[what's cookin'] A Picnic

Yesterday was the Homestead Museum's annual Ticket to the Twenties event.  It's a free two-day tribute to the Jazz Age complete with live music, dancing, films, games, and even fashion shows.  It's the perfect event in Southern California for a twenties-style picnic.

For this year's picnic, I thought I would try my hand at a couple of Jazz Age recipes thanks to VintageRecipes.net.  I wanted picnic foods that might have been served up at an outdoor luncheon in the 1920s, so decided on a couple of sandwiches and a potato salad.  But due to a few dietary limitations and allergies, I did decide to alter the recipes a bit.  So long as they kept to the style of the foods, I was okay.

The sandwiches came out well, I thought.  I chose a mock-chicken salad sandwich on white.  I looked up several chicken salad recipes on the site and used the information to guide my mock creation.  Honestly, it really was not that different from contemporary "chicken-salad."  Some "chicken" (in my case, I used chickpeas), some mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and--of course--mayonnaise.  Celery was often added, too.  Yep, pretty much what most folks call chicken-salad today.

The second sandwich that I chose was a cheese sandwich.  While not using camembert specifically, I used a similar soft, rind cheese that had a wonderful bite to it.  Quite tasty, albeit a touch messy to make.  I opted to thinly slice the cheese and place the slices on the sandwich, though I did consider cutting the cheese in half horizontally and then scooping and spreading the soft cheese sans rind onto the bread.

The potato salad recipe that I used as my inspiration include cayenne and Tabasco.  My husband is allergic to both, so I opted for black pepper and HP sauce instead.  (Sure, I could've chosen another recipe as there are plenty, but by the time I was getting around to making the salad, I had to chose one for which I had on-hand most of the ingredients and that would be nice at a picnic.)  The end result had a lovely tanginess and was quite tasty.  Yet by the next afternoon (I made the salad the day before the picnic), it was much more bland.  I here I thought the flavors would marry well.  Drat.

Otherwise the picnic was lovely.  We brought out some good china on which to dine.  We sat in the shade and sipped vintage sodas and lemonade.  My friend, Tricia, brought even more to eat: deviled eggs, sandwiches, fruit salad, and a heavenly apple pie and blueberry cake!  We were stuffed!

I certainly want to picnic again, but perhaps will wait a touch longer in the year as yesterday was just a bit too warm for my tastes.  Perhaps next time I will try a few other era recipes to share.

Gatsby Costume Event

Being a member of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles has its perks.  One such perk is members exclusive events and we had one Sunday the 5th at a gallery in Culver City.  The event featured costumes, props, and sketches from the upcoming Luhrmann film, The Great Gatsby.

Now, before I voice my opinions about the event, I should provide a bit of background.  Among the LA area vintage community, there is a LOT of skepticism about this latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald groundbreaking novel.  From the casting, to the costumes, to the music... there is a great deal of room for achingly frustrating choices.

Having mentioned that, I have to say that I enjoyed--for the most part--what I saw at the event.  Historically accurate costumes?  Oh, heavens! no.  Not as such, though there were a few according to the sketches.  So why did I like what I saw?  Brace yourself for more extrapolation.

1920s?  Not so much

See, I understand that when telling a story visually there are concessions to be made.  On the page a writer can provide depth and insight that may be critical to understanding a particular character.  Yet when a story is told visually, other tricks must be employed to communicate hints toward personality.  Costume, hair, makeup are all areas that can help to evoke suggestions about character.  I recognize this.  I know that since its inception Hollywood has used costume to that end.  One of my favorite period costume designers, Adrian, built highly impractical and often fantastically costumes--even for "modern" stories and characters.  So to expect a major film to accurately represent the Jazz Age visually is setting one up for disappointment.

Spy that background!

What I saw at the event was spot-on in evoking character and personality.  I suspect readers who are familiar with Fitzgerald's work could have easily identified many of the novel's characters simply through the sketches of their clothes.  I certainly was able to do so.  (Alas, many of the sketches were not to be photographed, hence the lack of photo evidence here.)

