Tricia Nelson – Page 7 – BritishCottageBlog.com

New Thoughts for the New Year

Once the holidays are over and January has rolled around, for me usually, this means it’s prime nesting season. The weather is always lousy. It’s still dark at 5 (I am talking about pm–am is something I would not know of). Suddenly there’s plenty of time on these long wintry afternoons for nestling on the couch, snug in a blanket reading that novel I never got to in summer’ only occasionally rising to stir the fabulous stew simmering on the stove in the kitchen. And then, once dinner is served, there is no reason not to relax a little more and linger at the table enjoying a robust glass or two of wine…

This year, though, we had a fortuitous change in routine. Mid-January we decided to make a pit stop at America’s Mart in Atlanta.

Possibly the world’s largest trade show facility with over 700 million square feet, America’s Mart January market bills themselves as “An unparalleled collection of exceptional Home products…” and for once someone is telling the truth. There are acres and acres of products, thousands of vendors, and fun stuff like crazy cash machines (see above photo).

For us, or anyone with an eye on design, it is an amazing opportunity to see the latest offerings in furniture, rugs, artwork, lighting, bedding and floral, many of which are shown in room settings so you get to see–rather than just imagine–how things would look in a home.
Also featured were a series of vignettes by several of the country’s top designers that included products from a wide variety of manufacturers. This is what we do every day at British Cottage, so it was interesting to see how professionals took products we carry, like this chandelier from Curry & Co, and put it with an area rug by Loiloi (a company we are considering). Generally, we are not a fan of dark wall colors but love how everything pops in this stylish space.

And everywhere you looked there was a gorgeous navy blue couch–as our British Cottage aficionados know a look we have championed for several years now. We find navy fresh and classic, equally at home at the beach or in the city. There was no shortage of seminars and workshops. We especially enjoyed the presentation sponsored by Veranda Magazine. Billed as 30 Years of Veranda, interior design icons (from left) John Oetgen, Suzanne Kassler, Bill Peace and Susan Ferrier, candidly described their favorite memories and shared insights about how interior design has become what it is today.

We were also treated to a panel discussion of the power of social media by three prominent bloggers: Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita, Nora Murphy of Connecticut Country House and Courtney Allison of French Country Cottage, and I still bear the bruises from Keith nudging me when they all agreed that frequency was a major contributor to the success of their blogs…sorry I will try harder!

And after all that, it was nice to come home and resume nesting, and there is nothing like a home cooked meal after being out and about for a while. My favorite stew, of all time, is Chicken Cacciatore or Pollo Alla Cacciatora as my beloved Marcella Hazan, author of “The Classic Italian Cookbook” would say. First published by Knopf in New York in 1976, some say Marcella Hazan’s cookbook is the most authentic and best guide to Italian food ever written. Of course, I knew none of that when I pulled it out of the sales pile at Barnes and Noble over 20 years ago–but I know it now.

Chicken Cacciatore

First just use chicken thighs. Don’t fuss about cutting up a whole chicken and worrying about what bit gets cooked for how long. (I think it was Mario Batali who said he actually throws away the white meat because it is the dark meat of the chicken that holds all the flavor).

While you heat up a few glugs of olive oil in a large pan, dredge those chicken thighs (figure at least two per person) in flour and add to your heated oil skin side down. Cook on medium-ish heat for longer than you think. You want to get that skin browned up a bit before you turn them over and toast the other side. Transfer to a platter and lightly salt and pepper.

Remove excess fat from your pan, turn up the heat and deglaze with 2/3 of a cup or so of dry white wine. When it is reduced by half and you’ve scraped up all the bits from the bottom of the pan, lower the heat and add one medium onion chopped how you like it. I prefer chunks but small children might like their onions minced–it’s up to you. After 5 minutes or so add some chopped green pepper, one carrot (which I usually coarsely grate so it disappears) and 1/2 celery stalk sliced thin, and a couple of chopped up garlic cloves Quantities can vary according to what you like or have in the fridge. For example, Marcella calls for a whole green pepper–but I find just half gives me the flavor I like.

