Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Stranger Comforts.
(or Creating Cozy)

by Mary Courtney Blake


When hosting celebrations, gatherings and dinner parties, it is important to make strangers (and for that matter, friends) feel at home and welcome.  I suppose there are very few things that inspire that specific kind of awkward that comes with being the new person in an unfamiliar surrounding; and, it’s up to you, the host, to ease that from your guests.

Perhaps this holiday season you are inviting new neighbors to your home, or maybe even new family, or your guest list might just be friends tried and true.  Whatever the situation, here are a few tips, in no particular order, for creating a warm and cozy environment for any time of the year.


Have something that smells good in the kitchen.  If you are throwing a dinner party, this part is easy because hopefully your dinner has already accomplished the yummy smells.  If you are not throwing a dinner party, this can be as simple as putting on a pot of coffee or throwing some take-and-bake cookies in the oven.  Whatever you do, you will be amazed at how welcoming tasty smells can be.  Also, having some sort of refreshment, no matter what the occasion really lets your guests know that you are happy they have come over.  It also gives your guests something to do with their hands which is nice.

Background Noise.  Okay, I admit, you are not a department store.  The goal with this is not to make people feel like they are stuck in a giant elevator or that they need to go buy something.  The point of the background noise is to eliminate the inevitable “awkward silence.”  This can be accomplished in several ways.  I tend to put on an old jazz record or create an iTunes playlist of fun, unobtrusive and good songs.  In my experience, ‘90s music gets a particularly happy reaction.  However, football games, random cartoons or even an open window (if the weather is right) can be great background noise as well.

Warm lighting.   This probably seems strange, but cozy can be really helped by warm lighting.  Stick a floor lamp in the living room or put on a fire in the fireplace if you have one.  You will be amazed at how welcoming non-direct lighting can be.

Clean, but not surgically so.  This will seem odd to both my untidy and my OCD readers.  For my untidy folks, people do not want to come over to sit in your pig pen, it makes them feel awkward and uncomfortable.  For my OCD folks, your guests would like to be able to sit down and relax without feeling like they are 5 years old again and their grandmom is going to send them back to the kids table if they get anything messy.  I find that the healthy medium is that bathrooms and kitchens be clean and nothing anywhere covered in pet hair or dirt, but that things like shoes at the door, blankets on the couch and books on the table help to remind your guests that real people live here and they have not come to the museum for dinner.

Contact, ask genuine questions and be excited to hear what they have to say.  This seems obvious, I know, but you are the host, you have lots to do and it is easy to get caught up in all of the great things you have planned for your guests and forget to connect with your guests while they are there.  I find that real interest in your guests will cover a multitude of flops in your dinner planning or hosting skills.  If your guests are new friends, you can ask about their interests and hobbies, or if they are old friends, you can get caught up the latest news.  One of the best ice-breaker questions I have ever heard, coined by a college friend, is “What inspired your look?”  You may use this too if you wish.

Places for people to sit or stand if they’d like.  Basically, this means that there are some obvious places for your guests to go.  Imagine you are coming to your house for the first time, look around the room.  Where do you sit?  Where is a good place to stand?  Can you sit or stand and comfortably be a part of the conversations in the room?  Pay attention to these and add chairs or re-orient furniture if necessary.  Your goal is to make it obvious where to go and where to sit so that your guests feel free to move about the room without asking and free to choose whether to sit or stand, etc.

Give them something to do.  Nothing helps inspire a casual and comfortable environment like letting your guests get involved in the hosting.  Giving them something to do helps your guest feel useful and can make them feel comfortable and at home if they are feeling a little awkward or don’t know what they should be doing.  This doesn’t need to be anything major, they are the guests after all.  Simple things like placing things on the table, putting out silverware and taking drink orders are good examples of things you might ask your guests to help out with. 

Have something for you to do.  Having things for you to do helps you to ease your own awkwardness.  If you are anything like me, you can easily run out of things to say or find yourself sitting silently in the midst of new people.  If you are the host, this can create a boring and uneasy gathering to say the least.  So, my solution for this is to give myself things to do.  These can be as elaborate as preparing dinner or as simple as getting coffee for your guests.  Whatever you decide, it is best if you can complete your tasks and still interact with the people around you.


