THE HOUSE IN MY HEAD

Le husband has designed and built dozens of custom homes and we have built a few homes for ourselves along the way. We both believe that it is important to build within the vernacular. Our first house together in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was in the Pueblo style. The following houses there were designed as Modern Hacienda abodes. The house we are currently working on is in a Mediterranean climate and warrants a design to match. This is a house that will be years in the making as we are only able to go there in between our other work. There isn't a deadline or even a timeline. A constant slide shows goes round in my head about how I want this house to look. An entry courtyard with a stone wall and fountain.....................................
Elegant but simple rooms. A table made from local cypress and linen covered chairs............
This range in the kitchen........................dream on, dream on....................
Monochromatic inside..............................................................
Layers of color outside...............with iron gates leading to gardens............................................................
Filled with lavender, santolina, rosemary and wild roses..............................................
Olive trees..............................................................

Limestone walls and steps lined with blue marguerite and pittosporums..............................
And grape vines.......................................................................................
The grape vines, lavender, rosemary, stone walls and olive tree are already there .... the casa - a work-in-progress.........................

but someday.............................................it will look like the house in my head..........................
Photographs: Maisons Cote Sud

LA CUCINA VIGNETO ....... SUNDAY BRUNCH

Brunch on Sunday is by far - my favorite meal. Sometimes it is inspired by local fresh produce. The Sandia Man is selling watermelons down the road from our country house, so we picked one out and sliced it up for brunch and even soaked some in the champagne. It was sweet as honey. Nothing tastes quite like ice cold watermelon on a hot summer day.


I try and make something different each Sunday. A Cheese Souffle, Herbed French-Style Potato Salad and Asparagus with Sauce Marquis pair quite well with Mango Mimosas.

Asparagus with Sauce Marquis

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

3 large egg yolks, well beaten, 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Dash each of salt and Cayenne pepper

1 ounce black caviar

8 to 16 asparagus spears - cooked until barely tender

Make the basic Hollandaise sauce:

Break butter into three pieces. Put one piece into the top of a double boiler - set over hot (not boiling) water. Add egg yolks and lemon juice. Beat with a wire whisk until butter is melted. Add the second piece of butter and continue beating and cooking until the mixture thickens, never allowing the water to boil. Then add the last piece of butter. Stir and cook until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in salt and cayenne.

Add caviar to the cooled Hollandaise and Voila! You have Sauce Marquis. Drizzle sauce on cooked asparagus.

Herbed French Style Potato Salad

1 pound small red potatoes

1/8 to 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped chives

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped dill

1/4 cup white wine

2 tablespoons mild-flavored oil (Olive or Grapeseed)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Cover potatoes with cold water in medium pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until done.

While potatoes are cooking, prepare marinade. In medium bowl, combine shallots, garlic, hers, wine, oil, salt and pepper.

When potatoes are cooked, drain them and let them sit until just cool enough to handle. Cut potatoes into quarters and drop into bowl of marinade. Toss gently and refrigerate for at least an hour or two while potatoes absorb the dressing.

Cheese Soufflé

4 eggs

2 cups shredded cheese (Chévre, Havarti or Cheddar)

2 teaspoons snipped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup milk

Separate eggs and cover both bowls with plastic wrap. Set aside at room temp for 30 minutes. Toss shredded cheese with thyme, cover and set aside.

In medium sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and pepper. Add milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubble. remove from heat. Add cheese mixture a little at a time until melted. beat egg yolks until smooth. Gradually stir cheese sauce into yolks. Set aside to cool. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold about half of the beaten egg whites into the cheese mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour into an ungreased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish and bake for 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Photography By: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

THE FLORA AND THE FAUNA

Last year was The Year of the Frog. OK - well maybe just at my house. During the summer and anytime that weather allows, we throw open the French doors, let in the breeze and allow the domestic creatures to wander in and out as they please. I have a water feature in the courtyard that attracts frogs. The frogs decided that if the cat was allowed to come and go in the house, then surely they must be welcome as well. Nothing like getting up in the middle of the night and nearly stepping on a frog! Ugggh

Our casa has a wide Zaguán (entry hall) that bisects the house - running from the front door all the way to the back and out into the courtyard. One day I was sitting in the library with a friend and a huge toad come hopping down the hallway, no doubt trying to take a short cut through the house to get to the other side. To my friend's credit, she didn't shriek, just raised an eyebrow as I ushered the frog out the door. Nearly every other day or so, I would have to don the rubber gloves and relocate one of these unwelcome guests back into the fountain. The cat, Micia, is useless. I saw her leisurely stroll after a small frog in the kitchen. It went under the refrigerator. "Great, could you not have stopped it Micia?" She looked at me with that disdainful look that cats have perfected as if to say "I'm not touching that slimy thing. This is your problem!"
Another creature that has taken up residence is this Armadillo. He digs around in the garden beds. He appears to be looking for slugs, but more often than not he digs up my plants in the process, so I have to give chase. These little alien looking guys are amazingly fast. I just hope he stays out of the house!

Despite the Armadillo - the flora lives on................................................................

Photography By: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

Sotto Il Monte Vineyards

VENDEMMIA............TEXAS STYLE

In Italy there are over 1.1 million vineyards. Most of them small 4 - 5 acre family vineyards.