At this point add a 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juice. You can chop them up first or just toss in the pan and chop them up there; they’re going to cook down anyway. Add the chicken, cover partly and simmer for about an hour, turning occasionally. (If your sauce looks too thin just remove the cover and let it reduce).

I like to cook my chicken until it is practically falling off the bone and when it is ready I just spoon a little of the hot sauce on the bottom of a warm platter, add some freshly cooked pasta (we like rigatoni for no particular reason) and cover with the chicken and more sauce–and maybe a dash or two of hot red pepper flakes for some zip.

Serve with some freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese on the side, a loaf of fresh garlic bread and a simple green salad. And of course a nice bottle of wine–white or red–you can’t go wrong with this dish!

The Holidays: Being Prepared

Lasagna Recipe

As we all know the holidays should be all fun and games; but often times it is easy to get struck down by the details so it is best to be prepared. First, accept you are not Martha Stewart; perfection should never replace fun. Delegate, smile a lot and try not to sweat the small stuff. You have all of January to be miserable.

Here are things to watch out for. The order doesn’t matter, all these things will happen sooner or later unless you have escaped to a fabulous island retreat in which case stop reading and go for a swim.

Decorations: What goes up must come down.

You can do this the easy way or the hard way. Because on January 1 you will possibly be hungover but definitely masterminding the clean up so keep that in mind from the start. If you have a partner who likes to hang up miles of lights try not to engage or encourage. The same holiday effect can be achieved with a modicum of white sparkly lights, the old fashioned kind, (steer far away for the LED type because they end up having a bluish hue) wrapped over a swag of fresh evergreen garland festooned with bows made by twisting florist wire around red ribbon over your front door. Tuck a bunch of freshly cut greens into the urns on the porch first making sure to remove and discard the now dead chrysanthemums left over from Halloween.

Same for the tree. Fresh or fake–your choice. I prefer fresh because it smells better and you can throw it out the front door on January 1. Toss on a few strands of the aforementioned white sparkly lights, no more than one box of ornaments, and call it a day. One year I only did lights and I think is was our prettiest tree ever. Less is more.

If you must, get a couple of poinsettias to brighten up the mantle or the table. Once again the beauty of these is the clean up–simply toss when they begin to look bedraggled or it is March and time to let go.

Entertaining: Try not to

If you do, keep it simple. One friend had a holiday party for years where she provided a ham and a turkey and guests were asked to bring something that could be eaten with their fingers. Some years it was all desserts and some years it was all appetizers but nobody ever complained and it all got eaten.

If you have to have a sit-down dinner provide only one entree that can be prepared in advance. For Christmas Eve we like to make lasagna. Served with a simple and I mean from the bag green salad dressed up with a fabulous (and simple) Gorgonzola and Pecan dressing, along with a loaf of garlic bread you can sit down and enjoy a glass of prosecco–and the meal– without feeling you just ran the Boston Marathon.

Let the games begin.

Best Lasagna Recipe

First take a Tupperware of frozen sauce from the freezer.

If you don’t know how to make homemade sauce it’s time you learned. Buy 3 or 4 large tins of canned whole tomatoes, chop up or squash and put in a pot with two onions quartered and a few cloves of garlic. Toss in some hot Italian sausages in their casings and a pound of ground beef rolled into meatballs. You don’t need to fry, spice, bread or do anything to your meatballs. After simmering for several hours in your sauce they will taste just fine. Add some bay leaves, thyme and oregano and cook for several hours. Eat what you want, served over spaghetti and freeze the rest.

Defrost your sauce and then put some into the bottom of a lasagna pan or any other oblong pan you can put in the oven. Layer with no boil lasagna noodles–if you haven’t used these before–you should. They take one half hour and most of the pain away from making lasagna and they actually taste better!

