July 27, 2011

Vintage cabinet and framed print brought from
Houston fit perfectly in the Santa Fe house.

Terrific dinner party last night! Good food and wine. Good friends. Good weather. And more refreshing wine. Am I in heaven? The photo I'm posting today is the little cabinet I bought in Houston and brought to Santa Fe. It fits perfectly in the spot and worked great during the dinner party as a "server." I moved the old wooden platter from Mexico and the antique stirrups my parents bought in South America to the floor. Then, during dinner, the dishes of food sat on the server instead of in the middle of the table. I'm sure this isn't the final version of the server, but for now I think it looks cute.

The piece of artwork above the cabinet is also from the Houston house. It's a "relief intaglio" by Peter Massing. For those of you who are familiar with The Art Guys, Peter is Jack Massing's brother. Intaglio is a very old printmaking technique involving a plate the artist has carved, ink, a damp piece of paper, and a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the recesses of the plate to the paper. Our original one-of-a-kind piece has the amazing colors of the high desert. Very wonderful!


Today I'm creating a list of canning and preserving items I'm going to need this summer. In addition to the two big boxes of fabric I brought with me to sew, I've been reading a preserving primer. Last year I canned about a dozen jars of apricots that came from the tree in our yard. There aren't any apricots on the tree this year, but the farmer's market has plenty of fruit. I've run into the first snag on page 14 of the magazine, stating beginners (definitely me), "should ease into canning by starting with fruits that have a high acid content, such as quince." What's a quince?