in good taste, vol. 107: treasures
the holidays, antiques and other old things, and a cranberry-sumac(k)tail
At the tail end of 2024, Adrian and I traveled to the Norman Rockwell painting that is the Berkshires in Christmas, cozying up in an 1850 New England farmhouse. We had one truly great dinner at Heirloom Lodge in West Stockbridge, took meandering drives through western Massachusetts, and watched the snow come down on Christmas Eve.
Being from the South, snow culture is obviously not my culture but I’m happy to play tourist in it. Snow angels? Snowball logistics? Kicking snow around and staring at it? Standing on a frozen body of water? I am all-in. You absolutely can’t tell me anything when I’m in my coat and gloves on Laurel Lake!!
Anyway, we maintained our good health enough to host a New Year’s Eve party at home, complete with a shrimp forest (and pizza roll trees), martini and hot dog bar setups, and a deviled egg clock (pictured below, but original inspiration here).
On New Year’s Day, we dutifully ate our collards and hoppin’ John for luck and prosperity and all that. And wouldn’t you know it? A winter storm this past weekend blanketed Atlanta with a few inches of snow. We didn’t even lose power. Sometimes you really can have it all!
A SCATTERING OF GOOD TASTES
What I’ve been up to:
I really did have the honest intention to get in a few festive newsletters by the end of last year, but if I’m being honest, I was exhausted by Q4. And the pace of gift guides was particularly frenetic.
However, I do really like knowing what people’s favorite gifts are, whether it comes in the form of a thing or an experience or a gesture or whatever. I’d love to know what your favorite gift was! A couple of my favorites, should you be stockpiling ideas for next year:
The ReMarkable, effectively a digital notebook that writes like a dream. It’s amazing for people who are insistent about physically hand-writing notes (🙋♀️) and also very Particular about their paper and writing utensil game (🙋♀️). It syncs via mobile and desktop apps and is a true joy to write with. I love this thing!
A Yashica T4 point-and-shoot, sourced from a local antique shop, enabling a blitz through even more 35mm film. As I’ve gotten into photography, one limitation to my learning has been low-light situations (like interiors). My favorite camera, a Minolta SRT-201, is fully mechanical and I haven’t gotten around to getting a flash for it, plus a bunch of extra gear is just a lot to lug around. Having a trustworthy point-and-shoot with a flash has made me travel lighter, ha! (In other news, I’m starting to resemble this remark about camera collectors.)
A KitchenAid meat grinder attachment. I’m excited to learn how to make breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, you name it: will it sausage? Don’t answer that. I’ve bought some hog casings from a local butcher here in Atlanta and will (probably) report back on my progress.
Admiring:
There’s just no way to tell people about a “single-batch perfume subscription from England, released seasonally” without sounding insufferable. THAT. SAID. Ffern’s scents are phenomenal. I do not typically believe influencers when they say “people stop me on the street to ask about my perfume.” Ffern is the exception!
This custom wax seal stamp; these paper placemats in cognac!
OVER FIFTY REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BOOK A TRIP TO MEXICO CITY IN THE NEXT SIX MINUTES … I didn’t, but can appreciate an urgent and direct prompt
We drove past this house in the Berkshires every day and I don’t know what to say other than this is my dream home. The elegant curved windows. The kitchen’s Dutch door. The secret stone garden. The classic Federal details. If I had any number of million dollars, the speed at which I would purchase this property would be absolutely unprecedented.
Other items of note:
The 25 “most important recipes” of the past 100 years. I love the way this is laid out. It’s making me want a “most important” index for our house, as a nice reference for the things we like to make and eat the most all year.
The psychological reason for why we like antiques and other old things.
The joy of clutter in Japan:
“For the nation of Japan is filled with spaces that are as meticulously cluttered as minimalist ones are meticulously simplified. These packed places, which are every bit as charming as the emptied ones, force us to question our assumptions and worldviews. What if we’ve all been wrong about clutter?”
I want to host a DIY blockprinting party!
Listening to:
My Spotify Daylists were annihilated by holiday music playlists and I’ve been trying to reset my algorithm. In the meantime …
Rose Main Reading Room (2024) - Peel Dream Magazine, catnip for Stereolab fans
A River Ain’t Too Much to Love (2005) - Smog
A lot of classical music. I really know very little about the genre but regularly stream Tampa’s classical music station, and the “From the Top” syndicated program on Sunday evenings. I try (admittedly, not very hard) to learn more about contemporary classical composition, but turns out I really appreciate the classics!
In a few ways, this essay on Experiencing Bach articulates a lot of how I’m feeling about listening to (and wanting to experience) classical music.
CRANBERRY SUMAC(K)TAIL
I’m not often inspired by what’s in the larger food magazine titles, the recipes and food writing always seem sponsored (or worse: not tested). Ever since the (justified) fall of Bon Appétit a few years ago, it just kind of seems like legacy publishers have given up on solid recipe content. This isn’t commentary on all food print media - just those household names that can still be found in newsstands.
But because I was going to be on one of those commuter-type flights with no seatback TV or in-flight WiFi, I idly picked up the Holiday 2024 issue of Food & Wine at the airport. I was pleasantly surprised to find a ton of great, useful holiday recipes in it! Including this cranberry-sumac punch from renowned chef Mashama Bailey, just in time for our New Year’s Eve party.
Everyone likes a festive drink option at a holiday party. It’s easy enough for people to add their own spirit to this punch, so everyone wins! While this requires a bit of planning ahead in terms of making sure the macerated cranberries have enough time to … well, macerate, it makes for a really delightful and elegant punch that is deceptively simple.
INGREDIENTS
2 bags of cranberries (fresh are easier to crush up than frozen, but you could use either)
3 cups of granulated sugar
2 tbsp., sumac
6 cups, sparkling water (I used a little less than 2 bottles of Mountain Valley Spring Water)
Optional: 3-4 large rosemary sprigs, strips of lemon peels
WHAT TO DO
Working one bag at a time, pulse cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in sugar and sumac.
Cover mixture, and let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally. (The original recipe calls for 12-24 hours here, but ours was fine in less than 6.)
Pour cranberry mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer set over a bowl. If you’re using a drink dispenser instead of a punch bowl, bundle the solids in some cheesecloth and leave them in the vessel - this also makes for easier cleanup!
Fill a punch bowl with ice; stir in the resulting juice from the cranberries (called the oleo saccharum), and add sparkling water. Garnish drinks with lemon peel strips and fresh rosemary. If you’re mixing with alcohol, sparkling wine goes terrific with this.
*This is not actually how you pronounce “sumac,” but I trust you get my drift.
Another vote for the ReMarkable…I’ve been eyeing it for a couple of years and this year may be when I finally break down. Also that Looney Tunes backgrounds account makes me miss tumblr
Great pictures of Stockbridge in winter! I’ve only visited in summer when it’s magical in a different way. Your holiday spread looked beautiful, especially that clever deviled egg clock. As always, thanks for so many intriguing links too. Wishing you more happy adventures, tastes and discoveries in 2025, Emily!