Additionally, with a few exceptions the clothing paid homage to the silhouettes and styles of the 1920s. The average person would be able to immediately guess at the era from the clothes.  And lastly, all of the garments and sketches were gorgeous.  Catherine Martin is a wonderfully talented designer.

BATS!!

All that said, it may be telling that my favorite two items from the show were not Gatsby items.  The gallery used an authentic, antique Nouveau lounge built-in as a backdrop that was breathtaking.  In the same diorama was a reproduction chandelier.  Those two goodies took my breath away.  My photos do not do these items justice.  If you are in the LA area and are a fan of the era, do go and see them for yourself!

Despite my enjoyment of the costumes, please do not expect to see a glowing recommendation of the film.  I still suspect that I will love it (a rare possibility), or--most likely--I'll feel that it was a missed opportunity to tell a terrific story about an endlessly fascinating time and people.

Are you looking forward to Gatsby?

A few more photos:

Century Guild Gallery
6150 West Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
Gallery may be by appointment only, check the site for details http://centuryguild.net

Gertie's LA Party for Better Sewing

I often feel that I'm the last to know about many of the ultra-fun, swanky offerings that the LA area has to offer to a vintage-loving, crafty mama like myself.  But by some miracle (Facebook), I was actually able to learn about a book signing and indoor "picnic" for Gretchen "Gertie" Hirsch in time to make plans to attend!

If you're currently scratching your head thinking, "who?" it's probably best that you just skip this post.  Well, or take a little time to enjoy the sartorial stylings of darling Gertie via her blog, New Blog for Better Sewing.  The title is a riff on the trusted old Vogue book of a similar name: New Book for Better Sewing.  Yours truly managed to score a copy (minus the dust cover) on eBay ages ago.  Alas, most of the patterns noted within the book are long out of print and hard to come by.  Gertie took the time and effort to track down all the patterns and construct each one, documenting the ordeal (and FUN) on her blog.

She's been something of a darling in the crafty community as of late, and why the heck not?!  She's a cute as a 1950's button!  But she's also smart as a whip, and a talented author and pattern-maker, too.  Her new book, aptly titled Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, is filled with information on sewing your own vintage-inspired garments.  Plus, it includes numerous patterns in a variety of sizes.  It's like a build-your-own-wardrobe book, just add notions, fabric, and time!

But as I was saying: book signing and picnic!

Independent fabric store, Sew LA, hosted the shindig a few weeks ago.  I wrangled my daughter, my copy of the Vogue book, and Gertie's text and made my way to LA for an afternoon with Gertie.  But first, I thought I'd go ahead and make and wear a little something from the book.  Time being short, I settled on making up a blouse.

Bow-tie blouse

The back

Driving from Long Beach to anywhere in LA will either take twice the amount of time suspected, or half.  In our case, we were there early.  I got a couple of shots of the space before it was packed with eager sewists.

Gertie brought along several pieces highlighted in the book

The studio set up with adorable photo space

A blurry shot of my girl

The obligatory "proof I was there" shot

As it was picnic themed, there was a terrific spread of appropriate foods, including veggie "piggies in blankets," deviled eggs, skewers, and potato salad!

The spread

Getting ready to stuff my gob

Gertie plays hostess

Another dress from the book in the background

A make-up artist was there doing vintage-styled make-overs

Gertie's book was available for purchase, natch, and part of a give-away

Gertie draws a winner--alas, it wasn't me

Taylor and I

 All told, we had a lovely time.  I was too shy to ask Gertie to do much more than sign my book.  Oh, I did show her my copy of Vogue's NBBS, taking pains to point out the sweet inscription from 1956: "For Linda Sue, Happy Birthday, July 21, 1956"

At any rate, now my copy of Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing has its own inscription.

homeownership

It's been about two weeks since we closed escrow and, to be expected, we are in full-blown homeowner mode.  We've made the obligatory repeat trips to the hardware store.  We've discussed the merits of copper plumbing with others.  We've googled numerous DIY and "how to" pages on everything from dishwasher troubleshooting, to pocket-door repair.  Yeah.

