Vintage Hawaiiana Up Next off to Hawaii Today!

We're off to Honolulu today to work on two Vintage 1930's Hawaiian homes we have there. Rental Seasons is upon us and we have some work to do. We will be posting this week about Hawaiiana and Hawaii, favorite places, hikes, shopping. Aloha and Mahalo!

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We Woke Up in Bed with Cha Cha

Meet Cha Cha, our classic 1964 T Bird Convertible. While working on interior design of our Scottsdale Arizona Home, we had some friends over for drinks who mentioned that they had Cha Cha and that she was for sale. Well, three martinis later, I heard the car wheels squeal as one of the guys went home to retrieve her. It was dark, she was sexy and she wore "jungle red". Let's just say, she wasn't pretty in the morning!

This "three martini" transaction began the process of a new "interior design" project to renovate this classic car. We chose to completely redo the interior upholstery, add air conditioning, and redo all of the faux wood veneer and interior chrome. Mechanically she was in pretty good shape, thank god,  except for the mechanism for the convertible top which we replaced as well.

We added a touch screen media player and reworked the speakers so that new speakers would pipe sound out of the original location of the speakers (up front and between the seats in the back). We gave up some sound quality, but avoided having cumbersome speakers on the door panels and retained the authentic look of this classic car.         

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Sotheby's: Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale Tonight

You can register to participate or watch this sale on line live! It's really fascinating to see what great art is fetching evening in these economic times. Go to Sotheby's.

KEES VAN DONGEN

1877-1968

JEUNE ARABE

Signed van Dongen (bottom center): indistinctly inscribed

Arabe Egypte on the stretcher

40 1/8 by 25 3/4 in  102 by 65.5 cm

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A Holiday Idea: Donate Bare Essentials. Keep it Simple

It's tough times. We are all stressed out on a daily basis more than usual. So, it may not come as quickly this year, but the thought of giving to others during the holiday season will come to you.  I received a mail from the director of Pacific Pride Foundation here in Santa Barbara today that gave me pause. In the mail, David provided a list of bare essentials for us to consider taking to the local food bank. Here is that list as well as a link to Feeding America . 

Keep it Simple but Keep it in Mind

Frozen Turkeys (for a Happy Thanksgiving) Paper Towels Toilet Paper (individual or bulk) Toothpaste/Floss* Toothbrushes Mouthwash* Shampoos/Conditioners* Soap (indiv. bars) Sodas/Gatorade* Bottled Water (individual, bottled) Juices* Laundry Detergent (liquid) Cooking Oil Salad dressings Sugar Flour Canned Tuna/Chicken *smaller individual or family size better than larger "bulk" containers.

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Sweating if off at Squaw Peak

Saturday morning I hiked Squaw Peak in Phoenix with friends who told me it would be a perfect morning cardio blast to sweat out the toxins after an evening out with them and their perfect cosmopolitans. After the hike I wanted to post about how terrific this hike is and found the photos of Robert Body

 
Robert not only captured the experience of  Squaw Peak beautifully he also is an incredibly creative and talented photographer. 

Squaw Peak, as it has been known to locals, is actually now renamed Piestewa Peak, I guess more politically correct. 

Flora in this area is typical of the lower Sonoran Desert and includes almost all varieties of Arizona cactus such as saguaro, barrel, hedgehog, pincushion, jumping cholla and prickly pear. Trees and colorful shrubbery include palo verde, mesquite, ironwood trees, creosote (dominate), ocotillo, brittle bush, desert lavender and giant sage shrubs.

Reptiles and wildlife that thrive in the preserve are gila monster, horned lizard and chuckwalla. Hikers also can encounter rattlesnakes. The mammal population includes coyote, jackrabbit, cottontail rabbit, ground squirrel and kit fox. There are more than 54 species of birds from the turkey vulture to mockingbirds, cactus wrens, gamble’s quail and several species of owls and hawks.

For me the hike took 35 minutes to ascend the to the summit and about the same to come down. As always, on a steep rocky trail coming down is tougher on the knees, not really a running trail. This trail is more like a stair master, in fact there are lots of stairs carved out in the stone. 

This is a beautiful Sunrise hike as captured by Robert. I was not an early rise. The trail is not too challenging, just a continuous climb, you can choose your own pace and heart rate. Piestewa Peak is at elevation 2,608 with a vertical elevation gain of 1,190 feet.




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Fast and Fancy Filet will Green Peppercorn Sauce

One our favorite fall / winter dinners thats easy to prepare for 4-6 people is Filet Mignon with a creamy peppercorn sauce. It's fun to prepare on our Wolf range stovetop with friends hanging out in the kitchen with a glass of wine during the prep. We alternate recipes sometimes using black crushed peppercorns and Madeira Wine or Green Peppercorns in brine and Cognac, both with heavy cream. We usually serve  this with Haricots Vert on the side.

Next time I going to try this dish with Cognac and White Wine as posted by Graham on Cookbook.ca.za.

Last nights preparation for four:
1 3/4 cups beef stock or canned beef broth

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 6- to 8-ounce filet mignon steaks (each about 1 inch thick)

• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
• 2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine

Boil stock in small saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Cook steaks to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plate (do not clean skillet).

Add chopped shallots to same skillet and sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add reduced beef stock, 1 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons Cognac and green peppercorns. Boil until mixture thickens to sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve. Check out more recipes on Epicurious.com.


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A Kitchen Design that is Modern, Hip, Glam...Oh and Functional!

    We wanted to create a 21st Century look in this mid century modern house. A professional style kitchen that would be "eat in" intimate but also accommodate a staff for larger catered events as well.

The Floors are Italian Silver Travertine. This gray (silver) and brown marble has exactly the perfect warmth and depth of color to coordinate nicely with the quarter sawn oak cabinets and stainless steel appliances and countertops. We used Italian Statuary marble, white with heavy gray veins to contrast  and offset the other materials in the room. Note that the Statuary countertop on the island is one very large piece and it is book matched with the vertical end panels. 

The elliptical table is 1960's Milo Baumann and the Oak Chairs are 1950's Hans Wegner. 1950's' Italian blue gray Glassware.  

The Light Fixtures are from Boyd Lighting in San Francisco. The Professional Dual Fuel Double Oven Range is a 48" Wolf Range with Six Burners and a Griddle.

The kitchen cabinets were built by Henrybuilt in Seattle. We worked closely with Henrybuilt to create a look that blended the modern with the authentic appeal of this mid century home.  We achieved a look for this kitchen that is both sophisticated, modern and technically advanced. We combined horizontal and vertical grained quarter sawn oak panels with stainless steel countertops and appliances. We used linear full length steel pulls that added just the right punctuation. We made custom oak doors with frosted glass panels that concealed the pantries. All built out of oak to be cohesive with the kitchen design. 

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