Wildly anticipated… at long last… just in time for the holidays… TA-DA!!! California Cooking and Southern Style was released yesterday and we are all a-buzz here at Rancho La Zaca. ESPECIALLY about the first official post-publication review in the Head Butler… Click on it. It’s short, I promise, and it includes three free recipes! Here’s… Continue reading It’s Here and It’s Yummy !!!!!!
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Best Books for Fall, According to The Glam Pad… and I Agree ;)
Dear Readers, This week I am merrily re-posting this gorgeous and if I do say so myself most discerning selection of great new lifestyle books for fall, including that of yours truly, which you may have heard about , cough-cough, and those of some of my dearest pals and design heroes. Put Ronda Carman, Lisa… Continue reading Best Books for Fall, According to The Glam Pad… and I Agree đ
For the Love of Art Walls, and a Hack for Unframed Art
Don’t you love an art wall? Me too. The more mixed up the better. And yet the mix must be harmonious and balanced. You know it when you see it. The stately and ordered are beautiful, of course, but the higgeldy-piggeldy and personal are such fun–like giant bulletin boards of mementos and private amusements. This… Continue reading For the Love of Art Walls, and a Hack for Unframed Art
Drum Roll Please… Announcing New Book! Sneak Preview!
About time, I know! Iâve been bustinâ to tell you and I hope you’ll be bustinâ with delight, if, um, not at the seams⌠because it has some seriously good calories. Coming in November, it’s called California Cooking and Southern Styleâ100 Classic Recipes, Inspired Menus, and Gorgeous Table Settings. A mouthful đ but no reason to… Continue reading Drum Roll Please… Announcing New Book! Sneak Preview!
America’s Best Party Hosts… Gosh!
I’m just not one of those people who wins things. Except for that time I played Bingo with my sister at a spa like ten years ago. My prize was shower gel and moisturizer and I had them bronzed for posterity. Now I might bronze my party shoes. What a huge honor–and surprise!–to be named… Continue reading America’s Best Party Hosts… Gosh!
Guess Who’s in Salonniere’s Top 100: America’s Best Party Hosts
I am! Don’t know what came over them, but I am so honored. Oh my heavens. Fell slam off my chair, I did. Salonniere is a brilliant (obviously ;)) and stylish full of beautiful images, chic people, and smart advice about entertaining in particular and hospitality in general, which we can’t have too much of. Thank… Continue reading Guess Who’s in Salonniere’s Top 100: America’s Best Party Hosts
Hot off the Press: Tom Dittmer Memoir!
You are always looking for something fun to read. And a book called Talkinâ Big sounds like a hoot just from the title, right? I agree! Well, dear reader, this would be His Graceâs memoir. Though I have not written a blog post since the Hoover administration, you may recall that I refer to my darlinâ… Continue reading Hot off the Press: Tom Dittmer Memoir!
Goodbye to Bee Cottage
The rumor is true. I am selling Bee Cottage. Have sold it, in fact, closing this fall. And yes, it is hard to let go. Really hard. Lump-in-my-throat-all-summer-hard. But there comes a time. If His Grace (aka my husband for new readers) hasnât taken a shine to it by now, heâs not going to. Oh,… Continue reading Goodbye to Bee Cottage
Travel Sketch: India
Truly, you don’t have to be an artist to sketch your travels. The point is not to create great art (obviously, in my case) but to look and to see in a new way, and then to have a souvenir that is way better than a t-shirt. Here’s mine from a recent trip to India.… Continue reading Travel Sketch: India
The Most Brilliant Hors d’Oeuvre You’ve Never Heard of
An easy, do-ahead hors dâoeuvre full of rich, buttery, garlicky goodness–delicious and different and everyone loves it. Drum roll pleaseâŚBagna Cauda, or âhot bathâ in Italian. It’s also a Christmas Eve tradition in Italy’s Piedmont region. Perhaps it will become one for you?
How to Make Time Go More Slowly… and What I’ve Been Doing With Mine
First, how to make time go more slowly: Wouldn’t we all like time to slow down? (unless we are at the dentist) Sounds impossible, but seems you can, because time is relative. Literally. It has to do with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity,* and how time is relative to distance and the speed of light and what… Continue reading How to Make Time Go More Slowly… and What I’ve Been Doing With Mine
Special for Connecticut Area Readers…
If you are ready to tap into your inner potential and to take deliberate action (and you live near Connecticut ;), then this is your day. Come to play your “woman card” (sorry, couldn’t resist) with strong, inspiring women in a lovely and intimate setting at this Women’s Leadership Retreat on May 11 in Glastonbury, near Hartford.… Continue reading Special for Connecticut Area Readers…