It's been about two weeks since we closed escrow and we still have numerous boxes to sort through and unpack.  As we knew that our last place was only going to be transitionary (five years of transition, apparently), we stored several boxes of items that we figured we may want whenever we did get into a home.  So, here we are--with five years worth of a stored "stuff."

It's been about two weeks since we closed escrow and we've already purchased more furniture.  I've found myself doing daily searches on Craigslist for items that would be just right for our late Art Deco/early Mid-century home.  I could not pass up a beautiful secretary/cabinet.  Plus a friend was needing to offload an antique couch that is a great color for our green living room.  Now, if only I could figure out just how to arrange everything in there...

You're seeing a pattern, right?  (Any inexpensive project-organizing software suggestions?)


Some major advantages to rejoining the ranks of the house dwellers include establishing a regular laundry schedule.  (No more fighting for an open washer.)  I have also been thoroughly happy in my larger kitchen complete with deep vintage sinks that are great for hand-washing dishes.  (Yeah, remember the part where I mentioned dishwasher troubleshooting?  We're stuck hand-washing until we fix our dishwasher.)

Probably the best part of our new adventure is to see just how happy the baby is playing in his backyard.  I'm a firm believer that children should be able to scratch around in dirt, get grass stains, and enjoy plenty of fresh air.  Declan loves being outside.  I am definitely looking forward to when we get our victory garden going and he can dig and plant alongside mom and dad.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to wrap my head around all the little things around here that I can accomplish.  Goodness knows there is plenty to do!

Home Sweet Home

The secretary

Opened

I love this little detail in the kitchen.  Wooden valance?

We have a few archways like this one into the dining room.

Looking into the dining area from the living room.

Looking into the kitchen from the service porch.

Hallway

Declan helps his dad with some yard work.

Rat Pack Weekend & Birthday Extravaganza

I confess.  Up until this past weekend, the only time I'd ever spent in Las Vegas, Nevada was a layover in the airport.  As I'm not a big oontz-oontz club-goer, nor do I gamble, there was really no huge desire to go to Sin City.  At least, not conventionally.

Years ago, some friends of mine and I had discussed the idea of going to Las Vegas for a Rat Pack-styled weekend.  Now THAT sounded interesting.  So when the idea was resurrected to celebrate the milestone birthdays of four fabulous fellas--I was giddy about going.

This past weekend was our Rat Pack Birthday Extravaganza and it was a royal hoot.  Major props and tremendous thanks go to Kerri "the enabler" Morin for producing the affair.  She scouted the locations and picked the times and places for our meet-ups throughout Vegas.  Our weekend would not have been nearly so much fun without her hard work.

Kerri & Carol Ann at Oscar's

Friday night we meet up at the newly renovated Plaza Hotel at Oscar's Bar for cocktails.  Oscar's tagline is Beef * Booze * Broads.  While I was there to only sample one of their offerings, I couldn't help by giggle.  And they did a great job on that count, too.  Oscar's made a tasty, well-balanced Sidecar.  The mixologists even gave the Monkey Gland cocktail a try and did a decent job.

My Brian at Oscar's

Afterwards, we wandered Freemont Street and settled in at the Gold Nugget's aquarium bar for more chatting and one more round.  The aquarium was gorgeous, but the Sidecars were just a little too sweet.

Gold Nugget

Jeff & Brian S.

Yours truly, Cat & Theresa

In hindsight, I wish that I had scheduled more of our free time at Freemont Street.  It was the classic Vegas "strip" back in the day.  It had just the right mix of tacky, naughty, and suave.

The birthday celebrations began at 3:00pm on Saturday at a Casa Fuente, a cigar bar in the Forum Shops.  Here we all raised a glass to celebrate Jeff's birthday.  I enjoyed a Jimi Hendricks cocktail.  Hendricks gin, Lillet Blanc, simple syrup and white grape garnish.  Though a touch too sweet, it was one of the better cocktails of the evening.

