As we continue with our holiday memories, here's another encore blog from the beginning of this year. It was originally posted on January 06, 2024.
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.
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.
I hope you enjoy this encore blog from December 21, 2017.
Here are more photos from a holiday party at my Bedford, New farm.
My Winter House was where all our delicious savory dishes were served. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events, prepared a fabulous feast - cooked hams, homemade biscuits, an array of mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres, and of course, lots and lots of fresh shrimp and oysters. I made panettone, plum puddings, and a giant Buche de Noel. Every room of my Winter House was beautifully decorated in glistening shades of gold, silver, white and green. It was all so gorgeous and perfect for our holiday gathering.
Enjoy these photos.
Guests entered the Winter House through the large porch. We started a nice fire in my sugar pot. This is one of two huge cast iron sugar kettles I keep as fire pits. They add such a nice accent to the terraces and have always been fun conversation pieces during gatherings.
Another sign tells guests what they will find inside this building – it was by far the most crowded house during the party.
The giant bird in my entrance hall greeted everyone as they arrived.
My Green Room is just off the foyer. Laura decorated this sunken parlor in gorgeous gold and green. I love these two trees filled with ornaments – they just light up the room.
Here is a closer look at one of the trees – overflowing with balls in every shade of green.
I love how everything shimmers on the branches.
On one table is a collection of green bottle brush trees.
Another grouping of bottle brush trees sits on this high chest. Kevin’s reflection can be seen in the mirror.
My Bird Room is on the other side of the foyer. It is the smaller of two dining rooms. Here, Laura added touches of green and silver – in the back right corner is another gorgeous tree.
This is a 7.5 foot silver tinseled tree from my collection at The Home Depot. goo.gl/judpnB
On the table is another lovely napkin display – simply rolled and piled neatly together.
The napkins were set next to nuts and dried fruits from New York City’s famous Eataly Downtown. https://www.eataly.com/
This is my servery – a room from which meals are served. During parties, I often serve drinks from this area. This big silver bowl is for my special eggnog.
We filled this room with lots of white decorations dotted with copper and silver-colored accents.
More trees and woodland animals fill my mantel in the Brown Room.
In this corner, a green tree from my collection at The Home Depot – adorned with strings of lights. Beautiful decorations don’t always have to be elaborate. This tree was a big favorite.
A smaller tabletop tree with glass icicle ornaments – also very simple, but so elegant.
We moved my long dining table closer to one side, so we could serve the foods buffet-style – it’s a wonderful solution for large gatherings.
Meringues, cakes, and cookies filled the table.
Whenever possible, always try to use real china. Here, we stacked a combination of white and white with gold plates for all the guests.
Nearby, a tray of forks – even the flatware looked so decorative on the table.
Laura folded these napkins in rectangles and then arranged them in a crisscross pattern.
This is one of the plum pudding cakes I made for the party – it was so deliciously moist and flavorful. Next to it is a hard sauce I made with cognac.
My daughter, Alexis, is an excellent baker and cook. She brought this gorgeous cake topped with berries.
Here is a platter of beautifully sculpted meringues.
On this plate, stollen with marzipan from Balthazar New York. It is surrounded by Noel Nut Balls, the tasty cookie made from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box. http://balthazarny.com
Our shrimp came from True North – 40 pounds of the freshest shrimp. We served it on cake stands garnished with lettuces from my garden – they look like flowers. http://www.truenorthseafood.com
Jason Schreiber and I created this giant Buche de Noel – I added these whimsical mice right before the party – they were perfect.
My kitchen is where we served our hams – it is quite a spread.
This ham in the center is from my friend, Pat LaFrieda. It is a 20-pound smoked ham. http://www.lafrieda.com
This one is a whole country ham from Loveless Cafe – so flavorful. https://www.lovelesscafe.com
And the ham in the foreground at the bottom of the photo is from La Quercia – a spectacular acorn-fed prosciutto style ham. http://laquercia.us
The hams were served with homemade biscuits and mustard sauces.
