stack of bracelets. Very convenient, very useful. Fit easily inside the drawers.

But I have my standby, everyday go-to jewelry that I throw on without thinking or planning as I head out the door. I keep them tossed in a little tray I bought in Madrid, and its grab-and-go as I’m heading out the door. Until recently.

The last year or so I’ve developed a passion for long and dangly neck chains. They swing casually, decorated with different charms I’ve re-purposed (and I shared with you and The Antiques Diva!).

Great, right? Wrong! Long dangly chains become a tangled mess when all thrown into a little tray. I needed organization, but it needed to be easily accessible. I considered the options:

• bff The Antiques Diva has re-purposed an old glove mold into a jewelery organizer in her tres chic Berlin toilette (look to the far right on the counter)

• CoMo bff S turned her serviette kitchen towel holder with hooks into a necklace display/organizer

Moi? I didn’t have a plan, yet… I have tiny little NYC apartment, and introducing things or adding clutter is just not an option. but… Our dry cleaner closes TBG’s shirts with little plastic clips that I save and use as paper clips. Brilliant? It gets better. I had a stack of these little clippies on my my jewelry chest, adding to the clutter. I had a tangled mess of long chains that I was trying to untangle so I could wear my silver chain with the dangling baccarat earring. And I had design inspiration.

I took a dozen of the clips and clipped them over the top of the lampshade that was on my jewelry chest, leaving each clip protruding up about 1/2 inch. I hung one of my long necklaces over each of the clips. Voila: no more mess. No more tangles. And no expense.

Before:

After:

Design Inspiration!

Mark Your Calendars!

Festival of the Arts BOCA is returning to Boca Raton March 5 – 13.  This year’s fest recognizes the film, literature, and dance of Russia, including

• Grammy award winning soprano Renée Fleming returns for an evening of opera arias
• jazz protegee and Grammy nominee Eldar Djangirov
• stars of the American Ballet Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky
• historian and Pulitzer Prize winner, Doris Kearns Goodwin; former advisor and speechwriter to President Kennedy and to Senator Robert F. Kennedy

Festival of the Arts Boca will also include master classes with authors and performers, open rehearsals, and workshops for area students  to learn from the masters. In addition, this year’s Festival will also offer  free public events including “Film in the Park Series” offering  Anastasia, From Russia with Love, and Doctor Zhivago.

For a complete Festival schedule and to purchase tickets, visit Festival of the Arts BOCA.

I grew up in the suburbs. Chicken comes cut up and wrapped in plastic; and eggs are white, and packed by the dozen in cartons.

Brown eggs? Gross! Clearly diseased.

Or so I thought. When we moved to Paris, one of my big adjustments was that all the eggs were brown. With big orange yolks. And not refrigerated.  All of them. At the marchés and the grocery stores. Hmmm….who knew? And often times they were fresh from the chicken: meaning unwashed. Gross. But, over the years, this became normal. I even spent one frantic day with bff J searching all over Paris to find a few white eggs that we could color for her childrens’ Easter baskets: yes, we finally found 6.  They were expensive.

Moi tip: I was attending a cooking class in Paris with a group of other American expats. We were separating eggs for the recipe, and bien sur, someone broke the yolk. Naturally, l’Américaine dipped her eggshell into the bowl to scoop out the yolk. Le Chef was horrified! These were typical unwashed fresh eggshells: covered with nasty chicken poop (sorry!) We Americans are used to the sanitized eggs we buy at the supermarket, the shells are white and sparkly clean. We were immediately instructed to discard the now ruined bowl of eggs. And in the future, remove yellow bits with a spoon. Good to know.

Now that I’m back in the US, do I buy white eggs at the grocery? Mais non! TBG and I buy our eggs from Knoll Crest Farm at the bi-weekly Greenmarket on Broadway outside Columbia University. And of course, they’re brown eggs (but lightly washed, we’re assured). And they have the bright orange yolks, just like we had in Paris.

The incredible, edible egg!

When we lived in Copenhagen, we became fans of ebelskiver: little Danish puffed pancakes, filled with fruit (typically apples, since the Danish word for apple slices is æbleskiver) and sold at streetstands and in many bakeries and cafes. Freshly made in the home to celebrate Christmas, and sold frozen in the grocery stores for easy treats year-round, we quickly became addicts! Our return to the US had us scouring the internet to find the ebelskiver pan, a skillet with seven round indentations for cooking these little puffs on top of the stove. hint: ebelskivers look a lot like Dunkin Donut munchkins!

Now just a few years later, the ebelskiver pan is sold at most cooking stores, and has been featured on many TV cooking shows like Rachel Ray. These shows added very American touches: the ebelskiver were filled not only with fruit, but with chocolate, cheeses, sauces and spices. I even upgraded my cast iron skillet for a lighter, non-stick pan from Bed Bath and Beyond, and now have a 2nd pan from Williams-Sonoma!

The challenge was learning how to make and cook ebelskivers. Naturally, I first turned to the internet. There are many complicated recipes out there, involving beaten egg whites, whisked yolks, buttermilk and sour cream, and lots of utensils. Then, to make the filling: chopping, sauteing, and spicing fruits. Delicious, but a lot of work! Williams-Sonoma recently started selling an ebelskiver mix, which cut down on the work, but still involved beating egg whites and whisking yolks.

Moi tip: WS even has a cookbook full of sweet and savory ebelskiver recipes!

