It's become a bit of a tradition for me to travel somewhere warm for New Year's - a brief trip south to escape the cold winter can be so invigorating.
If you follow my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen photos from my recent holiday trip to Palm Beach, Florida. I was joined by my dear friend, Terre Blair. I always try to include as much as I can during my trips, so they are productive, informational, and fun. We spent most of our brief stay touring farms, enjoying great meals, shopping along Worth Avenue, attending parties, and visiting with friends.
Enjoy these photos.
This large cruise ship is Margaritaville at Sea – a cruise line that operates two-day voyages out of West Palm Beach, Florida to Grand Bahama Island. Our hostess, Lisbeth Barron, has a home overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3,000-mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and sees this vessel pass by every day. If you want to drink
margartitas, or Martha-ritas, and listen to Jimmy Buffet songs while relaxing under the warm sun, a trip aboard the Margaritaville at Sea is a great way to do it!
Soon after arriving in Palm Beach, we attended our first holiday party. Here I am with Lenny Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s brother – always looking so dapper and fun. I am wearing a comfortable Azzedine Alaïa kaftan.
The next morning, we went to Chikmonk Coffee, a unique farmer owned, locally roasted Indian specialty coffee company. Here I am at the pop-up coffee bar with owners, Nandini Jayaprasad and David Beil. They import the coffee from their family’s plantation estate in Chikmagalur, India. It was so delicious, I brought some home with me.
This is the front façade of the private club, Carriage House. Its owners, Michael Bickford and his wife Paula, enlisted the help of architect Keith Spina to handle the restoration of the Palm Beach landmark buildings and worked with Madrid-based designer Luis Bustamante on the interiors. The front is decorated with thousands of holiday glass ornaments.
I also stopped at the Paul Lebrecque Salon for a blow-out. Here I am with Paul on my right and the salon’s manager, Collin Adams, on my left.
Here I am for an evening of fun and celebration with my friends Terre Blair and Susan Magrino. I am wearing my new crisp white Oscar de la Renta kaftan.
On this night, we attended the 65th birthday part of my friend, Laura Slatkin. Pictured in this selfie – George Ledes, owner of the iconic fragrance Fracas by Robert Piguet, myself, Terre Blair, makeup artist Daisy Schwartzberg Toye, my longtime publicist Susan Magrino, and photographer Douglas Friedman.
Here I am with Douglas in another photo. this was taken inside the Slatkins’ beautiful home.
At Swank, they grow all their own crops from seed. Here are the starter trays with tomato seeds.
In another section are trays with developing seedlings. Everything is carefully watched and monitored. These plants look very healthy.
Because of rising waters and sandy soils, all the plants go from trays to individual grow buckets. There are more than 25-thousand plastic containers here at Swank.
This area has growing frisée or curly endive. The tan tops are blanching caps put on the head of frisée to keep the sunlight away, turning it into a beautiful yellow and making the leaves more tender and less bitter.
These are the peppers – millions of peppers growing and thriving in these plastic containers.
Here is a closer look at some of the hot peppers growing. Peppers need room for their roots to spread, so when growing in containers, remember to choose pots at least 12-inches in diameter.
The farm grows more than 350 varieties of produce consisting of leaf lettuces, specialty greens, cooking greens, baby and full size vegetables, edible flowers, herbs, tomatoes, micro greens, strawberries, wild flower bouquets and more.
Here I am with Swank Specialty Produce proprietors, Darrin and Jodi Swank. Aside from the farm, they also have a market held in an open-air 8500 square foot barn where they host about 25-bakers, growers, gardeners, and sellers of quality, all-natural fresh foods and products.
This is Dan Lembessis, owner of Blis Farms, where they make authentic Greek virgin olive oil, vinegar, jams, salt, and many other items.
They also had boxes of delicious sourdough bread.
Blis also sells a variety of honey – Wild Greek Forest Honey, Wild Greek Island Honey, and Greek Golden Vanilla Honey.
This honey is made from rare vanilla fir trees. It looks very creamy.
