Author: c-ville-abode

We did our level best, but the results were less than level. Next time around, we broke down and hired a drywaller.

We are more than a little proud of our D.I.Y. ethic, but on a couple of occasions, we’ve taken the big step of admitting that we’d be better off hiring someone for a specific task. One of these occasions came about only after we’d satisfied our curiosity by trying the task in question—drywalling—ourselves.

It’s not that drywalling is incredibly strenuous or filthy or dangerous—in each case, it’s only mildly so. But it takes practice to make drywall look like it was installed by a human being and not by a monkey. “Practice” for us meant laboring over a bathroom ceiling and walls that, despite our thorough efforts, look —well—amateurish. And the job had gobbled tons of time, with repeated applications of drywall mud, then sessions with sandpaper, then more mud…

In the middle of this process, we had a visit from a bank inspector who is also an expert drywaller. He gave us a little demo: With one motion of the knife, he accomplished what we couldn’t in days of work. That did it. Our next drywall project, in the kitchen, had us on the phone to a local handyman. He came over and looked at the job, then quoted us $75. Sold!

Not only was this person infinitely more skilled with the gypsum and mud than we, he was pleasantly talkative and said nice things about the other work we’d done on our house. In other words, the perfect subcontractor. Sipping coffee while someone else made things happen in our house was a strange feeling, and not entirely comfortable. But we’re glad we powered through it.—Spackled Egg

Got condensation? Mom was right: Use a coaster! Now that you’re a grownup, no longer will a folded-up newspaper suffice for functional décor. For a simple fix, put that paper (and a few other materials) to use and make a set of decoupage coasters that would make even Mom proud.

Materials: Four ceramic tiles, craft paint, newspaper, Mod Podge (available at craft stores), felt pads (available at hardware stores)

Tools: Paintbrush (or foam brush), scissors
 
1. Cut out two shapes from the newspaper (we chose a heart and a house). Using the Mod Podge,

glue each to its own tile.

2. Pick a couple of words that you like (we chose “love” and “kiss”) and cut each letter individually out of the newspaper.

3. On the other two tiles, paint the same shapes as the ones you cut out.

4. You can vary the combination of media here; we chose to outline the heart with paint,  and place a word with the house cut-out and inside the painted heart. This gives the project a cohesive look.

5. Put four felt pads on the corners underneath the tile.

6. Coat tiles three or four times with Mod Podge to seal. Enjoy!—Caite White

Where once there was a wall, we had a gap in the flooring. We put down a plywood subfloor (top) and then laid slabs of soapstone, sanded and polished (bottom).

We dubbed our latest endeavor the Thanksgiving Challenge because of the rush we felt to get it done before a dozen turkeys—er, loved ones—arrived for the holiday. The project: to lay two thresholds made of soapstone.

Last month, I wrote about how we’d replaced two load-bearing walls with big oak beams. Very nice, but it left gaps in the hardwood flooring where those walls had been. We could have tried to fill these with matching tongue-and-groove planks, but we doubted our ability to get it just right and anyway, we thought soapstone would be more interesting. A visit to the Alberene quarry in Schuyler is always fun; we picked out a 220-pound slab, 3/4" thick, from which to cut our thresholds.

Soapstone is soft enough to cut and sand with wood tools, which is exactly what we did. After rounding the corners with a file, and a lot of power- and hand-sanding, we finished polishing the pieces to a deep black with steel wool and towels—very satisfying work. We cut 1/4" plywood for an even subfloor layer, put down a vapor barrier, and mortared our stones into place. Then we grouted with hand-mixed sand and Portland cement.

The floors look much more finished now, and we got rave reviews from the turkeys.  

Head of the class

Location: Louisa
Price: $324,700
MLS #: 456973

“Gracious” is the word that comes to mind here, even if the phrase “former maid’s quarters” is a bit too patrician for your taste. (The FMQ is now an office, by the way.) This is a lovely 1912 foursquare in the town of Louisa any tweedy professor would be thrilled to inhabit: a backyard for gazing at between brilliant sentences, a big dining room for department dinner parties, and no fewer than five bedrooms to accommodate everyone when the kids are on break from Harvard.

On the water

Location: Branchlands
Price: $319,900
MLS #: 455107

You’re paying for two things here, and isolation isn’t one of them (it’s a townhouse). Number one: location, minutes from anything on the 29N corridor. Number two: a lake view. What grabbed us is the deck and the sunroom, both of which really are rather charming here—the latter has big windows and looks over the water. And the place packs a lot into its 2,000 square feet: a mother-in-law suite, three full baths…did we mention that sweet little sunroom?

Pink house, killer view

Location: Afton
Price: $750,000
MLS #: 441859

This is a place your average Anne of Green Gables fan will love: It’s a three-bedroom 1910 farmhouse on 13-plus acres, including a creekside meadow, and it’s got Victorian touches like a big porch and contrasting window trim (mauve on rose!). Looks like a romantic life: family dinners under the chandelier, strolls down the tree-lined driveway, pensive gazes toward Pilot Mountain. Maybe even a garden party. Of course, such romance doesn’t come cheap: The price is two and a half times Nelson’s median.

