28th Street Flowers

I visited the wholesale flower district this morning, in a very bleary eyed state.

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And I bought A LOT of flowers.  Here I have (from left) cockscomb celosia, variegated “watermelon” lemons, clematis, geranium leaves, dahlias, and mint.

Monday Morning Links–one day late

• Michael Miller reviews Stephen Elliot’s new book at the Fanzine–I’m dying to read it.  (The Fanzine)
• It’s August and all those tomato plants you’ve been watching all summer are finally bearing fruit.  Preserve some for the winter with this pickling recipe from Home and Oats.  (Home and Oats)
• I never get tired of ogling the baroque beauty of Bornay’s flowers, ribbons, and photographs.  I’m especially enamored by the colors of the petals in the aisle in this post. (Flowers by Bornay)
• Do you kiss your iPhone goodnight too?  Do you know six-year-olds with their own iTunes account? (NY Times)
• New England’s stuffiness is not something I generally lust over, but I wish I could be magically transported to this Cape Cod brunch.  (A Hawk From A Handsaw)

Image by A Hawk From A Handsaw

On the Subject of Flowering Vegetables and Fruits

I have a raised bed in the back yard for vegetables.  Last year it was mostly lettuces, and this year it’s all tomatoes and corn.  While I was gone this summer tons of arugula (the most resilient of lettuces and lettuce-like plants?) sprouted up in the bed amongst the tomatoes and corn.  By the time I got home it had already flowered and was on the brink of going to seed.  I pulled all the arugula today, cut the leaves for tonight’s salad, and used the flowers to decorate the bedside table.

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Mother’s Eggplant

Everyone’s talking about eggplant these days.  It’s eggplant season!  Chef Canales has them all over the menu at Oliveto from antipasti to secondi (watch Chef Canales shop the Berkeley Farmers Market for tomatoes and eggplant here).  Meanwhile in Pasadena, mother’s eggplant is nearing maturity.  Isn’t she a beaut?

those leaves!

those flowers!

that color!

Nils-Udo

I discovered Nils-Udo through the July issue of the Air France Magazine (leave it to the French to have a great airline magazine).  Nils-Udo is a Bavarian artist who left painting to work directly in and with nature in the early 1970’s and has continued to do so ever since.  Photographs of his site-specific work (by the artist himself) are being exhibited at Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, and a new installation will premiere at the site as well (through December 31, 2009 http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr)–if you’re in the area.

Winternest.  Snow, willow switches, snowballs dyed with snowball berry juice.  Bavaria, Germany, 1993.

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Brook bed, bindweed blossoms.  Ile de La Réunion, 1990.

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Sweet chestnut leaf, spirea blossoms.  Vassivière, France, 1986.

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Earth, water, willow, grass, rowan berries, privet berries.  Aachen, Germany, 1999.

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Volcanic brook bed, foxglove blossoms.  Ile de La Réunion, 1990.

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Sunflowers without seeds, snowball berries, spindle tree seed pods on a river.  Donauried, Germany, 1993.

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Untitled-21. Lime tree, bird berries and lime tree sheets.  Aachen, Germany, 1999.

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Mirror.  Earth, water, bird berries, willow rod, blades of grass.  Aachen, Germany, 1999 .

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Apologies for an un-spectacular scan-job that hardly does justice to the originals (and a few little tears too–oops).  I think my favorite might be the volcanic brook bed and foxglove blossoms–or maybe Mirror (wish I could find a better image).  I like circles and domes in general.  There is a famous blue circle in a church in Florence that I always think of and can never remember the name of the church or artist–maybe my memory made it up.

I love Nils-Udo now, and I think you should too.  If you are interested in finding out a little more about him…

His representation: Claire Gastaud (website).

Some information from a recent show in the States (click here).

A beautiful-looking book (amazon).

all photographs by Nils-Udo

New Arrangement

After battling some garden roses the other day I really thought I had forgotten how to arrange flowers over my vacation.  But garden roses never were easy to work with–all those little thorns get stuck on every little thing as you try to push a stem down into a vase.  So I gathered my strength and channelled some calm and went back at it with some fresh supplies.  I chose roses, scabiosa, chocolate cosmos, and a single sumatra lily.  This was my attempt to do something a little different than my usual.

