Dan’s Papers April 8, 2011 HOUSE & HOME GUIDE danshamptons.com Page 40 (continued from page 35)
in our lives. Out here on the East End we have perfected this art of breaking bread with our families and friends all year long, yet by summer the activity reaches a crescendo. As we all know, the population swells on most weekends and on any given day in the summer there are hoards of people stopping into the local farmers markets and specialty stores, often rubbing elbows with local celebrity chefs like Ina Garten. We are all in search of the freshest ingredients and it is exciting that we have collectively become connoisseurs of good food. What a long way we have come from only a couple decades ago when pre-packed and frozen foods were all the rage. It makes sense really because when you break down the hard work, time and money we spend on
Spring
decorating, painting and landscaping our homes, what better way to enjoy all the hard work than preparing, serving and eating a good meal. Although entertaining has always been popular, the emphasis now seems to have shifted to enjoying our home cooking with ease, without pretense and formal rules of table setting. As witnessed by the Dining By Design event, adding dramatic effects and whimsical details makes the experience fun and playful. Many companies are offering mix-andmatch china patterns, and table linens are getting more extravagant as well. I recommend letting your creativity flow when setting a table because it is a temporary arrangement in your home, unlike your painted walls and furniture choices. Entertaining
creatively but with ease is a skill that most Hamptonites are quite adept at; and it is a local tradition to head straight from the beach to the market, then home to prepare a delicious, fresh meal for our family and friends and serve it up with style. As the temperature creeps up the scale and the buds start to appear on the vines, I look forward to sunny days cutting herbs from the garden and packing picnic baskets for weekend guest once again. Now I’ll add a few new ideas to my arsenal – like ping-pong ball place cards and rolling bar carts – just for fun. Tamara Matthews-Stephenson is an interior designer, freelance writer and author of Nest by Tamara blog at nestnestnest.blogspot.com.
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small children. And while spring is the obvious time to clean the chimney – after it has done yeoman’s work all winter – many of Pete Vella’s customers call him every fall as well. “It’s really easy to overlook,� says Vella, owner of Ace Chimney Cleaning in Ronkonkoma (631-648-7474). “People tend to forget the chimney pipes that connect to their oil or gas heating systems. Oil burner connections should be cleaned at least annually. And in the case of gas, if you were to get a blockage and didn’t have a carbon monoxide detector, there could be serious trouble.� I don’t know about your house, but our gutters are on overload; they’re positively groaning from winter’s buildup. When the weight of the snow and ice bring the leaves and gutters tumbling down, there are fullservice gutter companies ready to help. Duda Quality Gutter in Water Mill (631-758-0812) has been around
for 25 years. Owner Richard Duda says his company not only cleans gutters, it installs and repairs them as well. “We offer gutter covers,â€? says Richard, speaking of a popular service. “Realistically, if you have pine needles falling on your house, you could be up there once a month and never catch up.â€? As we get ready to throw open those windows to let the sunshine in (have faith, it will happen), I am reminded of another service company aptly named We Do Windows (800-924-3332). This full-service company does window cleaning, air duct cleaning/indoor air care, power washing and gutter cleaning, carpet and upholstery cleaning, and much more. Now, that’s my idea of one-stop shopping‌think I’ll give them a call.
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