Wineward Bound: Travel South to Chateau Elan Winery

Published on April 14, 2013April 16, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen4 Comments

Ms. Jeannie’s friend was visiting from the West Coast a few weeks ago, and over dinner one night he was remarking on a wonderful trip, he and his fiancee had taken to Napa Valley. Of course they stopped at a bevy of wineries to learn and sample and the whole experience really opened him up to the wide world of wine palates. So Ms. Jeannie thought it would be fun, now that he was a wine connoisseur of sorts, to take him on a little southern road trip to Braselton, Georgia, the location of the state’s most noteable vineyard, Chateau Elan.

Chateau Elan Resort & Vineyards, Braselton, GA

Wine in Georgia, you say? How could that be, Ms. Jeannie? Well, my dears, Georgia has actually been growing two unique types of grapes since the 1500’s – the scuppernong and the muscadine grape. It is not uncommon to see little vineyards of two or three rows in people’s yards all over the south. Ms. Jeannie, herself has two rows of 35 foot vines herself. Here’s some pictures…

Larger then your traditional grape, muscadines (red) and scuppernongs (golden) are just slightly smaller then the size of a golf ball. You can see in this picture some some sizing perspective…

Muscadine & Scuppernong Grape photography by sintwister

Both muscadines and scuppernongs have a thick, tart outer skin and a sweet, juicy center that is similar to a plum, yet with a touch more tang. Most people bite and then suck out the sweet interior pulp – but Ms. Jeannie likes to eat the whole thing or cut them up in little segments like a sweet tart.

First discovered growing wild in North Carolina by Italian explorer, Giovanni de Verranzano in 1524, these two varieties of grapes grow naturally only in the Southern United States where they thrive on a short cold season and lots of humidity.

Giovanni de Verranzano. Photo courtesy of biography.com — Giovanni de Verranzano (1485-1528). Photo courtesy of biography.com

When Giovanni discovered them growing in the Cape Fear River Valley, he wrote in his trip’s log book that the “grapes were of such greatness, yet wild, as France, Spain, nor Italy hath no greater.” At the time, Giovanni was on a coastal exploration trip on behalf of the French King, Francis I. Ms. Jeannie wonders what this french King must have thought of the their-bigger-than-yours statement when Giovanni went to report his trip findings!

On a side note, unfortunately, in the end things didn’t fair so well for Giovanni, who on his third trip to the coastal US, was killed (and some sources say eaten) by local natives in 1528. Goodness gracious – it is not a very sweet ending to the story of a man who discovered such a sweet fruit.

Anyway, back to the grapes…the wine produced from muscadine/scuppernong grapes is very, very sweet, (think sweeter then a riesling) and light in body, which makes it nice (in small doses!) on those hot summer evenings, when it seems too stifling to eat anything but air. Often times, as in the case of Chateau Elan’s varieties, these local grape wines are enhanced with other local fruits like peaches, strawberries or blueberries which give it a unique flavor. This enhancement also makes for interesting culinary delights like fruit syrups drizzled over ice cream, simple soaked white cakes or jams and jellies, so scuppernongs and muscadine, as you can see, s are quite versatile when it comes to cooking as well.

Chateau Elan offers four local varieties of muscadine/scuppernong wine as well as a variety of wines imported from their California vineyard, Diablo Grande in Patterson, CA.

The vineyards at Diablo Grande Resort in Patterson, CA

Ms. Jeannie went on the wine tour and tasting at Chateau Elan so that she could try both the sister wines from California as well as the local Georgia wines.

The vineyard at Chateau Elan was established in 1981 and sits on 3,500 acres. It’s about a 45 minute drive east from Atlanta in the tiny, rural town of Braselton, GA. Braselton has a little Hollywood color to it. The actress Kim Basinger, bought the entire town for $20 million in the late 1980’s with the idea of turning it into a Hollywood film set/production studio. Unfortunately, that idea never materialized. Kim ran out of money and wound up selling Braselton to a developer in the mid-1990’s. Now it is mostly known for it’s antique shopping, area golf courses and of course, the Chateau Elan Resort which in addition to a winery includes a small luxury hotel, several golf courses and a spa.

Before we look at the wines, Ms. Jeannie wanted to point out a few pretty things she noticed about the Chateau itself…

Innovative flower beds! — Pretty flower beds!

Since it was early Spring when Ms. Jeannie visited – the gardens and vineyards were just waking up – but to add a bit of color to the landscape, the flower beds surrounding the Chateau all contained a bright yellow/blue combination of pansies and guess what… flowering broccoli! Very pretty and quite an unexpected pairing! Ms. Jeannie will have to remember this for her early season gardening.

The statue and fountain gracing the front entrance.

At the entrance of the Chateau is this wonderful bronze statue of a woman stomping the grapes set inside a large fountain. It’s a really pretty figure!

When Ms. Jeannie was taking pictures, crows were hanging out on the roof-line – maybe they were getting together for cocktail hour themselves!

The winery tour starts inside the Chateau in the large gift shop area. On the tour, Ms. Jeannie learned about the production side of wine-making which included, of course, how it was stored, and bottled. It was a pretty industrial process and a long way away from stomping of the grapes that the statue represented – but it was interesting none the less.

The barrels were beautiful all lined up in rows. The wine is aged in both French and American barrels…

Once the tour was over it was on to the wine tasting. During the tasting, Ms. Jeannie sampled five wines, three from the California property and two from Georgia.

