A TOUR OF MY KITCHEN

Good morning.

The 3rd Annual Lake Arrowhead Kitchen Tour featuring my kitchen and 4 others took place last Saturday and was a grand success!  Like any event thrown for 200 people, it was a monumental effort.  From the planning, to the shopping, to the prepping, to the execution, to the clean up, it took a village to pull it off.  I could not have accomplished it without the great efforts of my best friends, who all pitched in to help, and to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude. Thank you Lisa, Tony, Brenda, Mo, Nancy & Candy, plus my husband Brad, my housekeeper Julia and my gardener David.

It was wonderful meeting some of my blog followers, who know me from the blog but we’ve never met.  That is one of the odd things about blogging, you put yourself out there to the world, and without knowing it, have lots of unseen friends. I can now say that the friendship is mutual, with respect to those followers that joined the Kitchen Tour on Saturday.

But if you missed it, I thought I’d go ahead and give you a tour of my kitchen now, especially since it’s all gussied up for Fall.

So come on in!

As you might imagine, it was far more than simply a kitchen tour, as folks actually toured most of the lower level of my home, including the wine cellar and back terrace. The front door of my home opens into a foyer and staircase of Spanish tile and hand forged wrought iron.

To the left of the foyer is the dining room.  I decorated the table with fantasy pumpkins and Brenda filled my Chinese pots with fall leaves that she foraged from the forest.

I designed and manufactured the wrought iron candlesticks.

The dining room fireplace mantel was festooned with flowers and my handmade burlap pumpkins.

Last November I published a DIY Tutorial on how to make these cloth pumpkins here.

Heading back into the foyer, guests were greeted with a tower of Spanish Tapas, crowned with a flower arrangement.

We served Spanish Olives, Manchego Cheese with Membrillo, nuts, dried fruit, grapes and other assorted tapas.

Guests took copies of my recipe for the Spanish Paella which was being served on the terrace.

On the other side of the foyer is the bar, where delicious gourmet tea, donated by Lake Arrowhead’s own Tea Exchange, was served.  Later in the afternoon we served Spanish Sangria as well.

There are 5 fireplaces in my home so it is challenging to decorate each of the mantles.  Here in the bar I displayed a plethora of my DIY Cloth Pumpkins along with candles, antique books…

and the antique trophy cups I bought on a trip to Estonia.

Located just off the bar is this stone terrace where guests enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Heading back inside, guests could wander down the gallery that leads to the kitchen.  The accent table holding the Paella sign is part of my iron production and is an ode to Lake “Arrowhead”.

Along the way a large picture window was decorated with fall leaves and provides a view of the terrace.

Out on the terrace my dear friend Tony manned the Paella pan…

which resulted in this beautiful masterpiece that was enjoyed by all.

If you’d like a copy of my Paella Recipe, given to our family by a Spanish Nun, you can print it out here.

Stepping back inside, you finally get a glimpse of what everyone came to see: the kitchen!  My kitchen is the heart of my home, a Great Room with 25 ft. ceilings that are adorned with beams milled from 100 year old pine trees cut from my property.  I feel so good that we were able to make good use of the trees that had to be cleared to build our home.  They live on and are enjoyed by us daily, as they beautifully adorn our ceilings. I designed the kitchen/great room to resemble a Spanish courtyard, open to the 2nd floor with an open staircase and a Juliet balcony overlook.  The giant iron chandelier, also my custom design, is the imposing, grand statement in the room.

We have an eat-in kitchen area for informal dining.  Here I used a silver punch bowl to display a pumpkin.

Adjacent to the table is a cabinet where I display family photos and cookbooks.

This is my large kitchen island.

I designed and manufactured the pot rack to hold and display my collection of antique copper pots, collected since I was a child on numerous trips to Spain.

The 3-tiered iron plate rack and iron scale are from my own hand forged wrought iron company.

The pumpkins and Candy Corn floral display sits on a hand carved wooden tray brought home from a trip to Chile.

The antique scale was purchased in England.

Located between the kitchen and dining room is my Butler’s Pantry.  The iron lanterns are also from my company, The Hill Ironworks.

We lined up three little sunflowers in a row on the windowsill of the Butler’s Pantry.

And the last of my baby garden roses decorated the counter as well.

Kitchen Tour guests passing through the Butler’s Pantry were invited to try my homemade granola and take home a copy of the recipe.  You can find the recipe in a tutorial here.

The last thing I want to show you is my family room, located adjacent to the kitchen. You see it there behind the kitchen table.

More pumpkins and sunflowers adorned the coffee table…

and I placed more of my homemade cloth pumpkins on the hearth.

Getting ready for this kitchen tour was a huge effort, but the good news is I’m all decorated for fall and ready to host Thanksgiving. Can you believe it’s just 1 month away?

Thanks again to all my wonderful friends and family who were a tremendous help in making “a tour of my kitchen” possible.  I simply could not have done it without them.

So there you have it: A TOUR OF MY KITCHEN.  Well, and just a little bit more for good measure.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my home. 

Thanks for dropping in!  Do please leave a comment below.  I’d love to hear from you!

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