Mad Man in Baltimore

If you don’t know, there man behind Man Men is actually from Baltimore. Matthew Weiner, creator, producer and writer of the hit show, Mad Men, was born and raised in Baltimore. On Tuesday night, one of the characters from the series, Salvatore Romano, the closeted art director at the Sterling Cooper ad agency, will be hosting a cocktail party in Baltimore, in conjunction with the annual American Crafts Council Show. In reality, it’s Bryan Batt who is hosting the party, in to promote his well-known housewares shop in New Orleans called Hazelnut and his book, Big, Easy Style.The store is named after Batt’s grandmother who was a renowned dance teacher in New Orleans.

A few months ago, I found Batt’s book, She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother, at the Book Thing and read it. It’s an interesting story of growing up in New Orleans and Batt’s history as an actor and how he eventually came to own a shop in New Orleans.Tickets to the party are still available. Here.

Second Story

My second story for the Baltimore Sun is on their website now. Here. It will be in print on Sunday, February 19th.With all of the attention that Downton Abbey’s receiving, many people are thinking of collecting antiques. The article details how to learn about and collect antiques, and features the up-coming Maryland Antiques Show at Hunt Valley, which I will talk about it a little more detail next week.

What I Want

When I am in the UK next month, I am sure a bit of my time will be spent sourcing things I can’t buy in the States, but that are common in the UK.

There are some wallpapers I’ve been wanting for ages, and you can find them at the UK equivalent of Lowe’s or Home Despot. I wrote about them here.

This is called La Vie Ordinaire, and it has scenes from London, New York and Paris. It’s £19.98 a roll, which is about $35.00. Not bad.

And I love this one, Birds on a Wire, with small birds with Union Jacks all over them.

I hope to talk Yonks into taking me to some of her favourite vintage haunts around Cardiff… but she might not let me in on all of her secrets!Of course, I will be coming home with lots of UK shelter magazines, which I love, as well as some of this, which I also love.

Coming Attractions

This spring is already looking like it’s going to be busy. On Monday night, I attended a preview event, at this house, for this year’s Ladew Garden Festival. It’s scheduled for Saturday, May 5th. This year’s event will feature a talk by one of my personal style favourites:

Carolyne Roehm!

I am so excited about this, I can’t wait for May. I’ve written about her several times, here and here. There are a couple of new events associated with the Garden Festival this year, including a Friends Preview Party the evening before the show, and a Breakfast and Lecture before the Show opens on Saturday morning. I know that reservations for the party and lecture are going to go quickly, so be sure to make yours now!I might just have to pitch a tent in the garden to make sure I am there in time for all of this!

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In March, the Concert Artists of Baltimore are having a Mad Hatters Ball at the stunning Engineers Club in Baltimore. My great friends David and Lex Wiesand star in the promotional video for the event. And the video was made by other friends, Wesley Stuckey and Drew Rieger, whose house I showed you here.

Down the Rabbit Hole, Behind the Scene from Wesley Stuckey on Vimeo.

Don’t be Late, But Do be MAD!

Super Bowl Try-Outs

I decided to try out the dish I am making for the Super Bowl party I am attending tomorrow night and I am glad I did. I was charged with making the dessert or sweet. We’re having chili as the main course, so I thought something simple would be in order.

As I leafed through Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook, I found something I thought was perfect... Palmiers or elephant ears.  They’re simple to make, just commercial puff pastry and sugar. But the timing is critical, as I found in my first effort.It is literally a matter of seconds that will take the palmiers from a lovely caramelized bronze to black.All you do is roll out a sheet of the puff pastry in sugar on both sides. I used Pepperidge Farm, but to really upgrade, use Dufour pastry. Fold in from the sides and then slice thinly. I put them on parchment paper, just because they remove from the tray more easily.Put them in a 450* oven, and set the timer for six minutes. Remove from the oven and flip them, and then set the timer for 2.5 minutes. CHECK OFTEN!  When they are a dark golden brown, remove from the oven and put on a baking rack to cool. If you don’t know, hot sugar is like Napalm and burns like the devil. I am not sure why some of them open up, but I am sure they are all tasty, regardless of how they look! If you want to change them a little, add cinnamon to the sugar. You can also do everything up to cooking the palmiers, and then freeze them for later use.