Every year at the Vendemmia - or grape harvest - family, neighbors and friends help gather the grapes at the smaller vineyards. In Texas - at least at some of the vineyards - this is the tradition as well. A time for people to gather, pick the grapes and celebrate the harvest. It is already harvest time for vineyards along the Gulf Coast. Jim and I went to help with the harvest at Haak Winery on Saturday. Texas has the second largest American Viticulture Area in the United States and is the fifth largest wine producing state. The wine industry started in Texas in the 1600s when Spanish missionaries cultivated grapes for wine for the missions. By the early 1900s, wineries were thriving. Prohibition put an end to that when most wineries in Texas were forced to close. The wine industry in Texas has made huge strides in the last 10-15 years.
Raymond and Gladys Haak own and operate Haak Winery. Their signature wine is Blanc du Bois, a varietal developed in Florida to withstand heat, humidity and is very disease resistant.

Before each harvest, the Haak vineyard is blessed................................................
Jared, the Haak's great nephew, was my picking buddy for the day. Jared's claim to fame in the Haak family is that he eats more of the grapes than he picks! Gladys has named him the official grape taster.

There were around 100 people at this harvest. Breakfast was served before the harvest and local cheeses and Haak wine were sampled after. Other Texas wineries participated as well. We sampled wines from: Llano Estacado, Flat Creek Estate, Circle S Vineyards and Enoch's Stomp.
There were quite a few kiddos helping out. This sweet child came with her grandparents.


Jim hands over the grapes he has picked to Peter (son-in-law of Raymond & Gladys) who will weigh the grapes.........................
After each tub of grapes was weighed, Peter would place them in the larger bins....................
This was a happy day for Raymond - the day that a Vintner waits for the entire year.
The bins were then taken by tractor to the winery. Raymond loaded the bins on a forklift and dumped the grapes into a stainless steel tank. The grapes were then augured up into the press.................................


A great deal of work comes down to this day. The day the grapes are harvested and the art of wine making can begin.

Cheers!

Ry

For more information on Texas Wines please visit Go Texan or Vintage Texas

Photography By: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

The Real Mint Julep: How to make 'em, how to drink 'em

EXTREME HEAT...That's the forecast for all of us down here on the Gulf of Mexico. Calls for extreme measures..........................like a Mint Julep in hand.
I've carried around a tattered recipe on newsprint since 1994 for these Mint Juleps.

The recipe is from Suzanne Hamlin/The New York Times. I love her description of a true Mint Julep: "A mint julep, at its purest and grandest, is simply the best bourbon, a little sugar and mint and water, a lot of crushed ice and the heady aroma of a generous sprig of spearmint.

A real mint julep made in a Kentucky home is almost invariably served in a small, frosted silver julep cup, a cup so cold it paralyzes your hand in place.

When it's right, a mint julep smells and tastes like Kentucky, like the bluegrass that covers the horse farms of Lexington, like the magnolias and dogwood in bloom right now, like the white linen suits that men used to wear and, most of all, like Kentucky bourbon, the complex, earth, caramel brown, smoky, sweet, rich spirit that has, in no small part, fueled the economic history of the state."

The Mint Julep

1 bunch fresh spearmint, washed, dried, stems on

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

6 teaspoons chopped mint, optional

6 heaping cups crushed (not shaved) ice

1 1/2 cups Kentucky bourbon

6 large mint sprigs for garnish

1. Put the bunch of spearmint into a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil without stirring, and let boil for 2 or 3 minutes until it becomes a thick syrup (238 degrees on a candy thermometer.) Immediately pour the syrup over the spearmint, and let steep until cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, strain out the mint and discard. (The well-sealed syrup will keep, refrigerated, for up to a week.)

3. Put a teaspoon of the optional chopped mint in the bottom of each chilled cup with 2 tablespoons of mint syrup. Fill the cups to the brim with crushed ice. Pour 3/4 cup of bourbon in each. Taste, adding another tablespoon of syrup if desired. Add more crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig, and serve immediately.

So it's Mint Juleps out on the terrace tonight followed by Green Grape Gazpacho, Grilled Lamb Chops, roasted rosemary potatoes and asparagus.

Green Grape Gazpacho

1 lb. white seedless grapes, washed and stems removed

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and rough-chopped

8 oz. whole milk

1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt

1/4 cup cream cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Puree all ingredients in a blender; strain through a coarse strainer and garnish with chives, almonds and grape slices.
Cheers!

Ry

Photography By: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

Sotto Il Monte Vineyards

TERRA COTTA WARRIORS - GUARDIANS OF CHINA'S FIRST EMPEROR

I've been waiting for this exhibit to come to Houston for months! I was finally was able to go last week and loved it. This tour is the first time that the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, which includes one hundred artifacts and fourteen life-size figures, has been exhibited in the United States...........................Houston is the third stop on the tour...........................................
These figures and artifacts are so beautiful and have been painstakingly pieced back together.
The patina of a clay object dating back to the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.) is just incredible.

Limestone tile armor - too heavy to wear - used only to ward off evil spirits in the underground world................................
There have been about a thousand warriors excavated to date. It is estimated that another six thousand are still buried...............................
Quite a few bronze pieces are included in the collection.......................................
The exhibit has been at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California and The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. It is currently at the Houston Museum of Natural Science from May 18, 2009 until October 16, 2009. The last stop will be the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

November 19, 2009 - March 31, 2010

Photo Credit: O. Louis Mazzetenta and Wang Da-Gang