Author Archives: HomeandTable

Rules to Host By

ENTERTAINING

Somewhere along the way, the dinner party got away from us. Time’s come to reel it back in and appreciate it for what it is: a safe harbor in a chaotic world.

No one remembers the table setting—or the food, for that matter—after a couple of cocktails.

 

The dinner party is a deceptively simple affair: friends, drinks, dinner and dessert. Really, that’s all there is to it. Yet, we consistently overthink it, ruining our evening and, usually, our guests’. Why? Because deep down, we want to impress our friends, even the lifelong ones who love us unconditionally. Sometime during the course of the planning, we lose our bearings and start to think that they’re expecting signature cocktails and elaborate, exotic meals. The reality is, they just want to spend a few hours together. We’re all so busy anymore; simply sharing time has become the most intimate affirmation of a friendship.

That said, don’t throw a few almond butter-and-pomegranate jam sandwiches on a platter and call it a night. This isn’t lunch, and we’re not six. To help us strike a balance between afterthought and overkill, we tapped our friend Jack Staub, who, as a founder of the Hortulus Farm Foundation and a friend to many, has hosted more parties at his Wrightstown estate than he could ever hope to remember. Here, his four rules for pulling off the perfect dinner party.

It’s not about the food
It’s about the ease with which you greet and eat. Buy some steamed lobsters, toss together a salad from the garden and throw in a loaf of garlic bread. I’ve even picked up a bake-at-home thin-crust pizza with some seasonal toppings on a few occasions. Finish up with a bowl of fresh cherries or peaches and an excellent cheese or a store-bought pie and ice cream. The point is: Keep it fresh, delicious and, above all, simple so that you (and your guests) can concentrate on having a good time.

Have it all done beforehand
No one wants to see you stressing in the kitchen. This time of year especially, room-temperature meals are your savior. Roast a pork loin. Poach some salmon filets or chicken breasts. Or grill a steak. Serve the pork with a mango salsa and the chicken, salmon and steak with a homemade green sauce. Roast some asparagus. Make a potato, pasta or tabbouleh salad. Set them out on a buffet and cover with plastic wrap. Relax, unwrap and enjoy.

Know what your friends drink
I’m a huge champion of the full bar. Enough of this, “May I pour you a glass of a very insouciant chardonnay?” stuff. Certainly, have a serviceable white, red and even a rosé on hand, as well as some beer. But don’t neglect the five basic liquor groups: vodka, gin, scotch, bourbon and rum. Make sure you’re stocked up on tonic, seltzer and cranberry and orange juice, too. And lemons and limes. Or, did someone say margarita night?

Spread the love
Yes, people need to eat. But in this chaotic, nonsensical world, what people need most is to connect with something comforting and sustaining. Laugh a lot. Hug as much as you can. The most important thing is to gather your friends about you and give them a space and few moments of genuine calm, security and affection. The miracle is that those are the very things that will sustain you, too.

My Essentials

TRENDING

What ESTATE Boutique owner Brittany McGinley will be wearing this fall.
Photography by Matthew J. Rhein

 

As a mother of twin two-year-old boys and the owner of an even younger clothing shop, Brittany McGinley lives by a code: efficiency. She even has a formula for her wardrobe: one part seasonal stuff + one part staples + one part statement pieces. The seasonal component keeps her on point with the trends. The statement component’s treated as an accent, which limits wear and tear on the clothing (and her wallet). And the staples act as the canvas for it all.

Aide from being pragmatic, McGinley also knows her textiles and tailoring. She opened ESTATE Boutique in January in the same Doylestown building where she worked as a teenager at Sew Smart Fabrics, becoming deeply familiar with the minutiae of fashion design. Her inventory reflects an insider’s knowledge of craftsmanship, veering between the icons—Helmut Lang, Diane von Furstenberg, J. Lindeberg—and the emerging talent—Ulla Johnson, Smythe, Spr Wmn, IRO. It’s a rare cross-section. But, then, one-stop shopping is the only kind that works for McGinley.

Here, she shares her fall essentials—because she already had them figured out in July.

