A Quiet Spot with Some Favorite French Pieces.

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A dinner for old friends.

So another post about a dinner…sorry. NOT much going on here.

Every summer there are about ten families that travel to Cape Cod for a week in Provincetown. We stay right on the beach in the harbor. Every family makes one dinner so the burden isn’t on just a few.

We’ve missed a few summers and for the past two summers I haven’t made a main meal. So I had a dinner at my house to say thank you to all my Cape Cod friends for their delicious dinners.

This past Sunday was the evening and there were fourteen of us. At first I was going to have a large table for ten then a smaller table for four. Well, that didn’t feel right so I went for three tables. It looked like a little restaurant. We have a large dining room with an alcove with windows where we keep a daybed…for the dogs to lay on all day so they can view the world go by and bark, bark, bark!

I brought two tables inside that are usually under the pergola. One I trash picked, an iron table that still had the glass top and four chairs. (what a find) I had to scrape off all the flaking paint and clean it up.

Then I brought in seating I bought in France last April that is soooo way cool and I LOVE! They are all cane, backs and seats. I had to vacuum the pieces, spray with alcohol and clean with Murphy’s oil. Much work. So now we’re into day two, 5:30pm. Sigh…I still had to make the food.

You can see the cane settee, arm and side chairs…Fab aren’t they? I bought them to sell but I’m not sure I am or can!!

All the tables are covered with French linen sheets and I use French monogrammed napkins I found at flea markets in France. Some have white embroidery and others have red. They all have a beautiful red border.

After dinner a few of us were in the kitchen when the smoke detector went off. I thought it was from all the candles…it was a napkin on FIRE!! Karen had put it down on the table right over a tea light. Yikes!!

Luckily someone noticed! When I got in there my friend Joan had covered it with another napkin and then I grabbed them and threw them in the sink… This is what was left of that napkin. I only had five of this style, so now I have an even four!

I have more up close pictures I’ll post later.

Enjoy your weekend.

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Traveling France ….l’Objet qui Parle in Montmarte

I haven’t posted on my blog since last summer I think. Not having the store here in Collingswood kind of slowed me down…not kind of…it did.

I saw a picture on Pinterest of a shop up in Montmarte in Paris. The name of the shop was l’ Objet qui Parle and looked so charming. I thought, I’m going to that shop on my next trip which happened to be just back in March. It is such a fabulous store and it’s only about 200 sq ft if that. These are some of the amazing things you will find if you get there!

  

It was such an amazing shop with so much character, and so many fabulous finds.

This was the weekend before I was heading South to the flea market so I didn’t buy much, which was a bummer!!

I did get a few egg cups and a painted piece of mirror.

(all pictures by me)

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French Country yellow confit pots with yummy roses

I guess by now you know I love the French yellow confit pots I find on my travels through France. Most of these I found in the Savoie region of France, near the French Alps. Others, at the flea markets in the South of France.

Just a quick share with the yellow pots and roses…

 

    

And that little transferware piece…I ADORE it, chips and all.

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Traveling France…my ideal trip

Recently I was talking with someone about imagining my ideal trip to Paris. It was a put yourself there in your mind kind of thing. So many images came to me.

What stood out in my mind was that I love just walking around Paris. The architecture fills my senses and my soul. Everywhere you look there is some small detail that makes you think…wow, just that little detail is a gem. It could have been so utilitarian. A korbel with winged dragons holding up a balconey…

Looking up on our way to Montmarte after taking the bus, I had never taken a bus, and seeing these beautiful iron railings with incredible flowers, this you see all over.

Finding beautiful cathedrals…one of our favorties is Saint Eustache. It has incredible stained glass and it feels more intimate than Notre Dame. We went to mass there on our last trip and the priest asked when he gave us communion…’American’? haha! I wonder how he new.

Stopping about five times a day for a yummy cafe creme!!! Love, love, love!…and there’s the Amala enjoying hers!

