CRAFTSMANSHIP: Brunschwig & Fils and Kravet Inc.

By Cheri Leavy

Photo (left-right) Vidhi Loyalki (Wovens Designer), Bessie Dela Torriente (Print Designer/Stylist), David Toback (Director Design)

“No compromises or shortcuts.”

“Honor the past but moving forward.”  Hand-woven Louis XV ecru silk brocade is woven in the same Lyon atelier that produced fabrics for the restoration of the Chateau de Versailles. Brocades, lampas and velvets created for Louis XIV are woven today on the very same looms as the originals in the 18th century.

“Big push with new products.”

“We view the archives of discontinued as a treasure trove for tomorrow.”  Many of the designs in today’s collections date back to the early 1940s, while still others are more than 200 years old.

“Bessie invents color and the rest of the world follows.”

These are all strong statements made by Brunschwig & Fils Director of Design David Toback recently when I toured their studio at Kravet, Inc. in New York during Blogfest 2012. 

I feel very honored to have the experience of touring the Kravet studios with Ellen Kravet and then at the end her brother, Carey Kravet, joined us.  What a special treat to see the company that is an industry leader for nearly a century through the fourth generation family members’ eyes.

Last year, Kravet, Inc. acquired Brunschwig & Fils, a prestigious international design house founded in 1900.  It lends itself beautifully to their existing Kravet and Lee Jofa offerings.

Director of Design David Toback came back on board to join Kravet in April with the purchase of Brunschwig & Fils.  He served as a designer for Brunschwig & Fils for six years in the early 2000s so he is well acquainted with the historic brand.  He collaborated with interior designer, Charlotte Moss, to style and produce her first (and ultimately very successful) licensed collection of home furnishings fabrics. Toback meshes the art of hand-painted and computer design methods to incredible outcomes.

Currently, he is enjoying updating many colorways of tried and true beloved textiles and wallpapers from the past.  The wall behind them shows off Toback’s skillful ability to style the collections so there is such a breadth of texture and color that looks absolutely tremendous together.

There was a lot of ooooohing and ahhhhhing in their studio and you could tell that Carey Kravet is quite pleased with the direction of this iconic brand.  Expect the great customer service of Kravet partnered with the creativity of this team and the future is as bright as the past for Brunschwig & Fils.

Click here to watch the history of Kravet.

COMPILATION:Gift Guide for the Hostess with the Mostest

By Cheri Leavy

We travel a lot in the summer to visit friends and family and I am always looking for a good hostess gift.  Here are some ideas to show appreciation for hospitality.

1. Low Country Luxe, known today as the “southern fragrance house,” is a welcomed gift and can commemorate your favorite locales in the south such as Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans.  Picture the smell of Charleston as a masterful blend featuring white magnolia, camellia, azaleas, lilac, lavendar, violet, bois de rose and pine with cucumber.

2. Phickles Pickles is a gourmet pickle company located in Athens, Georgia that uses the freshest, closest produce available and takes pride in every hand-packed jar.  Pickled Okra, Asparagus, Snap Beans, Carrots, Jalapenos, Green Tomatoes and occasionally Cucumbers and Sweet Peppers and Peaches.  Perfect to package with all the “fixins” needed to make a bloody mary.

3. Monogrammed Linen Cocktail Napkins are a beautiful, traditional gift. A classic white linen cocktail napkins embroidered with a single initial in your choice of thread color makes a lovely personalized gift.

4. Premium specialty coffee is an awesome gift.  Get it from your local roaster.  Charleston Coffee Roasters customizes their blends and roasting methods to bring out the richest aroma and optimal flavor of each coffee. They hand roast in small batches for a rich, smooth taste that is never bitter.

5. An olive tree from Georgia Olive Farms to produce table olives or purely for ornamental purposes is a neat gift.  Or a bottle of the Chef’s Blend of Georgia Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and other USA EVOO.  It is outstanding with depth and freshness.

6. Byrd Cookie Company’s Southern Scenes Quad Pack with Forsyth Park Fountain (Key Lime), Factors Walk (Benne Wafers), Tybee Island Lighthouse (Key Lime) and Lowcountry Cheddar tins are a welcomed gift. Byrd Cookie Company has been a Savannah tradition since 1924 and their sweet and savory cookies are outstanding.

CULINARY - Pimento Cheese

by Whitney Long

With a post waxing poetic about sweet tea, us Southern C gals couldn’t leave pimento cheese hanging.  These two go together like peanut butter and jelly or catfish and hush puppies. 