Jewelry by kismet by milka + Ilsa Loves Rick Like a lot of women, I love to layer my jewelry, like, say, a higher-end necklace from kismet by milka with another by the small-batch, Bucks-based collection Ilsa Loves Rick.

Jewelry by kismet by milka + Ilsa
Loves Rick
Like a lot of women, I love to layer my jewelry, like, say, a higher-end necklace from kismet by milka with another by the small-batch, Bucks-based collection Ilsa Loves Rick.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer and Foundation
My ultimate drugstore makeup finds. Built-in
applicators plus sunscreen (with the foundation) for under 20 bucks.

The Crossings 2014 Sauvignon Blanc
I’m actually a New Zealand citizen. My dad’s a Kiwi. We spent three weeks touring the country by RV a few years ago, and The Crossings was one of my favorite vineyards we hit along the way.

botkier Crossbody + Torregrossa Ridge bags
For everyday use, the smaller Torregrossa bag is my go-to. When I need to be more pulled together, I coordinate the larger botkier bag with my outfit and use the Ridge as my wallet. Both are cross-body bags, which is critical when you’re constantly juggling two-year-olds.

Milly Italian Cady Trapunto Tie-Waist Trousers
The high-waist silhouette is going to explode this fall, which is great news because it’s not only flattering, it’s also a very comfortable fit.

 

Seda France Candles (Malaysian Bamboo and Japanese Quince)
+ Satya Sai Baba Incense (Nag Champa)
I need to be surrounded by candles or incense. Seda France candles burn for days on end.

 

 

Burning Torch Flight Jacket
I love anything that’s beautiful and functional, and this reversible jacket is that. The outer shell features this Japanese-inspired embroidery, while the inner shell’s clean olive satin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clothing and accessories featured here are available at ESTATE Boutique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond Burgers

LOCALLY SOURCED

Pick up your lagging grill game with these under-appreciated cuts.

The bacon-looking cuts, pictured alongside the pork shoulder, are the kalbi.

 

We’re all well aware of how long your burger recipe was under development before you finally branded it your own. And, yes, your chicken breasts are impressively moist, the cross-hatching on your T-bones, a masterful display. But it’s all starting to feel a bit stale. When you grill almost year-round and your wheelhouse consists of a few different things, it’s inevitable. Longevity comes from being bold enough to constantly reinvent yourself. Now’s not the time to hide behind a little bit of success. Or your smoking grill. (We can still see you.)

To spare you from the need to humble yourself, we asked Damon Menapace to show us the way through the dog days ahead. Damon’s the executive chef at Kensington Quarters, the Frankford Avenue restaurant that’s developed a stout reputation for knowing how to handle meat. Case in point, KQ has its own butcher shop, which Damon also took on earlier this summer.

Here, he offers up a few under-appreciated cuts that cook up especially well on the grill. (All, BTW, are available at the KQ butcher shop.)

Kalbi Short Ribs
Also known as galbi, these Korean barbeque-style steaks are cut thinly across the bone, so they’ll grill up fast. “Nobody wants to braise a big, square-cut short rib in the summer,” Damon says. Marinate them beforehand. They’ll come out tender, juicy and concentrated with flavor.

Country-style Pork Ribs
The name is misleading. These aren’t actually ribs. They’re bone-in slices of pork shoulder that are cut to resemble the barbeque favorite. They cook similarly, too. Think of them as a cross between pulled pork and ribs. Damon says, “Cook ‘em low and slow and with plenty of smoke.”

Chuck Eye Steak
“The poor man’s rib eye,” as he calls it, is taken from farther up the shoulder. “Most people hear the word ‘chuck’ and think it’ll be tough,” Damon says, “but this lovely little steak is tender, fatty and super-rich.”