These are just a few tips from the top of my brain.  Take them as you will.  Whatever you do to celebrate, even if it is only the ancient ritual of celebrating Tuesday, cherish your time with friends and family because they are the most important people you will ever know.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010



Public Art
(The Fountain)

Bubbly Fountain photo by John Kaneklides

I was walking the dog as I always do in the mornings when I turned to behold this wondrous sight.  It made me laugh for the rest of the day... that's what I call successful art!

Sunday, October 10, 2010



Little Log Cabin BBQ and Heritage Day.
(Barbeque, It's a Noun)


by Mary Courtney Blake


Last month, I had the great pleasure of attending the Barbeque and Heritage Day held by the Lower Providence Community House Log Cabin... or the Little Log Cabin to friends of the family.  It was an event filled with history, crafts and above all, Barbeque (BBQ).

In the South, Barbeque is a noun.  It is also a great equalizer and a great divider.  It is an equalizer because, 'round these parts, everyone loves good BBQ.  It's a great divider because, though we all love it, each region has their own particular style.  Here is a brief, not unbiased, cursory introduction:


The things we agree on: smoked pork.  Yummy.

Traditionally "low and slow," usually over some sort of wood chip.  I would say the most popular in these parts being Hickory chips.  If you wander far enough out of the Carolina region you may find some people who use charcoal... but that's not how we do it here.


The biggest thing we disagree on: sauce.  Also yummy.

Depending on where your loyalties lie in North Carolina, you may prefer a variant of 2 different types of sauce.  There's the vinegar and pepper sauce of the east and the slightly sweeter tomato based sauce of the west.  The sweeter tomato based sauce (sweeter because of the tomatoes and/or ketchup) is said to originate from Lexington, North Carolina, providing the Piedmont (the hilly part in the middle of the state) and the Mountains with our particular identity.  Thank you Lexington!

Now that's just North Carolina.  If you head south a little bit into South Carolina you will find a wonderful mustard based sauce to accompany your BBQ.  Kansas City also has a variant coming out of the Lexington tradition that is tomato based but much sweeter and thicker having usually included molasses or brown sugar (this is what most people around the country think of as BBQ sauce... the KC Masterpiece sauces of the world).  Memphis also claims to have their own sauce identity that is a variant of the Lexington style.


The other thing we might disagree on: pulled, chopped or sliced.  Still yummy.

This part is usually not quite as contentious as the sauce debate, and you can sometimes find more than one style of serving in one area.  Chopped or pulled would be the most popular in my hometown and usually what you get from a truck or local dive around here would be chopped.


All that being said though, my honest opinion and advice is simply, "eat BBQ."  So, with that, I leave you with a small pictorial tour of my Barbeque and Heritage Day Adventure.










Thursday, September 23, 2010

We Found This To Be Humourous... 


I came home to find a leaf resting on my front doormat.  It made me smile.  

Welcome Autumn.



Saturday, September 4, 2010

Dishes.
(or Discovering the Beautiful)


by Mary Courtney Blake



Prior to moving, I used two different sets of dinnerware.  Neither was particularly special to me, both were inherited.  When it became apparent that I was going to be moving, I decided that I would start to look for new plates and things for the kitchen.  Being the seasoned dinner host that I am, I thought it high-time that I get some dishes that reflected my personality and this move would be just the occasion.

I set out to my local plates and bowls stores and set my fingers to work on the internet all in search of dinnerware that said “Eat off of me, I am cute and vintage-y and will make guests feel welcome and will be a perfect addition to your tiny artsy home.”  Surprisingly, there are a few plates out there that do say this.  So, I added the logical criteria of a color or pattern that would look good in my kitchen, my previous kitchen being a sunflower yellow and my new kitchen being a bright-yet-soothing green.  Since I knew that the new kitchen was not going to be yellow, I thought that the dishes would be a great place to take it with me.  I just think that yellow is such a wonderfully welcoming and cheery color.