We made a delicious pomegranate punch using concentrate from my friends at POM Wonderful mixed with citrus slices. It was very popular with all our guests. https://www.pomwonderful.com
And look how beautiful it is in this giant bowl.
Everything looks so stunning all prepared on my kitchen counter.
Tomorrow, I will share more of the food, photos of friends and family who attended, and of the special visit from the jolliest of them all – Santa Claus. I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.
This blog was originally posted on December 20, 2017. Enjoy!
I love how my home looks when it is filled with holiday decorations.
I opened three buildings for my recent holiday gathering here at my Bedford, New York farm. My Summer House, which I use as a library for my vast collection of books, was dedicated to "Caroling & Champagne". My longtime housekeeper, Laura, filled nearly every room with gold and silver - trees in every corner and on every table, with gleaming ornaments and garlands I've collected through the years. It looked simply magical.
Enjoy these photos.
My Summer House was the original house on the property. It was first built in 1770. It has been rebuilt and restored, but it remains on its original footprint.
Many of you have seen the back of the Summer House, where I created this tranquil sunken garden, now covered in burlap for the winter.
For my party, the Summer House was dedicated to singing joyful Christmas carols and sipping delicious champagne. It was also where guests could enjoy my eggnog, plum pudding, and fruit cake, and sit and share holiday stories and plans.
Guests entered the home to see the grand center stairway and handrail bedecked with a long garland of silver balls.
I love how it wraps around the dark wood railing.
Behind the front door is a wreath. I also have a wreath on the front of this door.
This room is filled with gold and silver trees and ornaments – I love how everything glistens.
We also used white and cream-colored ornaments, and ornaments in shades of copper and brass – all these metallic colors blend together beautifully.
I love this tabletop tree, flanked by candles in front of this bookcase. It’s decorated with gold balls and ornaments shaped like pinecones.
Atop the mantel, cardboard trees lined up in a row.
The room looks elegant yet festive, with lots of seating for my guests.
In the center, another tabletop tree with more shining gold ornaments. This one is set inside an urn, painted in gold. Trees don’t always have to be propped up in traditional stands – look for interesting vessels that can be used instead.
Laura hung these pinecone ornaments on the fireplace screen – such a pretty touch.
In another corner is this tall sterling tinsel silver champagne artificial tree – it’s from my Christmas collection at The Home Depot. goo.gl/judpnB
More pinecone ornaments and traditional balls cover the branches. When hanging ornaments, I like to use wire that is close in color to the tree.
Metallic wreaths are hung in every window.
This tree sits on one end of the center hallway. It is a skinnier tree, but I love how it is dressed – overflowing with ornaments. If you look closely, we used tinsel at the bottom of the tree to surround the wicker tree skirt.
This mantel is decorated with silver balls in a variety of sizes – so simple, yet so elegant.
Here is another silver tinsel tree with silver pinecones and a silver tinsel garland draped on its branches.
For the stand, we spray painted a section of a log in silver. These tree stands were made from felled trees and cut right here at the farm. I always try to repurpose whenever I can.
And in this room, we decorated the long counters with pink and green trees.
Glass globes sit in simple Jadeite bowls. These trees are in natural wood tree stands, also cut right here at the farm.
And each tree is decorated with only a single ornament at the bottom – this one is a green pinecone.
And this one is a natural colored pinecone with a pink ribbon to match the tree.
Here is a view from one end of the room – it is simply gorgeous.
Champagne glasses sat in a silver tray nearby.
I love this view of the napkins folded and positioned in a circular pattern on top of a Jadeite cake stand.
Window seats are decorated with little houses and more trees.
Here are a snow-covered house and church sitting on another table.
I love this photo of the wreath, chair and the beautiful tree outside – everything is so pretty. Tomorrow, I will share photos from my Winter House, where Chef Pierre Schaedelin prepared and served all our glorious savory foods. What do you think about the decorations in my Summer House? I am interested and eager to read your comments.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