The first wine Ms. Jeannie tasted was the Chardonnay Reserve 2010, which she liked very much. In addition to the actual tasting part, she also learned how to sniff, swirl and suck in her breath to really appreciate the advanced flavors of the wine. This does make a big difference – to taste your wine this way. It’s nice to take some time to appreciate what you are drinking and to identify the subtle mix of flavors and aromas.

Next was the Pinot Noir. This one was lighter in color than Ms. Jeannie expected!

The next was Ms. Jeannie’s favorite of all the samples, the Scarlett 211. It was full-bodied and smelled a bit like incense. The Scarlett is a blend of Syrah and Sangiovese grapes which gives it a darker, richer color than the Pinot Noir.

The last two Ms. Jeannie tasted were the Georgia wines. The first was Summer Wine which was muscadine infused with peaches…

The second was Spring Blossom which was muscadine infused with raspberry…

Both were very sweet with residual sugar levels of 6%, ( to give you some perspective, the California wines had sugar levels of .5%). Ms. Jeannie, herself doesn’t care for such sweet wine, so she preferred the California varieties better – but she could see how these two could definitely be incorporated into a flavorful dessert.

In addition to wine, scuppernongs and muscadines also make fantastic jams. Ms. Jeannie wants to send a giant box to her sister this summer so she can experiment with some special jam recipes! She’ll keep you posted on how it all turns out.

After the wine tasting, Ms. Jeannie and her friend headed to Paddy’s Ale House, just one of the 9 dining experiences on the Chateau property.

Paddy's Pub - direct from Ireland — Paddy’s Pub – direct from Ireland

The pub was built in Ireland, then deconstructed, brought to Georgia and reassembled. It has wonderful character and has retained a true Irish spirit. So if you are not exactly a wine lover – but a beer lover instead – than this is a grand spot to while away the afternoon. They serve all the traditions – warm Guinness, Irish whiskies and their own take on traditional fare like Fish & Chips, Shepard’s Pie and Boxty. Ms. Jeannie had the Shepard’s Pie which was comprised of braised spare ribs, mixed with vegetables and baked under a layer of mashed potatoes. Delicious!

If you have visited the Chateau, Ms. Jeannie would love to hear about your experience so please comment below. If not, are there any local wineries in your neck of the woods that you enjoy? If so, please share them with us!

In the Garden: How To Make Seed Starting Pots Out of Old Newspapers

Published on April 2, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen2 Comments

Happy April everyone! Now that gardening season is upon us all, Ms. Jeannie wanted to share a little garden project with you that she has deemed most helpful.

In the past Ms. Jeannie has always started her seedlings off in composted cardboard pots like this, which are supposed to be able to break down in the soil, pot and all, once you plant your seedlings in the garden…

They are great at providing good vessels for growing seedlings but Ms. Jeannie always finds that once she plants them in the ground – they never fully disintegrate. She’s either left with a top ring to the pot or a chunk of side wall that inhibits the roots of the plant from growing out in one direction or another.

So this year, she’s trying a new seed starting option…the newspaper pot!

news14 — Handmade newspaper pots for seed starting.

Because most newspapers are now printed with soy based inks, you can plant these cups directly in the ground once your seedlings are ready to be planted. They are fun, easy and inexpensive to make. Plus you are doing your part to recycle and also adding some compost to your garden!

Each pot takes about 4 minutes to make, so you can have a collection in under an hour and be well on your way to starting your spring garden.

Here is what you will need:

The ingrediants for your recycled garden containers — The ingredients for your recycled garden containers

2 four page sections of newspaper

A 40z straight body juice glass (this is important to have a straight body juice glass as opposed to using a tapered or flared glass)

Step 1.

Unfold your newspaper to full length. Place both sections on top of each other.

Step 2:

Fold newspaper in half length wise making sure to line up the edges.

Step 3:

Next, take your glass (open end of glass pointing down) and place the bottom half of it on the edge of the newspaper and begin to roll the newspaper around the glass, making sure to keep the glass straight as you roll. This is where using a tapered glass is tricky, because the taper makes the glass roll in non-linear directions.

Continue rolling the glass all the way down the length of the newspaper. Once you reach the end, tuck the newspaper into the open end of the glass

So that it should like this…

Step 4:

Next pull the glass out of the newspaper, this might take a minute if you rolled your glass really tight – you might have to sort of wiggle the glass out of the paper.

Once you remove the glass, you will wind up with a newspaper tube that looks like this…

Step 5:

Take your glass in your right hand, and place your paper cup on the table (in above manner). Insert the bottom of the glass into the paper opening and crush down the crinkled up paper in the bottom of the pot, which forms a floor for the container.

Pull your glass back out and the bottom of the pot should look something like this…

If you flip your pot over the bottom will look like this…

Flip your pot back around and you will be ready to fill it with gardening soil and seeds!

Ms. Jeannie placed her seed pots on a mesh screen frame so that air could get to it from all sides, but you can use any old tray if you like. By using two sections of newspaper you can now water your seedlings without your paper pot falling apart. If you just used one section of newspaper the pot would be too flimsy.

As soon as your seedlings get a few inches tall you can plant the whole paper package in the ground! Ms. Jeannie has planted spinach seeds in her pots which she will then transfer to terracotta container planters when they are ready.

By mid-May, she should be knee deep in fresh spinach!

She’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Mad Men Season 6: What the New Poster Might Tell Us!

