Snowdrops

I took a walk with Jackson through the woods yesterday and came across a carpet of pretty white snowdrops.  I could't stop myself from uprooting a few.  They'll go out in the garden once they're done blooming in the house.

Banana Splits

The other night while cleaning out the refrigerator, I noticed some older strawberries that were on the verge of not making the cut.  I've been making a real effort to be less wasteful when it comes to food so I started dreaming up possible recipes for these "about to bite the dust berries"....  

The winner...a strawberry sauce....  

Chop a pint of strawberries...

Cook in a medium sauce pan with 1/2 tsp of lemon
juice and 1/2 cup  of sugar...

Mash & stir for several minutes until the sauce reduces

...then came the Homemade Hot Fudge idea...

Hot Fudge recipe can be found here: Hot Fudge Recipe

...followed by the bananas that were sure to be banana bread in a few short days had they not been needed for these diet destructing deserts I had conjured up...

 All because of old strawberries...scrimpy yet scrumptious!

 Check out Harbor Homestead & Co. for the perfect accompaniment:

Our Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor Spoons 

and make your own Banana Splits tonight!

Montauk at Sunrise

For Christmas, I finally got a real 35mm camera (Thanks Marc :) one worth getting up in the middle of the night to drive to Montauk and photograph the sunrise.  I haven't been up this early in awhile and sadly, I'd forgot how rewarding it is.  Truth be told, it was my brother who inspired me (Thanks Steven:)  He is a great photographer who should morph his hobby into a living somehow.  He was planning to go and I thought it would be a great opportunity to use my new toy.

The fabled Montauk lighthouse didn't disappoint.  We got there about an hour before sunrise amid deer and dedicated surfers beginning to stir in the pre-dawn light.  What I am really captivated by though is the lamp softly glowing in one of the lighthouse's windows.  Really? Someone lives there?  A lighthouse keeper, my nostalgic heart skipped a beat at the thought.  Upon returning home, I researched it and it turns out there is still a lighthouse keeper at the Montauk lighthouse.  I am grateful for things like this in life - that automation and computers and technology cannot replace the lighthouse keeper and her gigantic black Newfoundland.  Jealous...yet inspired before the sun even came up, we walked down to the beach.

Here are the pictures, my first attempt at real photography:

Starting a New Year at The End

Christmas at the Vanderbilt Museum-Part II

We're opening the velvet rope & inviting you in for a glamourous evening at the legendary 

"El Morocco"...

As I mentioned in my last post, Mom and I volunteered to decorate a room at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport for Christmas.  As with any design project, we had our challenges.  The biggest was the sheer lack of well, anything, in the room.  No furniture whatsoever with no budget for decorating whatsoever.   Not $1. What we did have, was a sprawling waterview of Northport Harbor, some wonderful old iron sconces and light fixtures and a great theme of the El Morocco nightclub.  

The iron "sconces"  were actually once used as flag holders that flanked the beautiful iron door between them.  We filled the candelabra sections with oversized white tapers and placed flameless votives in the flag holders below.  Sprays of dried palms & silver and blue bulbs adorned with blue and white bows made them festive....

The El Morocco was noted for its celebrity clientele and its navy blue and white zebra stripe upholstered banquettes.

We built the navy blue zebra stripe banquette similar to the ones the El Morocco was so famous for.

We also built these palm trees -they're over 8' tall! 

The sign was also hand-painted.

Garlands with dried palm fronds, blue poinsettia and silver ornaments.

White & Blue tree...

We made tree ornaments with old black & white photos of celebs at El Morocco. 

The blue and white lanterns were in this room and worked
so well with the theme.

If you get a chance, stop by the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport and take a tour.  The museum is a wonderful piece of Long Island's history and they're in need of financial support.  If you have friends or family visiting for the holidays its a great idea to take them for a visit.