Innehållsförteckning för September - October 2008 från Victoria

Through the pages of Victoria, the editors share with you our favorite stories about people, places, special events, and other things we hold dear. We invite you to tell us what inspires you. We want every issue of Victoria to speak to your heart, so we’ve listed some questions that will allow you to tell us how we can serve you better. • What is your favorite Victoria column? • What topics would you like to see covered in future issues? • What is your idea of a dream vacation? • Who inspires you? • How would you define your decorating style? • If you had an afternoon all to yourself, how would you spend it? Visit www.victoriamag.com/share to send us your responses. We look forward to receiving your answers.…

The captivating allure of antique finery is an ideal motif for the cards of inspired women who capture the essence of a vintage aesthetic in the wares they create. Hope Wallace’s eclectic company, Paper Relics, began with a postcard and evolved into a full line of charming greeting cards, stationery, collage sheets, and rubber stamps inspired by old typography and antique images. Hope’s knack for mixing old elements with modern principles lends a unique feel to her products. Avid collector Cheryl Miller uses old black-andwhite photos, vintage children’s books, charm bracelets, and Maxfield Parrish prints to create items for her scrapbooking and card business. Cheryl also teaches classes on scrapbooking with “diamonds in the rough” found in antiques stores. Visit Cheryl’s online shop at www.croppingcooks.com. Culling from an archive of…

Dilettantes may dabble, but Tasha Tudor lived her art, from the chickens she raised to the pictures she painted. Clad in the curious clothing of another time, she quite simply invented herself from the soul outward and launched her life backward to the nineteenth century, where she felt most at home. Though born in 1915, Tasha immersed herself in the homespun world of the 1830s, sometimes claiming to be the reincarnated wife of a sea captain from that period. Having purchased her first cow as a teenager, she continued to pursue her dream of a wholly agrarian lifestyle throughout her adulthood in New England. From a farmhouse in New Hampshire to the cottage she called home in Vermont, Tasha and her family raised and tended goats, geese, horses, ducks, and…

Passed down through generations as family heirlooms, purchased at an estate sale, or found on an online auction, silver makes its way into our homes to be displayed or put to good use. Long before the sterling standard was adopted in the late 1880s, silver pieces were generally crafted as “coin silver”— melted coins fashioned into utensils and even serving pieces. The craft was common from early colonial times until well after the Civil War. Markings typically included the first and last initials of the silversmith and occasionally the city and state of origin. “The term coin silver is misunderstood,” says Erik Voss, a collector and researcher in Fullerton, California. Although technology eventually led to the use of sheets of silver in the mass production of pieces, the term continued…

Agem in a jewel box, the French Quarter remains the crowning destination of New Orleans. Though centuries old, the Crescent City endures as an arbiter of style and flair, and the quarter is its heart. There, you will discover Old- World treasures, wine and song, and an unexpected refuge for respite. A light jacket or sweater is all that is required for even the chilliest autumn afternoon in the French Quarter. A leisurely stay at the Soniat House includes world-class amenities and the inn’s signature breakfast of featherlight buttery biscuits, garden-fresh strawberry preserves, and chicorykissed Creole café au lait. When those fabled saints do indeed go marching into New Orleans, let us hope for their sakes they have but one destination in mind: 1133 Chartres Street. At that address sits…

SHOPS of MONTREAL Though there are some tempting large stores in Montreal, go to the classic department store Ogilvy for luxuries and to hear a bagpiper each noon. Local favorite Arthur Quentin will provide all that’s needed for kitchen and table, even accoutrements for the pique-nique anglais, a traditional English picnic. Above: Bleu Nuit is the place for indulgent bedroom and bath items, such as these linen towels. Below: The small boutiques have their own delights— at Créations Nicole Moisan, there’s lace from around the world, beautiful on its own or for trimming linens or curtains. Strolling the narrow streets of Vieux-Montréal, Montreal’s Old City, on an early autumn evening, it’s easy to think you’ve dropped out of time and place. Surely this is a long-ago evening in France, with…