Published on March 25, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen1 Comment

It’s just a few short weeks until Mad Men returns (Sunday, April 7th!) and Ms. Jeannie cannot wait! The new season 6 poster was released just last week. In case you missed it, here it is…

Mad Men Season 6 poster. Photo courtesy of collider.com

Ms. Jeannie always anticipates these posters! It’s a little sneak-peak about what’s ahead in the coming months! The new season 6 poster is quite different stylistically then the previous year’s posters…

Mad Men Season 5 poster. Image courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

Mad Men Season 4 poster. Photo courtesy of collider.com

Mad Men Season 3 poster. Photo courtesy of collider.com (Ms. Jeannie’s favorite poster!)

Mad Men Season 1 poster. Courtesy of screened.com

As you can see from the Season 6 poster, along with the new season brings a whole new style and a break from the clean, crisp, clear, ultra mod photography that was Mad Men as we knew it. Ms. Jeannie can only guess, based on the new poster, that this season will be edgier, more chaotic and less orderly than previous episodes. Oh the anticipation!

The artist behind this season’s poster is Brian Sanders, a UK illustrator that was specifically commissioned for this project due to work he did over 40 years ago. That’s a pretty powerful portfolio!

In the 1960’s Brian was working on projects like this…

Brian Sanders illustrations circa 1967. Photos courtesy of livejournal.com

Illustrations from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Photo courtesy of feedbagblog.blogspot.com — Brian Sanders’ 1968 illustrations from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Photo courtesy of feedbagblog.blogspot.com

Brian Sander’s illustration for Women’s Mirror in 1964. Photo credit leifpang via flickr

That one looks sort of familiar, doesn’t it? You can definitely see the similarities of that image and the Season 6 poster right down to the police, the stop sign and the airplane in back. Even the colors are close.

This style of illustration was coined bubble and streak, which was mastered through the use of acrylic paints layered with opaque washes. Ulimately, this combination achieved this sort of agitated textured look that boasts of energy and movement. Mad men’s creator, Matthew Weiner remembered this style of work the 60’s and wanted to imitate his style in the new season poster. The marketing department for the show couldn’t quite capture what Weiner had in mind, so the creative team called in the expert. Who better to imitate the style then the actual artist?! And so Sanders was hired!

And we are left to speculate!

Final scene of Mad Men Season 5. Photo courtesy via pinterest.com

Mad Men Season 5 ends with the scene of Joan and Don in the bar. The year is 1967 and lots of questions go unanswered as the final scene plays out. Ms. Jeannie has her hunches. 1968 brings a turbulent time in American history. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy are assassinated, birth control is banned by the Pope, Jackie Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis, moon exploration booms with the launch of Apollo 7 and the orbit of Apollo 8, fear of the nuclear bomb plants itself in American mindsets. Times are shifting in ways that no one is prepared for and the nostalgic sense of traditional Americana begins to dim as political events heat up.

If we return to the poster with those circumstances in mind – the Ology household has come up with these possibilities for Season 6…

Mr. Jeannie Ology thinks that the police in the poster…

are there for Don in the form of an IRS scandal with his Dick Whitman persona. Ms. Jeannie thinks that the police might involve some sort of DUI stop with Don or one of the other partners. Breathalyzers were just installed in all NY state trooper cars in 1968 , and we all know that the Mad Men gang were used to enjoying their libations and then getting in the car – so this might be an example of the changing times that the show is so good at subtly portraying (remember that garbage incident when Don and Betty and kids picnicked in the park?).

There is Don giving a passing glance to his old self, and the tight grasp of a female handhold…

which Ms. Jeannie thinks reconfirms his assurance in his new life with Megan. He no longer wants to rely on his old ways with all of his womanizing and manic episodes of not knowing who he truly is. In season 6, Ms. Jeannie thinks Don has finally figured himself out.

The firm! Photo courtesy via pinterest.com

Ms. Jeannie also thinks that Joan will become a partner in company name also – a change from last year’s Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce to Sterling Cooper Draper Harris, now that Lane is no longer (sad, because Ms. Jeannie really liked his character!). Mr. Jeannie Ology speculates that Roger Sterling is going to die of a heart attack, since his health has always been a simmering undercurrent in the storyline. And Ms. Jeannie thinks that Peggy will come back to the firm.

Whatever happens, Ms. Jeannie knows that it is going to be an interesting season! Do you have any speculations about the new season? What do you think about the new poster? Please post your comments below – it will be fun to hear everyone weigh in!!!

Happy First Day Of Spring!

Published on March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen2 Comments

Happy First Day of Spring, dear readers! After what seemed like an especially long, gray winter, Ms. Jeannie couldn’t be more thrilled to brighten up with some pastel colors and warm sunshine.

Ms. Jeannie's 1949 Vintage Flash Card reminds us that spring has come again:) — Ms. Jeannie’s 1949 Vintage Flash Card reminds us that spring has come again:)

To mark the occasion, Ms. Jeannie is taking you on a little photo tour of all things blooming here in her yard.

Sixteen Bradford Pear trees line the driveway, 8 on each side. They look spectacular in the Spring. In a few more weeks they will start dropping their petals, which look like a flurry of snow when the wind blows. Ms. Jeannie has to get her snow-fix anyway she can:)

If she were a bird, Ms. Jeannie would definitely follow suit of this brown thrasher and make a nest here in the tulip tree. He’s quite proud of this new abode and stays pretty close to home. Ms. Jeannie can totally understand why. If you lived in a tulip tree would you go wandering as much?

