FurnishingsONE.com An International Interior Design Firm

Fall Day in Victoria
Sunny Days and Cool Evenings
The weather is so pleasant this time of year, something I must recognize, even as I know that working internationally means transitions from one climate to another.

Certainly Hawaii is one of a kind, with weather so spring and summer like, year round.
We just came back from there, with a nice project completed for a dear friend, in his 80's who just wanted to have his condominium fresh and new.

We did that, without spending a fortune: adding pillows to a plain but good sofa; a new, round coffee table in a rich dark wood; rehanging art; placing a daybed on the lanai, with a group of pillows in reds and oranges -- smashing with the art piece above, an abstract of the Golden Gate Bridge, also in that distinctive orange coloring.

There was more; yes, we did the whole apartment, though inititally he wanted only to focus on the dining room and the bedroom. We did it all for the same budget as the two rooms. What fun.

Design on a Nickel and Design for a Larger Area
In the first part of the year, we will begin a large project, with regular but not constant supervision. Its a golf club house, in Hawaii, that also will include a restaurant; what fun that has been to design with inspiration from the best architectural awarded restaurants for 2008.

Of course the principle of comfort and relaxation are the same for a good residential interior too.
In addition there will be an executive club, a world class spa -- all with design and supervision by our small firm, just the two of us.

Designers at 8am
We wake up designing, literally. Even before breakfast, there are ideas to discuss, an interesting article to read, and plans to be made. Certainly some creativity goes on while one sleeps, we are no exception. Yes, there is alot of editing of ideas that we read, it seems our nearly forty years in business makes us recognize what is lasting aesthetics as well as practical.

Designers at 6pm
A good day today, with the start of redoing the garden, quite a task, a fun one for me since I enjoy digging in the garden. The landscape installers are wonderful, a husband and wife plus their 21 year old son and a friend of his.

So after a bath at the end of the day which reminds me of swimming in Hawaii, there was dinner to be made. Here's an idea, one I will use later in the week for a dinner party: chicken breasts in a mushroom sauce with red potatoes and broccoli in a vinaigrette.

1. First, I simmered* chicken breasts in a good soup, this one a prepared mushroom soup from Thrifty Foods.

I did add several drops of Tabasco sauce, not much, just to add a bit of zest. Lemon juice would do the same. I am not an advocate of hot, spicy food at every meal, and I wanted this one to be flavorful not spicy but still the bit of Tabasco was right.

*simmer for me is an easy step, with the result of tender and moist chicken, not overcooked. To accomplish this, I do add the chicken pieces to gently boiling liquid, in this case soup, but then after a minute or so, I take the saucepan off the burner, cover the saucepan and let it cook even more slowly for up to five minutes or until the meat is just cooked through, no longer pink when cut with a knife. To me, the little extra effort to cook chicken as well as fish and meats with care is well worth it for tender, moist, and appetizing results.

2. Next, I also cooked the small red potatoes for a few minutes in the same soup, along with the chicken breasts, but finished the potatoes in the microwave, in a microwaveable dish.

3. Then I cooked brocolli in a small amount of water in the microwave for several minutes as well, immediately put the container with the vegetable in the freezer on an empty shelf to stop the cooking, removing them a few minutes later.

I recognize this is alot of microwave steps, and I do prefer to steam or simmer both the potatoes and the vegetables, but after a day in the garden, quick and easy is very nice too.

4. Finally, I put a pool of hot soup on a plate with the rest of the food close together in the center of the plate: chicken, potatoes, and broccoli.

Its attractive to leave alot of empty space around the perimeter of the plate, so perhas you will want to try this plating and menu for your next at home dinner or dinner party. I will later this week and will let you know how it turns out. There is no reason to explain that you are using prepared soup, but personally, I always do if someone asks, otherwise its my secret--- well now our secret, ok?