Here I am with Dan and his son. I purchased several items to take home with me. The market is filled with so many wonderful and flavorful items.
I stopped for this quick photo with a bunch of fresh baby fennel.
And one could smell the porchetta by Pork-etta – after it was cooked for eight hours.
There was also a table showcasing a large selection of Paulie’s Pasta.
Of course, I couldn’t visit Palm Beach without stopping at an orchid farm. There were so many beautiful blooming plants.
I selected a few vandas for my greenhouse collection. Vandas are rare orchids and are loved for their stunning colors. Vandas range from tiny orange flowers to gigantic blue and pink ones with interesting markings.
Here is one in beautiful dark pink. Vanda is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. There are currently up to 90 species of Vanda orchids.
And then we had some of the best Latin street food I have ever had at Cholo Soy Cocina. We enjoyed one of every kind of taco and a sweet corn salad. Cholo Soy Cocina is in the Antiques district, and features a large variety of tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, and other dishes.
I didn’t notice it at first, but look at the sign… I definitely approve! Do stop in if you’re ever in the area. You’ll love everything you try! In my next blog, more photos from my short trip to Palm Beach. Stay tuned.
What did you do over the holidays? Did you have a traditional celebration with family and friends, or did you travel and learn about new and interesting places? I always enjoy seeing photos from others taken during their time away.
This year, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, spent his holiday back home on the west coast. He visited family in California and then traveled with friends to Washington State. While in Seattle, he stopped at Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition at the Seattle Center right next to the iconic Space Needle. The magnificent display features a look at artist Dale Chihuly’s many works and his artistic development through the years, including drawings, signature glass series, architectural installations, and some elements of his personal collections.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I am sure many of you recognize the Space Needle, the famous observation tower in Seattle. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World’s Fair, which drew more than two million visitors. The Space Needle stands at 605-feet tall, offers 360-degree views from its three main viewing areas – an indoor observation deck and open-air viewing area located at 520-feet, and an observation level featuring a revolving glass floor located 500-feet above ground.
Chihuly Garden and Glass is adjacent to the iconic structure. Here it can be seen from the Glasshouse, a 40-foot tall, glass and steel structure covering 4,500 square feet of light-filled space.
The installation inside the Glasshouse is this expansive 100-foot long sculpture mostly in reds, oranges, yellows, and amber. Made of many individual elements, it is one of Chihuly’s largest suspended pieces.
This is called Winter Brilliance, 2015. Winter Brilliance was originally created for the Barney’s New York flagship store in Manhattan for its famous annual holiday window display. Installed at Chihuly Garden and Glass in 2021, Winter Brilliance features chandeliers, towers, reeds, and these icicle clusters.
This massive tower is made of thousands of individual blown-glass pieces that look similar to tentacles. The piece is in the “Sea Life” gallery and is two stories high.
Here is another piece in bright green. So much attention is given to the pieces’ colors, textures, and size – some of them are giant, while others are small enough to hold in one’s hand. This is one of the Chandeliers, which showcase Dale’s mastery of color and scale.
Here is Ryan in one of the indoor galleries under another stunning and colorful Chihuly installation, Oklahoma Persian Ceiling, 2002. Dale Chihuly has created more than 2,000 works of art. His work is displayed in more than 200 museums worldwide and in 100 public gardens, parks, and botanical gardens.
Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington where he first started glass blowing at the age of 20. He also studied at the Murano glass company Venini, on a Fulbright scholarship, in their world-renowned Venetian factory.
Some of the indoor galleries display dense, garden-like spaces with color-filled glass sculptures resembling crystalline plants and flowers. This Mille Fiori is displayed over black reflecting glass.
… and every single element is blown from molten glass.
Chihuly draws much inspiration from his travels like in this boat scene inspired by Japanese fishing floats.
This installation includes two fishing boats filled with glass. Dale has always loved water, and while in Finland, he had the opportunity to throw glass blown pieces into the water and then pull them up onto boats like these.
One of Dale Chihuly’s most prolific forms is the richly colored “Macchia bowl,” a term derived from the Italian word for “spotted” or “stained,” as well as the name of an ethereal form of medieval Venetian painting.
