Yesterday Julia and I were at our place in San Francisco, having returned the night before from our second annual Easter weekend in Palm Springs. (My partner David had to return to New York Sunday night.) Last year we rented a great midcentury modern house, but this year we were guests of our friend Keith who recently bought a spacious and comfortable home in the lovely Las Palmas district of Palm Springs. Keith is off to a beautiful start renovating this house and its garden to better reflect both the desert landscape and the distinguished modernist heritage of the neighborhood. (Richard Neutra’s desert modern masterpiece, the Kaufman house, is literally just down the street.) Of course, we were full of advice.
Since Keith really hasn’t moved in yet, we had a minimum of household kit at our disposal, but we still managed to cook delicious meals and celebrate easter in style. In fact, we devised some quick but delicious dishes and drinks that I’ll share with you in the coming weeks. One of the weekend’s biggest hits was a cocktail, the Pisco Sour, which I’ve discussed in a previous post.
Marta, Julia’s San Francisco godmother (who makes everything beautiful), came prepared. She brought some bird ornaments, small faux eggs and nests in her suitcase and combined them with some rocks from the garden and some leftover table flowers to make this beautiful Easter centerpiece.
Dan, Julia’s San Francisco godfather, led the Easter egg decorating effort, augmenting the supermarket Paas egg dying kit with a black Sharpie from a kitchen drawer and his beeswax lip balm (in place of the wax resist pencil missing from the kit). We had mostly brown eggs on hand, but I think they made some very interesting color combinations.
For me, the highlight of the weekend was probably Julia’s first Easter egg hunt. She did well. After we had gathered all the eggs (or so we thought), she insisted on searching the back garden again, and, in fact, found one we had left behind. Her Easter bonnet was a gift from our friend John, who also joined us in Palm Springs. He’s the only nephrologist I know who can sew a little girl’s hat.
Tonight Julia and I are back in New York, and tomorrow David and I will leave for a 10-day vacation to Marrakech and Madrid. Julia will stay in New York and be spoiled by her grandmother and two of her girlfriends. We’ll miss her terribly, but I’m sure the ladies will have a grand time.
While we’re away, internet connections permitting, I’ll probably indulge in a little travelogue. I’ll also repost a few favorite older pieces that many of you may not have yet seen.