Ms. Jeannie was surprised to find the rosemary bush blooming also. For some reason, the idea that rosemary even blooms always surprises her, maybe because it is a year round evergreen in the South. Since it grows big quickly it is used in a lot of landscaping as a filler plant. When Ms. Jeannie lived up North, she never imagined that rosemary could get so big. But this particular bush is 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall!

The bright yellow forsythia bushes are like balls of sunshine popping up all over the yard! This particular batch sits next to the now famous fig bushes that you all have read about in past posts.

And of course there are the clusters of daffodils here and there. One day Ms. Jeannie is going to have a giant patch of all different varieties of daffodils. They are one of her most favorite flowers and really perk up the garden in early spring.

The Austrian poet and writer, Rainer Maria Rilke once said ” Spring is blooming so recklessly, if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking in the night.” Ms. Jeannie couldn’t agree more, although she likes to imagine there would be singing in the night instead of shrieking! Maybe Vivaldi felt the same when he composed the Four Seasons concerto!

This is the text of the Spring Sonnet, which is as lovely to read as it is to listen to!

Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song, and the brooks, while the streams flow along with gentle murmur as the zephyrs blow. There come, shrouding the air with a black cloak, lighting and thunder chosen to herald [the storm]; then, when these are silent, the little birds return to their melodious incantations.
And now, in the pleasant, flowery meadow, to the soft murmur of leaves and plants, the goatherd sleeps with his faithful dog at his side.
To the festive sound of a pastoral bagpipe, nymphs and shepherds dance under their beloved roof, greeting the glittering arrival of the spring.

If you’d like to share any pictures of spring arriving in your neck of the woods, Ms. Jeannie would love to post them on the blog as a spring around the world campaign. Just comment below and she’ll get it all arranged!

In the meantime,

An Icon (and an Artist) Identified!

Published on March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen2 Comments

Last week was a big week for the Catholic church with the announcement of new pope, Francis…

Pope Francis, aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Photo courtesy of crosscurrents.org — Pope Francis, aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Photo courtesy of countercurrents.org

Likewise – it was also a big week in the Ology household on a somewhat similar front. For close to a year now, Ms. Jeannie has been trying to identify the saint in her vintage Italian Catholic icon, that sits above her writing desk…

It was tricky business, because there a lot of saints of course, and their simple appearance and plain portrayals don’t allow for ease of searching. Just try doing a search for “saint in white and brown robes” and you’ll see what Ms. Jeannie means!

But luck or divine inspiration,as it might be, intervened earlier in the week which led one thing to another. Ms. Jeannie will explain…

It started with this collection of favorite items Ms. Jeannie curated on Etsy…

Cardinal Watercolor Painting by Splodgelodge

London Church Door Photography by Jillian Audrey Designs

Cardinal Red Flower Pin & Hair Clip from ArtTx

Vintage 1950s Mantilla Veil from Union Made Bride

8 Vintage Religious Medals from Albrechts Antiques

Vintage Set of Catholic Press Books from vintage archeology

Mary, Mother of God Art Print by Portraits of Saints

Cardinal Red Leather Tote Bag by Boga Bag

Handmade Vintage French Silk Ribbon Bracelet Cuff by Rubanesque

Vintage Concrete St. Francis of Assisi Statue

Red Rose Photograph by S Linton Photography — Red Rose Photograph by B Linton Photography

Vintage French Holy Water Font from French Provisions

Vintage Ruby Red Glass Chimney from Albrechts Antiques

St. Peters Cathedral Photograph by Shawn St. Peter

This is how Ms. Jeannie was introduced to Tracy from Portraits of Saints, who drew the beautiful Mary portrait…

Since her shop is called Portraits of Saints, Ms. Jeannie thought she might know who the saint was pictured in her icon. So Ms. Jeannie sent Tracy a message and wouldn’t you believe it, in about 10 minutes Tracy came back with an answer! (It really does help to ask the experts!)

Ms. Jeannie’s icon is a portrait of St. Clare, a detail from the Five Saints frescoe painted by one of Italy’s greatest 14th century painters, Simone Martini (1285-1344).

St. Clare was born in Assisi in 1194 and was one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi, who our new Pope chose as his Saint’s name. She ran away from home, cut off her hair, lived in a poorhouse, wore no shoes and ate no meat. She founded the Order of the Poor Ladies (eventually to be called the Order of the Poor Clares) along with a group of women and lived in poverty throughout her life. She was canonized on August 15th, 1255, two years after her death.

Ms. Jeannie is so thrilled to be able to put a name to a face now! Welcome home St. Clare!

Thank you thank you thank you to Tracy for the introduction. And now you know if you have any saint identification needs, she’s your gal!

St. Clare Portrait by Portraits of Saints

Vanity and the Fig Tree: A Clipping Update

Published on March 9, 2013March 9, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen3 Comments

Just as Ms. Jeannie said the other day “it’s amazing what a month can do” … well, it is equally amazing just to see what a a week can do when it comes to the wonderful workings of Mother Nature.

This was a picture of our fig tree cutting 11 days ago, having been snuggled into a moist grocery circular and tucked in a plastic Ziploc bag for just under a month…

Do you see the little the root sprout jutting out there near the base?! A good sign that our fig clipping was getting a new start! Ms. Jeannie was so proud of little fig. She thought it might be best to wrap him back up into the Ziploc for another week or two to see if he could grow some more shoots. After that he was going to be transplanted to a plastic cup filled with vermiculite, as recommended by the NewEnglandGardener.