Enter my home and heart, nor ever hence depart… —HORATIUS BONAR, “ABIDE WITH US” does a home have a spirit of its own? Perhaps. Do we not all occasionally sense the stirrings of unseen somethings or someones gently tugging at us as we move from room to room? Brownie Evans does; she even stops to listen. But it is no ghost, she insists, it is the very walls that enclose her. “My soul lives here, not just my body,” says Brownie. “I listen to my home, and I let it tell me what is comfortable and what isn’t. I let it be what it wants to be.” More accurately described as agelessly elegant rather than comfortable, the English-style manor Brownie shares with her family is a work in progress, an…

Scalamandré’s rose-petal-soft silk skeins come in all colors of the rainbow and are transformed into trims and braids. “It takes real artistry to create the trims,” says design director Julie Kaminska. “We can replicate anything in history, and we can create anything a designer dreams up. We have made trims for everything from the White House to Big Bird of Sesame Street. When I go to the palaces in Europe, while everyone else is looking at the paintings, I’m looking at the trims to get ideas.” When Julie Kaminska pushes open Scalamandré’s scarred steel door, she tilts her head to hear the music played by the century-old looms. Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack, the silky symphony serenades and soothes her. “I just love to hear it,” she says, smiling. Kaminska, the company’s…

AUTUMN’S FORTUNE: A HARVEST OF RECEIPTS Begins on page 42 Autumn Bisque Makes 6 servings 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2 tablespoons butter, divided 11/2 cups chopped onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic 3/4 cup chopped carrots 1/4 cup chopped celery 4 cups chicken broth, divided 2 cups sliced mushrooms 1 cup chopped leeks 3 cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 11/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme Garnish: toasted pumpkin seeds 1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery, and cook for 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. 2. Add 2 cups chicken broth, and…

Collecting is my passion. My blue and white china collection grew from a desire to accentuate my Grandmother Norton’s Blue Willow vegetable bowl, and over the years I have accumulated a variety of lovely pieces. Some are priceless; others simply called my name from secluded shelves in various antiques shops. All give me personal satisfaction as I use them to decorate my home. As I travel, I am always looking for things to add to my collection. The first thing I do is search for quaint little antiques stores, then anticipate the excitement of finding another wonderful plate or petite bowl. My latest search is for divided baby feeding plates. The arrival of our first grandchild has given me a new direction for my collection. I hope to find more…

VICTORIA! YOU ARE BACK IN my life at a time when I can peruse each issue over and over, and do it at my leisure. I’m anxious to try to duplicate your fabulous rooms and ideas. I’ve never parted with a single copy, and I love them all, but the May/June issue is the most inspiring of all. I wanted to pick out my favorite pages, but there are too many to count. “The Last Gilded Cup” was such fun reading. I’ve read it many times and envision myself having tea with the writer. Thank you for bringing such beauty into our lives. NORMA GOLDEN-MILLER Dakota City, Nebraska FORTY YEARS AGO, WHEN MY husband, Bob, daughter, Jill, and I moved to Newport Beach, California, I became acquainted with Delores Bowles,…

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” —ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON The spirit of travel is strong during the fall. With a well-packed satchel, a selection of suitable accessories, and a curious soul, we’re setting offon a voyage, ready to take on the adventures ahead. Won’t you venture ou join us? The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. —SAMUEL JOHNSON Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. —MIRIAM BEARD…

The natural beauty and easy elegance of California’s wine country provides the inspiration behind an appealing line of delicate bath, beauty, and home-care products abounding with environmentally friendly ingredients. Lavender, grape seeds, and even wine lend the soaps, creams, and other products a distinctive Napa Valley flair. Sheila Rockwood finds her muse in almost everything in the picturesque Napa Valley. It’s not hard to see why. From rolling hills dotted with winding grapevines to a dazzling array of flowers and wildlife, the area of northern California known for its stunning vistas and delicious wines is effortlessly inspiring. In January 2000, with two young sons and another on the way, Sheila longed for a more flexible career that would allow her to spend time with her children. As it turned out,…