The colors really don’t come through right here as this arrangement was exceedingly hard to photograph given the darkness of the cosmos.  I’m happy with the results.  Elegant but a little wild.  It smells great too.  The tiny stems of the scabiosa and cosmos kept falling throught the web in the vase.  Each time you moved anything everything else would shift–so I ended up using some chopsticks to grab and gently pull stems back into place.  They’re skinnier than my fingers and their grip is more gentle too–I highly recommend trying it.

A note about chocolate cosmos–they are some of my favorite flowers, but you have to be decisive when arranging with them because they’ll lose their petals in a heartbeat.  Luckily they look great even with a few missing.

Perhaps My Favorite Souvenir

I’m not entirely over my vacation.  I miss it–a little.  I bought very little, but I did manage to get myself a few little souvenirs.  This book is one of my favorite things.  It combines flowers and food–what else could be more perfect for me?

Behold, the introduction of Gourmandises en Fleurs (Delicacies in Flowers) (translated by yours truly with help from a few free translation websites)…

If the times have changes, people’s love of beautiful things remains the same.  As cuisine gets lighter, dishes have more moderate flavors, and often when we are surrounded by concrete gardens, we try to cultivate the illusion of nature…

Thus the idea was born to present a collection of complimentary recipes and bouquets.

From small lunches to large galas, create an occasion to host friends.  Give a theme to your receptions.  Taste and imagination alone can bring the heart joy.  In summer, think of refined simplicity and soft colors, or use a bit of eccentricity to accent the fragrances that emit from your kitchen.

By using the charm of flowers, your garden will grace your table with its colors, and accent your menu choices.  Some original and unexpected ideas will give your tables a personal touch–and even provide amusement.  Whether it be the Beaujolais nouveau or basket of apples from your orchard, the beginning of the fishing season or a welcome home, a red dinner, a white dinner, a dinner on the grass… the fanciful possibilities created with flowers, color, and food will make you the envy of all your guests!

The arrangements range from the somewhat ridiculous…

Title of Arrangement: Poisson d’avril (April Fish)

Recipe that the Arrangement is Designed to Compliment:

Terrine de saumon au coulis de tomates (Salmon terrine with tomato coulis) (note the goldfish)

to pretty…

Title of Arrangement: Voulez-vous goûter, grand-mère? (Would you like a taste grandmother?)

Recipe that the Arrangement is Designed to Compliment:

Mousse aux fruits de la passion (Passion fruit mousse)

to “fanciful”

Title of Arrangement: Symphonie aubergine (Eggplant symphony)

Recipe that the Arrangement is Designed to Compliment:

Petits flans d’aubergines (Eggplant flan)

to perhaps a bit out-dated

Title of Arrangement: Joyeux enfants de la Bourgogne! (Happy children of Burgundy)

Recipe that the Arrangement is Designed to Compliment:

Poirs au vin (Pears in wine)

It’s taking a lot of restraint to not scan the entire book.  Maybe I’ll have to start publishing one arrangement/recipe pairing per day.  I found a website where the book is available for purchase, for about the same price I paid in the used book store in Biarritz.  I’m dying to try the Magret de canard au miel et au vinaigre de cidre in my kitchen (yes, duck figurines are featured in the accompanying arrangment in Gourmandise en fleurs)!

Love Lies Bleeding And Other Flowers From My Mother’s Garden

Thankfully my mother is pinch-hitting for me since I have totally lost all arranging skills after a month on vacation.  The container is from her jar collection–it’s slightly violet-tinted.  All flowers from her garden.

Bonnieux: Flora

One afternoon I decided to take a small mysterious-looking trail up to this ruin on the hill behind town.

I’m still not sure what the ruin is of, perhaps I should have asked some of my friends at Les Terrasses that, but it never came up.  Some sort of fortification against invasion from the middle ages?  Perhaps.  On the way up the hill I found some pretty wildflowers.

Apparently the wildflowers of the Luberon are the best in May.  Next time, next time.

The Hortensias of Biarritz

When I left Rockridge I was only a little sad to be leaving behind my beloved hydrangeas just as the season was getting started in earnest.  To my great surprise and delight the southwestern coast of France and the north coast of Spain are virtually covered in them–and in every size, shape, and color imaginable (cone, mophead, lace, blue, purple, magenta, light pink, green).  In France they are most commonly called Hortensia. They are prolific and huge–these blooms are bigger than a human head.  Unbelievable.  I found the Hortensia especially striking in Biarritz, where they cover hillsides and line the boardwalks along the sea.