Proust Would Be Proud

Marcel Proust would be proud: Tall Husband and I made madeleines tonight. He browned the butter as I grated the lemon rind and mixed the batter. We always use Julia Child's recipe...we've tried numerous others but find that nobody does it better than Julia. After baking them in their madeleine pans and sprinkling with powdered sugar, we ate them warm with tea.

Note: This fragrant tea is from Beadboard Upcountry in Brenham, Texas.

Guess Who Came for Dinner

Red-tailed Hawk
Now he's got me wanting a new lens for my camera, so that I can get a better photo of him.

Tall Husband spotted this dinner guest sitting in our pecan tree at My Ranchburger this evening. Watch out little squirrels! I think you're on the menu.

Art Display

Hollow Upbringings by Mindy Herrin; ceramic, vintage suede; silver, cheese cloth. The raven was found in Paris one Christmas season, displayed with its flock on a white tree.

This figure, more homunculus than baby, was originally displayed on a dark metal stand. We wanted something that did not require a table for display. A catalog came to the rescue again: Pottery Barn Kids arrived with a photo of this French highchair for a doll. We thought the chair would soften the edginess of this piece of art; however, Tall Husband's sister informed us that the contrast "disturbed" her "even more." Since I delight in disturbing her, I added the French corbeau (raven). It worked!

Minimalist to Minimalist

Vitra Design Miniature, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, 1928

I confess: After witnessing Hurricane Ike, Tall Husband and I went house hunting, farther inland, where my son lives with his family. We did not find a house to our liking, so upon our return to Houston I continued my search on-line.

As Tall Son shares my aversion to clutter and kitsch and is a devout minimalist, I trust his design decisions, so sent this e-mail to him:

Mom wrote:

"What do you think of this one?" (I attached a photo of a new modern minimalist house, designed by a great architect; a photo I will not attach here, as I do not want someone to scoop the house out from under us.)

Tall Son responded:

"I like it but it lacks a few Southern touches:

1. Stone hunting dogs flanking the entry way
2. A two-foot rusty lone star over the front door.
3. A junkyard sculpture of a longhorn in the front yard.
4. Twin lazy boys in the living room facing a ten-foot TV tuned to college football.
5. A pool table with a plastic Budweiser lampshade over it.
6. A poster of a large-breasted bimbo in a bikini mounting a Harley in the garage (over the arc welder of course).
7. A longhorn trophy over the TV that sings the "Yellow Rose of Texas" when you pull its tongue.
8. Antlers mounted in every room for good measure.
9. A flashing neon sign over the sound system that just reads "The King."
10. Oh, and for the little lady: a velvet painting of young Elvis over the stove.
    

Love,
Tall Son"

He loves the house!

La Tortoise in Ranchburger Land

This is a story about a whimsical, minimalist topiary turtle that stands in Meyerland.

Max Ernst's Paros marble Tortoise sits in Andrée Putman's apartment in Paris. The photo is from the book Andrée Putman, A Designer Apart, by José Alvarez and François-Olivier Rousseau; Rizzoli International Publications Inc. Though this turtle is quite charming, it is not the inspiration for La Tortoise in Meyerland, a neighborhood in Houston, Texas.

Tall Husband stands beside La Tortoise to give you a feel for the scale of the boxwood piece (but remember: Tall Husband is Tall.)

In the neighborhood of My Ranchburger, there is a long-standing delightful surprise, a topiary turtle that seems to have been inspired by turtles the artist Max Ernst sculpted during the last century. For years I have smiled each time I drove past this boxwood creature, wondering who created it and why. This turtle has been maintained here for as long as I can remember (I moved here in 1976).

Determined to learn its origin, I recently caught up with the Meyerland Community Improvement Association (MCIA) landscaping Crew. They told me that the turtle was first sculpted by a former member of their crew, whose name they could not recall. Since the retirement of the original sculptor, the landscape crew has continued to maintain the turtle. It seems that the inspiration for the turtle was the hundreds of turtles that once inhabited the nearby bayou and not by Max Ernst's creations.

A delightful, minimalist topiary turtle stands in Meyerland.

How wonderful to have an anonymous piece of living art bequeathed to a neighborhood. Thank your Sir, whoever you are.


Note: These photographs were shot before the hurricane but La Tortoise still stands after Hurricane Ike; a few less leaves and a bit frowzy, like the rest of us, but still standing!

The Red Telephone

At My Ranchburger in Houston: here is our vintage Southwestern Bell telephone that kept us in touch with the outside world during Hurricane Ike and following, when power outages hit the entire Texas Gulf Coast. Doesn't she look sassy? Couldn't you just imagine putting in a call to Russia from the White House?