While homemade pimento cheese is always the best at church picnics, baby or wedding showers, family reunions, fishing trips and football games, there are also some really good store bought varieties on the market right now.  On any given day, you can find two or three choices in my fridge.  Slathered on white bread or wheat toast or just scooped up on a cracker (Saltine or Ritz, of course), pimento cheese is another southern staple that we just love.

For a fun point of view on pimento cheese watch these videos:       http://vimeo.com/31515064 and http://vimeo.com/26525873

Next, head to the store for the ingredients to make your own using our recipe.  If  you don’t have time, we have also listed some of our favorite ready-made selections. 

 The Southern C Pimento Cheese:

 1 (8 oz) pkg. extra sharp cheddar cheese – block style not shredded

1 (8 oz)  pkg. Colby cheese – block style not shredded

4 oz cream cheese, softened

12 oz chopped pimentos well drained

1-1/2 cup Dukes or Hellman’s mayonnaise

cayenne pepper and salt to taste

Cut the cheese blocks into pieces about the size of a dice.   Place in food processor in batches and use the regular blade.  After processing, fold in the cream cheese and mix by hand.  Next add the mayo and continue mixing.  Lastly,  stir in the drained pimentos and cayenne pepper and salt.  Mix well but don’t mash it all together.  Will last for several days in fridge. 

Good choices for ready-made:

My Three Sons Gourmet http://www.mtsgourmet.com/

Palmetto Cheese http://pimentocheese.com/

Callie’s Pimento Cheese http://www.calliesbiscuits.com/

Augusta’s Pimento Cheese http://augustascreations.com/

CULTURE  - Spoleto Festival

by Whitney Long

Seventeen day and nights of performances by emerging and renowned artists in the beautiful and magical city of Charleston can only mean one thing… Spoleto Festival USA is here! 

In its 36^th season and running from May 25 – June 10^th,  the international arts festival continues to be recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival.  Founded to create an America counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, this celebration of opera, theatre, dance, music, performing and visual arts, does not disappoint!  Top off all the incredible talent with Charleston’s many historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces playing host and you have an incomparable setting.

With over 120 performances, there is something for everyone.  A few of The Southern C “must-see” performances:

Leo - Through a clever juxtaposition of live performance with projected film, two Leos move through identical spaces governed by opposing physical laws.

http://spoletousa.org/events/leo/

Hay Fever – Noel Coward’s delicious send-up of bohemian eccentrics that has been called “one of the most perfectly engineered comedies of the century” by The Times (London). http://spoletousa.org/events/hay-fever/

Jake Shimabukuro – The ukulele virtuoso whose eclectic mix of jazz, rock, folk, classical, and traditional Hawaiian music creates a sound that is technically masterful, emotionally powerful—and utterly sensational. 

http://spoletousa.org/events/wells-fargo-jazz-jake-shimabukuro/

A Crack in Everything - An eerie and unpredictable world through an innovative mix of genre-defying choreography and uncanny video projections.  “Like a crazy dream you just can’t shake” (The Boston Globe).

http://spoletousa.org/events/a-crack-in-everything/

Traces - A cabaret-circus deftly weaving together snippets of the performers’ personal narratives while performing astonishing acrobatic maneuvers, dance and skateboarding. http://spoletousa.org/events/traces/

K.D. Lang - Four-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist dubbed by Tony Bennett as “the best singer of her generation” makes her Spoleto Festival debut.

http://spoletousa.org/events/k-d-lang/

CULTURE - Sweet Tea - House Wine of the South

by Whitney Long

A staple in fridges around the South, sweet tea is just the beverage for the long hot summer ahead. Truly, there’s no need to say sweet tea.  Tea will suffice as there is no other way to drink it except sweet – at least in our part of the country.

What is it about sweet tea that makes it uniquely southern?  Were we just born this way – with an extra large sweet tooth?  After all, the South is the birthplace of Coke and Pepsi and we do have a fondness for cakes, pies and other desserts. Is it because it’s so hot in the South or is it ingrained in our culture and our lives? Whatever the reason, I am happy that it’s a part of my life! 

For me, I associate sweet tea with many fond memories centered around family gatherings.  I can still taste my Aunt Kate’s ice cold tea she would serve at Sunday lunch.  She used her tall thick heavy tea glasses (with an etched “S” monogram for Sawyer) so she could put lots of ice in them and serve it really cold. 