Well, wouldn’t you know dear readers, as Ms. Jeannie was showing off her new gardening feat to a friend – she somehow managed to break off the new sprout. That’s right – completely broke it off – right at the base. Ms. Jeannie thought this was a reminder about vanity. Had she not been showing off – she would have had a strong and sturdy sprout!

Oh well. Back to the Ziploc the clipping went. If Fig could grow one sprout – surely he grow another!

For 10 days, Ms. Jeannie left it untouched. Yesterday, on Day 11, she (carefully this time!) unwrapped her clipping to see what , if anything was going on with it. This is what she saw…

Sprouts! Not just one but FOUR!

How exciting! The fig tree is on its way!

So the next step, according to the NewEnglandGardener, was to transplant the clipping to a plastic drinking cup filled with vermiculite. Ms. Jeannie allocated a plastic cup, Mr. Jeannie melted a few drainage holes in it, and Ms. Jeannie prepared for the transplant. Only there was one slight problem.

Ms. Jeannie didn’t have any vermiculite on hand. No problem, said the NewEnglandGardener. Thanks to his video, he also mentioned that you could use perlite. But, drat, again. Ms. Jeannie didn’t have any of that either.

So she she went online and found a potting soil/peanut shell alternative. She had both of those! She shelled about 10 peanuts, and mixed those shells with a handful of potting soil and made a new home for her clipping…

The NewEnglandGardener recommended using a clear plastic cup so that you can see the roots as they start to grow long and wrap around the inside of the cup.

Peanut shells act as lightweight soil aeration chips since they are big and cavernous.

Hope you like your new house, Fig! Now it is back to the shelf, where you’ll sit (out of the direct sun, of course!) for quite a bit of time while you grow roots and eventually leaves.

“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!” ~John Muir

Happy Growing!

To follow the fig tree clipping journey from the beginning, start here.

And The Winner Is….

Published on March 6, 2013March 6, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen9 Comments

Two weeks ago Ms. Jeannie held a little photo story contest on her blog with the chance to win this vintage photo…

Well, we didn’t have any entrants, dear readers. Not one! But that is okay by Ms. Jeannie. This gives her another opportunity to exercise her imagination! She had been looking at this photograph for quite awhile now, trying to imagine all the scenarios and possibilities these two ladies could have gotten themselves into. For days and days she looked and thought, but she couldn’t get beyond a sentence or two. Not even with the handwritten prompt on back that read Grace and me. I have on Grace’s hat and she has mine on.

To help the story develop, Ms. Jeannie threw two other photographs into the mix…

and then the story just opened up a like a sunny spring flower!

Here’s the situation, Ms. Jeannie came up with, based on the three pictures…

Rudyard Noble just drove onto Main Street and already the telephone lines were hot with gossip. Word had it that Rudyard was here on a visit specifically to see Grace Dalton, who at the present moment was on a ladder in the rafters of her parents garage shed. There had been speculation of letters exchanged between Grace and Rudyard over an entire year, but this matter was not discussed publicly. Speculation of the Mayor’s family had to be handled delicately, and as first daughter of Wayfaire, the politics and private matters concerning Grace’s love life, although enticing, had to be considered off public record, for the betterment of the community at large. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the Mayor with that temper of his flaring up like wildfire in the July heat.

That being said, this was a horse racing community, and quiet bets were being hedged in every household. Everyone knew that Sam of Sam’s Machine Repair was doing his best to court Grace all the way to the alter.

But now it seems there was to be some sort of competition for Grace’s heart and it was going to be tough. Rudyard was a self-made man with a booming business back in New York, with the looks of a movie star and the language of a literary lover. Sam on the other hand, came from more humble roots. He worked with his hands, studied engineering and fiddled around with the science of botony enough to surprise Grace with a hybrid of wildflower wonders in his backyard garden. The linchpin was that new car of Rudyard’s.

You see, Grace had a curious head for business. Not for the political glad-handing of her father’s world, but for the basics of profit and loss. She and Daisy, her very best girlfriend since grade school, had started a little hat business, which is what brought Grace into the storage shed on this very day.

Their business at first was just simple repairs…loose threads, ill-attached decorations, flopping flowers, etc. These quick fixes garnered the girls enough money to go to the cinema once a week, where they delighted in the costumes of Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Inspired, the girls began to feel the excitement in creating and then selling their own designs, based on popular movies of the day. Grace didn’t fancy herself as talented a milliner as Daisy, but she did have a special calming knack for dealing with customers and keeping the books figured correctly and organizing ads in the local newspaper. They became quite a little team.

That’s where Rudyard came in. Daisy had dreams of taking their business as far as Kentucky…to Lexington, the creative epi-center of the hat wearing kingdom. But Grace, although more timid in personality, had bolder ideas. She wanted to get to New York, to London, to Paris with their business. She wanted to walk in the footsteps of Coco Chanel and decorate the heads of movie stars and royalty.

Rudyard had left Wayfaire exactly four years ago this summer, and he was already such a tycoon in the New York business scene, he afforded his own fully furnished 5th Avenue apartment, a country Hudson River house upstate and now, his very own automobile. In their year of correspondence, Rudyard had become Grace’s university on big city enterprise, offering her step by step practicalities of what it would take to make it in Manhattan.