Now if you are the prepared type you have already sauteed some sliced mushrooms with minced garlic, or you can just put a layer of raw sliced mushrooms into the pan. Top with a mixture you have made of fat-free ricotta cheese, chopped spinach (if using fresh cook down first), parmesan cheese, one egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then add a layer of grated mozzarella, a layer of sauce and start over again until your pan is full. Top with a sliced up hot sausage or two and some more of that grated mozzarella and you are ready to rumble. Cook covered at 35o for about 30 minutes and then uncovered for fifteen or so and let rest.

Adding the mushrooms, the spinach, and the fat-free ricotta keeps this lasagna from making you feel like you swallowed the proverbial lead balloon. It is the holidays and it is important to reserve your calories for the extra alcohol required to maintain your equanimity in the face of all your nearest and dearest.

Domestic Arts 101

In the olden days, decorating was the wife’s job; real men played golf, watched sports on the telly and stayed out of the kitchen. Clearly those days are over. Real women go to work, real men cook and everybody has a say in decorating. But he likes mid-century modern and she wants comfort and warmth. Holy smokes! What do you do?

You compromise and together you create your own signature look.
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Take, for example, this Rumson carriage house. When the new owners took possession they brought with them the husband’s significant modern art collection and his design sense which was perhaps a bit formal, while the wife was angling for an up-dated, yet comfortable, elegant, yet child-friendly end of the spectrum.

First thing they did was transform what had been a formal living room into a lively gallery of amazing art, complemented by a modicum of seating. The idea was to marry comfort with spare and sleek. They wanted room where the art could shine, adults enjoy a cocktail and their three children to romp–the walled off living room, like husbands who don’t decorate, a thing of the past.

For a while it was perhaps it was a bit too stark but once they replaced a burnished hunk of copper coffee table with this painted wooden table from British Cottage the living room finally came together.
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The modern, copper coffee table that was in the living room happily found a new home in the family room where it compliments the metal work on the fireplace and anchors the massive leather couch.
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(I’m not sure whose idea was the basketball hoop over the fireplace in the family room–we would have loved this when we were kids). They added a couple of custom Hickory White side chairs in navy plaid from British Cottage that swivel so you can either have a conversation or watch the game on the television on the wall opposite the couch.

Perhaps my favorite room is the dining room. They kept the previous owner’s chandelier–from the days when the house was decorated in an over-the-top chateau style–and it looks pretty and romantic. The husband was quite sure how he wanted the custom British Cottage table to look, striking and vibrant in dark oak which works beautifully with the linen-like but really Sunbrella slipcovered sidechairs chosen by his wife. The plain white walls and woodwork were a bold choice in this time of paint the world fifty shades of grey but it really lets the art and the architecture shine.

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We’ve been making house calls to this home for the last couple of years and every time we go it looks better and better. I think every nook and cranny has engaged the attention of both spouses and each has allowed the other their vision creating a lovely, family friendly home in the process. Not easy.

More High Point High Jinks

Banana Bread Recipe

Keith and I are huge fans of the show, Fixer Upper. I confess to having spent countless evenings mesmerized watching to see what a hundred grand could do in Waco Texas–where we live in NJ that’s basically a master bath.

So sadly when we visited the Magnolia Homes Showroom at the High Point Furniture Market it was a bit disappointing. Overall we were not overwhelmed by the furniture; it all seemed a little underbuilt. We kept looking for a Clint Harp kind of table but instead most everything was like the coffee table in the photo above, flimsy with a kind of post-modern vibe so I didn’t even bother to take many pictures.

One exception was the beds. I thought quite a few of them had that romantic, je ne sais quoi that makes furniture exciting. This vignette to me reflects the Joanna Gaines we have come to love: romantic, country style that is surprisingly sophisticated.
img_7208-907x1024 I have a vendor who makes a bed like this and now I just might get it. I just love the iron canopy, the dark hue and the dreamy styling.

And I thought the beds for little girls were both sweet and charming. img_7207-854x1024 All the bedding was lovely and from a company called Bella Notte Linens. I had just purchased similar bedding for the store from a company called Amity Home so it is nice to know Joanna and I are on the same page.