Casa Fuente

Jeff and his "minion" cap

Theresa, Kristina, Kerri

While I abstained from purchasing a cigar, those who did enjoyed them.  I, instead, stuck to smoking my ladies vintage pipe.  It's a gorgeous red bakelite pipe with a corncob bowl.  It has a darling rhinestone embellishment on the stem.  Perfect accessory for my cherry dress.

Smoking section

RAWR

At 5:30pm we all convened at Vesper in the Cosmopolitan Hotel.  I was very much looking forward to this bar as their menu features classic cocktails and the bar's own interpretations of those cocktails.  Alas, the drinks and the service were a disappointment.  My Corpse Reviver #2 was only okay (and I had to ask for the classic stemless cherry garnish).  Other cocktails were barely drinkable, and the service was painfully, unnecessarily slow for a mostly-empty bar with five mixologists.  Thankfully we didn't let the bar dampen our celebrations of Brent's birthday too much.  Brent's cheerful, goofy attitude was infectious and we laughed--a LOT--as we continued our celebration.

Brent goofs off

After Vesper, we were free for dinner and a change of clothing.  (It was at this time that I left my camera back at our room.  Thank goodness others had cameras!)  We met up at 8:30 at the steakhouse Smith & Wollensky to celebrate Brian S's big day.  Brian's father had called ahead and reserved a private room for our party, which was probably for the best as we all continued to be boisterous.

The food and deserts were amazing, but the drinks were unfortunate.  My Sidecar was made without fresh lemon juice and their Negroni featured a very strong dry vermouth taste that was off-putting.  Clearly this was a place for wine, not cocktails, so I enjoyed a lovely muscato with my creme brule.  It was a perfect combination.

While here, Mark and Cara used their Polaroid 100 Land camera to take portraits of us all.  Ironically, I had picked up a Polaroid 100 weeks ago, too.  Great minds and all that.  But Mark and Cara were smart enough to pick up a flash kit with the camera, which I did not.  All attempted photos taken indoors with my camera were just too dark.

Brent & Kristina

Carol Ann & Kerri

Cara & Mark

Cat & Jeff

Yours truly & Brian M.

Theresa & Brian S.

The boys

After Smith & Wollensky, we were off to finish off the birthday celebrations by raising a pint to my dapper fella, Brian M.  Where else to toast an Irishman for his birthday?  Why, Nine Fine Irishmen in New York, New York, of course!

Scrunchy face and the birthday boy

Never forget your towel!

With the birthday celebrations finished, we wandered the Strip for a brief moment before deciding that it was time to call it a night.  My Brian, Cat, Jeff and I followed Theresa and Brian back to their hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, for a night cap in their bar.  A gorgeous view, a great Negroni and a quiet end to the night.  Perfect.

The following day we decided to be lazy and lounge around our room (and enjoy the jacuzzi) before it was time to head back home.  It was a great way to top off the weekend.

My daughter's favorite thing from the weekend: jacuzzi tub

A few final observations:

• When dressed in Rat Pack era finery, expect to be gawked at and commented to all weekend.  Most comments will be complimentary, but you will get the occasional weird one.  Weirdest one of the weekend: being called Mary Poppins.  ???
• Drinks on the Strip are not nearly as strong as drinks on Freemont Street.  That said, while I drank a LOT, I was never more than buzzed.  
• Evil Dead: the Musical, in 4D--oh, if only I had known and been able to schedule time to see it.
• The idea of a 40 foot tall stripper is much more interesting than the actual thing.
• Alas, I only saw one working girl while in Vegas--but, boy howdy! was she a sight.  Bolted on boobs, inflated lips, bleach blonde hair, and a feather boa!  Oh, and she thought we all looked great, too.

HUGE THANKS to Kristina Gundersen-Rudmann and Cara Zitny for additional photos!!