menu AUTUMN BISQUE Harvest Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette SPICED DINNER ROLLS Walnut Caramel Butter COCONUT PUMPKIN TART It may be rightly said that there is no new pie under the sun, but this in no way diminishes the tried-and-true favorites that grace our tables on holidays and special occasions and at Sunday suppers with kin and kith. In fall, especially at Thanksgiving, the perennial pie of choice is inevitably made with pumpkin. Though we associate pumpkin pie with the stalwart pilgrims of Plymouth, the dish made no known appearance at the Thanksgiving celebration of 1621. But pumpkin was almost certainly served that day— slow-roasted in a smoldering fire, hollowed, and filled with freshly drawn milk, honey, and spices. Easily cultivated by colonists and harvested in abundance, the pumpkin evolved over…

If you’ve ever tried to imagine what it would be like to walk into a fairy tale, browsing through this Berkeley-based shop will satisfy your curiosity. The intriguing combination of ethereal whimsy and sweet romance, mixed with a generous dose of peculiarity, makes this one-of-a-kind store seem like a world of its own. “We want the store to be an escape from the mundane—a magical place in a world that is increasingly predictable and commercial,” says coowner Alice Erb. This is a magical place, indeed. Much of the eccentric inventory reads like a list of goods at an exotic bazaar from long ago: colorful vintage Chinese paper garlands, delicate French string, Italian alphabet ribbons, Victorian coral necklaces, hand-knit stuffed animals from Bolivia, Mexican church candles, woven ikats from Uzbekistan, and…

In the heart of New York City’s Tribeca district is a hidden treasure for antiques lovers. If you’re not looking closely, it’s easy to miss it. But if you glance past the simple gray exterior and walk inside Secondhand Rose, you may feel as though you’ve entered another world. Antique Persian lamps made of inky iron and burnished brass with beaded shades cast a warm, soft glow on carved-mahogany furniture, intricate and exotic in its design. High-back chairs with mother-of-pearl and ivory inlays and massive porcelain urns add to the faraway feel. At the far end of the shadowy, richly hued room, however, is a blaze of color and light. Hydrangea, palm fronds, circus elephants, caged birds, trellis patterns, bowls of fruit, and more are displayed on nearly 150 years’…

WWhen I unlock the door to my little Greenwich Village bookshop, it’s usually very quiet, but within the hour, the pianist who lives upstairs sits down to play, sending strains of Puccini or Cole Porter floating down. The shop is quite small, but having lived in a studio apartment for thirty-two years, I find it ample. The circa-1875 building that houses Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks has the quirky yet charming attributes traditional to the Village—crooked floors and virtually no right angles anywhere. In such a compact space, the only way to go is up, so the bookcases reach almost to the ceiling, all brimming with cookbooks, some older than the building itself. The oldest ones, which I keep closest to my desk (and my heart), include etiquette and housekeeping manuals, as…

Quilting is a journey that involves dreaming and planning, saving scraps imbued with old memories, and appreciating the fi- nal product. A seventh-generation quilter, Vivian Gregory finds that quilt making also includes a call to pass on the art form. Sitting on a box at her mother’s knee, she remembers piecing her first quilt from old dress fabrics. Although quilting and fabric collecting have taken her all over the world, she still appreciates the simple florals of those dresses, along with the rich primary patterns of the Civil War quilts she inherited. “The longer you take to make a quilt, the longer it will survive,” or so the wisdom goes. Quilting is a practice in patience from inspiration to preparation to completion. From choosing between patchwork, appliqué, or embroidery techniques…

www.victoriamag.com SHOPS WE LOVE Take an exclusive peek inside some of Victoria’s favorite shops to find antique jewelry, whimsical housewares, and sweet treats. ON OUR BOOKSHELF Journey around the world without leaving the comfort of your own home with these books inspired by travel and the joys that come with exploring the world. O CANADA Relish in the beauty of Quebec City and Montreal, two of Canada’s most beautiful and beloved travel destinations. A TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS Join us as we taste our way through the Big Easy, from beignets to po’boys and everything in between. GO ONLINE and discover a wealth of resources right at your fingertips. The elegance, the style, the femininity, the romance, the magazine that you adore—it’s back and better than ever with a sensational…