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One thing I totally loved in the Magnolia Homes showroom was the kitchen; it was classic Joanna with subway tile, a farmhouse sink and a massive island topped with zinc. With freestanding shelving instead of upper cabinets, wide-planked flooring, and an industrial-style chandelier, it was inviting and practical. (Although not so sure about the galvanized garbage can.)

Banana Bread Recipe

What I am sure about is that this kitchen looks like a fun place to whip up a loaf of homemade Banana Bread; here’s Joanna’s recipe and boy is it delicious!

**Homemade Banana Bread – Click image for larger view**

High Point High Jinks

Salami Roll Up Recipe

Keith and Joanna Gaines Maybe one of the more famous people we did not meet at High Point, but certainly it felt like Joanna Gaines was everywhere!

Twice a year thousands of vendors and buyers gather in High Point, North Carolina to preview the coming season’s latest introductions to the furniture industry. Although Keith and I design most of the items we sell it is always instructive and illuminating to see what the trends are, and it’s also terrific fun to purchase items that complement the British Cottage Collection. After all how many people get to pay themselves to shop?

Along the way we also pick up words of wisdom and design ideas from some of the leading designers and innovators in the trade. Here is Windsor Smith— a leading force in the Los Angeles design industry whose elegant interiors are a masterful mix of elegance, modernity, tradition–and yes–comfort. Next to her is Carl Dellatore, editor of “Interior Design Mater Class: 100 Lessons from America’s Finest Designers on the Art of Decoration” published by Rizzoli this October. If you buy only one book on design this season–this is it.
img_7235-2 Down a few flights of stairs were Barclay Butera and Kathy Ireland–also powerhouses in the California design world. We have always loved how Barclay manages to meld beach house cool with an English manor house sensibility, and we all know that anything former model, Warren Buffet confident, and entrepreneur Kathy Ireland touches is sheer gold. When she says color is making a comeback; we listen.
img_7248-2 Fortunately we are so on trend, because we had already purchased this fabulous couch and chair at Hickory White.

img_7030-3 Not sure you will see a salmon pink wall anytime soon at British Cottage, (and I will source the Benjamin Moore color for those of you who have asked), but the couch and two chairs should arrive in a few weeks. We like to buy the Hickory White floor models. Why not take advantage of their professional design savvy and add to our inventory at the same time?

And in for a penny, in for a pound as the pundits say, we also bought this couch and chair, again in a rosy hue.

But fear not, we did not go completely pink, we also purchased this lovely, royal blue velvet sofa and two complementary armchairs.

Usually it is all work and no play for us at Market. Cocktails are free and flowing throughout the showrooms, but we have found drinking and shopping is a volatile combination that results in expensive mistakes. And while there is always fabulous entertainment in the evenings, we never get to go; we are simply too tired from walking at least ten hours a day at the show to venture out in the evenings. Fortunately for us, on a late sunny Saturday afternoon Maggie Rose was practicing for her upcoming performance, and we got an advance preview.

Fabulous!

I like to end my blogs with a recipe, but food is beside the point at the High Point Furniture Market and largely forgettable except for one item:

Salami Roll Ups

It was late in the day, actually early evening, and we were trying to squeeze in one last show room before we went back to our hotel. We watched as a 70+ year-old woman, with hair like all Keith’s aunties in England had back in the days when a perm meant tight curls in an unnatural color, walked slowly up the stairs with a plate of appetizers.

Perhaps she had some connection with the staff and was delivering a special treat welcoming them to High Point, rewarding them for a good days work? I have no idea. But we were starving, and offered a sample we were thrilled to say yes.

Cue the flashback! The last time I remember having a salami roll up was back in 1969 when a friend’s mom hired a bunch of us to prep and serve hors d’oeuvres at a cocktail party she was hosting on Chappaquiddick. My mother was more the Wispride on a Triscuit kind of gal so I thought these roll ups were just about the most wonderful things in the world–and very exotic.

Fast forward to today, and I can say while a Salami Roll Up is not the chicest of treats, they sure do taste good.