Top table lamps

Matt Pamer, a local graphic designer with concert posters and C-VILLE covers in his portfolio, guides us to three of his favorite table lamps from Charlottesville stores.

 

 

 

Gargoyle lamp from Artifacts
“The combination of the plain shade and the ornate gargoyle base shouldn’t work well together, but it does,” says Matt.

 

Bird lamp from O’Suzannah
Matt says this lamp, made by Slip, is his favorite of O’Suzannah’s many lamps sporting “bold, graphic shades.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tulip tree lamp from The Artful Lodger
“I love when design draws its inspiration directly from nature,” says Matt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures in seating

Take a seat with this one. 500 Chairs, compiled by longtime furniture maker Craig Nutt, shares seats of all descriptions, and we do mean all: chairs shaped like animals, tiled with

glass and made of shredded paper. You can’t deny the artistic audacity behind a chair with an umbrella—just in case there’s a sudden downpour in the living room, of course.—Suzanne van der Eijk

 

 

 

 

 

Rescued images

Decoupage trays made by John Derian, which we spotted at Caspari, delight us with their antique images preserved in a no-fuss, modern format. They’re too pretty to put anything on, but we’re sure we could find a spot for them anyway.—Erika Howsare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woolen Mills standout

A star in a neighborhood of notables, this place communicates the loving touch of someone who knows they have a gem. We love the classic Virginia shape, enhanced by bright white trim, and that glassed-in porch is so sweetly retro.—E.H.

 

Lentils!

Bellair Market’s Lentil Soup 3 Tbs. oil or butter 1 1/4 cup chopped onion 2/3 cup each chopped celery and carrots 1 qt. chicken stock, broth, or water 2 cups lentils 2 whole tomatoes, seeded “by squeezing,” and chopped 2-3 Tbs. tomato paste 1 Tbs. chopped parsley 1/2 tsp. each thyme and oregano 1/2 bunch fresh basil 2 cups red potatoes, diced 1 medium carrot, diced 1 cup diced meat, if desired (Bellair suggests country or boiled ham, or smoked turkey) salt and pepper to taste   Saute onion, celery, and carrots in oil or butter. Add stock, lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, potatoes and carrot. Simmer 45 minutes or until lentils are soft. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

As food prices continue to rise, and our local sources go dark for the winter, consider making rich meals out of legumes, grains, and perhaps a bit of meat broth or sausage squirreled away from the days of City Market. The legume of the month: lentils! Lentils of all types are rich in phosphorus, calcium, potassium, zinc, iron, and B complex vitamins—and at 16 grams of protein per cup, they offer an inexpensive yet satisfying meal, especially when combined with rice or barley.

The trick with lentils is in the consistency or “mouth feel,” which is a direct function of age and cooking time. While there is no foolproof way to tell the age of a lentil, the little guys will get “webby” looking as they get older; try to just purchase what you are likely to cook in a few months’ time. For lentil salads, or any presentation that requires whole yet fully cooked lentils, favor the French delicacy lentilles du Puy and be prepared to gently scoop them out of their cooking medium and cool them down as quickly as possible. A bit of vinegar at the end of cooking will help them keep their shape.  

Lentils that hail from the Middle East are often shelled to expose their colorful centers—these will cook more quickly than their sheathed counterparts, and will rarely (O.K., never) stay whole throughout cooking. Lentils can be spiced every which way; with mirepoix and bouquet garni and red wine, with fennel and olive oil and oregano and white wine, with mustard seed and cumin and coriander—and that’s just the beginning. One thing to remember about all lentils—do not add salt or oil to them until cooking is complete, as it will tend to make them mealy.—Lisa Reeder

Better recipe arsenal

If you’re stuck in a cooking rut, or spending too much money at the grocery store, take matters into your own hands and set yourself up for fulfillment in 2009.

Inventory and organize your pantry, and for a few weeks set a goal of using one or two

“lost” pantry items in each meal. While you do that, make a note of convenience foods that you purchase at the grocery store—prebaked pizza crusts, croutons, salad dressings, and seasoning mixes. Pick three to five items from this list, and research recipes for them, taking time to read many sources to understand the theory behind each item.

Take salad dressings, for example: A simple vinaigrette can be made and emulsified by shaking in a reused glass jar, will taste better as time goes by, and will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator. Not only will you save money at the checkout, but you may realize that your salad dressings just take a bit of tweaking to turn into marinades and dips. Find a recycled binder or shoebox or food tin to keep your recipes in; if they have food splattered on them, so much the better. That just means they’re tested.—L.R.

Keep dreaming

The gardener’s almanac wisely sets aside January for daydreaming. Better not to muck about in the mud (which is setting us up so nicely for spring), wantonly destroying soil structure, or going wild with the pruners cutting off flower buds already set for winter.

