every ten years dinner...

freshly shucked wellfleet oysters

norwegian smoked salmon

maine lobster with herb beurre blanc

fois gras with sauteed grapes

roast rack of veal

the wines

post dinner cigars

a simple table brings focus to the food

lobster & love-- a birthday with the buells...

"my mother-in-law, susie buell of bolinas, gets most of the credit here.  She is really creative when it comes to table settings.  I'm always learning new little lessons from her.  The good one from this night was that some of the stems of the gerber daisies were too saggy to put in the arrangements, so we took off the petals and put them around the bases of the candles and then made little flower designs on the table with the petals.  It added a little more color to our orange theme." 

melt-in-your-mouth tuna sashimi as a pre-dinner snack

 

sparklers in the cake are really festive

featurette: lucille buell, san francisco                       see her interior design ideas:                         www.lucillebuell.com                                   

a christmas day table

the table is topped with with an ornament decorated lamp overhead

christmas day meal: pheasant, blau kraut, caramelized carrots with dried grapes, chanterelles, parsnip puree & a baked ground almond stuffed apple*

* stuffed apples: core apples and stuff with butter/ground almond/brown sugar mixture, bake at 350 till soft (about 30 minutes)

* parsnip puree: peel parsnips, boil till soft, put into a blender, place puree into a double boiler for about 20 minutes and slowly add cream and butter taste

*caramelized carrots: brown some butter & brown sugar until caramelized, add chopped carrots and raisons, cook until tender

a simple christmas eve dinner

boiled lobster tails, prawns served in oyster shells & homemade meyer lemon mayonnaise*

*mayonnaise: beat together 1 egg yolk, salt, pepper & 1/2 teaspoon dijon. add 1 teaspoons meyer lemon juice. while still beating add 3/4 cup sunflower oil one drop at a time. do not rush the last step or mayonnaise will 'break'.

featurette: barbara esser, napa valley

gift wrap with venetian stationary & velvet ribbon

featurette: linda lake, nyc

cobble hill holiday fete

antlers hung with care
kete cognac spiked eggnog, clove oranges* & chilled brandy beans
*how to: clove oranges. poke small holes into orange. use carving fork. space holes evenly. stick whole cloves into the holes. create any patter you like.

happy holidays from our new home in brooklyn!

a tree of our own decorated with polaroid fotos & homemade ornaments*

*how to: tissue paper ornaments. get styrofoam balls. get elmers. get colored tissue paper, glitter, push pins, sequence. cover balls in elmers with paint brush. cover in small ripped pieces of tissue paper. paint the glue on top of the tissue paper. add glitter when glue is still wet. insert pushpins into the ball through the holes in the sequences to hold them in place.