Lamb Shoulder Chops
Sliced with a band saw across the bone, these inch-thick chops are an affordable alternative to the more widely-known lollipops, and they’re packed with way more meat and flavor. “Throw them on the grill with a little baste,” Menapace advises. “They can be chewy, but it’s fun to get messy ripping into them. This is summertime grilling, after all.”  —Mike Madaio

Photo by Matthew J. Rhein

5 Habits of a Highly Effective Wife-Mother-Entrepreneur-Do-Gooder

ORGANIZED HOME

She’s way too modest to say so herself, but there isn’t anything our resident organizer, Laurie Palau, can’t do. While the rest of us here only ever seem to add to our to-do lists and plead for extensions, Laurie’s turning her columns in a month ahead of deadline. (That’s no exaggeration.) Tired of looking so pathetic by comparison, we finally asked how she does it. This is her reply.

By Laurie Palau

 

I get it. Trust me. Between two busy teens and a pair of working parents, our front door is a revolving door. It occurred to me long before we ever reached this point that if I didn’t structure my life around some hard habits, my life was going to jump the rails, and fast. This is what I came up with. I’m proud to say I’ve remained true to them, and, in turn, they’ve never done me wrong.

 

  1. Meditate

Regardless of what time it means I have to get up, I always set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier than I need to be up. That half-hour is mine, and mine alone. The house is quiet, the coffee is hot. Amid that peace, I do the following: I review my tasks for the day, which keeps me from feeling frazzled later on; I read a daily devotional, which motivates me and reminds me of the bigger picture; and I peruse social media, which reminds me of the smaller picture. If I don’t have another moment to myself for the rest of the day, I’m OK with it, because I have my half-hour to look forward to tomorrow.

 

  1. Volunteer

Truth be told, I’m overextended a lot of the time. But I never regret volunteering. It fills me with a satisfaction and gratefulness unlike anything else I do. Find a cause that means something to you, and offer your help. It doesn’t need to be an all-consuming commitment to count. If you’ve only got a couple of hours a month, that’s not nothing. And you’ll be shocked to see how totally disproportionate your impact is.

 

  1. Delegate

Since they were old enough to understand the words that were coming out of my mouth, I’ve tried to instill in our kids that our family is a team; we’re only viable if everyone contributes. Me shouldering the bulk of the load—cooking, laundering, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning, walking the dogs—is not sustainable. Plus, I’m pretty sure they’d never move out if I did. Assign a few small, age-appropriate chores and build from there. They won’t be done to your specs, but you’ll be a happier person for it.

 

  1. Divide and Conquer

There’s very little that’s more defeating than confronting a run-on to-do list first thing in the morning. Where to begin? Why begin at all? My way around that is crafting multiple (short) to-do lists on Wunderlist. I have one for work, another for family and a third for volunteering. Each day, I pick three to five things that I want to accomplish—in total, not from each list. Having three lists going at once helps me prioritize and feel like I’m actually getting things done—because I am.

 

  1. Unplug

The same way I dedicate a half-hour every morning to easing into my day, I shutdown all of my devices a half-hour before I go to bed. Maybe not every device. I still watch TV. The idea is to disengage and start separating myself from the day. If I put my iPad down and tried to fall asleep right away, it’s not going to happen. Even if I was scrolling through something totally unrelated, my mind’s going to want to rehash the day or start prepping for tomorrow. By contrast, once I get comfortable, it sets off a gradual chain reaction in me. Next stop: Sleepy Town.

 

Despite whatever they’re going to say about me, I’m no Wonder Woman. I’m not immune to stress. I get overwhelmed. I lose my patience. There are too many days when I don’t get everything done that I need to. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to give in to any of that. I’ve learned to cope with it. Tomorrow, I’ll savor my coffee and take another run at the world.

 

Laurie Palau is the owner of the New Hope-based simply B organized, a home and life organization service.

Weeds of Change

DIY

At the forefront of the wild food movement, lawyer turned forager Tama Matsuoka Wong is turning weeds into a thriving business and a way of life.

By Jessica Downey • Photography by Josh DeHonney

 

Tama Matsuoka Wong was an international financial services lawyer for decades, working in major urban centers like New York City and Hong Kong for 25 years, but when she and her husband Wil decided to move to New Jersey in 2002, near where she grew up in Princeton, Wong was prepared for her life to change course. She wanted lots of land and big sky, so they bought a house on 28 acres in Flemington.