Drop the blades and walk away from those azaleas. Instead, with weeds frozen down and everything invitingly bare, use spray paint or string to lay out new beds or extend existing ones.

JANUARY IN THE GARDEN —Order seeds. —Lay out new beds. —Enjoy the hellebores.

Cover turf or weedy areas with an inch or two of newspaper or cardboard. Scalp it with a weed eater or mower first, letting the cuttings lie, and mulch with pine needles, sawdust, shredded bark or compost. By April or May you’ll be able to pop in a splash of colorful bedding plants or lay the foundation for a mixed border with a few strategic shrubs and perennials.

Seed and plant lists, the gardener’s version of New Year’s resolutions, take shape from the vivid images in catalogs and online: burpee.com is a classic; cooksgarden.com specializes in interesting edibles. For vegetables, the hard copy catalog of Territorial Seed Company (territorialseed.com) remains the standard, with comprehensive cultural advice. 

My list began last fall with asparagus crowns when I found to my dismay they were unobtainable except during the magic month of February. Purchased dormant as dried roots via mail order or local garden centers and planted in well-prepared trenches, asparagus is a classic perennial anchor for the long-term vegetable garden.

Hellebores can begin  blooming as early as January.

I cultivate this aristocratic vegetable in honor of my hardscrabble mother who tended it in a raised bed in west Texas many years ago. It was just a little square in the alley between the old ranch house and the far yard with the windmill and outdoor shower, gritty pale gray soil bordered with a thin edge of concrete to separate it from the mowed wiregrass.

When we began our garden here in Virginia the first thing I put in was an asparagus bed, right in the middle. Over the years, design considerations have moved it to the center of one of the vegetable plots on either side of the entry path. I need about a dozen more to complete a double row.

Herbs such as sage and rosemary are usually available as potted plants only in the spring. The classic everlasting, old-fashioned globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), is a must as it’s hard to find anything in the garden centers other than ‘Dwarf Buddy,’ a blobby little cultivar that has disappointed me once too often. Jerusalem artichokes for the roadside ditch (edible roots with cutting flowers), parsley enough for a couple of rows in the new deer-proof garden and a multitude of greens round out the order.

No need to dream of spring when hellebores roll out brocades of emerald, jade and onyx through dark winter beds. Shade-loving evergreen perennials, they are impervious to deer, beginning to bloom around January. Combined with periwinkle, English bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and scillas (Scilla bifolia) (check out vanengelen.com for minor bulbs), they make an interesting groundcover under inkberries and hydrangeas in a moist bed with an eastern exposure.

Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, has deep green leaves and nodding white flowers, like a single rose, that age to shades of pink. Lenten rose, H. orientalis, in purple, mauve and mint, is the most colorful of the tribe.
My favorite, the sadly defamed stinking Hellebore, H. foetidus, has dark foliage like etched tiger claws topped by spikes of pale green flowers straight out of a Dr. Seuss fantasy. It sometimes harbors just a trace of defensive muskiness if bruised. But then again, who doesn’t?—Cathy Clary

Seal the gaps

A caulk gun requires a steady hand, but it’s simple to use.

January, when the bitter wind is blowing and the illusory warmth of eggnog in your belly has subsided, is the perfect time to tighten up your house. After all, the coldest days are when you notice drafts most keenly. If you’ve never wielded a caulk gun, fear not—it’s no more complicated than making a paper snowflake. Here are the basics:

1. Make the rounds and take note of cold spots. Prime draft sites: door and window frames, spots where utility lines or dryer vents pass through exterior walls, around A/C units, and anyplace two materials meet. A lit stick of incense can help alert you to problems.

2. Scrape off any old caulk or paint where you intend to seal.

3. Trim the tip off the caulk container and pierce the seal; many caulk guns have snipper and poker tools for these purposes (they open like tools on a Swiss Army knife). Load the caulk into the gun and get a rag ready to wipe up excess.

4. Apply the caulk in a smooth, even motion. It takes a little practice, but with your trusty rag, you can clean up any messes until you become more deft.

5. Congratulate yourself on energy savings and a toastier house.—E.H.

 

Join the club

Calling all county dwellers: Are those weekly trips to the McIntire Recycling Center getting to be a drag? Are you, in fact, putting them off until you have a mountain of glass and plastic that brings shame on your family and clutters your porch? Ponying up for curbside recycling might be your solution. There are now two local companies you can call.

Sue Battani of My Recycling Club will make the McIntire run for you.

One, My Recycling Club, requires you to gather at least five of your neighbors into a “club” before signing up for the service. (Unless, of course, a club already exists in your neighborhood; then you can just join the bandwagon.) It offers containers for sale but lets you use your own if you want. The other, Green Pieces, lets you sign up solo and requires you to pay for containers. Pricing and setup is similar; My Recycling Club is $20 per month (two pickups) and Green Pieces charges $10 for each of two scheduled pickups per month.