I can also still taste the tea my grandmother Shug would pour into her Fostoria for special holidays dinners like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas when we used the really nice china and silver and all of the family was together.

Perhaps the best tea of all was what we had each year at our family reunion.  Several of the Jones siblings (including Aunt Kate and Shug) would all bring tea and then pour it into a large galvanized tub filled with ice.  Uncle Louie would then assume his position and dispense in Styrofoam cups to us 15 or 20 kids running around with our cousins we had not seen since the last year’s reunion.  We’re all grown now and sadly, the family reunion is no longer but I wonder if they can still taste it?

As for me, I am a year round tea drinker… not just during the hot summer months. Don’t give me a cup of coffe, give me tea. And while it can never match the tea in my memories, I will say that Chick-Fil-A, Zaxby’s and even McDonald’s do it justice on most days.  Just ask my children, who love it like their Momma.

Now as to whether you “take” your tea with lemon or not, that’s another post for another time…

The Southern C Sweet Tea

1 gallon (16 cups) water

4 family size tea bags (Luzianne or Lipton)

1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar (to desired taste)

In a large pot, bring the water to boil over high heat. Turn off the burner and add tea bags. Cover and steep for 6 minutes exactly.  Set your timer.

Pour sugar into a gallon-sized pitcher and when the tea is done steeping, pour over the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Serve immediately into a glass full of ice. Store in the fridge – assuming there is any left!

photo: www.coolsprings.com

COMMITMENTS: Summer to do list

By Cheri Leavy

I loved Cupcakes and Cashmere’s Rules of Summer here.  It is the ten things she wants to do before Labor Day.  I decided to do a similar list.

1. Go with Chef Whitney Otawka from the restaurant Farm 255 in Athens to Full Moon Farms to get the bounty and bring it back to their kitchen and prepare it.  (yes, I will cover it all for you to share in the unique experience)

2. Paint more, I recently painted in my studio with my friend Cullen and we had a blast and two hours slipped away quickly and we have a neat co-op painting to show for it.

3. Sit at the Sea Island Beach Club and read a book.  I mean really relax by sitting on the beach or grassy area and check out.   If you haven’t been, the Resort is running a special for a “pre-pay your stay”  visit to the resort and get 10% off best available rate here.

4. Finish fixing up my Master bedroom in Athens.  I started it here but I don’t like the white Euros so we are switching to a fabulous Pierre Frey fabric that brings in more texture and some purple and folding down the coverlet to show some new sheets.  I need blinds and I am recovering a chair for the hubby to lounge in with his computer.  Unlike me, he can’t flop in bed with a laptop.

5. Get in shape.  Enough said.  (Guess I will reunite with friends and trainers Jerome and Sarah.)

6. Cook some new healthy yummy meals from resources like Gena Knox, Ricky Lauren The Hamptons Food, Family and History and the Barefoot Contessa.

7. Visit Oxford, MS and continue the journey of developing a guide2oxford like the guide2athens.  We set up the site guide2s.com so we could add cities and now in year three, it is time and we are ready for our next stop.

8.  4th of July trip either back to The Hamptons or to some friends’ wedding at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC.

9.  Work on the launch of our fabulous new website, thesouthernc.com, that is set for the end of July.  We have been gathering prizes (a trip to WaterColor Inn and Resort and a big green egg) and plan to have contests on our Pinterest and Twitter etc.  Stay tuned.

10.  Love and listen more to family and friends.  Slow down for that as it should not be a luxury.

Have a sensational summer!

Happy Memorial Day from The Southern C and God Bless America!

Happy Sunday from The Southern C!

http://pinterest.com/thesouthernc/faith/

southerndrive:

As a man, I stick with my local craft beers and foreign scotch whiskeys. I consider the word lavender a bit to girlie for me. (Not many folks in the stadium cheering “Go Lavender!”) Carolina blue jerseys is as close to lavender as a man can stand on the field.

But I must say that Cheri made me one of these Blueberry Lavender-thingamajigs late in the afternoon at a historic preservation meeting that she was “livening-up” and the drink was surprisingly good. A springboard into the evening drinks. I never asked what a Mojito was. Probably best I don’t know.

-alex

thesouthernc:

Me.  Here.  Blueberry Lavender Mojito.

The.  Perfect.  Weekend.

http://pinterest.com/thesouthernc/favorite-places-spaces/

http://pinterest.com/thesouthernc/cocktails-and-cuisine/