Here’s the recipe:

Take a quarter of a pound of good hard salami thinly sliced. Put a small wedge of cheddar cheese and a sweet pickle on top of each piece of salami. Roll and secure with a toothpick. Serve.

The Visiting Nelsons

T-Bone Steak Dinner Recipe

I’m pretty sure the last thing my son and daughter-in-law expected was for me to write about their house after we visited them last week in deepest Nebraska. With a three week old infant, a toddler and a proud kindergartener just getting three meals on the table and everyone dressed in the morning is challenging enough. No one has the time, or the inclination to worry about home decor at this stage. But hey, I liked their house so much I couldn’t resist.

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Built just last year in a subdivision outside of Omaha, my immediate thought when I learned of the purchase was great, ho-hum Midwestern tract housing-does it get any worse that that? Well I could not have been more wrong. Not only does their house have great curb appeal (even in this photo I cribbed from Zillow), with a lovely stone foundation, rocking chair ready front porch and an interesting roof line.

But also the interior is just as nice with exactly the right amount of architectural details, a thoughtful floor plan, hardwood–not engineered flooring and although not huge, very spacious. In fact their house amazed me by how livable it was and I realized how having a house that is actually designed for the people living in it, a twenty first century family, makes their life a whole lot easier.

My homes have always been old, requiring tons of imagination, effort and cold hard cash just to make them function. We’ve turned porches into playrooms, attic space into master bedrooms, added bathrooms and laundry rooms, jacked up sinking garages, and waterproofed basements. We have enjoyed making our houses into homes but we have never had a house that was designed for a modern family.

Our first two houses had detached garages designed to stable the horses! The next house had an attached two car garage in which you could squeeze in maybe one mid-size auto but certainly not two trucks like their house does with its three large car attached garage. Whoever thought of that was brilliant–space for two plus-sized family cars and all the bicycles, toddler vehicles and lawnmowers. You, and your spouse, can actually park your cars in the garage and walk straight into the house.

Then you enter an ample mud room and off come the shoes, and jackets, purses and back packs get hung. Not rocket science but still… img_6546-755x1024

Mudroom for children — Even the little guys can put their things away.

Next up is the kitchen. Not huge, but with a center island, double ovens, a plus size fridge, a walk in pantry, and still room for a kitchen table, all you could wish for.

Light granite kitchen island — Kitchen Island in a granite that looks like marble

And I loved that there was another, separate dining area. Home office by day for the modern working mom, but just steps from the kitchen to make entertaining a breeze, and a bit more elegant than sitting on top of the actual work space.

Country French Dining Table — We don’t sell these tables any more but I wish we did. Inside there is a butterfly leaf that extends the table to 100″.

There is no formal living room. The space off the kitchen is the family room with tv and just enough toys and books to keep the kids busy but not so many that they can’t be quickly put away when bedtime approaches or company is coming.

img_6549-720x800 Wisely they opted to finish the walkout basement adding carpeting, a bedroom and a full bath. Perfect for visiting grandparents and perfect for two little boys stuck inside on summer days when the temperature is over 100 or in the depths of winter when snow and ice reclaim the prairie.

img_6483-768x1024 Upstairs there is a master bedroom suite with a fireplace, sitting room (where the treadmill sits), master bath and walk in closets, then three more bedrooms and an upstairs laundry room. Here is our newest baby modeling the upstairs quest room with all its fabulous British Cottage furniture.

British Cottage Pine Bed

Now, what do you eat in Omaha? Steak of course.

T-Bone Steak Dinner

Sprinkle T-Bone steaks from your Uncle’s farm in South Dakota with salt and pepper and grill. Serve with baked potatoes topped with sour cream and fresh chives, and the last of the carrots from the garden roasted in the oven.

Super!

The Quogue (rhymes with frog) Delivery

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil Lunch Recipe

Our furniture goes to the most lovely homes but rarely do I get to see them in person. Keith makes the deliveries and usually I merrily send him about his way. But Sunday I joined him on a jaunt to Quoque, a town, that to me, is all about the best Long Island living can offer. Sure there are multiple monstrosities masquerading as homes but there are also many terrific looking, normal sized houses that offer families fresh air and sunshine just sixty miles outside Manhattan.

