Celebrating Julia Reed

When it comes to parties, I really don't think you need an excuse to throw one. "Just because" can be one of the best reasons to host one. But sometimes it's fun to have a point to your party. Better yet, it's nice to have a guest of honor.

For the past few months, I had been mulling over ideas for a party. Maybe a birthday party for somebody? A bon voyage fête? And then late one night, it hit me. What about a party in honor of Julia Reed? Now, if you're thinking how neat it is that I know Julia Reed, stop. I don't know Julia Reed. I'd love to know her, but I've never met her. I adore her writing, admire her sense of humor, and think that she must be the life of every party she attends. But she didn't attend my party. Rather, she was the guest of honor in absentia.

I'm sure this sounds crazy to most of you, and maybe it is crazy, but I have a group of neighbors and friends who are just as crazy about Julia Reed as I. When we get together for drinks or dinner, Julia Reed inevitably comes up in conversation. We cook her recipes, drink her drinks, and talk about her like we know her. That's why I knew I could throw out the idea of having a Julia Reed party and not worry that they would think I had lost control of my mental faculties. In fact, everyone was gung-ho in favor of the party. After all, they knew that any party with Julia Reed (real or imaginary) means good food and a lot of libations.



So let's start with the drinks- sometimes, they're the most important part of a party. In honor of New Orleans, the home of Julia Reed, I served French 75s, one of my favorite warm weather cocktails. (You know that any drink with gin and champagne can't be half bad.) My neighbors David and Scott brought Satsuma Stingers. And of course, there was wine. A lot of wine. I wanted to take a photo of my drinks table (the living room half of the Kittinger table) once it was set up and looking pretty, but I didn't get a chance to. Once everyone arrived, the table immediately looked like it had been hit by locusts. I guess that's a good sign, right?





For the food, we wanted to serve dishes that Julia Reed has written about in her books and her former New York Times food column. Because she is Southern, we are Southern, and our style of entertaining is Southern, it means that the food mostly consisted of cheese, pork, and beef. How my ancestors lived to such ripe old ages, I haven't a clue.




If you've read Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena, you might remember Julia Reed's chapter on funeral food. It used to be that anytime somebody died in the South, you showed up at the family's home bearing a beef tenderloin. Fortunately, nobody died around here, but I did serve a really tasty tenderloin with a mustard horseradish sauce.




Some of you are probably very familiar with Sausage Balls. If you're not, then you're probably thinking that they sound kind of trashy. Listen, don't knock 'em til you try 'em. My sister serves these to her guests in San Francisco, people who are either super health conscious or big time food snobs. They might snicker, but then they proceed to inhale them. Julia Reed also wrote about these tasty morsels in Queen of the Turtle Derby.




My friend Angela is a fellow Julia Reed fan. When she met Julia Reed at a book signing, she had the author autograph her copy of Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (with Recipes) not on the title page, but rather on Julia Reed's favorite recipe. Want to know what it is? Mary Bell's Pimento Cheese. Angela made the pimento cheese, and it was delicious. You can see how we made a dent in it.





And of course, we couldn't forget that it's Mardi Gras, so David and Scott brought a King Cake. When Scott ordered it, the bakery asked him if he wanted it decorated. Scott asked them what that entailed. Turns out it entails beads, doubloons, and that lovely feathered mask. Oh, and horns too. Why not go for broke? Angela, David, Scott, and I just had to get our picture taken with...it.

That photo placed in front of the King Cake? It's a photo of Julia Reed's New Orleans house that she wrote about in The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story. David and Scott took it while they were down in New Orleans last weekend. (Told you we were crazy for Julia Reed.) In a way, it almost made us feel as though our guest of honor was actually at the party. Well, almost.

Julia, next time you're in Atlanta, come on over to Plaza Towers. We're ready for another party!

Party in the Dark

Are you ready for a lawn party? Yes? Well, I'm afraid that we're going to have to hold our horses because it will be some time for most of us can take the party outside. But, there's no reason that we can't start making plans. While trolling through old House & Gardens this weekend in search of party ideas, I found this August 1966 article about a nighttime garden party- a Party in the Dark. The June party took place on a Long Island lawn, one which measured only 150 feet end to end.

Elegantly attired guests arrived at dusk to find cocktails and empanadas waiting for them at a small bar on the lawn. After a few drinks, a little chitchat, and a game of black-tie croquet, guests proceeded to a buffet of chicken adobo, green salad, rolls, and fresh fruit dessert. And what might be the best part is that after dinner, everyone took pierced tin lanterns that had been placed around the dining tables and walked to a wooded area in which a dance floor had been laid. Now, how fun does that sound?