You can see our modern, digital wireless phone in the background. It will not work without electricity but Tall Husband was undaunted; he simply hooked up our vintage Southwestern Bell telephone and we had a land line. Thanks to At&T we never lost phone service. Both our AT&T land lines and cell phones stayed with us through Hurricane Ike and subsequent power outages.

Hurricane Ike update:

We now have water and electricity at My Ranchburger! We are giddy with power. We have won the electricity lottery! No Internet (Comcast) yet, so I am mooching Internet connections from friends who have such luxuries.

I Don't Like Ike...

but I love these Texans.

The owner of this Houston home was grateful that this 60 foot tree did not hit her home when Ike blew it over.

The Texas Chainsaw Crew in Meyerland, Houston. This is one of many crews of neighbors who joined forces and resources to begin the horrific clean up that we face in Southeast Texas.

A crew of chainsaw-wielding neighbors clears the streets the day after Hurricane Ike blows through My Ranchburger's area of Houston. One of the crew insisted that I take a photo of the Poulan chainsaw. Guys love their chainsaws!

Ike's Landscraping

In Houston, many old trees were blown over; some narrowly missing houses, others smashing onto them. Power lines and poles were blown down. Water pressure is low, so water has to be boiled and conserved. There is no electricity and the weather is hot and humid. My Ranchburger and The Bunny Bungalow appear untouched by Ike...only tree damage and debris which we can handle. We Texans are a "can do" people. We don't stand around and whine about "when and what are they going to do for us." Houston mayor, Bill White, personifies the "can-do attitude." He has been on the radio (there is no longer television or Internet available to many of us) giving us encouragement, tips and real information about how we can help ourselves and our neighbors.

Larry, like all of his Meyerland neighbors, was out clearing his property as soon as Hurricane Ike quit blowing debris around.

There is a house somewhere behind those trees that Ike blew over.

Longing for an Edouard-Wilfred Buquet Lamp

Studio Bauhaus lamp from Neenas Lighting, was inspired by Edouard-Wilfred Buquet's 1927 Counterpoise task table lamp.

These lamps, inspired by Buquet's design are from Restoration Hardware and on sale! Hmm, should I?

This is an original Edouard-Wilfred Buquet Counterpoise table Lamp from the collection of Museum of Modern Art (MoMA.)


We must find replacement lamps for our bedroom at My Ranchburger. The one's we have were purchased years ago as temporary lamps. You know, just until we found the lamp of our dreams. Now one of those lamps has a transformer that is on the blitz. And the Edouard-Wilfred Buquet lamp is a lamp a modernist could lust after. But apparently no one sells a satisfactory reproduction; not even MoMA. A quick Internet search reveals that originals can be had for $4,000-$7,000 USD. This is quite out of my price range for a couple of lamps to put in the master bedroom. But they could look so cool on our grey Italian bed's credenza.

This will stir the ire of the purist but I had rather have a good reproduction with a halogen bulb. To my eye, a modern design does not look so chic if it's dented or tattered.

Sometimes one has to be content with longing. After all, it's not the lamp on my side of the bed that's blinking and fizzing; is it, Tall Husband?

Wine and Design

Design Within Reach Studio, Houston, Texas

Kristin McCabe, Studio Proprietor

Leslie Williams, Certified Sommelier, presenting wines from Christopher's Fine Wines and discussing the history and tasting notes of each wine.

Wine tasters

Anne Breux, French Minimalist Designer. Chic!
My absolute favorite international, modern designer. Watch My Ranchburger for information on her work.

Jean-Louis Breaux, International Art Dealer. At My Ranchburger we have some wonderful art by French artists whom he represents.

Red leather Barcelona Chair. Designer: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Knoll

Baby Toby: Starting early to develop an eye for great design

Toby's Mom

Shadow play: Coral Pendant. Designer: David Trubridge

Wired Legends, hanging about

Late Legends watching over the business

"Less might be more but one can never have too many chairs." (Tall Husband who owns 40+ chairs.)

Bertoia stool and chairs.

Design Within Reach (DWR) Houston Studio held a Wine + Design event last evening. Leslie Williams, Certified Sommelier, presented a wonderful selection of wines from Christopher's Fine Wines (next door to DWR) for tasting. We felt right at home in DWR, as we have many of their iconic pieces at My Ranchburger.

We met adorable Baby Toby and his parents (love their British accents.) Also, we were delighted to run into Anne and Jean-Louis Breux and catch up on their design and art endeavors (love their French accents.)

And Thank you, Tall Husband, for not buying another chair.

Update (9/01/08): Christopher's Fine Wines has closed their River Oaks store and will reopen in Rice Village on 9/02/08.

Click on photograph to enlarge.