cracker jack

set a little holiday cheer

with dear friends

figgy pudding

design: victoria thorne

On this Evening, A Simple Wish in Blue & White: Happy Holidays

A thanksgiving shoot

created a few years ago

for the Mercury News.

happy holidays

design: victoria thorne

photos: rick martin

Alexander: Here's the Apple Pie!

Sweetbriar Apple Pie, With Love

Crust:

• 1 pound o' butter
  
• 4 cups of good fresh flour
  
• 2 tablespoons, sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons, salt
  
• 1 cuppa water, with ice cube floating around (achtung! you will not use all the water!)
• NOTE: this will be enough crust for 2 or 3 pies

Innards for each pie will be:

• 4 or 5 sour-ish green apples (granny smith or so), peeled and cored and sliced
  
• 1/4 cup, sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/4 teaspoon each of: grated nutmeg, ground mace...and maybe a tiny scosh of cloves and cardamom? whatever. up to you. be creative (which you always are).

Make that crust, just like you have been (i.e., that amazing picture you just sent) but: leave it twice the size, roll it out, and have some nice crumbly artistic edges...you will be folding it over the whole apple deal, in a very soigne way... (For those who would like a lovely pie crust recipe, click here.)

Put this artsy pastry into a nice big pie plate, and chill for about 15 minutes...afterwards, fill 'er up with apple slices, enough so that it looks nice and heaping but not overmuch or too little....

Now, the fun part: shake that sugar softly over the apple slices, and happily dot little bits of butter around. Sprinkle spices on quick-like. Now, fold up those artistic pastry edges, sort of on top of each other. It will seem rather random, but I promise it will come out of the oven looking quite handsome (and taste lovely, to boot). Try to cover up most of those slicey apples, so they are tucked in nice. But don't spend much time on this part.

The pie usually takes about 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. The crust will be look done, and you'll know. Cool for a few minutes, and then sklather on freshly whipped (no sugar, ist besser!) cream. You can add a bit of grated nutmeg on the top if you want to get super-snazzy.

Enjoy. We will miss you at the turkey table, but we send blessings your way every second of every day.

(Here, we would like to send said blessings, also, to Mim and Pop and Grandma and Grandpa and the Basnights and every Thorne and Reynard we ever knew, along with the Brooksies, the Pilots, the Sans and Chaves families. Aloha, fam. We love all of you and hope you get the right end of the wishbone, every one!)

Alexander: Call your mother if she wrote something down wrong, above; we can try to fix it. It can happen. And remember, my German is sehr rusty, but I try. Ist gut?

trimmings

Plate Bio: The spoon is coin silver, from an old Virginia estate; the fork is from eBay, and (so said the seller) the Civil War; the pewter is also eBay, from the 17oo's...the linen, German. The plate is an old favorite, unearthed at a long-ago garage sale.

These plates were created many months ago; as busy as we all are these days, I think the best use of time would be to print them out, on nice heavy stock, and put them on top of your own plates at the table. A little tongue in cheek chic for your holiday merriment, yes?

Think cranberries and turkey and all the trimmings.

Think happy thanksgiving, from yours truly,

vt

that Shakespeherian Rag

Chicago, Chicago

Place Setting: the souvenir plate from Chicago, the vintage German linens and silk ribbon...all purchased on eBay. Black and white polka-dot porcelain from Japan. Beige bisque dish is graced by Molly Pitcher. (Our cannoneer is not seen, but her presence is felt: my mother finds the most incredible goodies, always has, and Molly is one of them.) The pilgrims grace an early 20th century guide to Plymouth, Mass.

Autumn in Menlo Park

The autumnal yumminess above was some of the prep work to be found on Rene van Rems workbench prior to our event at the Circus Club in Menlo Park, Holidays on a High Note.

You can simply imagine what gorgeousness he put together the next day, during his presentation. Perhaps I should fill you in a bit more as the week scampers on...

The San Francisco Flower Mart

Went the other day with good friend Gayle and these made me want to do a wedding, with flowers like this, and a brilliant and charming bride and groom...

There were seas of hydrangeas. Continents of color. It was heady and somewhat overwhelming and deliciously glorious. And it smelled good, too, like the old days when the florist opened his glass-fronted case and the cool sweet perfumed air rushed out and wrapped you up in it...

Above, the recipe for a perfect thanksgiving table. Just add turkey. And cranberries, on the side.

In green and white, Gayle's impeccable picks...she has wonderful taste...the orange flower stuck it's head in, but only for the picture.

I sort of wanted to just take everything home and start events-r-us.

"...a Stunning Thanksgiving Table"

Kim Boatman, Rick Martin, and I teamed up several times to present holiday tables (and other bits of decoration, for other bits of holidays) for the Mercury News. It was a wonderful undertaking, and involved a bit of hard work and preparation...

All fun, because it was a most excellent team. I believe we enjoyed working together and came up with some pretty good stuff. The Merc liked us. We were asked to cover a number of holidays after another.

I was the designer/stylist/prop master, Rick the photographer, Kim the writer. They are both magnificent. It was a great lark; and, now, when October rolls around, I grow somewhat nostalgic for the tables. As luck would have it, a few still seem to exist on the web.

Herewith, the Seattle Times version of one of the Thanksgiving Tables. Enjoy! Just Click.