 

With all that open space, for first time in her adult life, Wong tried to grow a vegetable garden. What she got instead was a tangle of uninvited weeds and roots, which ended up being her ultimate good fortune. “Friends tried to show us how to grow tomatoes and vegetables, and everything died. I had a black thumb. We eventually found out we lived on a clay flood plain and all we could grow was weeds,” Wong says. “I tried to get rid of them, but I found that it was a losing battle.”

 

When she enlisted her Japanese father for help removing the weeds, she was surprised at his reaction—he couldn’t believe her luck. One of the weeds she wanted removed was chickweed, one of Japan’s “seven treasures,” known as hakobera, which can be delicious when prepared properly. Wong started scouring the Web and bookstores for recipes, but most books and blogs she found suggested boiling them three times to get out the bitterness, so she went in search of a more refined understanding.

 

One night, in 2009, she brought some of her chickweed and other “twigs” with her to Daniel, the four-star Michelin-rated restaurant in New York City known for its inventive vegetarian cuisine. The head chef, Eddy Leroux, was delighted by her offerings and asked her to return with more, as well as roots and any other wild plants she found on her land.

 

These weeds were valuable, she soon learned, a discovery that coincided with the early days of the foraging movement, which was quickly gaining speed and momentum. These kinds of ingredients were gaining prominence on the menus of fine dining restaurants from New York to Copenhagen, and her 28 acres of twigs, roots and leaves provided her with an opportunity to be on the forefront. Later in 2009, Wong started her own company, Meadows and More, with the primary goal of helping people turn their yards into more natural landscapes.

 

While the concept of foraging brings to mind images of scavengers or anthropological ancestors scouring the earth for food, a more culinary interpretation has led to a movement described by the iconic chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud as “harvesting the wild, ephemeral and rare flavors found in nature.” The movement has blossomed around the idea that we’ve been selecting plants for many generations that are increasingly high in sugar and starch and consistently lower in vitamins, fiber and minerals. Wild foods, foragers contend, are more nutritious and easy enough to find when you know what to look for.

 

A quick Google search will turn up plenty of resources and food blogs with ideas on cooking with foraged and wild foods, but when Wong made her discovery in 2009, books and sites to turn to for inspiration and advice were sparse.

 

“Publishers were looking for an American book,” Wong says. She obliged by writing a field guide/cookbook with Daniel’s Leroux called Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer’s Market, which was published in 2012.

 

The book garnered plenty of attention and was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2013, which, of course, was a boost for her budding business. Today, she grows and cultivates weeds and wild plants on her land and land she leases from local farmers. Then she partners with restaurateurs and chefs, including Brick Farm Tavern partner/executive chef Greg Vassos, supplying them with the likes of garlic mustard and nettles and helping them develop flavor profiles for each plant.

 

It takes consistent trial and error to figure out what will grow, sell and taste good, but Wong says the experimental nature of her work is a thrill. “For every failure there’s this new and good thing happening,” Wong says. “I have relationships with conservation groups where I take things they don’t want, and I work with organic farmers. And it’s completely invigorating.”

 

[divider]Walk on the Wild Side— But Watch Where You Step[/divider]

If eating your weeds is more tempting than constantly battling them in your garden,  Wong offers some advice on how to start foraging. —JD

 

Look down. If you have a backyard or a vegetable garden, instead of throwing out something you don’t recognize or didn’t plant, take a closer look and try to appreciate it. I have a forum on my Web site (meadowsandmore.com) that lets you upload a picture, and we’ll identify it for you.

 

Start small. Try something you’re already familiar with, like a dandelion, and be patient.  Find out when its tenderness and sweetness peak. (Those initial leaves can be bitter and harsh.)

 

Get to know it. Engage with the plant and get to know it—it’s behavior and what you can do with it.

 

Don’t rule anything out. I came across some hickory bark. It looked like a house shingle, and I was like, Oh, great, bark. But to my surprise, my client came back and said it was amazing. He used it in shag bark/hickory bark ice cream, which tasted like smoky caramel.