This is when I noticed that the pattern of one of my sets of dinnerware, specifically the one given to me by my grandmother when she moved, was a beautiful shade of golden yellow.  Interestingly enough, I had never noticed that before.  Perhaps this oversight was due to the fact that I had grown up with these dishes, not only had my grandmother used them, my mother also had a matching set when I was young.  To me they were nothing particularly special, just the regular everyday, hard to break, great for kids dishes.  That is, until that moment.

The more that I stared at the pattern, the more that I loved it.  How is it that I could have grown up with these plates and had them in my own home for several years and never noticed how beautiful they are?  They are simple, late 60’s or early 70’s Corelle Dinnerware by Corning.  You probably have some in your own home or did at some point in time.  Virtually unbreakable, not particularly expensive, they can go in the oven or the freezer and they look as good as new after 40 years of use.  But, more importantly, or at least equally so, they feel delicate and look charming with their stylized alternating flowers and butterflies in the perfect shade of yellow.

I suddenly became proud of my dishes, and I remain so as I continue to use them daily in my new home.  They say, “ I am cute and actually vintage.  I have held many wonderful meals and will continue to do so for years to come.  I welcome the stranger and help them to become family.  I still remember the lost art of bringing people to the table.  I am lovely.”  What a wonderful gift to discover something beautiful and to realize that it had been there all along.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Let's Talk Salads.
(Blackberry Avocado Salad)


by Mary Courtney Blake

It is summertime in the South and what I crave more than anything in our sauna-esque weather are salads.  However, salads can be tricky in their simplicity and I often get caught tripping over the same old savory story.  My mother, on the other hand, has a way with salads.  In college I used to say that my mom could make a salad that you would crave.  So, this week I have taken a cue from my mom to toss up a beautiful and quirky summer salad for you to impress your friends with at your next dinner party.


Ingredients:

1 Pint Fresh Blackberries
1 Ear Corn on the Cob
1 Ripe Avocado
1 Head of Romaine Lettuce
1 Orange
1 Lemon
Approx. 1 Tbsp of Honey
Olive Oil
Salt to Taste


The Salad:

Start off by washing all of your fruits and veggies and peeling your corn on the cob.

Chop your lettuce.  For Romaine I tend to just take the head and cut it perpendicularly across in 3/4 inch sections so that I end up with strips of lettuce 3/4 inch wide by however wide the leaves are.  Take your chopped lettuce and put it in your serving bowl.

Cut the corn kernels off of the cob directly over your lettuce by running a knife down the cob lengthwise (just like your grandma used to do for you when you were tiny).  Uncooked corn adds a delightfully sweet and crunchy surprise to this dish.

Cut your avocado in half and remove the pit.  Now take a knife and cut each half into 1/8 inch thick ribbons.  Place your avocado on your salad.

Top your salad with the blackberries.


The Dressing:

Juice your orange and lemon and put the juice in whatever container you will be using for your dressing.

Add the honey.

Now add probably somewhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Start with a little and go from there because you don't really want an overly oily dressing for this salad.

Salt to taste.  Stir/Shake thoroughly.



Enjoy!  


Sunday, June 13, 2010


Patronage.

by Mary Courtney Blake


This weekend I attended a jazz performance.  The music was very good, but something was off.  It was about three songs into the set before I realized what was missing -- no one was dancing.  Being a patron of the arts is in some ways an uncharted course because it is not always apparent what one is to be or to do in the presence of art, whatever the discipline.  Enchanted or captivated is of course a great start, however, I would like to propose that art cannot become great until it moves you.

You see, you are the completion of art.  You, the patron, are the one that determines whether art is (dare I say) good or bad, successful or unsuccessful.  This is not to say that you must like the art in order for it to be good, but you must consider it and respond to it.  Great art inspires us, it teaches us, it enlightens us.  Some will shock us, some may anger us, and some may cause us to dance... but whatever it is, great art changes us.

So next time that you find yourself a patron of the arts, allow yourself to consider and respond, allow it to move you.  Get out of your chair and dance.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What do you call that? Delicious.
 (Petit Strawberry Tartlets)


by Mary Courtney Blake

On one particularly sun-filled day this week, I found myself suddenly pulling into the parking lot of my local farmer’s market, my mouth watering in anticipation of deliciousness.  I was not disappointed.  This happens to be the glorious time of year in Carolina when the Piedmont blooms red with strawberries.