Dale was inspired to use all 300 colors in his shop for this series. These bowls are up to four feet in diameter.
Outside in the garden, the glass sculptures blend in with the plantings. Dale explains that when the outdoor space was designed, first the art pieces were selected for form and color. And then the landscape was second.
These are more of the Red Reeds – such a beautiful combination of glass art and nature.
All the taller pieces and some others were made in a small glass factory in Finland where the ceilings are 25-feet tall.
This yellow glass tree is two stories high.
Like many of his works, Dale’s garden pieces are all individually blown glass elements which are then assembled into art sculptures.
And here is Ryan in front of the giant yellow sun, made from thousands of radiant orange and yellow tubes of glass. What a great visit, Ryan. Thanks for sharing your photos. And please visit Chihuly Garden and Glass the next time you are in Seattle, Washington.
I hope you caught a glimpse of what I did for the holidays on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
This Christmas, I attended a lovely dinner at Clove Brook Farm, the Hudson Valley, New York home of my friends, Christopher Spitzmiller and Anthony Bellomo. Among the many delicious dishes we enjoyed - radicchio pomegranate salad, corn pudding, Yorkshire pudding, baby Brussels sprouts, and the best Pat LaFrieda standing rib roast, which I brought to season and then cook at their home. For dessert, we had homemade Bûche de Noël. It was a wonderful celebration and feast.
Here are more photos, enjoy.
Christopher, the potter lamp maker, and his husband Anthony, the landscape architect, who owns Orangerie in Millbrook, have a silver tip Christmas tree. These trees are native to Oregon and Washington state.
It is often referred to as a “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree. The spaces between the limbs highlight the ornaments and are reminiscent of Christmas trees from the 1920s and 1930s.
Christopher and Anthony decorate it with charming vintage ornaments and icicles.
This year, they used mostly cardinals. Christopher likes to purchase ornaments in groups of six so one’s eye moves all over the tree and sees familiar “friends.”
The tree topper is by Wendy Addison, who makes all sorts of wonderful seasonal holiday items – all by hand.
Here is the holiday table – set with antique Wedgwood plates edged in red and gold. The festive tablecloth is a discontinued print from Cowtan & Tout. Anthony arranged the flowers in the center cachepot and Christopher made the golf lustre faux barrel cachepots in his New York Studio.
Here’s a view of the beautifully set table from above.
I recommended that Anthony sugar pears, nectarines, apples, and grapes using egg whites and sugar. They look so pretty on the plate surrounding the tureen.
It looks real, doesn’t it? Look again. This hand made ceramic artichoke is by the ceramic artist Clare Potter.
I actually brought the rib roast to Christopher’s the day before, on Christmas Eve. Pat LaFrieda gave me a seven rib roast. We seasoned it and let it set for 24-hours before cooking.
And then on Christmas Day, we put it in the oven. Here’s Anthony smiling for a quick photo just before the roast goes in.
For medium rare, the temperature in the center of the roast should be between 130 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit when ready.
Meanwhile, guests enjoyed ROE Caviar, crème fresh, toast points and mini latkes Anthony prepared.
Here I am with guest and interior designer, Ashley Whittaker, warming up by the fire and drinking egg nog. Anthony made the egg nog using my recipe. Ashley and her husband Andrew Spence hosted a holiday gathering at their home the night before.
And the standing rib roast is done. Here’s Christopher after pulling it out of the oven. It is perfect.
And then Christopher does the honors – carves and plates the rib roast.
The buffet included a beautiful salad of radicchio, green leaf lettuce, endives, and pomegranate seeds.
There was also pan seared baby Brussels sprouts from Anthony and Christopher’s garden.
And corn pudding, which is a delicious creamy comfort food dish.
Here is the main entrée – sliced rib roast. It was a big hit.
Here is the Bûche de Noël made by Anthony with faux bois chocolate ganache. Christopher made the meringue mushrooms.
And here’s a view of everyone from upstairs. Thank you Christopher and Anthony for a wonderful Christmas meal.
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