I love this idea because first, I prefer an evening event to a daytime party- if only because it's much easier to relax and cut loose after a long day. Daytime parties can, at times, seem a little stiff. And, nighttime lighting can lend a real sense of drama to a party. Of course, other things can add to the drama of a party, but perhaps we ought not to go there.

The buffet table was covered in a black and white striped fabric, while dining tables were outfitted in black and white polka dot cloths. Tin lanterns were hung on stakes around the periphery of the dining area.



Individual tins kept the dessert cool and bug free.



Tin lanterns filled with candles and carnations were used as table centerpieces.



Love the bottle of Bertolli Chianti. Note too that each table was accented by a different color- orange, yellow, or blue.



Guests enjoying conversation and chicken adobo.



The procession from dinner to dancing. Each guest carried a lantern in order to light the way to the dance floor.



Dancing in the dark until dawn.

All images from House & Garden, August 1966.

Alex, I'll Take Potent Potables for $200

Here's mud in your eye.


I've been giving a lot of thought to house cocktails lately. A few months ago, House Beautiful asked me to come up with a cocktail that would be fitting to serve at one's mountain house. The first thing that popped into my head was "Southern Cola", a cocktail for which I absolutely cannot take credit. The creator of this libation was mixologist extraordinaire Greg Best of Holeman & Finch in Atlanta. The drink, by the way, is made of Coca Cola, Amaro, and a lime juice ice cube, and it's really quite delicious.

More recently, my neighbors David and Scott served me a variation on the Satsuma Mojito, a drink favored by Julia Reed. David's version- he calls it the Satsuma Stinger- consists of Satsuma juice, soda, vodka, and mint. It was refreshing and fizzy and yes, it's so good that before you know it, it's 1am and you're stung. This needs to become David and Scott's house cocktail.

And finally, over Saturday lunch with my Charleston friends Mitchell and Randall, I asked what the hot cocktail of the moment was in their hometown. The response was spritzers and cocktails made from Elderflower syrup or St-Germain (an elderflower liqueur that's especially delicious when mixed with champagne and soda.)

All of this talk about cocktails led me to the decision that I need to come up with a house cocktail to serve my guests over the coming months. This actually is of vital importance to me as I live in a building where all we seem to do is eat a lot, drink a lot, and stay up well into the night discussing important matters like gossip, old Atlanta, and decorating. Hey, why not when all you have to do to get home is simply get on the elevator and press a button-hopefully the correct one to your floor.



I do already serve Kir Royales from time to time, so this could be an option. It's classic, something that I like. In fact, I believe that the first time I had one was at The Carlyle when I was college-aged, so this drink just might be the sentimental favorite for me.




Of course, I could channel Nan Kempner and start proffering Bull Shots to my guests. Don't we all remember that W article in which Nan downed her Bull Shot, claimed she was "pissed drunk", and then proceeded to say that she "loathed fat people"? Do you think Bull Shots make you fat?




Maybe I need a house cocktail that contains Bourbon because after all, I'm a Southerner. If you could bottle Sid Mashburn's classic and cool, traditional yet hip Southern vibe and mix it with bourbon, then that just might be the perfect Southern cocktail.





If all else fails, I could serve what I oftentimes do: Riondo Pink Prosecco. The taste is crisp and dry, the hue a rosy shade of pink, and the bottle's label is chic. What's not to like? But it's a new year, and it's time I venture out of my cocktail comfort zone and serve something different. I need help! You're a fun-loving group of people. What do you think?

Top image from House Beautiful, Fernando Bengoechea photographer; champagne photo from Glorious Food by Christopher Idone; Campbell's Beef Broth silkscreen by Richard Pettibone; julep cup photo from Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York's Savviest Hostesses; prosecco photo by Jennifer Boles.

Jamee Gregory and New York Parties

Fall is a great time to curl up with a book on entertaining. After all, at some point in the next few months, you'll be entertaining whether it's for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, or New Year's. I just got through reading a really great book that gives the reader a behind the scenes look at how some of Manhattan's tastemakers entertain. New York Parties: Private Views by Jamee Gregory profiles parties and dinners held at the homes of Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Jamie Drake, and others. Jamee is the perfect person to pen such a book. She knows a lot about entertaining, she's a popular guest at said parties and dinners (no surprise as she's incredibly nice and down to earth), and she knows how to write a great book. Her first book, New York Apartments, is a favorite of mine.




Jamee was kind enough to chat with me last week about her book and the subject of entertaining. When asked why write a book on entertaining, Jamee responded that she wanted to document all of the great parties that she was attending. Parties by their nature are ephemeral, so she wanted to be able to give them some sense of permanency. And when asked why New York, she replied that New York hosts and hostesses often pull out all of the stops. Thank goodness there are still people who have the time, energy, and desire (and, okay, the means) to entertain at home.