Purchasing my pint of perfectly ripe strawberries, I rushed home to transform them into one of my friends’ favorite springtime treats.  I use these pastries when I want to impress, when I want to really offer something special.  I offer them now to you, my faithful readers so that you too may impress.



Petit Strawberry Tartlets

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry
Strawberries
Cream Cheese
Chevre/Goat Cheese
Powdered Sugar
Vanilla
Spearmint Leaves (optional garnish)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out your favorite puff pastry to a thickness of approximately 1/8” to 3/16”.  I suggest that you make your own dough as you can make it up to a day or two in advance.  However, if time is a concern use a store bought dough if you must.



Using a cookie cutter (or the lid of a jar or rim of a glass) cut out circles that are approximately 2” in diameter.


Lay out your pastry circles on a baking sheet. 



Bake them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until they have puffed up and are slightly golden.

While your pastry is in the oven, gather your ingredients for the cream cheese frosting: Cream Cheese, Powdered Sugar and Vanilla.

Put the cream cheese in a bowl (I use 4 oz. for 16-20 pastries) and vigorously stir in powdered sugar and vanilla to taste.  (A little vanilla goes a long way.)


Now it's time to gather your strawberries!


Placing them on a cutting board, take a sharp knife and cut off the tops of your strawberries then slice them length-wise into approximately 3/16" widths.


Now, it's probably time to take your pastry out of the oven.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer your pastry circles to a cooling rack.



While your pastry is cooling, load a piping bag with the cream cheese frosting (if you don't have one, a quart sized zip-top storage bag with a snipped corner will do).  Once the pastry is cooled, frost liberally.


Assemble your Petit Strawberry Tartlets by placing a strawberry slice vertically (wide end down) into the frosting.


Now take the goat cheese and scoop tiny dollops next to the strawberries using a 1/8t measurer.  Garnish with slivers of fresh mint.  Enjoy!



Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Playing for Others End of Year Speech.

by Mary Courtney Blake

As the Visual Art Director and as a Committee Advisor for Playing for Others, I was asked (along with the other seven Advisors) to give a short speech at this year's End of Year Celebration.

Here is the speech:

This past weekend I went out of town to visit an old friend who was having an art show. This friend of mine is a painter and she had created a show around the idea of Home. To her home is not so much a place as it is the moments, memories and feelings that make up our lives. As we ate dinner, we caught up on all of the big things that we had missed in one another’s lives since the last time that we had seen each other. All of the big life lessons, the great art shows and the dreams for the future. And then I turned to her and said, “So, tell me about the important things in your life.”

At first she looked at me a bit confused, and then she smiled as she began to understand my request. We began to talk about the simple moments that we as people tend to overlook but that often end up being the most important moments of our lives; the moments of sharing meals, serving others, laughing, walking the dog, finding the perfect cup of coffee.

It is easy to count our lives in the big moments and achievements. It is easy for me to look back over this year and discuss the art show, the concert, the musical and the check presentation. But those things are not what make us who we are, who we are is what makes those things. We determine who we are in the small moments when no one is watching.

Art has the power to heal, the power to change perspective and to create understanding. I was very proud of all of your accomplishments with this year’s Arts Festival Week. It was great to present the awards for the art show and to present the sculpture to friends, family and strangers. However, these were not the moments when I was most proud. I was most proud of you when I happened to be walking through Amelie’s one day after our show and heard and entire group of people discussing the impact your art had on them, or the evening when I invited two women to add their comments to the sculpture and was able to sit with them and learn from their hardships and journeys, or even the day that I was taking down the sculpture and was able to discuss what it meant to love our friends with the seven year old girl who helped us load the truck.

You see, your art was not great because it was big, flashy or made the newspaper. In fact, it wasn’t even in the craft, design or execution, though those things are important. Your art was great because it opened the door for others to share their secrets, joys, pains and lessons. It caused, if only for a moment, people to reflect on their own lives and even to grow from stories that we shared. For this I applaud you.  


You have a great responsibility as artists to present new ideas and understandings to the world. Just remember, the goal is not the big moments we create, but rather letting who we become in the small moments to impact those around us.