The Making of a Pitmaster

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

Drew Abruzzese is a relentless chef. So when a smoker landed in his lap, he, naturally, dove down the rabbit hole.

By Mike Madaio

 

“I can’t sit still,” Drew Abruzzese says. “I’m always looking for my next big thing.”

Abruzzese is the executive chef at The Pineville Tavern, which is owned by his family. It’s a position he’s held since 2010 at a restaurant he’s helped out at in one way or another since he was a kid. So that hyperactivity may be rooted in a restlessness. But Abruzzese is also someone who’s keenly conscious of his evolution as a chef, perhaps because he realized early on that if he didn’t challenge himself, no one was likely to.

So when his mother-in-law gifted him a home charcoal smoker, it was an impetus. The kindling was already arranged. “Salty, crispy, crusty meats are maybe my favorite thing on the planet—besides my wife, of course,” he says. Overnight, he became consumed with barbequing. Soon after, he and a friend went in together on a 55-gallon drum smoker. Abruzzese christened it with a dozen chickens.

He spent the ensuing summer studying the nuances imparted by slight adjustments in temperature and different kinds of smoke, consuming book after book, experimenting as he went along. All the while, it was purely about mastery—until it became evident that it wasn’t.

“When we pulled that smoker open and met this amazing meat, that was the beginning of Big Q BBQ right there,” Abruzzese says. “That was when we said, we can do something with this.”

Big Q BBQ is the fast-casual restaurant Abruzzese opened last summer in Levittown. Earlier this summer, he opened a takeout-only offshoot at the tavern. But before it was either of those things, it was a massive smoker (his second upgrade) that Abruzzese carted between the tavern, where he served barbeque on the patio during the weekends, and the Wrightstown Farmers Market down the road on Saturday mornings. The latter became a testament to his latest progression. He arrived confident in his barbeque, dying to share it. But who wants to eat barbeque at 9 a.m.? Abruzzese adapted, quickly and creatively.

“I started putting pulled pork on an egg-and-cheese,” he says. “Which turned into brisket, egg and cheese and, eventually, The Ultimate: pulled pork, brisket, bacon and cheese.”

Once word of mouth started to catch on, he was making 50, 60 Ultimates on a given Saturday morning.

In spite of his rapid spiral down the rabbit hole, Abruzzese seems to have emerged with an appreciation for barbeque’s simplicity.

“It’s easy to get nerdy about it, but you shouldn’t overcomplicate it,” he says.

Then you won’t mind sharing how you go about making yours?

“It’s hard to explain, other than to say, well, it’s proprietary.”

The Big Q BBQ site, at least, dissects the process, but only in broad strokes: “traditional, time-honored methods,” “dry-rubbing our meat cuts,” “our secret blend of awesome seasonings and spices,” “slow-smoke it in our authentic, custom-designed smoker,” “our own blend of aged and seasoned hardwoods,” “smooth, slightly tangy smoke,” “literally hours and hours for the smoke to cook, tenderize and flavorize the meat.”

“You can use the same rub, smoke over the same wood for the same time and yours isn’t going to taste like mine,” Abruzzese says. “That doesn’t mean mine is better or yours is better, just that every single one is different. It’s important to do your own thing.”

Read: He spent more nights than he cares to remember breathing in thick smoke, learning and then perfecting the oldest—and maybe most elusive—culinary technique there is, cooking meat over coals. So, yeah, we’re on our own.

Abruzzese’s eyeing up additional Big Q BBQ locations—with one eye, at least. The other, true to his nature, is scoping out a potential new frontier.

“There just happens to be an H Mart across the street from the restaurant,” he says, “so now I’m all over Vietnamese cooking and Korean barbeque.”

 

And Now for Something More Decadent

PROFILE

Our favorite food photographer is about to expose a deeper, darker side.

Pictured: “Farmer’s Table, Still Life,” 2014, photograph, Yelena Strokin.

