Now that civilization as we know it has temporarily returned to the Colonies with the resumption of Downton Abbey, the most divine book has come my way about Living Artfully: At Home With Marjorie Merriweather Post…
Food & Entertaining
Thanksgiving Decorating… and Puzzle Winner Announced
Thanksgiving at Rancho La Zaca, 2012. Ideas and inspiration for your holiday decorating.
Thanksgiving Puzzle Giveaway!
Here’s something fun everybody can do at Thanksgiving that does not involve a football, a television, a parade float, a stick of butter, or even an iPad. Seriously! Start a new family tradition! Does not contain trans-fats! Good for you and good for your brain. And did I mention fun… Are you puzzled??? (wink, wink)
Joyful, Joyful! Wedding Pictures From Rancho La Zaca (Finally)
Finally I got married (again) at the tender young age of don’t-make-me-say-it. And finally a year (and two weeks) later I am getting around to the photos because so many of you were so adorable to ask. Or maybe you were just been being nice… but JIC, here they are.
Happy Anniversary, Honey! Scenes from the Rehearsal Dinner
I did promise you pictures of the wedding, and here they are a year later. Didn’t want to rush you. Yes dear readers one year ago today my sweetheart and I were fixin’ to get hitched…
Some of My Best Friends Are Dahlias
How can you not love dahlias? My friend’s implication is that dahlias are somehow déclassé. Hmph. I remember when people used to feel that way about hydrangeas, and look what happened to them.
What a Month! Part 2-Santa Fe, Stomach Bug, SWAT Team, Quick Draw, La-La Land
Like I was saying, August posts have been a little light because August days have been a little busy. What I want to know is what happened to the “lazy days of summer”? Am I just a girl who can’t say no, or are we all just doing 72,000 more things than we used to do? What’s going on?
Loving Lotusland, a Garden (and a Gardener) Like No Other
Anybody with the stamina to marry six times is nothing if not energetic. Ganna Walksa was certainly that–and a visionary as well. Her beauty was legend, her voice sublime, her past a touch scandalous, and her portrait a gift from the czar of Russia. But her most fabulous legacy is Lotusland. Prepare to swoon.
Just Another Night at the Ranch… Starring Shirley Jones and the Cassidy Brothers
How often do you have in your living room an Academy Award-winning actress, a Tony Award-winning costume designer, an Emmy-winning composer, and a Grammy-nominated bona-fide teen idol all at once?
We did when we hosted a singalong with Shirley Jones and Shaun Cassidy and decided to make an evening of it. Rancho La Zaca was filled with music, laughter, and a tear or two.
The Perfect One-Dish Summer Supper
Company this weekend? Summer is all about casual entertaining, and here (said she modestly) is the perfect summer supper. Crowd-pleasing, minimal prep and cooking time, surf and turf. Did I have you at hello, or what. Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from the South Carolina Lowcountry, I give you Frogmore Stew. You may be… Continue reading The Perfect One-Dish Summer Supper
Fixin’ Up for the Fourth of July
Time to star spangle the banner. if you’re having a big crowd, consider one long table. It’s a great look and you won’t worry about uneven seating at smaller tables – 14 crammed around one while two or three are at another, feeling unpopular. Pennant flags and big paper lanterns are a lot of look for the money…
Letter From the Loire – Part 1
It was a dark and stormy castle… Ominously begins the sequel to “Wine, Women and Watercolors.” Week 2 of summer sojourn begins with the Principessa (aka Carolyne Roehm) and me flying from our painting workshop in porto Ercole to Paris to meet our menfolk and friends, and then to cycle around the Loire Valley…