Sunday, June 13, 2010

Perfect Sunday, for a Hat

We continued testing the market for fine raffia hats today in Rancho Santa Fe; here is Clarissa, who is readying for a trip to the Caribbean and found her perfect hat; she is tiny, but the hat was perfect on her; it will squish in the suitcase too. I asked her to pose and so she did, hand on hip; she will be back for the Pink Cannes to go with it before she leaves in a few weeks time.....chic chic chic....and with this sale went the last of the initial samples; I will reorder various hats tomorrow and hope to have them in 10 days time. Clarissa, you look fab!

Raquel our market manager is out and about managing the crowds and meeting and greeting all day long; of course she needs a great hat (or a repertoire of them!) She sampled the medium navy today, which was perfect with her jeans and white top...she is missing her little accessory Biscuit, who stayed home today:
Allison from Magnolia continues to amaze me with the quality of her flowers and the creativity of her arrangements. This is what she did for me today, in a small yellow Cannes, which sent my Mom to the moon when I brought it to her:
Sage Hill Farms near Hemet must be an extraordinary place; here is my basket from them today: live basil, candystripe beets and two exotic broccoli, among other stuff....
they do a great display every week; they are in the San Diego markets only. Today they had live basil (put in water when I got home and will make pesto of it tomorrow), various sweet onions, and several exotic carrots; this was the source of the yellow carrots for Corino's dinner and today they had other carrot varieties, and I bought the last bunches of super sweet orange carrots. They also had a huge central display of broccoli, chard and cabbage:
and the chubby carrots, more onions and broccoli, happily in baskets:
The variety of onions... love their use of burlap:
and some kind of bean, forgot to ask, with yet more onions....
From San Diego, I went to the graduation ceremony of the all-girls high school I attended. Yeah, 12 years of Catholic school; my boss in NYC once told me "that explained a lot..." I am now a trustee of the school, Cornelia Connelly School of the Holy Child. The girls get red roses for graduation, and wear white dresses. It's not a stuffy school; but the graduation is all about tradition:
We had some great little helpers for the diplomas today:
I left the house at 6 am today to help Mom with some computer stuff at the office, then to San Diego and Anaheim; it's been a long day. Tomorrow we will continue the home tour!

11 comments:

  1. Hi Andrea! Love this! I actually just commented on your previous post. Got lots of positive comments today after I modeled the XL hat to the pool. Have sent some girlfriends your way...Looking forward to adding the pink Cannes bag to my vacation staples!
    Cheers and best regards,
    Clarissa

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  2. Love the hat that Clarissa purchased and want one! Will you be selling them online any time soon?

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  3. Glamoursmith, I will have the hats in about 10 days; please email me andrea@frenchbasketeer.com when you can. thanks, Andrea

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  4. What a marvelous weekend. I adore your yellow basket with those amazing flowers. No wonder your mother was over the moon for them. I love Rancho Sante Fe. We own a home in Rancho Bernardo but have not been back for several years. Sure miss CA. Very pleased to have discovered your blog, it's great.

    Great new week to you ~ Deb

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  6. After reading your last blog( I read them all which I absolutely love, adore and feel constantly inspired by) I thought I would share this with you. I share a love of food, so I wanted to identify the "beans" you photographed with the onions. They are called garlic scapes and have a very short season - grab some if you can.



    Scapes are the wild and curly shoots that spring from the tops of garlic plants. They're brilliantly green, can be thick or thin, curved or corkscrewed, and, depending on how they're cut, just long or very long. They've got a mild garlic fragrance and a mellow garlic flavor. Smell the cut end or snap one and the scent will be a cross between garlic and summer grass. It's got a freshness that garlic loses as it develops.




    GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO

    Makes about 1 cup

    10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

    1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

    1/3 cup slivered almonds (you could toast them lightly, if you'd like)

    About 1/2 cup olive oil

    Sea salt

    Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.

    If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for a couple of months, by which time tomatoes should be at their juiciest.

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  7. Thank you, Anne!! I will go check the scape out this weekend at RSF and try your pesto recipe!

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  8. Andrea - I just tried to email you but there seems to be a problem with your email address... I'd LOVE to order the hat that Clarissa just purchased -- please let me know how to best reach you.

    Thanks! Tracy

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  9. The next shipment is on the way and will be here expect end of next week; email me your contact info andrea@frenchbasketeer.com

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  10. Hi Andrea - I posted this blogpost on my Facebook wall and many of my FB friends were quite complimentary of my new hat! Anyway, I think I've sent a few folks your way - I'll be sure to send more!
    Clarissa

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