Finding Found

There probably aren’t any shops that aren’t charming when you walk down the street in Chatham, Massachusetts (where I spent some time this summer) but a new one, Found Home, opened this year that captured my interest every time I walked by it.

And every day as I passed there was something new to behold in front of the grey-shingled little cottage. There have been kilm rugs hung across the picket fence...vintage dining tables on the patio...an old trunk ...a push lawnmower left unmoved, hidden amongst the flowers.

I was intrigued and when I finally had a chance to stop in to explore I knew immediately that this shop was the making of someone with lots of style. There were contemporary couches and antique tables, unique clocks and old trunks, pillows covered in airy patterns, vintage posters and framed old maps. But what really captivated me was how it was all put together.

It all made sense when I met Jen Runnels, the owner. She is a designer, painter, photo stylist, and she capitvates you with her passion to collect unique and special pieces.

Jen features Sal del Mar in her shop and so it seemed the perfect opportunity to do a photo shoot together. She magically stylized several vignettes with Sal de Margarita using her found objects. Surrounded by vintage candlesticks, a sterling tray and martini shaker, Sal del Margarita takes center stage for an invitation for entertaining ideas.

A Bloody Mary rimmed with a mix of Sal del Mar and black pepper is served on a sterling silver tray. One of Jen’s finds of a vintage boat plan by Gifford Jackson provides the perfect setting. The tray is an antique of sterling silver; the bench is reclaimed wood made by a Conneticut craftsman.

New Martini at  Found Home — New Martini at Found Home

A “new martini” made with a Reposado tequila, a twist of lemon, crushed ice, rimmed with Sal de Mar and shaken in a nickel-plated Napier shaker called the Foursome, the tray by Ralph Lauren. The Demi-lune chest is by designer Gibert Rohde for Herman Miller furniture from the 30s.

Jen is always dreaming up new ways daily to group together her "finds" to create different looks. Check out Found Home for a new approach to design!

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A Toast to Sal del Mar

I feel that I’ve been "living under a rock” as my friend Muriel (owner of The Hair Company in Chatham, MA) would say, because as obsessed as I am with using Sal del Mar on everything from Bloody Marys to making meringue with it, it NEVER occurred to me to use it on toast.

My revelation came recently in an editorial I read in Food and Wine that their features editor waited in-line for 20 minutes at a bake shop in San Francisco “just to pay $3.50 for a slice of sesame whole-wheat toast with local butter, honey and sea salt.” It went on to say that even though it was inconvenient and expensive and a bit mockable, he was still talking about it five months later.

Thus I began my quest to pair bread, butter, honey and Sal del Mar for myself. It began with a trip from Chatham, where I have spent the summer, to Hyannis to a bakery my husband and I discovered awhile ago.

Pain D’Avignon had the perfect bread that fit the Food & Wine description and was highly recommended to me by Andrew who waited on me. When I told him that I wanted a bread to make the perfect toast, he sold me on their multigrain bread. It is rustic in appearance with a deep brown crust and is sprinked with seeds.

Andrew told me that he personally recommended it for toast and that he has it all the time toasted with olive oil and sea salt! (I am taking him a Sal del Mar bag on our next trip to Hyannis). I definitely have been “living under a rock.”

So a toast to Sal del Mar...and toast! Try it: Bread, Butter, Honey and Sal del Mar.

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Pavlova Takes a Bow

Funny that I would choose a meringue recipe to feature on my blog when a) it is a summer recipe and it is now September, and b) I am trying to write more blogs with recipes using Sal del Mar. The Pavlova recipe is a bit of a stretch to feature Sal del Mar as an ingredient since only a pinch of salt (not even an 1/8 teaspoon) is called for in the recipe.

But I have wanted to make it since earlier this summer when Gisela Asimus, a friend and part of the Karafotas-summer-Chatham-family, introduced it to me. Gisela and her family live in London and she and her husband, Sylvain, are foodies like us. I liked the Pavlova immediately because it is not only delicious but beautiful! And, of course that matters to me. It is also one of the best low fat (non-gluten, too) dishes to serve with seasonal fruit.

The ingredients for Pavolva are simple....egg whites, vanilla, Sal del Mar, cornstarch, white vinegar and sugar... and when beaten into “glossy peaks” it is beautiful. The bowl looked so delicious I wanted to lick it all. (Okay, I admit to several.)

Spoon the meringue into a 9-inch circle on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. The story goes that the meringue, when spooned out into a circle, looks like a ballerina’s tutu and is thus named “ Pavlova” for a famous Russian ballerina.

The next trick is to allow enough time for the Pavlova to bake in the oven and then cool down.... without opening the oven door! The recipe calls for 1½ hours, plus cooling in the oven. Be prepared to not need the oven for cooking anything else. I would plan more time next time I make it...even leaving it to cool in the oven overnight.

MIXED BERRY PAVLOVA

INGREDIENTS

4 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of Sal del Mar

1 cup sugar (superfine is best)

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Fresh berries: stawberies, hulled and sliced; blueberries and raspberries

Preheat oven to 300.

Beat egg whites and salt together with an electric mixer until glossy peaks form. With mixer running, add sugar a little at a time, beating until meringue is stiff and glossy.

Sprinkle in cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla; gently fold to combine.