 

She begins with a single object. It could be anything. Or nothing. Sometimes, it’s the perspective alone that starts stirring her thoughts. And once they’re set in motion, they’ll consume her for weeks on end. Gradually, she’ll begin to piece together a composition. Only when she knows it inside and out does she retreat to her studio. There, the process accelerates, but it’s still methodical, even though the light is fleeting. Shoot. Shift incrementally. Shoot again. And so on.

You know Yelena Strokin as the stylist, photographer and recipe author behind our Home Cooking column, the woman capable of making you crave just about anything at the mere turn of a page. But there’s a greater depth to Yelena and her photography that few beyond her own family are privy to. That’ll change next month when she’ll debut a collection of still-life photographs in the A-Space Gallery at the New Hope Arts Center. It’s Yelena’s first solo show, but not her first exhibit. In 2014, she was awarded Best of Show at the 22d annual Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibit, an affirmation for the self-taught photographer, but hardly a coming-out party.

Yelena took up photography when she started traveling—Nepal, India, Southeast Asia. But fine art has had a strong grip on her since she was a little girl in St. Petersburg, Russia. Its influence is clear in her coming exhibition (which she titled “A Glimpse Through the Flemish Window” as a nod to the roots of still-life painting). But over the course of the four years Yelena spent shooting the collection, it’s just as evident in those 30 or so images that she matured from awe-inspired student to an artist of her own right. —Scott Edwards

“A Glimpse Through the Flemish Window,” September 2 (opening reception: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) through Sept. 29, the A-Space Gallery at the New Hope Arts Center.

Our Favorite Day-Drinking Spots

DRINK

Because the summer’s too fleeting to squander on work and socially acceptable drinking hours.

By Mike Madaio

Happy hour, pre-dinner apéritifs, post-dinner digestifs, a marathon pub crawl that lasts until last call (and then some). We don’t refer to any of those experiences as night drinking. Yet, we feel pressed to qualify any imbibing done before 5 p.m. (even though it’s always five o’clock somewhere) as day drinking, such is the stigma that stems from the “Mad Men” era, when the men drank themselves under the lunch table and the women, under the coffee table, neither supposedly the wiser. Clearly, we’re a much more restrained culture now.

Day drinking these days is more about taking advantage—of a rare couple of quiet hours among old friends, of a gentle breeze on a July afternoon, of a setting that’s far too cool for our likes come nightfall—than blacking out. (Though blacking out’s still on the table. We’re not Mormons.)

Summer itself is practically an open invitation to ditch the to-do list (and the kids) and rustle up a spur-of-the-moment BYO gathering by the pool, at the park or the beach. But there’s also something about sliding into a dimly lit booth on an ideal afternoon that feels deliciously rebellious. Neither way’s wrong. There are, after all, no rules for day drinking. Other than postpone the errands for another day altogether, not simply until later in the afternoon. That’s a viral video waiting to happen.

On that note, allow us to introduce you to a few of our favorite day-drinking spots.

Paramour (at the Wayne Hotel) | Wayne
When the sun’s shining bright and the humidity’s lightened up, the sidewalk seats along North Wayne Avenue are highly coveted, naturally. But the savviest among us know to seek out the 110-year-old Tudor Revival veranda, complete with ceiling fans and ample views of the surrounding gardens. Either way, order the Parisian Spritz, a light, bright sparkling wine cocktail spiked with a dollop of peach puree.

World of Beer | Exton
The franchise is comprised of 75 locations spread across 21 states, yet this one, which opened in May, is Pennsylvania’s first and only (because control states rarely get to have nice things). A thousand-square-foot patio holds more than enough table seating, as well as several outdoor sofas and a cornhole court. It’s what your backyard would look like if you had room for a thousand-square-foot deck, 60 rotating taps and a 600-bottle menu.

Martine’s RiverHouse | New Hope
People watching can be overstimulating. And sometimes—most of the time—the whole point of day drinking is to step out of your routine and dive headfirst into your company. On such occasions, there is no more tranquil setting (with a well-stocked bar and a well-versed bartender at your disposal) than the riverside deck at Martine’s. Main Street bustles on the other side of the restaurant, but it may as well be miles away.

