It’s no surprise that American Spirit, with its focus on the early American period, regularly features the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) on our pages. And it’s not surprise that editing this magazine for the DAR has really fed into my history geekiness. So, when friends invited me on a long weekend tour of three presidents’ homes in the Charlottesville, Va., area, I pretty much jumped at the nerd-cation* chance.
Our first stop was James Madison’s Montpelier, which recently unveiled the stunning results of a four-year restoration. American Spirit featured the ambitious project in a July/August 2005 article. We focused on the meticulous way the Montpelier Foundation chose to restore the home of the Father of the Constitution. Not long after Madison died in 1836, his wife, Dolley, sold the home, and it went through extensive changes by multiple owners before finally passing into the hands of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Instead of freezing the home as it was when first acquired, the National Trust decided to strip away two centuries of renovations and preserve the house as close as possible to the way it was when Madison retired from the White House.
It’s one thing to read about the restoration, but it’s another thing to see the impressive results of this project for myself. Montpelier’s Classical portico and its imposing columns have been restored to Madison’s day. And get this: The ink stains are still visible on the floor in the study where he wrote the Constitution! Guides describe finding a fragment of a letter with Madison’s handwriting in a rat’s nest and uncover other details found in the process of peeling back the home’s many layers.
Beyond the archaeological finds, the home’s setting is idyllic, offering a gorgeous vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We finished off the day in Charlottesville’s historic downtown at night, where we added our screeds to the free speech wall and drove by the Thomas Jefferson-designed rotunda at the University of Virginia, which he founded in 1819.
The next morning we visited Jefferson’s masterpiece of design: Monticello. The almost-too-efficient tour guide whisked us through the house rather quickly, but we still managed to check out some of his one-of-a-kind inventions, from a copying machine to a compass/weather vane contraption to a wine dumbwaiter. Since American Spirit detailed Thomas Jefferson’s penchant for gardening in our “Gardening the Founding Fathers’ Way” story (March/April 2006), I was eager to see his carefully arranged rows of vegetables and learn more about his experimental crops. Jefferson’s 5,000 acres of orchards, vineyards, fields and gardens were worked by hundreds of enslaved and some free workers, and the Plantation Community Tour explained the daily life of some of those slaves.
We squeezed in a quick visit to James Monroe’s Ash Lawn–Highland where the fifth president lived from 1799 to 1823. It’s now operated by the College of William and Mary, Monroe’s alma mater. (Stay tuned for American Spirit’s upcoming story on this historic college.) The home is packed with 18th- and 19th-century furnishings, some from Napoleon’s France, where Monroe served as ambassador. Most know a little about the Monroe Doctrine and that his presidency was called the “era of good feelings,” but I was surprised to discover what a well-regarded politician (oxymoron?) he was during his lifetime.
Back in D.C. on Memorial Day, we waved hello to No. 44 at the White House and swung by a few monuments on the National Mall, including the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, where we were inspired by military nurse’s speech about her service in Vietnam, Iraq and now Germany. The weekend ended with a four-hour tour (yes, and I could have stayed longer) of the interactive Newseum, a must-see museum for current event junkies and newshounds in the shadow of the Capitol.
Next on my to-do list: Learn more about Dolley Madison. What a fab first First Lady!
*nerdcation. Pronunciation: /nərd ˈkā-shən /. Function: noun. Date: 2009: A journey offering great potential for expanding one’s vocabulary, Trivial Pursuit ability and storehouse of random knowledge and/or cocktail conversation.
You know that many members of Team Hammock are becoming locavores this season. We’re shopping local farmers’ markets, enjoying a bounty of produce delivered right to our front doors through CSAs, and growing a plethora of veggies and herbs in our own backyards.
During a recent visit to the Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market in Austin, Texas, I picked up some of the first summertime Texas peaches of the season. Juicy and sweet, they were just begging to be eaten in any form or fashion. I grilled a few, ate a few straight out of my hand, and turned a few into a yummy peach and blueberry crisp.
Fresh Peach and Blueberry Crisp
3 cups fresh peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. almond extract*
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 stick butter
*I didn’t haven’t almond extract on-hand, so I just used vanilla extract instead.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Peel and cube peaches.
In a large bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, extract, lemon juice, sugar and 2 Tbsp. flour. Pour into a deep-dish pie plate or 8×8″ baking dish.