While this correspondence was building between Grace and Rudyard, Daisy was building something of her own as well – a love affair with Harry, Sam’s brother.

In addition now to hats, Daisy also dreamed of wedding dresses and babies and a house of her own. There was still lots of room for business in that head of hers, but Daisy was a prioritzer and Harry was arduant, so more often then not, Grace would catch Daisy sketching farmhouses instead of feathers, baby clothes instead of berets.

All this wedding talk on his brother’s behalf, got Sam thinking about his own future. He sat back all summer long and listened to Grace’s lyrical way with the language of hats and he wondered where he fit in to her whole new enterprise. Grace might be shy when it came to words of love but ask her about a certain style of brim or the cleaning and care of a certain type of fabric and she could talk for hours. He loved the idea of her determination but he also loved the idea of having a wife. And in all of the word’s spoken from Grace’s pale pink lips, she never once mentioned the word marriage to Sam. He noticed this. He was listening hard for some prompt or sign to keep encouraging him down the road of matrimony. He had grown quite used to Grace and he could picture her face settled into the same farm lifestyle that he wanted with her arms full of chickens and freshly baked bread and summer evenings on a porch in Wayfaire.

But now Rudyard is here, shiny and sophisticated and equally fond of Grace and her ways with language. Daisy’s gone to get Grace down from the rafters in the shed. She’ll have to pull the cobwebs from her hair and exchange her hat for Grace’s hat since Daisy’s style looks better with Grace’s dress.

Sam does his own rearranging. He puts on a tie – his one and only tie. If today is the day he is going to propose, he at least wants to do it properly. Harry says it is a rash decision. Hang back and see how Rudyard plays out – those are the words of advice Harry offers as they walk the back road shortcut to Grace’s house.

{to be continued} Look for more on this saga in coming blog posts!

Meanwhile, the trio of photographs is now available for sale in Ms. Jeannie’s shop here.

Thursday in the Kitchen: Creamy Potato Soup – A Recipe from Ireland

Published on March 1, 2013March 15, 2021 by In The Vintage Kitchen5 Comments

Spring is waking up slowly here in the South. The nights are still cold but the afternoons reach into the early ’60’s on most days now. This afternoon warming makes for delicious stolen moments around the 4:00pm hour when Ms. Jeannie likes to take a cup of coffee outside with her and dream about all the potential and possibility for her garden plan this coming season.

In anticipation of all this gardening, Ms. Jeannie has been going through some of her favorite recipes so that she can figure out what she needs to grow so that she’ll have the freshest ingredients possible. One of her most favorite things to make is soup, so you’ll be sure there will be a variety of vegetables popping up!

In anticipation of such gardening delights and in anticipation of the upcoming Irish holiday, Ms. Jeannie cooked up one of her most favorite soups…potato!

This recipe came from her Irish Isles cookbook, which was a birthday gift this past summer from her dad.

Straight from Ireland - music and recipes! — Straight from Ireland – music and recipes! Photo courtesy of irishshop.com

Not only was it a gift of recipes – but it also came with a cd of classical Irish music, which made for a well-rounded cooking experience!

This was a very sentimental gift for Ms. Jeannie. Many years ago, she took a father daughter trip to Ireland and together, they explored the Southern countryside for 10 days. They stayed at 3 different hotels and visited about half a dozen cities and towns. There were sheep (so many!), crazy drivers, the perilous N7 , endless Frank Sinatra on the radio, fabulous museums, trips to the lace-makers, dinners in castles, driving tours of coastal fishing villages, a wet and wild tour of the Cliffs of Moher, lunches in pubs and a million miles of laughter in-between. It was a fantastic trip – one of Ms. Jeannie’s most favorite of all her travel adventures.

This cookbook is a compilation of recipes from the country hotels and manor houses all over Ireland. There are even some recipes from the places where Ms. Jeannie and her dad stayed!

The Leek and Potato Soup Recipe that Ms. Jeannie just made comes from Newport House in County Mayo.

Newport House, County Mayo. Love all that ivy!

Built in the 1700’s, the country estate is now part of the Relais & Chateaux distinguished hotel group. It is a small, luxury country inn known most for its location overlooking the Newport River and its salmon and sea trout fishing, both in the river and in nearby waterways. The current owners, who were originally guests at the hotel, so fell in love with their accommodations they bought the hotel in the mid-1980’s to ensure that they would always have a fishing retreat to “come home to.” Imagine that! Going on vacation and purchasing your vacation destination because you loved it that much! Ms. Jeannie can totally understand – Ireland is magical like that:)

Here are some interior photos. The owners have decorated the hotel in a variety of antiques including Regency style mirrors. It looks like it has a lot of character!

The waterways surrounding the town of Newport. Photo courtesy of australliantraveller.net — The waterways surrounding the town of Newport. Photo courtesy of australiantraveller.net

It’s no wonder that soup is on the menu at Newport House. After a cool day of fishing on the water, Ms. Jeannie bets that a cup of hot potato soup is just what you’d want to have! She was delighted to see that it is still on the menu in the hotel’s dining room!

Ms. Jeannie's Leek and Potato Soup... — Ms. Jeannie’s Leek and Potato Soup…

Ms. Jeannie modified the recipe just a tad to incorporate items she already had on hand, which included a few bunches of fresh spinach tossed in at the very end.