The house we delivered to probably started life as a smallish ranch. But with the breezeway now a foyer and the former two car garage a den and the roof line altered to cathedral height it is certainly something else entirely today. Red Great Room My first advice to any novice interested in my decorating opinions is always to stay clear of jewel tones. Clearly this delightful great room proves me wrong. I love how the bold color adds definition to the space and provides a framework for all the diverse objects in this room. But also note how the glass coffee table, light rug and furniture keep the mood happy. As does Uncle Bowwow’s portrait to the left of the fireplace!

Next to the sitting area is a large farmhouse table made of old pine barnwood and next to that is a massive island separating the galley style kitchen from the rest of the room. It looks like it works fine for two–or what happens sometimes I am sure when you have a house in Quogue–twenty! Pine Farm Table

But the whole point of a summer house is not the interior is it? Sure there are rainy days and evenings spent playing scrabble, but really you want to be outdoors. And what makes this house so terrific is the fabulous swimming pool just steps from the kitchen. Who needs the beach?And as if the gorgeous pool wasn’t enough, the landscaping then is the icing on the proverbial cake. With both sun and a shade perennial gardens there is always something blooming magnificently.

Now let’s talk about lunch.

Recipe for a Perfect Summer Lunch

Go to the farmer’s market in August and buy the freshest tomatoes, slice and layer with some fresh mozzarella and lots of fresh basil leaves–and I mean fresh when I say it three times. This will not work with tired tomatoes or droopy basil or supermarket cheese.

Top with home made vinaigrette or just use some of Marie’s Original Salad Dressing. Serve with a loaf of french bread and a nice chunk of good butter.

Because lunch is light dessert (for once) is acceptable; slice strawberries and toss with chunks of cantaloupe. Serve with a plate of good store bought or homemade Toll House cookies.

Clearly I am on for the next delivery!

Our New Shipment has Arrived!

View the New Arrivals on the Web Site.

Beef Goulash Recipe

Antique Pine Nightstands — A glimpse of the new shipment

For thirty years Keith and I have traveled to Europe to buy container loads of antique–primarily pine–furniture. We started in England, then went to Holland, Denmark and finally Hungary purchasing hundreds of items to sell in our Red Bank, NJ furniture store. At some point we started adding furniture made from old wood, and then new wood, to meet customer demand for specific items. When our factory in England went bust after one recession or another—our Hungarian supplier of antique pine started building for us.

IMG_3730 (1024x955) — At the factory in Hungary

The big news this year is that we are now producing our own line of furniture made with weathered oak to meet the demand for the grey, drift-woody tone that originated in Belgium but has been happily adopted by the savvy American furniture buyer.

grey oak coffee table — Grey oak coffee table

IMG_0531 (1024x879) — 73″ grey oak table

In addition to the oak items we are also introducing a whitewashed pine finish:

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All the new items meant long days of hard work, figuring out what to make and how–but eventually dinner time would roll around. One of our favorite restaurants in Eger is called Feherszarvas Vadasztanya. The food served there is rustic and hardy, and we always make sure to fill up on the Beef Goulash.

Love this menu!
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Beef Goulash

Cut a couple of pounds of well-larded chuck steak into chunks and toss with 2 tablespoons FRESH paprika (not the stuff that has been sitting around for the last couple of years), a tablespoon of flour, a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of caraway seeds–if you have them.

Pour some olive oil in a heavy casserole dish and brown the meat in batches until it’s golden and crusted and set aside.

Scrape the bottom of the pan and add two thinly sliced onions and one green pepper thinly sliced also, and more oil if needed. When the onions are soft remove the peppers and add the leftover flour and spice mixture to the pan and stir.

Add the beef and water to cover, making sure to scrape and mix in all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pot and put in the oven at 350 degrees for two and one half hours. Remove the lid and add the cooked peppers and cook for another half hour until the meat is very tender.

