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One more look from photo shoot last week – while I’m in nostalgia mode. This is @chefstephvalentine ‘s #sbrisolona cookies and lemon posset in my grandmother’s Limoges pots de creme. Pretty sure my mother never used them, as i never laid eyes on them until after she died and we were going through her things. (She was more a Charlotte Russe kind of person, which she made in a cut glass bowl.) Nice to give old things new life. However as I think of this in the wake of Florence, which will destroy so many things, some of them precious to us, I realize that no thing is more precious than life and those we love. Be careful out there all of you in Flo’s path, and Godspeed. .
#californiacookingwithsouthernstyle out next summer from @skyhorsepub #rancholazaca #lemonposset #oldfashioneddessert #potdecreme #limoges @royallimogesfrance Photo by @deborahllewellyn !!!

This photo by the inimitable @rkart1 of our beautiful pink mountains with my fat head in the way. And my dress clashes. But the light as captured by her artist’s eye, is great. Thank you dear Renee. .
#rancholazaca #prettylight #sanrafaelmountains #santaynezvalley #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle oh! and my fab earrings i love from my darlin @cynniereid by @rderavenel

Are we officially now in Indian Summer? Temperatures in the 90s yesterday at the ranch and was all I could do not to jump in the pond… But somehow just looking at it cools you. A painting? #iwanttopaintit
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#rancholazaca #pond #indiansummer #reflections

Who knew a raw squash salad could be so beautiful? @chefstephvalentine that’s who. This and 99 more gorgeous and yummy recipes to come in #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle out next summer frim @skyhorsepub Food ohotos by the inimitable @deborahllewellyn

A slightly premature “fall” flower arrangement for #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle photo shoot at #rancholazaca Recipes by @chefstephvalentine Book from @skyhorsepub

More flower fun shooting #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle with recipes by @chefstephvalentine and many gorgeous photos by @deborahllewellyn and others… .
#rancholazaca #cookbook #santaynezvalley #francesschultz #francesschultzflowers #francesschultzentertains

Soooooo excited to be shooting with @deborahllewellyn for California Cooking with Southern Style, my next book, with recipes by @chefstephvalentine This photo is a template for a menu page, and I just love it. Book due out next year from @skyhorsepub Will keep you posted… .
#rancholazaca #californiacookingwithsouthernstyle #californiacookingandsouthernstyle #santaynezvalley

Just a pretty moment. I love having flowers—even a few humble zinnias—on the center table in our great room because the light from the skylight catches them just so at certain times of day and it catches the eye from clear down the hall and is just the loveliest little surprise. Begining hectic but fun week of photo shoots, and it’s good to have these little reminders to stop and breathe. .
#rancholazaca #prettylight #zinnia #zinnias

Just when you’re about to lose hope of manners, and gratitude and graciousness… I came back home to the ranch last week to a barage of thank you notes, including, inexplicably, a handpainted whale. But then 4-year-old granddaughters do not require explanation. And all these notes were not for the same thing—it was this house guest, that dinner, this gift. These tokens of thanks were great gifts in themselves, and the power of gratitude—and manners—never ceases to amaze. It is a reminder, too, on this Labor Day, to say thank you whenever we can, and to be mindful of its joy when it is least expected. Thank you @djpipertini1016 @abdittmer @briecromer @rosestoryfarm @ajrhoda @benbourgeois

Moving in day for NYU freshman! So proud of our baby Dorothy Isabel! Her terrific mom and credit card I mean dad at left. Blessed with perfect weather and miraculously no snafus (that a quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond wont fix anyway). #nyu #nyustern #rockstar @duvallfuqua

Beautiful light in New York in these waning days of summer. #stpatrickscathedral #lebleu #newyorkcity #streetscape #dusk

Aretha Franklin #queenofsoul thank you for sharing your amazing gifts with the world, and for being a symbol of strength and inspiration to women everywhere. What an enormous treat it was to see her years ago in NYC in a private performance for a friend’s birthday. She rocked it like she always did. Rest in peace, #naturalwoman #respect 1960s era Photo via @entertainmentweekly