Pag’s Wine Bar | Doylestown
Stuck home when, really, you should be using your vacation days more wisely? Head to Paganini. Between the deep (and reasonably priced) wine cellar, the small-plates menu and the just-out-of-the-way location, it’s an honest facsimile of a European square experience. Sip, nosh, repeat. No hurry.

Mas Mexicali Cantina | West Chester
If there was an official drink for day drinking, it’d have to be the margarita. Mas Mexicali obliges with 11 varieties. Paired with the rooftop deck, there may be no better place around here to watch a hazy sun set with a drink in hand (and a taco in the other).

Va La Vineyards | Avondale
Sidle up to the bar to try one (or four) of Anthony Vietri’s authentic, Italian-style field blends, each paired with a locally made artisanal cheese. From there, grab a bottle of your favorite and head for the deck out back, where it feels more like Tuscany than Chester County.

Tired Hands Fermentaria | Ardmore
The large picture windows (ideal people for watching), tall ceiling and the skylights make for one airy space. But unlike the saturated suckers walking by on the other side of those windows, you’re savoring your house-brewed session beer (a beer made for day drinking) and whiskey dills at a lovely 70 degrees with no hint of humidity.

X Marks the Spot
Legally, we can’t advise you to head for your secret-but-public spot with a bottle or a sixer in tow, but they’re the places that spring to mind first when you hear “day drinking,” are they not? No table, no chairs. Maybe a blanket. Definitely a spectacular view. We won’t tell if you won’t.

Forget What You Think You Know About Art

ACCESSORIES

You love art, but it never seems to love you back. That’s just pretentious gallery owners talking. We found a more considerate one who’s going to show you how to start that collection you always wanted.
By Christine Olley • Portrait by Jennie Finken

The key to forming your collection, Van Haute says, is confidence.

 

Ward Van Haute’s Bethlehem House Contemporary Art Gallery isn’t your typical art gallery. Gone is the sterilized setting—the stark-white walls, the evenly spaced installations—replaced by a space that more closely resembles your home. Or rather, what you’d probably like your home to look like.

Before he opened the gallery a couple years back, Van Haute split his time between Philadelphia and New York, working as an art director and a set decorator for commercials, music videos, films and plays. He seems to approach his gallery in much the same way he did those projects. Set the stage, and our imaginations will take over from there.

The intimidation factor with art can be high. (As can the pretension factor.) It’s not cheap. And compounding the insecurity that’s coupled with that kind of purchase, we’re supposed to view art as an investment. When you’re not sure if the price is fair now, how are you supposed to know if it’ll appreciate? Lost in that conversation is art’s most basic function, which is that it’s supposed to speak to us. Above all, theoretically, it should mean something to you.

Van Haute’s found a way to restore that part to its proper prominence in the thought process of aspiring collectors. He’s filled his gallery with work by emerging, regional artists and furniture by local designers. Seeing everything fit together, it becomes a little easier to be inspired and then imagine incorporating some of those pieces into your own home. Without even realizing it, you’re relating to the art in a personal way, void of financial and perceptual concerns.

It’s a cool trick. We’re sold. Now what?

Start scouting local, working artists. That’s where you’ll find the greatest value, Van Haute says. Beyond galleries like his, seek out art centers and artist cooperatives. If you find yourself gravitating toward one artist or another, but his original work’s still a little steep, contact the artist—almost everyone has a site these days—and ask if he’s done any limited-edition prints.

“Many artists offer prints that are much less than the cost of the original and still hold a collectible value,” Van Haute says.

Still more than you’re willing to spend? (Remember, a collection’s going to take time. You’re not going to fill your house, or even a room, overnight.) Buy some art supplies and take a run at it yourself, Van Haute suggests. Best-case scenario: You discover a hidden talent.

Worst-case: You’re out a hundred bucks, and you’ve learned to be more patient.

