Category Archives: friends

Fashion

Posted on by
2

Alabama ChaninI always forget that I know an honest-to-goodness bona fide famous fashion designer. Actually, I know two. These are normal-looking regular people whom you can see any day walking around my small Alabama town, yet they’ve got fashion awards and magazine and newspaper spreads from around the world. And they know the Vogue folks by first names. Cool! I usually just think of these two as extra-nice people who are so sweet to always say “hello,” but when New York’s Fashion Week rolls around, I remember how special they really are.

The first is Natalie Chanin. She’s the owner and designer of Alabama Chanin, a company in Florence, Alabama that creates handmade one-of-a-kind clothing and home decor. Under Natalie’s direction, local artisans — many of them former textile workers who lost their jobs as the mills closed — use recycled and organic as well as new materials to make these breathtakingly whimsical works of fiber art. Natalie has the soul of an artist combined with the practical good sense of a business owner. And she’s not greedy — she shares! She’s written a lovely and inspiring book with instructions for several of her signature projects (“Alabama Stitch Book”) and regularly holds hands-on workshops where she passes on her secrets. She’s a vibrant part of the community and throws an everybody’s-invited picnic and open house every year. Go to her Web site, http://ad.dev.alabamachanin.com, where you can see more photos from her latest collection, learn more of her story and even order your own Alabama Chanin original.

Tomorrow: Who’s the other famous fashion designer living in Florence, Alabama? Come back and find out!

Vegetables

Posted on by
8

Vegetables and dipWho doesn’t know by now that we’re supposed to eat more vegetables? But you can fix steamed broccoli only so many times before your family stages a revolt. At a recent cooking class at the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama — a kitchen incubator for small food businesses that’s part of the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center — we learned some delicious new ways to serve vegetables. My friend Sherry Campbell is the culinary center director and she’s a great cook and teacher. Here are her recipes for Creamy Red Pepper-Basil sauce that’s wonderful as a dip for fresh veggies and easy make-ahead Broccoli with Lemon-Herb Sauce that’s a perfect portable dish. Learn more about the center at http://www.shoalsec.com/facilities/SCC_index.html 

Creamy Red Pepper-Basil Sauce

With the processor running, drop 3 garlic cloves through the food chute and process unti minced. Add 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil and process 5 seconds until chopped. Add 1 12-ounce drained jar roasted red peppers, 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground pepper. Process until smooth. Serve at room temperature. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Broccoli with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Cook 1 1/2 pounds broccoli in 3 cups vegetable broth until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove broccoli with Broccolitongs and chill in ice water. Reserve 1 cup broth and chill. Dry broccoli and chill. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup chopped green onions, 1/3 cup minced shallots and 1 teaspoon sugar. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in reserved broth, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. Simmer until slightly thickened and liquid is reduced to about  1 1/4 cups. Season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature. Put broccoli in serving bowl and spoon sauce over. Spring with 1/4 cup chopped green onion and 1/2 cup diced seeded red bell pepper. Serves 8.

Book Clubs

Posted on by
5

Harry Potter and the Socerer's StoneIn the spirit of trying new things, I’ve joined a book club called “Reliving Harry.” It’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsfor folks who’ve read the Harry Potter books already but want to reread and discuss from a long-range we-know-how-it-ends perspective. What a great idea! We meet every month at the library and already have done the first book. The group mostly is 20- and 30-year-olds who read the books as teenagers and still can’t get enough. There were a couple oldsters like me who first bought the books for their own kids plus a 10-year-old boy who is just beginning the books and already is quite fluent in Hogwarts-speak. As in all book-club discussions, I learn so much from everybody else and enjoy picking up details I completely miss on my own.  I’m constantly amazed at how the Harry Potter series touched so many different people — everybody has their Harry Potter stories. Go to http://en.wikibooks.org and http://www.scholastic.com for discussion questions.

Memorials

Posted on by
5

jims-quilt-0031My friend’s husband, whom the women in our church made this prayer quilt for during his jims-quilt-0032battle with cancer, died this week. He was a good man who made everyone he met feel special. He loved motorcycles, airplanes, his farm and his family and friends and enjoyed so much being around the people he cared about. He should have been given more time to do that. But right now you and I have that time, so to celebrate the memory of his life, please enjoy being with the people you care about today. Give them lots of love and tell them it’s from Jim. He would have gotten a kick out of that.