In a separate bowl, blend 1 cup flour, brown sugar, almonds and butter; mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over berry mixture and bake for 30 minutes.
I’d suggest letting it cool about 10 minutes before enjoying.
And if you happen to have some fresh radishes on hand, be sure to try this sweet radish recipe.
‘Tis the season for peas, so lately my weekly CSA shipment has been jam-packed with snap peas in addition to broccoli, cauliflower, peaches, lettuce and basil. Tired of snacking on raw snap peas before dinner, last night I started hunting around for a new recipe that would help me make good use of the peas. This is what I found:
Sugar Snap Peas with Walnuts and Basil
4 cups water for boiling
4 cups ice water
1 pound snap peas
2 TBL butter
5 or 6 basil leaves
3 or 4 TBL chopped walnuts
Boil water in a medium-sized sauce pan. Prepare the snap peas by washing them thoroughly and removing the strings. Drop peas into boiling water for one minute. Remove and drain quickly, then plunge into ice water for 2 minutes.
Heat butter in a large skillet and add walnuts. Toast walnuts until fragrant, then add peas. When peas are heated thoroughly, add basil and let simmer for 1 or 2 more minutes.
I used this recipe to make a side dish that paired nicely with grilled fish and fresh fruit. Best of all, the peas reheat well, so you can eat them with your lunch the next day!
Hammock folks are voracious readers at all times, but, like most everyone, we have summer reading plans that include books we haven’t gotten to yet, as well as some old pals we want to hang with on a sultry afternoon or two.
So we polled our colleagues about what’s on their summer reading list, as well as their favorite time or place for reading and preferred medium — traditional paper, audiobooks or e-readers like Kindle. As you might expect, the responses were varied and sometimes surprising — and worth reading:
Today, I opened up a FedEx envelope labeled “Extremely Urgent” and out jumped a bag of chocolate-covered grasshoppers. Since I’m a pretty picky eater, I didn’t even waste time pondering whether I would eat one. Instead, I walked down the hall and asked everyone I passed if they’d like to try one.
One by one, I got turned down—until I entered Bill Hudgins’ office, who jumped at the chance. After we picked out a sufficiently chocolaty one for him, he popped it in his mouth, declared it tasty and started jumping towards me (like a grasshopper). John Lavey walked by and saw the commotion and I offered him one, too.
As John opened his grasshopper wrapper, he told the story of how he once ate six cicadas as a bet. The prospect of eating a grasshopper — especially one covered in chocolate — did not faze him, and he ate it as though he had just popped an after-dinner mint.
Counting only Bill and John among the brave but determined to find more, I went back to the art department to challenge Ben Stewart. A few minutes of peer pressure was all it took—he was digesting grasshopper in no time.
I have two left! Any takers?
Oh, and it’s a commendable marketing campaign. The second I opened that FedEx envelope, Grasshopper (a phone service company for small businesses) had my attention.
The monsoon season we’ve been experiencing lately here at Hammock HQ couldn’t keep me inside last weekend. I decided to dive in and embrace middle Tennessee’s lakes and waterways by actually becoming ONE with them. Who knew you could have so much fun when there’s water, water everywhere … even without a boat or a paddle.
On Saturday I joined a group of volunteers for a big cleanup day at Percy Priest Lake as part of the Nashville Clean Water Project. One of the supporters of the well-organized event was the Cumberland River Compact, an educational nonprofit that promotes the water quality of the Cumberland River watershed. We dodged the thunderstorms and managed to pick up a ton of the usual trash—glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans, Styrofoam containers—and a few unusual (and disgusting) items—a tent, camp chairs, wheels, camouflage underwear (I KNOW). Recycling champion and green blogger Barbara Mathieson posted a video of the event here.
On Sunday, I competed in my first triathlon, the Lost Loon, benefitting the Harpeth River Watershed Association, another great nonprofit devoted to preserving and restoring one of our area’s beautiful waterways. It feels cool to say I’m a triathlete, but that moniker is a little bit misleading. It was the lowest stress team triathlon you can imagine: 9-mile bike ride, 2-mile canoe race, 4-mile trail run, and I just participated in the bike and run portions of the race. Because of the deluge of rain we’ve been having, Lone Hunter State Park’s Couchville Lake rose to meet us: In portions of the trail, we ended up wading in water up to our shins. But once you’re that wet, it just gets more fun. One of the best parts about the race was crossing the finish line: Race organizer extraordinaire Willy Stern required all finishers to squeeze a loon stuffed animal that was hidden in a tree. Join Willy and friends–and me!–for the seventh annual event next year!