Recently I simplified things and experimented with using buttermilk pancake mix: voila! It worked fine. The batter was light and fluffy, I was able to use it just as I used my home-made recipe, and they turned out great! Which is better: I think the homemade. Which will I make? The ebelskivers from the mix: its just so much easier and faster when I’m whipping up a batch for family or guests for Sunday brunch. Usually I just fill them with purchased jams, preserves, or chocolate sauces, followed by a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or if I’m making savory, a bit of jarred pesto or pasta sauce and a bit of feta cheese are yummy.

Moi tip: Ebelskiver need to be turned over so they can cook on both sides. The TV shows and cooking stores make this seem alot more complicated than it is: they sell special utensils that look like chopsticks, that involve using both hands. Forget it! I just flip them over by sliding a spoon underneath the cooked side, and quickly flipping them over. I’ve also used my wooden toast tongs, which at least uses only 1 hand, but the spoon works really well!

Ebelskiver are very similar to poffertjes, little Dutch puffed pancakes. Poffertjes are not filled, and are served with different fresh fruit toppings, I like them with strawberries and whipped cream.

Across from the bandshell on Sunday afternoons:

This is why New Yorkers love Central Park: there’s always something going on, and the show’s free! This Sunday in February, the temp was 44º, the sun was shining, the skies were blue, and the park was the place to be. As a member of the Central Park Conservancy I knew about, but had never taken advantage of, the free service to dial 646.862.0997, the Central Park Audioguide, from your cellphone at designated park attractions, and hear celebrity park patrons talk about the site: today I learned about the Minton Tile Ceiling near Bethesda Terrace (23#) from Sigourney Weaver!

Over 14,000 Minton tiles were restored several years ago to return the arcade to it’s 1870’s glory.

One of the perks of a snowy slushy freezing day outside is a chance to curl up in front of a fire inside. With a good book? Mais non, with the stack of catalogues that have been accumulating since the holidays! Today, Moi discovered:

Crows Nest Trading Co

Featuring clothes, accessories and furnishings with a definite western/southwestern flare, the catalogue caught my eye even though by the last page I was a little overdosed with turquoise and antlers. Billing itself lodge decor, I have a feeling Omaha bff J would definitely shop here!

I loved this armoire, particularly the turqoise blue wash. In fact, it reminded me of my recent trip to India (except for the silver cross motif), where the wooden doorways and much of the furniture is painted blue and aged (real or faux) and is a popular US export.

But what I really craved was the collection of peasant-style cotton embroidered shirts. White embroidered with turquoise, green studded with mirrors and beads, black stitched with dazzling flowers and lacework: these were exactly the bobo (bourgeois bohemian) look that I like, and have collected on my travels to Greece, Poland, Hungary, and other Eastern European countries.

Hmmm…. Can Moi get away with rocking the cowgirl rain boots?

The lastest thing to save my sanity and my back is Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets. I discovered these on the shelf at a Walgreens in Chicago, didn’t buy them, thinking I could find them in NYC. Wrong. Sometimes NYC grocery stores are just too small to carry the latest and greatest, and since there is no Target in Manhattan for 1 stop shopping, I was out of luck. Fortunately a couple weeks later I was back in Chicago, and picked up a box that easily fit into my carry-on.

Laundry detergent in Moi carry-on? How did TSA approve that, you might ask. No liquids!

This laundry sheet contains detergent, fabric softner and anti-static. Its small, and fits on my laundry shelf. Its light-weight, and easy to carry home from the market. About $7 for a box of 20.

Moi Tip: I have a front loading combo washer/dryer by LG. Love it! Fits perfectly in my tiny NYC kitchen. But it does have a smaller interior, so I cut the sheets in half. Works great: clean clothes, and a box lasts twice as long. What’s not to like?

We’ve been hiking, Xcountry skiing, and snowshoeing a long time, all over the Northeast and Midwest US, and Europe and Scandinavia. Our winter sports bin is pretty complete: even though we hadn’t opened it for several years and several international and cross-country moves (due to all those moves plus TBG’s surgery marathon), we prepped for last weekend’s hiking, skiing, snowshoeing trip pretty quickly.

However, things have changed and we need to add a few items to our winter weekend packing list:

• studded snow tires for your feet: STABILicers Lite, $24.99 pair. These rubber thong booties slip on over your shoes or boots – they stretch, so even over your UGGS – and make walking on slippery ice safe and easy

• gluhwein bags to spice up our hot wine for the all-important après ski. My Berlin bff The Antiques Diva doesn’t ski, but she is an après ski connoisseur. Hot spiced wine is a must
• paper soap: Tampa bff T gifted Moi with two of these nifty little palm-sized packaged sheets of soap, perfect for your carry-on luggage: not liquid, weighs nothing. T bought mine at Pier 1, in lovely scents peppermint and pink grapefruit

• a pedometer. We know how long it takes us to raquette (snowshoe) up the mountain, but we don’t know how far we’ve gone. We want bragging rights!
• flask for taking away the chills as we hike: we have several, but they’re all stored with the fall football tailgating gear
• TBG’s heart monitor, so he knows what’s going on

Moi tip: keep a pair of the STABILicers rubber boot studs in your back seat all winter long so you can safely walk thru icy parking lots and slippery sidewalks. Sorry…I don’t think they’ll work with stilettos!