Call My Recycling Club at 409-0180 or Green Pieces at 962-5219, and start looking forward to a prettier porch.—Erika Howsare

Last chances

It’s not just a rain barrel: It’s the antidote to a federal disaster.

…To go to a GreenMatters workshop, that is. The two-year series of free green-living workshops hosted by the Habitat Store is coming to a close in early 2009, so whether you’ve been faithfully attending or not, hear this: January 14 and March 25 mark the last installments.

The January workshop is your chance to get educated about rainwater—how to catch it, store it and conserve it. As detailed on p. 4, conditions locally are officially Way Too Dry, so it’s all the more timely to improve your house’s relationship with the water table.

In March, a special speaker will take the mic: John Abrams, the man behind the green-construction company South Mountain Builders, based on Martha’s Vineyard. He’s also written a book. This should be an opportunity to get invigorated about smarter homes, just in time for spring.

On April 22, there will be an ending gala—but you wouldn’t want to show up to the party and not be able to say you went to a workshop, would you? Each class runs from 6-7:30pm, with social time before and after. Call 989-5834 for more info.—E.H.

 

Three of many green dishwashing options. These ones are found at Integral Yoga Natural Foods and Blue Ridge Eco Shop.

What a dish

Why use dish detergent that’s free of phosphates? The reason is right in front of you when you’re washing those pots and pans: It’s the water, yo. When you use the regular detergent, it may contain up to 9 percent phosphates, which are known to cause blooms of blue-green algae in waterways—bad for marine life.

Make the switch to phosphate-free dish detergent, and at least you’re not contributing to that great tide of pollutants. (It’s nice to lose the obnoxious artificial scents, too.) Most grocery stores now carry at least one eco-friendly option, so give it a try.—E.H.

 

 

Green administration

Resolve to turn your home office a shade greener this year. The obvious green choices (installing CFLs or LEDs or lowering and raising the thermostat) will cut energy costs, but what else?

It’s probably easier to make your home office green than to tackle your employer’s practices.

Forty percent of municipal waste is still paper, so recycle and purchase only 100 percent postconsumer recycled content paper (available from Kinko’s or Bailey’s Printing if you outsource printing).

Don’t pay top dollar for new items when you can use UVA’s ROSE (recycled office supply exchange), Freecycle, or Craigslist, like Charlottesville resident Louisa Wimberger recently did for her home office. Recycling envelopes, using a return address stamp instead of labels, and double-sided printing save material and money, too.

Did you know laptops use 50-90 percent less energy than desktops? Sleep mode (found in the power options or power management control panel) is a must. But don’t use screensavers; they gobble the monitor’s full power. Eric Gilchrist, head of Charlottesville Community Design Center’s SPARK! energy-saving program, suggests a power strip to shut everything down at the end of the day. This eliminates any phantom energy use (the small amount of energy used when things are plugged in).

Beyond your office, become an advocate. “Bug the companies you work with to offer greener products,” says Wimberger. And if you’re a true green office, include a conservation plug: “Think twice before printing this” or  “Go green…read from the screen!”

Last thing: Don’t forget to save old office items for local schools or charities. Your old ink-jet cartridges actually earn money for schools.

Find more green office ideas on greenoffice.com.—Betty World Betty

Ashley Hightower is nothing if not driven. She’s got her own catering business, Dinner at Home; she and her boyfriend, Carter East, just started a second business as in-home personal trainers, Fitness at Home; and they’re both dedicated athletes who log miles running and biking.

In their spotless house off Avon Street, where Hightower’s lived for two years, the kitchen is quite an ordinary space but, she says, plenty serviceable for an off-duty cooking pro. “For a small kitchen it has a good layout,” she says. “It works well; I’m used to it. It’s also easy to clean.” Near the tightly drawn work area is a small table looking out through glass doors to a deck and a classic Albemarle view.

Inside, it’s function first. “I’m not a gadget person,” says Hightower, who nonetheless confesses love for her Cuisinart, immersion blender (“Carter’s been making his weight-gainer thing with it”) and convection oven (“It roasts potatoes better than my oven”). And, she says, “I have a lot of bowls. And sheet pans.”

Knives are lined up on a magnet strip on the wall. “My sister came and was like, ‘All right, that’s scary,’” she says. Of course that’s how the pros do it, but Hightower can work her magic in all kinds of kitchens—whatever her clients happen to have. “Sometimes you show up and it’s the greatest thing. On the other hand I’ve worked in kitchens that are like a galley.” Having no gas stove at home isn’t her first choice, but being flexible on the job prepares her to make the best of what she finds.

So what do the pair eat at home? Says Hightower, their meals are influenced by her travels in Italy, where “everything was so simple.”—Erika Howsare

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“I want to be a good cook with natural stuff. Have a bigger garden [and cook] whatever I can pull out of the garden or get at the market. I read [Barbara Kingsolver’s local-food bestseller] Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and was like, ‘O.K., we have to do this.’