Then I was thinking about my ideal place to stay. You could say the Four Seasons, it’s beautiful, it’s big…but I love the little boutique hotel where we’ve been staying. It’s charming, intimate, friendly, and has crystal chandeliers in every room, (which I LOVE) and a few antiques!

This April we’re heading back to Paris. I so psyched, I can’t wait to discover new places and neighborhoods, AND the cafe cremes of course. And ending our day standing on a bridge looking over the Seine, soaking up all the lights.

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A few things I’m lovin’

There’s so much I love in the shop…here a few pics

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Moving things around again…

I moved the part of the shop that’s in the ‘kitchen’ around. (We’re in a 100 year old house). I love all these pieces, but one of my FAVORITES is the doughtry from the 1700’s.  We were only going for smalls that trip, but found this man selling his mother-n-laws table. I just couldn’t leave it behind. Just TOO wonderful. We found it at a flea market in Carpentras, in the South of France.

All the red earthenware we found in the Savoie region of France, near the French Alps, from Francois, a really cool dealer. I had sent letters to different dealers in the area, telling them what I was looking for and found him. We met up with him before we headed South to Provence for the flea market. (He takes his wares there too, but we met up with him before the market). So now I have another dealer friend, one of a few, that I have a relationship with.

This huge copper pot we found on one of our trips to Paris. It’s really heavy, and wonderfully rustic. The brass/bronze candelabra with the wonderful curves to the arms, we found in a barn in the town of Pezenas, in the South of France….look at that table top.

 

On our latest trip, we found these fabulous white folding concert chairs. They have a porcelain number on the back for seating location. We also found the square iron garden table. Odd, we hadn’t seen any square tables until this trip and found two fab ones. This one and a rusty blue one. The bench in the background is from the same flea market. Love…there’s a 200 year old wood cradle on a stand behind the bench…so cool.

I love ironstone and just can’t resist it whenever I come across it (in the states). These pitchers I found in Pennsylvania. The plates too. We always find a few pieces in France, but I don’t want to pay for the shipping, so I won’t let Amy get it.

The bench and the wood cradle…

Next is the front room. I’m hoping to video myself moving stuff around, Paul bought a video camera you put on your head!!! hah!

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Family dinner with some of my favorite things…

I LOVE setting tables…the dishes, linens, stemware…I used to use table clothes that covered the whole table, but now I like a little of the table to show. This night for a family dinner,  I really didn’t feel like ironing the rustic, nubby French linen piece I was going to use. It lays over most of the middle of the table, with the ends showing. I left it in the dryer too long…so lots of wrinkles, merde!!

The table runner I used was made by my sister Amy. The fabric side showing has angels and there is a beautiful blue velvet on the back with dots of sequins and beads, and tassels on the ends. I just love it.

We have a really nice size dining room. I have a daybed in front of windows in a nook, which put together from two foot boards taken from twin beds. (The headboards are in my bedroom for our headboard and kingsize bed) You can see our German Sheppard laying on it in the background. (in the picture above)

I ran out of time to get flowers for the table, so I moved these two Christmas favorites of mine to the table. I LOVE them! The green glass candlesticks we received for a wedding gift 20 years ago…WOW! 

Another view of the dining room. You can sort of see the double buffet over to the left, it’s a French Louis XVI period piece, c1780 that we found in Paris. It’s the only large furniture piece I’ve brought home from the shop. It’s almost 9′ tall, and it holds lots of things!

I love all different kinds of dishes. I decided to use my blue and white transferware, along with very large French napkins that have a beautiful red monogram. I found the linens at my favorite flea market in the South of France. The silver flatware was my mothers.

We enjoyed one of the best meals I’ve ever made. Paula Deen’s recipe for Brisket…with mashed red potatos and roasted asparagus. I did change the timing up a bit on the brisket. I turned the temp to 285 and cooked for about another 6-1/2 hrs after the first hour at 300.

Paula Deen’s Brisket Recipe

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