Until I was seventeen, my traveling was limited to the East coast of the United States and Canada. I played the junior tennis circuit and traveled with the New England team. My aunt, an international social worker, had an inspired idea to take her three oldest nieces on a journey around the world. Experiencing the color, diversity, rituals, and beauty of other cultures broadened my vision of what a well-lived and well-traveled life could become. This thrilling eye-opening journey of discovery has been central in my life. If not for the vision of my aunt, my life could have taken a very different, limited direction. As it is, I’ve made travel a major consideration in my continuing education. The world is the classroom to me, and as I explore distant…

Diary of a Traveling Soul The Right Note Just in time for fall, we’ve selected a host of products ideal for an autumn journey. Whether you’re setting offon a world tour or just taking a jaunt to the country, you’ll love our travel-perfect finds. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” —MARCEL PROUST Close to Your Heart OUR PRIVATE COLLECTION 1900 International Park Drive, Suite 50 Birmingham, AL 35243 ⁊ Cranberry Charlotte Bronte Journal@ $16.96 (PB-4319) ⁊ Ivory Mark Twain Signature Collection Fountain Pen @ $64.00 (CP-MTIF) ⁊ Lavender Fleur Stationery Set @ $13.00 (NBW81) ⁊ Bliss Charm Necklace (quartz) @ $42.00 (V-BCN08) ⁊ Monogrammed Heart Charm Necklace (quartz) @ $44.00 (V-HCN08) Single Charm Included. Provide name (6-character max): ⁊ Each…

COLORFUL CHANGES LITCHFIELD, CONNECTICUT In the northwest corner of the state, historic Litchfield is convenient to New York City, Boston, and Hartford. Its place among the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains offers prime viewing for fall foliage and makes it an ideal getaway that combines cozy inns and quaint shops. THE OZARK MOUNTAINS Numerous roads wind through this region that straddles Arkansas and Missouri (and spreads slightly into portions of Oklahoma and Kansas). Because of the many byways and side roads, traffic here during the fall is more manageable than in other spots. Self-guided tours average two to three hours, but visitors are lured by gristmills, caverns, and other back-road adventures that often turn into side trips. Streams, wildlife, rock formations, and old farms accent the colorful backdrop. THE SMOKY…

Through orange-leaves shining the broad spheres of gold; Yet with dearer delight from his home in the North, On the fields of his harvest the Yankee looks forth, Where crook-necks are coiling and yellowfruit shines, And the sun of September melts down on his vines. —John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Pumpkin” Each autumn, farmers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, gather their wares for a colorful display at Longwood Gardens—a beloved annual event. Heirloom varieties featured here are ‘Bushel’, ‘Custata Romanesco’, ‘Sweet Lightening’, ‘Bule’, ‘Baby Boo’, ‘One Too Many’, ‘Marina De Chioggia’, ‘Dancing Gourd’, ‘Prizewinner’, ‘Chicago Warted’, and ‘Atlantic Giant’. A PUMPKIN PRIMER Pumpkins abound not only at roadside farm stands this time of year, but also in a wealth of patches open to the public across the country. SNIPES FARM, Morrisville, Pennsylvania.…

Wake from thy nest, robin red-breast! Sing, birds, in every furrow! And from each bill let music shrill Give my fair Love good-morrow! Blackbird and thrush in every bush, Stare, linnet, and cocksparrow, You pretty elves, among yourselves Sing my fair Love good-morrow! —Thomas Heywood, “Matin Song” Perhaps our greatest curiosity about birds lies in their unending allure. “Birds have captured the human heart since earliest times, pillowing our heads with their feathers, carrying messages, and filling our senses with vivid color and an infinite variety of sounds,” says Laura Erickson of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. “Our yearning for the freedom of flight was inspired by birds.” One of the first to ponder the mysteries of birds and flight was the equally enigmatic Leonardo Da Vinci. Artist and inventor,…

candied cranberry tartlets a harvest wreath a spiced-wine-poached pear, artisanal cheese a duo of beautiful leaves For more ideas, instructions, and the Spiced-Wine-Poached Pear recipe, visit www.victoriamag.com.…