Here’s the recipe, with Ms. Jeannie’s substitutions in parentheses…

Leek and Potato Soup – Serves 4

4 tablespoons butter (Ms. Jeannie used 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter)

1 1/4 lbs. leeks, cleaned and sliced

1 cup onion, chopped

3/4 cup celery, chopped

4 cups homemade chicken broth

8 to 10 oz. potatoes, peeled and chopped (Ms. Jeannie used 2 large russet baking potatoes)

1 spring fresh thyme, leaves pulled

1 fresh sage leaf, whole

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (Ms. Jeannie used 1/2 cup of 2% milk)

2 large handful bunches of fresh spinach

1. In a large saucepan melt butter (and oil, if using Ms. Jeannie’s version) over medium low heat. Add leeks, onion and celery and saute until onions are translucent but not browned (about 5-7 minutes).

2. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, thyme and sage. Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.

3. Transfer to a blender and puree. Return soup to original cooking pot, add cream (or milk) and salt and pepper. Fold in spinach and cook over low heat for 5 more minutes before serving.

Ms. Jeannie served her soup with a multi-grain baguette which was good for dipping! And, despite having only a 1/2 cup of cream (or milk in Ms. Jeannie’s case) this is an incredibly creamy soup once it is pureed. And it is quick to make with few ingredients! Thank you Ireland for making dinner simple and delicious!!!

Over the next couple of weeks, leading up to St. Patrick’s Day (Mr. Jeannie Ology’s heritage day!), Ms. Jeannie will be trying the recipes in the cookbook from the hotels and country houses she and her dad stayed in on their vacation. These are sneak peeks of three of them…

The Park Hotel in Kenmare, County Kerry (Ms. Jeannie’s favorite!)

The Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephens Green in Dublin

Until next time…Slainte, dear readers! Which means cheers in Irish:)

Fig Clipping Update! What a Month Can Do!

Published on February 26, 2013February 26, 2013 by In The Vintage KitchenLeave a comment

Here’s an update from the January blog post: Figs for All: How to Grow a Fig Tree In Your Garden

After carefully cutting, wrapping, storing and dating (January 31st, 2013) her fig cutting as the NewEnglandGardener instructed, Ms. Jeannie was a little disappointed when she checked the clipping a week ago, only to see that nothing happened.

For three weeks the clipping had been tucked inside it’s plastic Ziploc, stored in a warm spot (on a shelf in the stairwell) and left unbothered to grow, grow, grow. But as of last week, the twig still looked exactly the same as when she started. No sprouts, no new green, no shoots. In the NewEngland Gardeners video, he already had sprouts after three weeks, so Ms. Jeannie worried that, perhaps, she had done something wrong and that she may have led her readers down a rocky garden path.

In speaking with a friend of hers about this matter, Ms. Jeannie learned another way that you could grow a fig clipping.

Method 2: Rooting a fig twig in a container of water.

In water! So Ms. Jeannie went out, cut another twig and placed that one in a jar of water and set it on her sill away from the sun.

This morning, she checked the status of both the Ziploc bag and the jar. This would now now be week 4 for the Ziploc bag and week 2 for the jar.

She was delighted to find this in her bag:

Look closely and you’ll see a sprout at the very base of the twig…

Yey! Ms. Jeannie must have been a little impatient last week. This is a good reminder that you can’t rush Mother Nature. She is ready, when she’s ready!

The grocery circular that Ms. Jeannie wrapped the twig in is still moist, even though she has never added any more water since the start, and it is a little spotted with mold…

The Ziploc bag also contains condensation…

Condensation of bubles — Condensation bubbles

…so essentially, Ms. Jeannie created her own little greenhouse!

Nothing’s happening with the twig in the jar of water yet, but now Ms. Jeannie knows just to give it time!

So what’s next for the sprouted twig? Well, Ms. Jeannie is going to keep it in the Ziploc for one more week to see if any new shoots will form and then transfer it to a shoe-box size plastic container with potting soil as the NorthernGardener suggested. In the meantime, she’ll keep her eye on the water twig to see what happens.

Until next time, dear readers, grow fearless!

Grow Fearless Art Print by Feed Yor Soul Art on Etsy (click the photo for more info about this print) — Grow Fearless Art Print by Feed Your Soul Art on Etsy

And don’t forget! You have until midnight tonight to enter to win this photograph (click on the ladies for contest information)…

Storytime (and a Challenge!) with Ms. Jeannie: How Old Photographs Can Spark The Imagination!

Published on February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen2 Comments

When Ms. Jeannie first started doing her genealogy research, the holy grail of success for her was finding the faces of her ancestors. She worked close to a year before she uncovered any. Ironically, that first photo that opened up the pictorial floodgates, was right under her nose… in an album Ms. Jeannie’s mom had forgotten about in the back of a closet!

The day Ms. Jeannie looked at the face of her great great grandmother Martha, for the first time, she was so overcome with emotion, she cried!

The first picture of great great grandmother Martha (on right)

Silly but true. Ms. Jeannie is not really the weepy kind, after all. Anyway, she just got caught up in the moment. All those months of researching Martha’s life – her 11 kids, her journey in covered wagon from Indiana to Ohio to Iowa, her husband’s military service in the Civil War, her farm life in Iowa… all those details rolling around Ms. Jeannie’s head for all that time. And then suddenly – there was Martha! There was the shape of her face, the evidence of glasses, the style of her hair.

