Elegant North Fork Dinner Party

When there's a dinner party on
the agenda, the Markel girls are 
cooking in Orient
Time for a time-out on the North Fork of Long Island. This August the Markel sisters (Carol, Susan and Jeanne) got together at Jeanne's house for a few days of relaxing, shopping, scrabble with our brother, David, and preparing a dinner party.

 The most important part of the visit,

seeing Jeanne's wonderful dog, Fern.

 Jeanne planned an activity.

A visit to the North Fork Flower Farm.

Susan stands amid a field of Zinnias.

 This is the bunch we brought home.

 On our first night we dined at Caci in Southold.

Joining us were David and his daughter, Samantha.

This is Caci's heirloom tomato salad with basil sorbet.

It is heavenly.

 No sister time is complete without shopping.

We spent a day in Sag Harbor on the South Fork.

 Susan and Jeanne in a Sag Harbor shop.

 Shopping for berries at a Southold farm stand.

 The table is set for our dinner party 

at Jeanne's house.

 The chefs are busy preparing the night's menu.
Classic Gougeres
Chicken Soutine with Black Olives
Local Green Beans with Toasted Almonds
Corn, Feta Cheese and Tomato Salad
Blueberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

 A tranquil evening on Peconic Bay
with our guests, Ekta and Mark. We are enjoying
 our gougeres and Ekta's tuna tartare.

Jeanne made us Negronis.

Dinner is served Chez Markel.

A Bientot

Inside the Outside. David Markel in Southold

Inside the Red Barn:
The Eccentric Art of
David Markel
It's been a few years since I visited my brother, David Markel, at his barn in Southold, New York. Set amid vineyards and potato fields, David's barn, with it's car-stopping display of combines and assemblage sculptures set amid the surrounding fields, has been transformed into a live-work space.

David has taken a small section of his huge barn and made a comfortable studio and apartment.

 David at his table with a vase of sunflowers.

 On the etagere, David's small objects,

a vase of zinnias, a photo of our parents and a squash.

 Two of David's works.

He often uses found objects like this shaped piece

of wood, as painting surfaces.

 Two-faced Alien with No Arms.

 The opposite side of the Alien.

 A table with objects

 David's dog, Cookie, on a corner

of the couch. David got him at a yard sale.

 Creatures in a cityscape.

 A bust of a man wearing, what I believe, is our

father, Sam's, fez.

 Elvis and brushes.

 A view of the studio with David's painting table

which is also a work of art.

 The non-living space of the barn.

Our father, Sam, and David used to hold auctions on

this stage.

 A funny cabinet painted by David.

 Bye Dave. 

A Bientot!

Phoenicia and Woodstock on the Catskill Journey

Hippie Towns
On our recent trip through the Catskills, we blew through two fun towns, Phoenicia and Woodstock.
They are both small and heavy on restaurants and antique shops.

In Phoenicia we saw this beautiful, little church.

Lady of Salette. 

Roughly translated,

Lady of the Salad.

 Here's the Lady of the Salad worrying

about getting tossed.

 We stopped at Sue's Pancakes for lunch.

Left to right: Michael Miller, Rick Janke, Sue Markel,

Dianna Cramer, Carol and Richard

 These were all the pancake choices.

 Behind the counter at Sue's.

 Making the pancakes in the kitchen.

 Adorable, old-fashioned booths.

 Richard and his peach pancakes!

 Sue in Woodstock.

 We got a delicious Mexican dinner

here in Tannersville and took

it back to Scribner's Lodge.

The road back to Scribner's.

A Bientot!

Lazy Girl Stays at a Hipster Lodge

A mountain lodge where dogs as
accessories are de rigueur.
If Brooklyn was in the Catskills, then ground zero for its hipsters would be the hotel where we stayed on our recent trip upstate. I am talking about Scribner's Catskill Lodge in Hunter, New York. A 1960s motor lodge, Scribner's was re-imagined by a Brooklyn-based firm, Studio Tack, as a hip, homey mountain retreat. It was also one of the only hotels in the area which had accessible rooms for Richard reachable by a simple lift, as was the dining room on the ground level.

We got there on a Sunday afternoon and waiting for us in our room were the fixins for s'mores and two granny smith apples. A s'more is a treat made with Graham crackers, a chocolate bar and marshmallows. Our queen-size room was fine, but as is common these days in minimalist hotels where the designer knows best, no tables or shelves for you clothes unless you count the top of the in-room fireplace. They did have a pipe with a few hangers for coats and things you needed to keep neat.

On the road to Scribner's, Richard's daughter, Dianna Cramer,

had scoped out a road named Cramer.

 Fortunately, our room was steps away from the Library,
 which is what they call the great room at Scribner's.
 Richard would say, "I am going to the living room now",
 and sit in his favorite armchair to watch the action.
The action included pool and board games.

 Mid-century modern and lots of wood contribute
to a warm environment. The fireplace would be welcome
in the winter skiing season when the Lodge is at its busiest.

 Books in the library have been displayed according to color.

 In the blue section, I found this fascinating volume.

It kept me occupied for hours.

A game of pool with Michael Miller, Richard's 

son-in-law. He was a patient teacher.

The night that we arrived, there was a private party

in the restaurant and no bar for lodge guests.

But you could buy a bottle of wine at the

front desk, which I did.

 After a swim in the pool, making

s'mores in the outdoor fireplace.

 Did I mention dogs?

Everyone had one.

 We had a delightful swim in the pool.

The majestic Catskill Mountains are in the distance.

 A beautiful dog reclines by the table 

where his tech-savvy master works on his laptop.

 The deck at dusk.

 The dark mountains provide an abstract foil to the spectacular sky.
 We had torrents of rain on the trip but the blue sky appeared
 as if on cue when we needed it.

Fires burning, fires burning,

draw nearer, draw nearer

in the gloaming, in the gloaming,

come sing and be merry.

Old Girl Scout Song

A Bientot!