Taste for seasoning. In Hungary, this is served with spaetzle-a soft egg noodle that I don’t have a clue how to make but adore. Being essentially lazy I just ladle the goulash over the regular supermarket variety egg noodles. A dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives is always nice. As is a bottle of Bull’s Blood, or Egri Bikaver, a fabulous red wine blend from Eger.

Egyunk! (Bon appetit in Hungarian)

The Maine Thing

Fish Taco recipe

Part of the reason why we are such happy empty nesters is when we sold our house and moved to an apartment above our store, we also bought a little place on a little lake in Maine, seven hours and 5000 light years away from NJ. There the air is always fresh, albeit slightly redolent of pine needles, and when the sun shines the sky is always a brilliant blue.

Mostly we like to be outside. Hiking, sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, or just sitting on the dock reading a book. But when the weather is not cooperating then we do another favorite thing which is messing about with the house. It’s a former camp, which to the uninitiated means a no-frills hut for hunters and fishermen, but fortunately, over the years, it has acquired what I consider to be the essential amenities of a home: indoor plumbing, electricity, heat and hot water.

However, our most favorite thing of all, and perhaps the one thing you can do in Maine at any time of the year–in any kind of weather–and that is eat, dine, nosh, you name it, we do it! In fact we time our journeys so that after a quick six am-ish pitstop for a bagel and a cup of joe to go from The Coffee Corral in Red Bank, we are in Maine just in time for lunch at Day’s Crabmeat and Lobster Pound and Take Out, a type of restaurant we don’t have in our neck of New Jersey any more.

It’s the kind of place where you order at the window, then wait for your number to be called, and in just ten minutes or so you have the freshest fried haddock sandwich or crab or lobster roll you’ve ever eaten in your life. Seating is out back at picnic tables, each with its own million dollar view. Trust me, you will never wait in line at Red’s Eats again.

After Day’s it is just a hop, skip and a jump to our Maine cottage. But first we stop at the Fisherman’s Catch and Seafood Market in Damariscotta and pick up some crabmeat and fresh fish fillets. (The lobster comes later in the week!)

(I swear this guy in line ahead of me was Al Pacino but I was too afraid to ask!)

In the summer, especially when the weather is delightful, time becomes of the essence so we rush to get the boats in the water and have a quick sail, or kayak or fiddle with the latest toy, the paddle board, because before you know it–it’s dinner time. And that often means fish tacos.

Fish Tacos

I’ve been a fan of fish tacos ever since our friend, Doug Douty, of Lusty Lobster in Highlands, NJ fame discovered them on a fishing trip to Mexico. He came back raving about how great these tacos were and even better, really easy to make: just flour tortillas, the freshest of fish and a crunch of slaw tossed down with a cold one. He had me by the time he got to the slaw–never even mind the beer.

Since then I’ve made them fried, and broiled and baked in the oven, breaded, blackened, sauced and unsauced and finally I decided my favorite way to make fish tacos is the easiest.

First, to make cleanup a breeze, use one of those disposable aluminum pans you can buy at the grocery store. Melt a little butter and lightly coat whatever boneless fish fillet you like–trust me you can use anything–even bluefish, and put it in the pan. Spice the fillets up with whatever is on hand: some chili powder, paprika, some crushed red pepper, a little salt or Old Bay and let it hang in the fridge for a while.

Then make the slaw—once again I’ve made a hundred different versions and find the simplest tastes just as good as more complicated recipes with a ton of steps and ingredients. Just grate or finely slice up some red cabbage. It has to be red cabbage; green does not work. Add some sliced, chopped or grated red onion, and if you like, a carrot and/or some chopped up hot peppers can go into the mix too. Then toss with a slurry you’ve made of about 1/3 rice wine vinegar to 2/3 mayonnaise and a pinch of sugar. Put in the fridge and get yourself a glass of wine or a beer.