Food, of course, is one of the most important components to successful entertaining, but Jamee stressed in both the book and in our interview that it does not have to be elaborate. Case in point? Tory Burch hosted a luncheon for her staff in which she served Greek take-out. And Michael Kors ordered lobster rolls from a neighborhood restaurant for his outdoor summer party. That said, Jamee also feels that it helps to know something about food. Even if you're not cooking the meal, you'll have an easier job of planning the menu if you have some epicurean knowledge.




Now on to tablesettings. Again, Jamee says there is no one way to do it. Mix and match your china. Use high and low. Yes, there is a lot of amazing tableware in this book: Herend, antique Sevres, Christofle. But you'll also see a few things from CB2 and Pier 1. There is even a Hunt Breakfast featured in which, because it's outdoors, the napkins are paper and the glassware is plastic. That's the ultimate high and low, and it totally works.




I asked Jamee if she had a signature dish that she enjoyed serving. It's a dessert prepared by Glorious Foods, and, according to Jamee, it's gaspingly beautiful. Around the edge of a large silver platter are dark chocolate dipped strawberries that rest in pink spun sugar, and in the middle is a meringue nest with both peppermint and chocolate sorbets. A chocolate sauce is served on the side. I'm dying to see this for myself because it sounds pretty magnificent. Jamee made sure to say, though, that a dessert like this needs to be served where appropriate, i.e. the city. In the country, one would want to serve a dessert that is more, well, country. She suggested a strawberry rhubarb cobbler with frozen vanilla yogurt. For those of us who want to try our hands at the city version of the dessert, Jamee thought that meringue molds (which can be bought at bakeries and grocery stores) piled with strawberries, mint, whip cream, and sorbet (with Hershey's chocolate sauce on the side) would be a great substitution.




For those people who don't entertain often or who are just starting out, Jamee recommends serving something fun like Chicken Curry that can be prepared ahead of time and served in a pretty casserole. (Preparing dishes ahead of time is a true life-saver.) You could then serve all of the appropriate accompaniments- coconut, chutnies, etc.- in small dishes. Sounds good to me.





Finally, for a few of Jamee's no-no's. Don't experiment with a new dish the night of a party. (You'd be amazed at how many people do this. Rarely does it turn out well.) No scented candles on the dining table. Unscented votive candles on the table or buffet, though, cast a nice glow. And if you have a few guests who stay beyond the witching hour and who don't seem to want to leave, you should yawn to give guests the hint. If that doesn't work, plan B is to say, politely of course, that it's getting late and you have an early morning to face.

So, if you'll excuse me (yawn), I have an early morning to face.




(All photos courtesy of New York Parties: Private Views by Jamee Gregory; Eric Striffler photographer; Rizzoli, October 2010)

Weddings by Tara Guerard

So, I was reading Weddings by Tara Guerard this past weekend. (Mom, Dad, and Significant Other- you can pick yourselves up off of the floor now. I'm not trying to tell you anything. Really.) A Sewanee friend sent it to me for my birthday, and I finally had time to go through it with a fine-tooth comb this weekend. And you know what? This book isn't just for the brides. There are so many clever ideas that any of us could use for our own homes and for parties of the non-wedding kind. After reading Tara's latest book, I'm champing at the bit to throw a party. I might even serve these:



Mini 21 Club burgers. 21 Club burgers are the best, so I can only imagine that these Lilliputian versions are delicious and decadent. Tara even included the recipe for them.




And how about getting some skewers printed up with a Greek Key pattern for your next cocktail party? Could be kind of fun.




Speaking of having things printed, what about getting custom coasters made for casual entertaining? I like the bird and branch motif, especially for fall, and you could add your monogram underneath the image. A recipe on the flip-side would not be necessary if these are for everyday use.




I could easily see this comfy setting in one's home. Your guests might never leave.




Ballroom chairs are great, but sometimes they need a little something extra. (This is why I just ordered some fun cushions for mine from Philip Gorrivan's Tastemaker Tag Sale from One Kings Lane this weekend. I'm only mentioning this because I cannot wait for them to arrive!) Alternatively, you could monogram a linen slipcover for the back of your chairs like Tara did for this wedding.




Think about how pretty a vase would look filled with oranges, clementines, and kumquats during the holidays. I'd place a few on my sideboard, or one on a chest near my entryway.






And finally, what about doing kissing balls like these for the holidays? I'm thinking the red ones would look great against my powder blue walls.

So, are you ready to start entertaining?

(All images from Weddings by Tara Guerard by Tara Guerard, all photographs by Liz Banfield.)