Valentine’s Day

Posted on by
5

valentines-day-0161It was Valentine’s elegance when my friend Susan hosted valentines-day-018cooking club. She and her daughter-in-law are the most creative people I know. They excel in using simple everyday items in innovative ways. Like these table decorations. Mixed in with the shiny heart garlands are vintage costume jewelry and clear goblets filled with water and topped with upside-down silver Christmas-tree balls for some metallic reflection.They then tied everything together with valentines-day-020red and white linens. And see those white cards on the table? Those were our place cards. Susan had written “What I love about you …” descriptions for each of us. We had to read them all and guess which one went to which person. Fun, fun, fun! Valentine’s touches were valentines-day-025everywhere, like the red ribbon Susan tied around the cake stand to highlight the heart-topped petit fours. Now, I know that up North petit fours are what y’all call those little torte-like cakes, but here in the South (well, at least my part of it), petit fours are tiny two-bite-sized cupcakes with melt-in-your-mouth icing decorated with colors and themes of your choice. The best come from Victorian Tea Room in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. No occasion around here is complete unless there are Victorian Tea Room petit fours. Visit http://www.victoriantearoomcatering.com, tell them Cathy sent you and you valentines-day-030valentines-day-0191might talk them into shipping you some. Susan even gave us extras in the Valentine’s candy boxes she gave us that also has miniature fudgy brownies and heart-shaped mini pink chocolate-chip cookies. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost. She got the boxes at our local big-box arts and crafts store, but almost everything else was what she had on hand. We were all impressed and felt special and pampered. We also immediately assured our newest member most of our cooking-club meetings are not like this. In fact, when it’s at my house everyone’s just happy I remember to vacuum up the cat hair. But we’re glad we’ve got people like Susan to show us how it should be done.

Restaurants in Franklin, Tennessee

Posted on by
6

sol-archwayAs Liz Lemon says, don’t you “want to go there?” This is Sol, a funky and fun sol-waitingrestaurant on Main Street off the square in Franklin, Tennessee. My husband and I wandered in on a recent late-night meander and instantly were captivated. Only the bar was open so we plopped ourselves down and enjoyed exploring the whimsical Mexican menu — and decor. Both are sort of  casual-cool with an eclectic twist. It’s Frida Kahlo meets Iron Chef and obviously a popular gathering spot for the young and hip. We felt right at home (!) and happily devoured some deliciously fresh nachos washed down with cold beer — one of our favorite meals — and vowed to come back when we could work our way through the dinner menu: salmon wrapped in a banana-leaf, fish tacos and a poblano-potato cake especially looked good. We remember this same space when it was an upscale Italian sort of restaurant and marveled at the transition. Downtown Franklin is a happening place, worthy of a visit just to walk and eat and shop. Check out Sol at http://www.solonmain.com/ (that’s where these photos came from — it was way too dark, in a good way, for pics the night we were there) and learn more about Franklin at http://www.visitwilliamson.com/

nashville-jan-2009-038On that same trip to Franklin, we also ate at Basil Asian Bistro, on nashville-jan-2009-034Carothers Parkway across I-65 from Cool Springs Galleria. If Sol is vibrantly energetic, then Basil is calmly zen. It’s white tablecloths and quiet conversation but with the same appreciation for fresh ingredients and authentically prepared food. The extensive menu offered sushi, pad thai, curry and other classics. Luckily, we were with our friends Ted and Elayne, who had picked Basil for our lunch and steered us to their favorite dishes — and they were right.  My husband and I especially loved the inventive sushi, the crisply cooked vegetables and the strong and fragrant hot tea. Good food and good company can’t be beat. We’ll be back. Go to http://www.basilasianbistro.com for details.

Books

Posted on by
4

loving-frank1You must put “Loving Frank,” by Nancy Horan, on your must-read list. It’s the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney and their clandestine and infamous love affair. The pair fell in love after Cheney and her husband commissioned a house from Wright. Both Cheney and Wright left their spouses and children for the other, but Cheney — an intelligent, educated and talented woman — suffered the most. She lost her children, was the subject of scorn and scandal and could barely support herself as a single woman. This is billed as an historic novel, but don’t let that put you off. Usually I’m irritated by authors who try to retell actual facts with their own creative spin, but it works here because of Horan’s extensive research and obsession with the truth. Horan lets Cheney’s voice — one that history and public relations seem to have silenced — come through strongly and authentically. This isn’t what Horan thinks happened, but what, as we come to know Cheney, must surely have happened. It’s a compelling love story, an intriguing look behind the historic facts and a damning treatise on the restrictions and injustices that hampered American women just 100 years ago.