Whether you’re buying it or making it, “Just let your own preferences and tastes come out, and be confident enough to stand by them,” Van Haute says. Read: Don’t think of the art as an investment. The stronger the bond, the less likely you’ll be to let go of it anyway.

Let’s assume you’ve found something to your liking. A couple somethings, actually. Connecting with it in a gallery space and displaying it at home are two different animals. For starters, don’t try to mimic the gallery. You’re always going to come up short. Look for the place you want to install it, not necessarily where you think you need to install it.

“Try to create a sense of harmony and balance rather than symmetry and color matching,” Van Haute says.

Part of that implies a place where it’ll be accessible and, in turn, easier to appreciate. If you, say, hang a painting over the dining-room sideboard, you’re always going to find yourself at arm’s length. Hang it, instead, in the living room, unobstructed. If it feels in the way, it wasn’t meant to be. No one’s saying it needs to stay there. Van Haute mixes up his arrangement constantly. You’ll be surprised how much a small, occasional shift can refresh your perspective. Getting back to the importance of identifying with your art, like any relationship, it’s always evolving.

Put It On a Stick and Lick It

HOME COOKING

In this humidity, everything tastes better in popsicle-form. Start with these foolproof combos, then go crazy.

 

One afternoon, when I was a boy, my neighbor walked over to the corner of her yard where I was digging with her son and held out a funny-looking ice tray. She was a short and squat French woman who I’d become used to offering me foods I didn’t eat at home. This time, it was a popsicle. Made from orange juice. Blew my mind. I must’ve slurped down three or four of them. Naturally, I went home and emptied a carton of OJ into a couple of ice trays—they were all we had. Orange juice ice cubes are nothing like orange juice popsicles. It was an important day in my maturation. —Scott Edwards

Recipes and photography by Yelena Strokin

Currant Popsicles
(Pictured, top) Serves six.
2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt
2 cups red or black currants
(or a combination of both)
2 tsps. honey or agave
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Strawberry Smoothie Popsicles
Serves six.
1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 tsps. honey or agave
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Mango Popsicles
Serves six.
½ cup heavy cream
3 mangos
1 tsp. honey
Juice from half a lime

The directions are the same for all three popsicles: Add everything to a blender, then puree the mixture until it achieves a smooth consistency. Pour it into a popsicle tray, plant a popsicle stick in each mold and freeze for at least four hours.

Mango-Strawberry Popsicles
(Pictured, right) Serves six.
1 mango
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 tsps. honey
Juice from one orange
Juice from one grapefruit

Add the mango, orange juice and 1 tsp. of honey to a blender and puree the mixture until it achieves a smooth consistency. Then, spoon it into a popsicle tray, filling each mold halfway.
Puree the strawberries, grapefruit juice and 1 tsp. of honey next, and top off the molds. Plant a popsicle stick in each, then freeze for at least four hours.

Yelena Strokin is a Newtown-based food stylist and photographer and the founder of the blog Cooking Melangery.com.

 

[divider]What I’m Drinking Right Now[/divider]

Amador Whiskey Co. 10-barrel Straight Hop-Flavored Whiskey
(Limited Release) | $90 (750ml)

I can’t say I’ve ever met a whiskey that I haven’t liked, and I’ve met a lot of whiskeys. But never one like Amador’s 10-Barrel. Hits of citrus, toffee, clove, leather and hoppy spice weave together to create a bottomless complexity. The limited release is 60 percent straight malt whiskey sourced from high-end distillers and 40 percent hop-flavored whiskey distilled from Bear Republic Brewery’s Racer 5 IPA. The beer’s full-bodied flavor contributes a malty hoppy-ness without overwhelming the whiskey’s flavor profile. The components were aged separately for over two years in French oak wine barrels before they were combined and aged for another couple of years in chardonnay barrels. You taste every day of that.
On a lighter note, I’m not big on fruity beers, but Free Will Brewing Company’s Mango Wheat has just enough of a mango overtone to keep it refreshing. It also happens to pair really well with some of my favorite summer foods: ceviche, crab and corn.

ADAM JUNKINS
Partner/Sommelier
Sovana Bistro
(Kennett Square)