P.S. What am I like when I DO have a boat and a paddle? Not too smooth, lemme tell you. Late last fall, friends and I paddled down Swan Creek, a winding and gorgeous creek not too far from Nashvillle. Things started off grand … until my canoe partner and I got caught in a strainer and sank our lil boat. Luckily we were rescued by the kind experts at the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA). I’m hopeful that by enrolling in one of TSRA’s future paddling classes, I can keep future waterlogging to a minimum.
On Tuesday, May 5, in the wee hours of the morning, Barbara and her husband, Fielding, welcomed little Elizabeth Reed into the world!
She weighed in at just under 9 pounds and measured 21 inches long. We all welcome her to the Hammock family!
This week, I cleaned off my desk, read all the mail I’ve gotten recently and started responding to all the query e-mails I’ve received from freelancers and publicists over the past six weeks. I’m not proud to say that these things don’t happen on a regular basis, but that’s the reality of my job.
It’s so fast-paced sometimes around here that I can’t seem to make time for the little things like this—and so when I do, it genuinely feels like a new beginning.
And I love new beginnings, so this is probably the way it’s going to stay!
I first heard about the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill near Lexington when American Spirit featured Kentucky in its travel section a few years ago. With the Shakers as the cover story of our May/June issue, I decided it was time to pay a visit to America’s largest restored Shaker community for a firsthand look at a utopian way of life.
The Shakers lived by the saying, “Hands to work, hearts to God.” But as one of Pleasant Hill’s costumed guides remarked, their motto also could have been: “Work smarter, not harder.” Many of the artifacts on display in the living history museum (made up of 34 restored buildings in the middle of 3,000 acres of farmland) were labor-saving devices, which the Shakers did not patent, freely sharing with the world. (Although their claims to be inventors of the clothespin and circular saw are unlikely, their dumbwaiters and flat brooms and kitchen gadgets were models of efficiency.) Even some Shaker barns were built on slopes so that hay could be pitched downward instead of upward. Smart choice if you’ve ever shoveled out a barn!
The goods they sold to the “outside world,” from packaged seeds to classic furniture, were known for their reliability and craftsmanship. However … even though there’s evidence that their formula for house paint lasted more than 100 years, I’m not sure I’d like the idea of pulverized brick mixed with animal blood slathered on my walls.
Pleasant Hill does a great job bringing the Shakers’ principles to vivid life. I was mesmerized by craftspeople demonstrating Shaker techniques, from woodworking to spinning and weaving to broom making. (Tip: always hang your broom so the bristles don’t get bent.) And the village farm, with its heirloom vegetables and historic animal breeds, offered a hands-on look at the importance of agriculture to the Shakers. Actually, the farm might have been my favorite part of the community: I loved that Percheron horses are still used to till the gardens, English sheep are still shorn for their wool and Dominique chickens provide the eggs served at the Inn’s dining room. (Ok, it made me laugh, but I didn’t exactly love that one of the wily goats grabbed and ate half my map.)
Pay the Shaker community a visit if you’re ever up in bluegrass country. And be a pal and bring me back some homemade corn sticks and Shaker lemon pie.
Well, tomorrow’s the big day. It’s going to be an unseasonable 86 degrees for the Country Music Half Marathon, which my husband and I are running.
It’s going to be rough, so if you’re out watching tomorrow, yell at me (and wish me luck).
But I won’t need too much luck. To prepare, I’ve been singing “Eye of the Tiger” to myself for about the last week. I think it’s working. Tonight, I’ll probably watch “Rocky.”
I’ll check back in on Monday to let you know how it went. To all of you fellow Country Music Marathon (and Half Marathon) participants out there, good luck!
UPDATE (Monday, April 27): I crossed the finish line! It wasn’t pretty, but I finished. It was a very pretty day, but one that would have been better spent by the pool (and not running around Nashville). Here’s hoping for mostly cloudy with a slight drizzle on April 24, 2010!