Just a note here: In the interest of honesty, I did read this book. For one of my book-club meetings. Which I missed. Because I thought the meeting was on Tuesday night when it actually was on Wednesday night. But when I showed a night late at the house of my friend who was hosting the meeting, she graciously poured me a glass of wine anyway and we sat and talked about everybody who had been there the night before. In a good way, of course.

Quilts

Posted on by
13

jims-quilt-007There were just two of us for Sunday school so we didn’t have class jims-quilt-003at my little church this past Sunday, but I learned a lesson anyway: (K)not all sermons come from the pulpit. When I got to church on Sunday morning and it became apparent only one other of the usual five or six women in our class was going to show, I contemplated going home for more coffee and Sunday New York Times. But before I could head for the door, our minister asked the two of us (our church is small so there’s no place to hide!) to finish a prayer quilt from the women’s group. The quilt is for a church member who’s fighting cancer, and our minister wanted to bless it at the service and deliver it that afternoon. My brain said, “But I have no crafting skill whatsoever and besides, I want Sunday Styles and another cappuccino,” but my mouth said, “Sure! Of course! Love to!” That happens a lot at church. But I was so glad — this time, at least — that my mouth paid no attention to my brain. Turned out all the quilt needed was tying some knots, and I’m very good at tangling things up. Our church women’s group makes these prayer quilts for people who are sick and in need — when you tie one of knots you say a prayer for the intended recipient, who then gets to wrap up in cozy warmth and love. As we tied and talked, I suddenly sort of time-traveled back to old-fashioned quilting bees, where women gathered to care for each other through fabric and friendship, and I finally understood the timeless power of needle and thread. To make it even better, this quilt was for the husband of a friend of mine. I sat beside her during the church service. When our pastor blessed the quilt and announced it was for her husband, I got to hand her a tissue and give her a hug. Definitely worth the loss of a second cappuccino.

Vegetables and Flowers

Posted on by
12

vegetable-flowers-004This is a flower arrangement to decorate the table at a typical meeting, right? vegetable-flowers-006Nope. Look closer. It’s not made of flowers. It’s made of … vegetables! Yes, these are vegetables and not flowers. The “mums” and greenery are leeks, the “paintbrushes” are green onions, the “roses” are rutabagas and turnips and the splash of organge is from carrots. Emily Kelley, a chef and caterer and educator in Florence, Alabama, has been creating vegetable bouquets like this for years vegetable-flowers-0081and recently showed fellow American Association of University Women members how to do it. She made it look easy, and really it is simple — with patience and the right equipment. For instance, the roses are slices of rutabagas and turnips shaped and toothpicked together — the slices’ natural curves create the flower, but you need a commercial slicer to get the pieces thin and consistent enough. (Emily recommended making friends with someone who has one.) The mums and paintbrushes are the bottoms of leeks and green onions cut along their natural lines. The carrots were the hardest part — she sliced them horizontally and then cut the slices in a way that each one was still intact but had individual slices in it that curved out when she toothpicked the ends together. (I know that doesn’t make sense — sorry!) Emily does all the blossoms first, then puts them into ice water to stiffen. Then, when she puts the arrangement together, she threads a bamboo skewer through the blossoms (hiding the skewers in green-onion greenery) and arranges them with florist tools such as vases, tape and foam to perpetuate the flower illusion. We were all amazed and astounded, and one young woman declared she now wanted these instead of floral decorations for her wedding!

Vegetables

Posted on by
19

brussels-sproutsMy friend Sherry is on a mission to bring Brussels sprouts to the world — or at least to our little corner of Alabama. They are her favorite vegetable and she feels they’re underrated and unappreciated. She’s right. Brussels sprouts probably rank low on most folks’ lists of favorite vegetables. But that’s because, Sherry insists, we haven’t had them done right. I have to admit that when she fixes them, Brussels sprouts are tasty and delicious — sort of crunchy and nutty with a nice fresh flavor. Who knew? I have noticed the mini cabbages showing up as sides on restaurant menus lately, so maybe Sherry’s started a trend. A longtime cook, she’s also the director of the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama, http://www.shoalsec.com/facilities/SCC_index.html, that’s part of the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center that nurtures small businesses. Her cooking classes at the culinary center are fun and informative and filling, because those in the audience get to eat the results! Here’s Sherry’s Brussels sprouts recipe:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Cook four strips thick-cut bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels then roughly chop. In same pan with bacon fat, melt two tablespoons butter over high heat. Add one pound Brussels sprouts, halved, and a half large onion, chopped. Cook and stir occasionally until sprouts are golden brown, eight to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss bacon back into pan. Serve immediately.