November Myster Guest

She met her husband in the 7^th grade and by the 8^th grade they were a couple. For Christmas that year she gave him a Michael Jackson tape but it didn’t keep them together.  A South Carolina native, she attended Presbyterian College and then reunited with her now husband after finishing school. They have two daughters and she works as a school counselor. Our mystery guest is Vicky Burger!

November: "Greening" Your Home for the Holidays

Jennifer Fernandez of Fern Interiors shared with us some great tips on how to decorate for the holidays using fresh greenery from our yards.

Preparing the live greenery

1.      Gather greenery from your yard using clippers and a garbage bag.  Some foliage ideas include: Branches from your Christmas tree, Magnolia, Holly, Nandina, Acuba, Boxwood, Ivy, and Rosemary (Jennifer also mentioned Oak Leaf Hydrangea for Thanksgiving).

2.      Place your greenery in water for at least a day (either a bathtub or child’s swimming pool). Add a few drops of Clorox to reduce bacteria from growing.

3.      Before you put the greenery in the Oasis (see next step), trim stems so that plants absorb water better.

Preparing the decorating space

1.      For a mantle, cover the wood with plastic wrap to protect the wood from sap and water.

2.      To create a base for the greenery, use floral Oasis in a container. Floral Oasis is stiff foam that absorbs water and holds the plants in place. Soak the Oasis in a sink by setting the foam blocks on top of the water and letting them soak up the water. Do not submerge the foam as it will create air bubbles in the foam (takes approx 20 minutes). Keep the Oasis wet as it is no longer usable when it dries.

3.      Put wet Floral Oasis in a container (Jennifer used silverware liners as they fit on the narrow mantle). It can be held in place with floral tape, designed to stick when wet.

Creating the decoration

1.      Create a base by using your large foliage first, and then add more delicate stems, flowers, ribbons, ornaments, etc.

2.      Scale, proportion, and balance can be achieved by grouping like items, using odd numbers of items (i.e. one bow, three large magnolia bunches, 5 ornaments).

3.      Green Glo Floral Spray gives the foliage a nice sheen. Do not spry dried leaves or blooms, only spray the greenery.

Creating a bow

1.      Jennifer recommended starting with wired ribbon. You will also need floral wire, clippers, and wired floral picks (sticks with wire at one end). 

2.      Check out this article for picture instructions on doing a multi-loop decorative bow: http://sewing.about.com/od/bowsandribbonshowtos/ss/bow.htm

3.      In addition to the steps in the article above, Jennifer recommended attaching the wired pick by wrapping the wire around the center of the bow (on top of the floral wire already there). With the pick in place you can put the bow in a floral arrangement, wreath, tree, etc.

Other ideas

·        Jennifer put together a lovely table setting. Some of the details included pine and ornaments on the chandelier, boxes wrapped in holiday paper, and spring of pine under red ribbon for a napkin ring.

·        Another fun grouping includes these large vases with fresh cut fruit (holiday suggestions: citrus and cranberries), water, and floating candles.

  

·        Jennifer also created a lovely wreath for the front door.

·        This is a three tiered dessert tray with ornaments, simple and lovely!

Where to buy

1.      Wired ribbon and floating candles: Michaels (I’ve also noticed that Sam’s Club has a nice selection of ribbon for a reasonable price).

2.      Oasis, floral tape, floral wire, floral wire picks, Green Glo: Walmart

If all else fails…

Contact Jennifer! Her number is 704-576-3770 and her email is ferninteriors@gmail.com. She is a great resource not only for holiday decorating, but for interior design as well. Thank you Jennifer for an awesome evening and happy decorating!

If you have other suggestions or ideas, find a great deal that you want to share, or just want to make a comment, select "comment" and share with the group!

Other pictures from the evening



Mystery Guest

At each meeting, we’ll have an opportunity to get to know each other better with a “mystery guest.” We enjoyed getting to know Joann Brown this meeting. Did you know that she once lived on St. Thomas?  Be sure to attend our next meeting to meet our next mystery guest!

October Meeting: Clean Catch

We were served a real treat by the chef and sous chef of Clean Catch when we learned about buying, prepping, and cooking fish.

Buying your next piece of fish: The chefs discussed the benefits of buying fresh versus frozen. A fish that has been frozen will pull apart at the striations, indicative of proteins falling apart. For a reminder of the different grades and types of tuna, check out this blog: http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2006/06/tale-of-two-tunas.html or visit the chefs at Clean Catch for a refresher course.

Prepping Tuna to Sear:

1.       There is no need to wash the fish.

2.       Blot the fish dry with a paper towel to create the best crust.

3.       Season one side with kosher salt and pepper.

Searing a Tuna:

1.       Heat a cast iron skillet or any heavy gauge skillet.

2.       Add oil to skillet, enough to coat, and heat to 325 degrees (oil will look wavy and will let off little puffs of smoke). Don’t use olive oil as it will smoke at 300 degrees; use an oil with a smoke point such as canola, coconut, peanut, etc.

3.       Carefully add the fish to the skillet, season side down. 

4.       To cook to a specific doneness, pay attention as the cooking side of the fish will change from pink to gray. The amount of gray equals how done the fish is. 

5.       Sear all sides of the fish for the best texture.

6.       Let the fish rest a few minutes before cutting and serving.

Other Fun Fish Tips

·         To sear scallops, use the method described above but watch the scallops as they tend to leak liquid when they heat up. Move the scallops out of the liquid to keep the crispy sear.

·         Use a Beurre Monte to poach fish. Warm a tablespoon of cream on low heat and add cubed butter for a slow melt. Allow to rest. Hold the sauce at 160-190 degrees and add fish for poaching. Great for lobster, crab, and anything else that goes with butter!

·         Another poaching method: combine water, shallots, lemon, herbs and heat until it steams. Turn off heat and put in fish, let it rest and it will cook the fish to medium rare.

·         Looking for an easy method to extract crab meat from the shells? Broil in the oven for 30 seconds until it is bright red and then pick the meat out.

·         Don’t eat mussels and clams if they are open.

·         Lobsters don’t scream when they are boiled, it is their shell that is steaming. If you don’t like putting the lobster in while it’s moving, put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to put it in a coma. Lobsters likely don’t have a nervous system that is developed enough to feel pain.

About Clean Catch: Chefs Graham Giacobbe and Zach Gadberry have years of culinary experience and they are happy to share with their customers at Clean Catch. Clean Catch provides its clients with fresh fish flown in from all over. If you are in mood, check them out and let them know that GSGC sent you. They are located at 2820 Selwyn Avenue #150, Charlotte, NC 28209 (704) 333-1212, cleancatchfish.com. Thanks Graham and Zach for an awesome night! Thanks also the Sarah Rowe for hosting and all those who brought refreshments, etc.

New Neighbors' Picnic

Thanks to Alicia Thrasher and the Hospitality Committee (Pat Blume, Michelle Goins, Ruth Moniz, Sue Owen, Vicky Pettit) for a fun time at Winsford Court. Thanks as well to Sarah Rowe for volunteering her driveway.

Opening Social

The GSGC season is here again and there is no better way to celebrate than to throw a party. We invited the entire neighborhood to join us and we had a great time. Thanks to Kim Gordon for hosting, Erin Walker for helping with planning, Michelle Smolowitz for gathering donations for our door prizes, and all others who contributed. It was great to see everyone again, especially some of the longtime members in our neighborhood.

We are happy to announce that we had eight new members join! We are so excited to have you be a part of our group!