Mound the meringue in the center of a 9-inch circle on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Using a spatula, evenly spread meringue out toward the edges of the cirlce. Transfer the baking sheet to oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 250 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Turn off oven and let meringue cool completely in oven (overnight is best). When meringue is cool and compleately dry, top with whipped cream and desired fruits.

RASPBERRY SAUCE

(Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home)

This sauce is delicious and adds a depth of elegance.

1 half-pint fresh raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup seedless raspberry jam (12-ounce)

1 tablespoon frambroise liquer

Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam and framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth. Chill

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In the Mind's Eye

I have a new camera (a Nikon D5100 that I bought from Willy at Bromfield Camera in Boston) and I remember now how much I love a “real camera,” I know that the camera on my i phone takes good photos but most of them are the result of pure luck because I usually can’t really see what I’m seeing because it is too dark or too light. And I call them “photos,” not photographs.

On one of my first days out with my Nikon I wanted to shoot everything I saw. It was a foggy morning as my husband, Phillip, and I strolled Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts. I loved the even light and couldn’t stop taking photographs of the seagulls, the waves, the sand or anything that moved. This photograph of Phillip and Jessie was the result of one of twenty others just like it. I couldn’t stop taking them.

One of my favorite moments was Yoga On The Beach, a morning ritual in Chatham. My daughter, Stacy, is the one in the back row center with a pink towel and navy jacket.

It was amazing to have a “real camera” again. I began to see things. I even saw the flipflops left in the sand by the people walking on the beach and doing sun salutations.

I’m sure I have walked past the flipflops hundreds of times on our walks on the beach but never really saw them.

Well, I said I was seeing everything! I only took two if the shark sign, but when I got home later I saw that I had taken 326 photographs that first morning with my new Nikon. I love it and now I’m inspired to write more blogs.

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Simple is Sometimes Better

I have been thinking for days about what to post for a 4th of July picnic recipe. I finally had an idea flash... a crudités...something I always love to serve with barbecue picnics of hot dogs, hamburgers and corn-on-the cob.

Radishes are my favorite crudités. They are best served ice-cold and on warm summer evenings (I sometimes serve them on ice). I use a variety of radishes, if available, especially French breakfast and baby Easter Egg radishes.

The classic way to serve them is with soft unsalted butter and, of course, Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt. Eating them with butter and Sal del Mar is absolutely decadent. (Use the European style of unsalted butter).

Of course, half the dish for me is stylizing it. Clean and trim the radishes, leaving a few pretty leaves on top. Arrange on a plate with Sal del Mar. Serve the butter in a small dish or ramekins. Simple!

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Memorial Day By The Sea

Our view of Memorial Day began with sails filling the blue sky and kayaks and paddle boards dotting the blue waters on the bay where we live. There is a sense of celebration of the beginning of summer.

Our menu for Memorial Day isn’t what I grew up having . . . . hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, potato salad, cole slaw, and corn on the cob. We are having spicy shrimp with a smoked paprika mayonnaise and a watermelon salad.

WATERMELON SALAD

Seedless Watermelon (we used watermelon with seed and took out most of the seeds) cut into large but bite-size pieces

Feta cut into chunks

Chopped Fresh Basil

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Toss and serve as cold as you can get it. Add a pinch or two of Sal del Mar, of course!

Buen Provecho

Our celebration of summer is only part of our day as we take time to remember how fortunate we are as Americans for the sacrifices of our brave countrymen that made our precious freedom possible.

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Summer Setting

I always think of Memorial Day as the beginning of lazy days of summer.

I know that there are still errands to be done, meals to cook and cleaning to do but...

it is also a time I give myself “permission” to do nothing.

So I designed a “Summer Setting” and then had a photo shoot session with stylist Paula Hamilton (she is the artist too for Sal del Mar embroidered bag designs) and “my third daughter” and photographer, Amy Haskell.

This is where I can imagine reading... or napping... and, of course, with a margarita

in a frosty glass rimmed with Sal de Margarita and a little snack.

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A Diane Keaton Discovery

I have long admired Diane Keaton, not just as an actress but as a designer. I have followed her in Architectural Digest where she has been featured many times. In fact, I have recently discovered that the set design of a new NBC comedy, The New Normal, was inspired by her Spanish Colonial-style house in Bel Aire. I also read an article in the New York Times that she is designing tableware for Bed Bath and Beyond.

So, it is not surprising that with her impeccable taste the first word she said when she walked into Bon Boutique in Tucson was “Wow.” She liked what she saw so much that she wrote an article for Remodelista: Sourcebook for Considered Living. (See her article: http://remodelista.com/posts/a-treasure-trove-in-tucson)

I discovered Bon Boutique many years ago when I was editor of Tucson Lifestyle Home and Garden magazine and feel the same way Diane Keaton does about the store and owners, Bonnie and Crystal. They have hand-picked, wondrous items that you can’t find anywhere else.

I am very pleased to know that Sal del Mar is one of the items that Bon Boutique carries in their store and on-line, as well.

PS: I like to imagine that Diane Keaton walked into Bon Boutique and said Wow!” when she saw Sal del Mar artistically displayed in one of Bon’s hand-crafted woven baskets.

Check out Sal del Mar on Bon Boutique's website.

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