All that’s left to do is cook the fish and that just means you get someone else to put the pan on a hot grill until done—usually, it takes about ten minutes. Place your flour tortillas in foil on the unheated part of the grill so they warm up as the fish cooks. (The fish can also be cooked in the oven at 425 degrees for about the same amount of time as on the grill.) The fish is done when it flakes.

The fish goes on the hot tortilla, top with the slaw, and serve with a wedge of lime. If you want to get fancy put half an avocado on a hunk of lettuce to fill up the plate, grab another beer or glass of white wine and enjoy.

Our Empty Nest

I could never understand when my customers would downsize; who would give up five bedrooms and a couple of acres for a patch of grass and neighbors literally on top of them? But then it happened to us. Not overnight, but gradually. First one kid, then the other went to college. Then one went to grad school; the other got a job–in Houston. Even when the first got a job in NYC, she never came home that much. Meanwhile the dogs died but the lawn, the taxes, and the upkeep on the house kept growing, and growing.

After the hurricane, when our waterfront home was one of the few on our street that did not flood, we sold our house to a neighbor with small children and a boat and a hankering for the life that only those who live on the water share. It was time for us to move on.

So we moved to Red Bank and a 2000 square foot apartment with, for the first time in our lives, new everything–plumbing, electric, appliances and bathrooms…because when we renovated British Cottage in 2005 we added an apartment above the store. Part of the structure dates back to the late 1800’s so we removed the old ceilings and exposed the beams so the great room has a vaulted ceiling and we took down all the walls so that the kitchen, dining and living area are all one great room. At the same time we added a large master bedroom and bath, guest room and bath/laundry room.

The biggest challenge to moving was culling our furniture collection. Part of the fun of having a five bedroom home, at least for us, was in the furnishings. When we first moved to the apartment our daughter said we looked like we were hoarders but gradually we have pared and re-pared and I think, while certainly not minimalist, we are adequately furnished.

The test was this weekend when for Father’s Day our son and his two and a half and five year old sons came to visit for five days…would our empty nest be a welcoming abode or a nightmare for the young ‘uns to navigate?

Fortunately it turned out to be the latter. With two couches and two armchairs centered around an enormous “Bricklayer’s Coffee Table” (for those of you not in the know this was invented by the guys whose innovative furniture designs helped take Restoration Hardware from a frumpy collection of brownwood furniture to the height of chic over the last decade), there was plenty of space fire trucks and cars around the perimeter of the room. Because the coffee table was made from already scarred planks of vintage wood, there was no danger of damage from the boys running vehicles and occasionally each other over the surface.

Same with the couches, both are vintage and then some. One is a Gustavian settee we bought when we used to shop for antiques at Green Square in Denmark. That is upholstered in a sturdy white canvas material. The other, an ancient Chippendale style sofa we picked up at a second-hand store twenty five years ago, is on its third re-upholstery, this time in a dark denim cotton blend that is virtually indestructible.

We are fans of the unfitted kitchen; especially when the kitchen is open to the rest of the living space. There are only lower cabinets and we had them made at the factory in Hungary that builds all of our custom furniture, in the same style as our British Cottage hutches. In the center we designed an island that proved the perfect spot for our young guests to dine.

Besides the open plan, what makes this apartment so appealing is 9′ ceilings in the new part that give an airy quality to the entire space. Even though our bedroom is a good size, with ample space for our British Cottage kingsize bed, it just feels spacious, which I think is important when there are two sharing one room.

There is even room for a sitting area in an alcove overlooking Chestnut Street; so while not a waterview there is always something to see when looking out the bay windows.

Maybe my favorite room is the master bath. Not the least bit opulent by today’s standards, just a simple, tranquil, open space. Designed for us by the Hutchinson’s of Matawan Kitchen & Bath, with a soaking tub and an enclosed shower, plain white subway tile and the same hardwood oak floor we used throughout the house. We made the vanity by sinking two overmount sinks into a British Cottage cabinet base, then added an antique armoire for towels.

Even though we probably have more stuff than the average bear; it all seems to work out. Nothing too precious, or if it is then it was up high beyond the reach of little hands, and a great time was had by all. Same time next year?