Since then, through help from online forums like ancestry.com and genealogy.com and the kindness of sharers, Ms, Jeannie has found handfuls of family photos. Her family. Spread out over many trees, many lines and many countries. These are some of the more recent finds…

Great Grand Aunt Anna's house in Iowa — Great Grand Aunt Anna’s house in Iowa

Fourth Great Grandparents Maria & Garret

Great Grandmother Juna and her sister Hannah

Had she never done the research, Ms. Jeannie would never have known what any of these people looked like. With the exception of great grandmother Juna, these were all brand-new faces of family.

Ms. Jeannie likes to look at these pictures and think about the context in which they were taken. What was great Aunt Leona thinking about? Why were Juna and Hannah wearing paper dresses? What was the pin on the lapel of J. William? Noticing small details like this paints a vivid picture for the imagination!

In the same vain, whenever Ms. Jeannie comes across old photographs for sale, she can’t help but do the same exact thing – she thinks about the back story surrounding each image. She has several examples of this in her Etsy shop… let’s take a look…(click on any of the pictures for more information about each photograph)

On first glance, you might just see a picture of a girl on a bench…

But crawl inside Ms. Jeannie’s head and she’ll tell you this story…

“Nina waited patiently for Spring. Well, technically, she was waiting for summer – but you had to get through spring in order to get to summer, so she had to dream in order. This summer, she’d be done. Done with high school. Done with wearing plaid skirt uniforms and done, done, done with all that homework, thank goodness. Sure, she was going onto college in the Fall, but that would be different. There would be boys, and classes she wanted to take and parents that she only had to see on breaks. At college, her preferences for life would bloom and Nina couldn’t wait for that. She’d study literature and she’d become a writer and her very first piece would be about the suffocation of long skirts and loafers.”

Here, you see two bathing beauties…

And Ms. Jeannie sees Rose and Evelyn…

“Rose and Evelyn stayed in their swimsuits the whole entire vacation. And who could blame them? With that ocean stretching out behind them and the infinity pool disappearing in front – it was all they needed. This was the vacation where Evelyn perfected her dive, and where Rose realized that she was now technically old enough to flirt with boys without looking ridiculous. It was an ego-booster for both of them, this vacation.”

This one is a school scene from the 1920’s…

Sometimes, Ms. Jeannie sees many stories in one scene. Such is the case, with this one! Here is all she imagined…

“There’s the obvious one, of course, about how smiling Dorothy is in love with Gilbert and absolutely thrilled that her crush of the past two years is now sharing elbow space with her.

There’s the story about lively Pauline (in the forefront) and how she talked her way into getting the traveling photographer to stop by her Biology 101 class. “You’ll want to document the budding scientific genius occurring in room 9, sir. I guarantee you that.”

There’s the story of Mr. Whipple, first year science teacher, who doggedly fought the school board for months over the right to buy 37 microscopes so that each student in his class (not just the boys) would have use of their own scientific study instruments.

Then there is the story of three friends, who spent all summer in the science lab researching why the bullfrogs in Tillman Pond were genetically bigger then the bullfrogs in every other pond in town.

And let’s not forget about humble Pauline who was the first girl, in the state of Texas, to win first place in the national science fair, which yielded not only a cash prize for her, but new textbooks and supplies for her school.

Oh, Ms. Jeannie could practically write a novel with all the situations going on here! Now it’s your turn to look close and see what stories you see…”

This one is a miniature portrait…

Ms. Jeannie called her Marion and wrote about her neighbor, Arnie (short for Arnold)…

“Marion’s got a suitor in her neighbor, Arnie, across the street. Well, technically he’s not really her suitor yet – but one of these days she’s going to fall head over heels for him. He just knows it. In the meantime, he does his best, on a daily basis, to try to impress her – nothing’s really gone gangbusters so far. Most of the time she stands there, with her arms crossed and that same as ever are you kidding me expression. But Arnie’s of a hopeful mindset…one day, she’ll see it.”

Ms. Jeannie got a little help from the inscription on this photo postcard…

This is what she thought was going on inside Bobbie’s world…

“Oh that Bobbie – she’s quite a clever kidder, calling her beau a schnook like that. She hopes this subtle Merry Christmas postcard tactic is all that she will need to make handsome Dean realize that she is quite over the moon for him. It’s only taken her the whole semester to get her nerve up – but what the heck does she have to lose now? It’s Christmastime and she’s feeling hopeful. She’ll just slide it under Dean’s dorm room door before she heads home for the holiday. Let him stew on that during winter break!”

Of course, all these photographs are open to interpretation,. You may see something totally different in the bathing beauties or in Bobbie’s cheering stance, but that is sort of the fun of these old photographs. Don’t you think?

Following this train of thought, Ms. Jeannie came up with a fun little challenge for all of you dear readers!

Here it is..

Now it is your turn to come up with the back story about this picture above! Write your own quick little story snippet about this photograph and email it to msjeannieology[at]yahoo.com

It doesn’t have to be long… just a few sentences is great. The most creative entry, as determined by Mr. Jeannie Ology (for fairness, of course) will win the picture! The challenge will be open for one week so be sure to get your entries in by midnight on Tuesday, February 26th. Winner will be announced via blog post, and also email, on Wednesday, February 27th.

Lucky for you – there’s a little extra help with this challenge! On the back of the photo, written in pencil, it says…

“Grace & Me. I have on Grace’s hat and she has mine on.”

Here’s a few more close-up views of the photograph. In case you want to know the size – it measures 2.5″ inches x 3.5″ inches.