I really went gaga over legendary magazine editor Mary Jane Pool's apartment that was featured in the March Domino. I thought it was such a beautiful mix of graceful antiques, 20th century pieces, and gorgeous fabrics and wallpaper. So, while I was reading Tiffany Taste(aka Table Settings of the Rich and Famous) the other day, I came across a chapter on Ms. Pool and her style of entertaining.

According to the book, Ms. Pool has a fondness for all things Venetian (this is confirmed by the Domino article, which notes that Pool has a decent sized collection of 18th and 19th c. painted Venetian antiques). For a summer lunch, Ms. Pool would likely start with a salad of shredded celery, mushrooms, Gruyère, white truffles, and a vinaigrette of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The main course might be a pasta gratinée of green tagliarini, béchamel, prosciutto, and tomato. For dessert? Chocolate twigs or truffles, grapes, or strawberries accompanied by mandarin orange tea. Oh, and no wine- "nothing dangerous"- with lunch, only San Pellegrino. After all, when you're an editor of a magazine, you have to stay on your toes!

What I enjoyed most were the photos of Pool's Sutton Place apartment circa 1986. Author John Loring wrote that Pool "knows as much as anyone about the domestic pleasures that make life sweet." I wholeheartedly agree.


What a sumptuous mix of yellow satin curtains, yellow walls, and red satin(?) chairs. In fact, those chairs appear to be the same ones that were featured in Pool's Olympic Tower apartment, although at that time they were covered in orange cotton pique. The mirror is 18th c. Venetian. And notice the pedestal table, which Pool still owns today (see image of Pool at top). According to Tiffany Taste, the base is in the shape of a neoclassic Italian urn.


Another Venetian piece- this time an 18th c. painted commode. The tea service is Royal Berlin, and the silver Tiffany basket is filled with chocolate twigs.


Tiffany's classic "Chrysanthemum" flatware and "Nymphalidae" dessert plates adorn the table. Strawberries are nestled in a Tiffany sterling basket.

(Image at top of Pool- photographer Annie Schlechter)

I recieved an email the other day bearing some of the best news I've heard in weeks.

One of my favorite culinary TV series, "Two Fat Ladies," is finally coming to DVD!

For anyone who doesn't remember this fantastic British show (which aired back when Giada's decollete was just a glimmer in some TV executive's eye), there's still reason to check it out.

Don't expect healthy twists or 30-minute meals here. Instead, prepare to ride off with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright (by motorcycle and sidecar, naturalement) around Britain (and beyond) to prepare seriously hearty meals.

How about joining a hunting party in Scotland for a menu that includes roast grouse and venison with blackberries (episode 5)? Or perhaps you'd enjoy making lobster for a sisterhood of Benedictine nuns in Ireland (episode 14). Soused herrings, Welsh rarebit souffle, onion soup with Stilton, fruit tartlets...the list goes on.

These aren't all recipes that you'd likely rush out and make, but that's not really the point. The settings are verdant and the ladies are undeniably charming, entertaining, and passionate about food.

Even though the show itself is dated, it's novel and refreshing to see them, polar opposites of the squeaky-clean, book-deal-sniffing personae of today's food TV stars, preparing honest food without pretension.

Welsh Rarebit Souffle
Ingredients:
    2 large slices of good-quality white bread
    1/2 pound of high-quality, aged cheddar cheese
    3 egg yolks
    4 egg whites
    1 level teaspoon dry English mustard
    1 vigorous shake of Worcestershire sauce
    1 vigorous shake of Tabasco sauce
    Salt and Pepper

Grate the cheese and place in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, a level teaspoon of mustard, a good shake each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toast the bread; whip the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Add a spoonful or so of the beaten egg whites into tothe cheese mixture then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the bowl. Put the toasts into an ovenproof dish and pour the mixture over them. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes until browned and risen. Serve at once with a salad or spinach on the side.

Recipe reprinted from the Two Fat Ladies DVD box set, Acorn Media, 2008.