“We had a [CSA] share from Roundabout Farm. [I’d say] ‘We have to use this Savoy cabbage. I may not feel like cabbage, you may not feel like it, but we’re having fried rice and cabbage.’ The food starts to dictate the meals. But I found some great recipes. When we had eggplant I’d grill all of it; tonight we’ll have it with pasta and cheese, next night we’ll have it with something Asian. Now that [the season] is over I’m like, ‘No, no, I’ll have to go back to the other way [buying food at grocery stores].

“We sure get a lot done in this kitchen. Carter’s boss gave us a basket of tomatoes and we ended up canning them. We had tomatoes covering countertops and jars everywhere. It’s a little bit of a hassle but it’ll be so exciting to open a jar in the middle of winter.

“[Carter’s way of eating] is the carb/protein/vegetable balance for the athlete. He’s so regimented with this amount of protein, this amount of carbs…I’d be like, ‘I had a long ride but I just want salad and lots of bread.’

“It’s frustrating to have a bunch of food for someone else’s party and then one little corner—‘There’s our beet greens!’ One day this refrigerator is totally stuffed, the next day it’s empty. There’s weeks where I cook dinner every night and weeks where I make scrambled eggs and toast. You clean as you go; by the time dinner’s ready, there are only two plates to be washed.”

Are you hoping for a kindler, gentler holiday season this year? Something that feels good AND looks good, no matter the temperature, and goes great with last year’s haircut? Trade the flashing lights for glimmering candles, and the plastic packaging for home-spun, hand-made gifts.

While commercial messages may insist that season’s greetings are only available through manic mall spending, in fact our wilder places (and even our own backyards) provide plenty of inspiration for those who trouble to look. Coupled with local food and drink, woodsy treasures can set a scene that is both timeless and very, very central Virginia. Here’s your guide to homespun holiday cooking, decorating and gifts.

Decking the halls

When imagining holiday decorations, do yourself a favor by clearing some surfaces and stashing a few things away for the holidays—suddenly your home may look like a stylish photo shoot with no more effort than throwing some pears on a wooden platter. Clear space on the refrigerator for displaying holiday cards that arrive in the mail, or homemade holiday mantras (“Out with the old, in with the new”? “All we need is love”?).

A wreath on the door is an obvious symbol of hospitality and cheer (and painstaking spotlighting!); for the folks in house, consider decking the inside of an oft-used door with a fragrant wreath like cedar, bay laurel, white pine, or any green interspersed with dried herbs and bells. Each time the door is opened, your room will be blessed with a waft of olfactory and auditory cheer.

Make arrangements

To get started on a foraged arrangement, take your favorite companion for a walk in the woods, and bring gloves, clippers, a thermos of something warm, and some bags or baskets for your booty. Keep your eyes open for treasure as you walk! Early winter is wonderful for admiring the texture and silhouettes of trees; look up for orange persimmons, hanging on bare branches like Christmas decorations and just getting sweet enough to eat.

Look for cedar, bay laurel, white pine, and juniper if you aspire to deck your own halls with homemade wreaths or swags (more about this on our Your Garden page); collect acorns, pinecones, feathers, Osage orange, black walnut, deer antlers, and anything else that lights your fancy. Watch where the squirrels go; they are foraging for bright red, succulent berries that are ripe this time of year, like holly, dogwood and magnolia.

Consider making each arrangement portable; that is, easy to pick up and relocate in case cookiemaking takes more of the table than you imagined. In a larger space (like a table) big baskets, oversized bowls, or a diagonally sliced piece of wood from the back

Go outside and see what you can find to dress up your table, mantle or doors.

forty can sit atop odd napkins and among garish ornaments. Smaller spaces will be brightened by several bowls or small baskets of nuts and citrus, which can be moved and used to tie together place settings, party favors, menus and mantle dressings. 

Begin with a container to fill and find the best spot for it—perhaps a side table, coffee table, dining room table, or even a trunk or wooden wine box.  Use a holiday-flavored cloth or bag (or tissue paper) underneath the vessel—and don’t worry if it looks awkward at first! Think of it like dressing for cold weather: This is a base layer and there is plenty of room to accessorize. 

First, select your largest (or favorite) foraged or food object, like Osage orange (or large pinecones, pomegranates, blushing grapefruits) and pile them in the middle of your vessel. When you feel good about the base shape, wind some ribbon in and around the pile (or even a string of small lights—make certain they’ll reach an outlet!). Leave plenty of extra material hanging out on each side to “tighten up” later.
 
Next, choose something slightly smaller and in a contrasting color, like pinecones (or pears, apples, magnolia seedpods, or even smaller citrus like lemons and limes); strew these jewels about the larger pile and around the base of the vessel. If kitsch is your thing, mix in ornaments from the ‘70s, gaudy glistening stars, overstock shot glasses, and other holiday bric a brac. 

Finally, use a combination of greenery (pine boughs with cones, magnolia leaves, ivy) to frame the base of the pile and to soften the area around and underneath it, perhaps even twining some through the arrangement. At this point, you either have an inspired seasonal centerpiece or a steaming behemoth—either way, press on and add some feathers, votives and glitter. Another option: Line the outermost layer with edible items, such as nuts, clementines, and candy—but don’t be surprised if a guest starts nibbling a pinecone.

Wick and flame

Light a candle while you are cooking, or cleaning, or wrapping presents.  Candles say the party has already started, and also provide soothing light and a warm holiday feeling. Encased in glass, candles are perfect for portable atmosphere—now in the bathroom, now in the guestroom, now in the garage when the lights go out. By grouping candles on plates or trays, you can easily move them and clean up the drippings. For single candles, line a small plate or saucer or wine glass with homemade snowflakes—tin foil will magnify the light, while wax paper will be more soothing.

Good enough to eat

Let’s face it:  The best eating of the year happens around the holidays.  If food is an inspiration to you, consider using it as a centerpiece and a theme in and of itself. There are edible items that can be displayed on and around your table; their cunning shapes and the natural variety in color and texture provide a palette of edible, sustainable decorations and party favors. Consider nuts, apples, pears, pomegranates, citrus, herbs and nuts to be the multi-tool of your holiday season, serving as snacks, party favors, and decorations. 

In sourcing your wintertime citrus (and other exotics like tea, coffee and oil) check out Local Harvest (localharvest.org)—it’s also a great resource for buying food gifts for loved ones far away. For locally relevant durable goods gifts (like clothing and housewares) check out Charlottesville’s own Locallectual (locallectual.com).

Piedmont party platter

Bagna Cauda (or “Hot Bath”) is a Piedmontese party event that coincides with the end of the grape harvest and the advent of the strongly flavored fall vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, fennel, cabbage, and turnips. Bagna Cauda is served as finger food, and is best appreciated by a lively, hungry group that doesn’t mind standing around the table. For a twist, set up multiple bagna cauda stations throughout your party pad, and watch as mingling magically happens. One could even ask guests to bring something to contribute to the feast—any vegetable or bread that goes well with garlicky anchovy vinaigrette. Thanks to a long, mild autumn this year, many of these items are still available from local farms, so get on the phone and see if you can find them.

Sweets on display

If yours is a cookie and dessert home, put the goodies on display so as to encourage people to take one or two for the road (casual droppers-by, the mail carrier, carolers…). If temptation is a problem for your children, lift the plate up and out of their sightline to save them from the holiday haze of ribbon candy, iced snowmen, and Russian tea cakes.

Over the river and through the woods

When invited to wassail at someone else’s home, consider extending your earthy holiday spirit to their celebration by offering to bring a local spin on a holiday classic, like eggnog (see recipe) or a plate of perfectly poached apples with whipped cream. While many hosts will deflect your offer, letting them know that you are willing AND able to whip the cream by hand on site (!) may just raised an eyebrow and some interest. If the eggnog seems like too much (and believe it, it really is!) choose locally made Starr Hill or Blue Mountain brews or a fine Virginia wine.

Truly local gifts

If you want to give a gift that outlasts December and looks toward greener times, consider a CSA subscription, which will usually cost around $500 and last from May until October (buylocalvirginia.org). Usually there is an option to split the share amongst two households, giving you a great excuse to collaborate with your friends on a weekly basis. This is a gift that requires participation, enthusiasm, and cookery, but pays dividends in nutrition and community. 

What to get the all-knowing foodie? Feast! in the Main Street Market  (feast virginia.com)

Bagna Cauda is a Piedmontese tradition that welcomes in cool-weather begies and encourages your guests to munch and mingle.

offers a package called the “Year of Cheese,” which delivers a monthly dose of local, domestic and international artisanal cheeses and a complementary local seasonal item (think Mozzarella di Bufala with local heirloom tomatoes in August). 

Or, give the always-welcome gift of spring. To force a bulb to bloom in the winter, it must be convinced that it is springtime; the tuber must have been chilled for two to three months and then gradually awakened in the right environment to put on a show for the holidays. Most garden centers will have “pre-chilled” bulbs on hand; let them know that you want to “force” it for the holidays and then ask for instructions. In general, plant the bulbs in a crowded, shallow manner for the best display, then start them at your house in a warm and partly sunny space where you can keep the soil moist. If this is a gift item, consider writing or printing a card with care instructions (including storing and “forcing” the bulb again the following year) along with a wish or quote that you would like to propagate in the coming year.

 

Local, step by step

Hot Apple Cider Room Perfume

1 gallon local apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
a few cloves or cardamom pods
a few gratings of citrus zest (grapefruit, tangerine, Clementine, and/or orange)

Place all ingredients in a heavy bottomed pot on low heat. Bring gently to a simmer (making your home smell delicious!) but not above; the object is not to cook the cider, but to infuse it with the aromatics and to perfume your home. The cider can be served warm or strained and stored in the refrigerator for drinking, hot or cold, or for mixing into other drinks.

Bagna Cauda

Any combination of:
broccoli, cauliflower (cut into bite-sized pieces)
fennel (shaved raw on a grater or mandoline)
cabbage (torn into chip-sized pieces, each with a bit of stalk to provide rigidity)
radishes (served whole, or cut in half)
turnips (served raw if small, or boiled in salt water until slightly tender, then sliced into 1" wedges)
potatoes, sweet potatoes (boiled in salt water until slightly tender, then sliced into 1" wedges)
carrots
celery

For the “hot bath”:
Mince 4 cloves of garlic and cook them lightly in 1 1/2 cups of olive oil—do not let them brown. Add 12 minced anchovies (drained and rinsed, but reserve the oil in case you’d like more fish flavor at the end) and cook on low heat until the anchovies begin to dissolve. Taste a bit of the mixture to determine if you want more salt, or some anchovy oil. Finally, add 3 Tbs. butter and serve the dip over a low flame to keep it warm. Surround the Bagna Cauda with prepared vegetables and crusty bread like ciabatta.  Optional garnish: lemon wedges around the vegetables, in case a squirt is wanted.
 

Poached Apples (or Pears)

1 bottle sweet wine, like Gabriele Rausse’s Maquillage
cranberry juice and apple cider to cover apples
12 apples (Virginia Gold or Albemarle Pippin would be perfect)
brown sugar
honey

Peel apples using a sharp paring knife; then core apples from the bottom, leaving the stems intact (or all the way through using a corer). Drop apples into a non-reactive pot along with wine and enough cranberry juice and cider to just make the fruit float. Add a few teaspoons of brown sugar and/or honey, along with “infusion” spices like cardamom, black pepper and star anise. Cook at a simmer until fruit slides right off of a sharp paring knife (about 30 minutes); take pot off of heat and let the apples cool in the poaching liquid (apples can be stored in the poaching liquid for up to 5 days). To serve, use a slotted spoon to pull out each apple and place it on a platter; ladle out a cup of poaching liquid and reduce it until it thickens, then taste and adjust for seasoning (may need more sugar, or more acidity in the form of lemon juice or sharp white wine) before drizzling atop the reclining beauties.

The Real Eggnog (with local eggs and whiskey!)

12 eggs, separated yolk from white
(reserve both)
1/2 cup sugar
1 qt. whole milk
1 qt. heavy cream

Three days before serving, beat yolks with sugar until thick and lemon colored. Beat heavy cream until thick but pourable. Stir both into up to 7 cups of any ratio of bourbon, white rum and brandy (this is a great chance to try Laird’s Apple Jack and Apple Brandy, distilled right in North Garden!). Stir together. Beat egg whites until almost firm; fold whites gently into yolk/cream/booze mixture, then pour into lidded glass jars to season in the refrigerator along with a broken cinnamon stick and broken nutmeg and a bit of citrus zest in each container. Taste before serving; it make be wise to add a bit of vanilla, more milk, or some honey to balance the taste. Shake the large jar (or use a cocktail shaker to make frothy, individual concoctions) and garnish with fresh nutmeg.

Alternate: As you prepare the above, mix half the quantity of booze with just one half of the ingredients; on the day of serving, use the unspiked half as breakfast, to pacify children, and to even out the boozy portion.

 

 

We think this place in the Rugby neighborhood looks just perfect for entertaining. No idea whether there’s an open floor plan inside, allowing hostess to chat while fixing cocktails—it’s more that the front porch looks so nicely sheltered for summer afternoons, and the house’s solid form and lovely trees are as inviting as could be on a winter’s eve. We’d accept an invitation anytime.

 

The Willoughby subdivision holds a secret: Hidden in Joelle and Michael Meintzschel’s backyard is the treehouse of dreams.  

At a glance Distance from Downtown: 2 miles Distance from UVA: 2.8 miles Elementary Schools: Jackson-Via/Cale Middle Schools: Walker & Buford/Burley High Schools: Charlottesville/Monticello Homes sold in first half of 2008: 10 Median sale price: $263,870

Composed of four levels, built by Mike’s own two hands, the structure is snug and watertight, the haunt of not only Joelle and Mike’s two daughters, but all of Willoughby’s children and, occasionally, its exiled husbands. Mike says that passers-by often see the house through the trees and come knocking, asking to take a look. Of course, all are welcomed in. The Meintzschels, residents since 1993 of a slope-roofed Cape Cod near the neighborhood entrance, are nothing if not welcoming people, making a community feeling palpable—from the beaming green siding of their home, to the Vespa Mike drives to deliver neighborhood newsletters, their dog Lina in the sidecar, along for the ride.

Though just a stone’s throw from Fifth Street traffic, both the treehouse and Willoughby as a whole feel secluded, even sheltered, from the usual buzz of Charlottesville city life. Built by R.D. Wade in the ’80s and ’90s, Willoughby is its own world: The entire neighborhood lies shaded by trees, sloping through the hills in a series of cul-de-sacs, private and quiet despite proximity to I-64, UVA, and Downtown. With only a tri-color sign to mark its entrance, it is hard to imagine that more than 200 homes, a mix of townhouses, detached homes, and duplexes, lie just beyond the curve of the entrance road. Residents call the neighborhood “the hidden gem” of area real estate, full of quirks and small surprises—a creekside trail, a neighborhood boulder—that are being threatened, some feel, by the advance of city growth.

Fraternal twins

Willoughby is chock full of idiosyncrasies. For one thing, there’s the neighborhood’s unusual location: Curving off the intersection of Fifth and Harris Street, two miles south of Downtown, Willoughby squarely straddles the Charlottesville-Albemarle border, the only neighborhood that does so.
 
On a practical level, this means available utilities can vary oddly from block to block. For the Meintzschels, city residents, it means that, come snow season, their street is plowed hours earlier than those of their county neighbors. Joelle Meintzschel says her county-dwelling neighbors have seen “the plows come in and drive right up to the county line, then turn back around and drive away,” Joelle Meintzschel says. “They won’t go an inch further.” Recycling and trash pick-up are available for the Charlottesville section of the community; for county homes, they are not. Additionally, many parents choose to live city-side to have access to Charlottesville schools.

But county residents don’t necessarily get the short end of the stick. David Storm, county

When Michael Meintzschel built this treehouse, he found it attracted curious neighbors from throughout Willoughby. Now it’s a landmark for neighborhood kids.

resident and employee Downtown at LexisNexis, says that he and his wife, Audrey, preferred the county properties when they were looking for a home in 2003. “For people in the county, it’s like living in the city but paying the county tax rate,” Storm says. Furthermore, since county homes were part of a later wave of construction, they tend to be larger and newer.

While geographically, Willoughby’s single entrance and enclosure create an island effect that unifies its residents, the city/county disparities create a community divide, which varies in intensity depending on who you ask. On the whole, however, Willoughby’s two sides seem to sit peaceably hand-in-hand, with a contingent of longtime homeowners in addition to a steady turnover of University and hospital employees throughout. Joelle Meintzschel, who’s not just a homeowner here but a Realtor who lists houses in the area, says that the neighborhood’s convenience has made it increasingly attractive to a diverse crowd over the years. Nonetheless, the character of the neighborhood has remained steadily throughout her time there.

Surprisingly, Willoughby has no neighborhood association. But even in the face of the city/county split and a sprawling layout, Willoughby has managed to retain a sense of sociability which began, perhaps, with its developer, who constructed a children’s playground, installed sidewalks, and continues to provide mowing services.

“There’s a lot of friendliness,” says Storm. “A lot of waving and talking.”

There’s also a lot of walking, with residents frequently taking advantage of Willoughby’s self-containedness for routine exercise. Many walk or bike to work Downtown, or to nearby shopping areas, including the newly renovated Food Lion. Proposals for a shopping complex on Avon and Fifth Street, which promises green-friendly construction, “big-box” shops, and a walkway connection to Willoughby, have many excited, though others are concerned that this expansion may leave the community exposed to more traffic than residents are willing to accept.

Steady as she goes

With 10 homes sold in the first half of this year, with a median price of $263,870 based on Joelle Meintzschel’s figures, real estate sales in Willoughby are consistent with third quarter city averages of $265,000, and considerably lower than the $320,000 county average. Considering all that Willoughby has to offer—a blend of privacy and convenience to city hot spots—many residents feel pleased with the square footage they’re getting for their money.

And, according to Meintzschel, neighborhood properties have retained their value throughout the years, seemingly insulated from market disturbances: Steady in the face of market slowdowns, Willoughby has also escaped the price spike and rapid development that has seized, for example, Belmont in the past few years, making possible the

Willoughby is a mix of townhouses, detached homes and duplexes, all straddling the city/county line.

neighborhood’s particular brand of community spirit that, she says, inspires cooking clubs and rallies homeowners together to have a gas line installed (though notably in only the city section).

However, questions hover. With the Avon/ Fifth Street Shopping Center in the planning and blasts shaking the hills just north of the community for further townhouse construction in Brookwood, the possibility of increased traffic and the accompanying rise in noise and thoroughfare has become a worry to some residents.

Yet, both Storm and the Meintzschels feel that change is unlikely to rattle Willoughby, whose character has remained steady throughout the years, in addition to its property values. Storm represented Willoughby in March when he spoke in favor of the Avon/Fifth Street project at a county Board of Supervisors meeting. “People who have been living in the neighborhood since the beginning say that they’ve been talking about a shopping center for years,” he says. “They doubt it will really happen.” For now, in any case, Willoughby remains a sort of woodland sanctuary tucked just near the heart of the city, and the Meintzschels’ treehouse remains open: Just come up and knock.—Lucy Zhou