Inspired Living Omaha September-October 2017

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VOL. 15 NO. 5 Editor-in-Chief Chris Christen 402-444-1094 chris.christen@owh.com Creative Director/Designer Heidi Thorson 402-444-1351 hthorson@owh.com Assistant Editor Marjie Ducey 402-444-1034 marjie.ducey@owh.com Photo Imaging Specialist Patricia “Murphy” Benoit Content Contributors Chad Lebo, Jessica Luna, Howard K. Marcus Photography Contributors Jeffrey Bebee, Shane Connolly, Heather & Jameson, Harold Isenberger, Kurt A. Keeler, Chad Lebo, Brendan Sullivan On the Cover Photo by Heidi Thorson Floral design by Sheila Fitzgerald Custom Publishing Sales Manager Deb McChesney | 402-444-1448 | Deb.McChesney@owh.com Account Representatives Gay Liddell | 402-444-1489 | Gay.Liddell@owh.com Emily Martin | 402-444-1411 | Emily.Martin@owh.com Event Manager Tam Webb | 402-444-3125 | Tam.Webb@owh.com Event Coordinator Emily Gerhardt | 402-444-1161 | Emily.Gerhardt@owh.com

1314 Douglas St., Suite 700 Omaha, NE 68102 402-444-1094 Inspired Living Omaha (ISSN 23795948) is a publication of the Omaha World-Herald. ©2017, Omaha World-Herald, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed by those interviewed are their own. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information, no responsibility can be accepted by the publisher for content, opinions or practices, or how the information herein is used. All materials submitted, including but not limited to images, logos and text that appear, are assumed to be the original work of the provider, and the publisher is not responsible for unintentional copyright infringement.

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EDITOR'S NOTE

PLACES OF THE HEART My first job out of college was with the newspaper in Red Oak, Iowa.

I spent four terrific years there before an opportunity with The World-Herald lured

CHRIS CHRISTEN editor-in-chief

FUN FACT Chris has a new backyard patio with a gas fire pit. She plans to break it in with a CHRISTEN-ing party this fall.

me away.

That was eons ago, but Southwest Iowa still claims a special place in this Nebraska native’s heart. Roaming its counties is always a treat. You might know of Malvern, just an hour’s drive from Omaha. The Mills County community is a popular stop along the 63-mile Wabash Trace rail trail between Council Bluffs and Blanchard.

Well, biking isn’t the only thing the town has going for it. Spiffy business fronts, cool public art projects, great dining options and lots of friendly folks add up to one delightful day trip.

Marjie Ducey, our new assistant editor, helps prove the point with highlights of her own Malvern adventure, page 28.

Regular readers of the OWH may recognize Marjie’s byline from the sports pages. She contributed there for 30-plus years. Now, we’re capitalizing on her personal loves of gardening, backyard chickens, quilting, reading, DIY projects

8 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

large and small and a zillion other lifestyleoriented topics.

Piquing her interest this issue: no-stress canning (page 52), and year-end garden chores (page 54).

Also in this issue, family mementos and a lifelong affinity for the outdoors inspire a sportsman’s home-as-retreat (page 14), while another man’s lucky find at a salvage yard leads to a precision-cut masterpiece (page 20).

Our cover photo is a prelude to one of my favorite events of the year — the Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show.

It’s an important fundraiser for Omaha’s botanical center, and this year’s lineup includes a presentation by a London floral designer frequently used by Her Majesty the Queen. On a recent trip to England, I visited Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle, where Shane Connolly has made his mark. And now England is coming to Omaha. Your sneak peek begins on page 46.

Until next time, here’s to the splendor of home!

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BEFORE + AFTER 14 | Rustic Redo DESIGN DONE RIGHT 20 | Beaming With Success HOMESPIRATION 28 | Malvern Reimagined 32 | Country Delight THREADS 36 | Pieces of the Season DESTINATION 42 | Salt Lake City HOST 46 | Shane Connolly 48 | Fit for a Queen AU COURANT 52 | No-Stress Canning 54 | Year-End Gardening PROFILE 56 | Dundee to Dubai THE HIDDEN PANTRY 58 | Confit Basics EXPERIENCE LOCAL 63 | Luxury Homes 63 | Inspired Resources

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CONTRIBUTORS

HEIDI THORSON

MARJIE DUCEY

DEB M c CHESNEY

FUN FACT Heidi prefers pancakes over waffles, rarely takes her coffee black and prefers cream over sugar.

FUN FACT Marjie enjoys fall but mourns the end of gardening season. She's already counting the days until she can plant again.

FUN FACT Deb loves finding new lanterns. They are great for seasonal decorating and can be used both inside and outside.

ANDREA VEITH

assistant editor

advertising account manager

advertising sales assistant

advertising account executive

GAY LIDDELL

MURPHY BENOIT

FUN FACT Andrea traveled to Johnson Lake, Nebraska, to see the solar eclipse.

FUN FACT Gay enjoys seeing all the birds stop by the new water feature in her yard.

FUN FACT Murphy had to have a 100-year-old pine tree removed from her yard. A few logs are now used as plant stands in her garden.

EMILY MARTIN

KURT A. KEELER

HOWARD K. MARCUS

FUN FACT Emily is looking forward to enjoying cups of coffee on her porch and taking in the fall weather.

FUN FACT Kurt just spent a fortnight in the U.K. and never drank tea!

FUN FACT Howard is concentrating on his near-daily effort to learn guitar.

advertising account executive

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photographer + copy editor

photo imaging specialist

copy editor

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HEATHER + JAMESON fashion photographers

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JESSICA LUNA fashion stylist

FUN FACT Jessica says there are two seasons in her world: Summer & boots. Fall is her favorite.

Layers, coats and boots, oh my!

CHAD LEBO food columnist

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FUN FACT Chad works with a Fair for Life certified chocolate company from Madagascar to develop new flavors and bars.

KALI RAHDER hair & makeup stylist

FUN FACT Kali is looking forward to football Saturdays this fall.

JEFFREY BEBEE photographer

FUN FACT Jeffrey does not get anywhere fast when he travels. It's a photographer thing.

"Oh look! Picture! (squirrel).”

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BEFORE + AFTER

Family's past brings unique look to outdoorsman's retreat STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY BEBEE

14  SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

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inspiredlivingomaha.com  15

A 60-pound stuffed beaver

isn’t your usual living room decor.

But for outdoorsman Daron Smith, it fits.

His 3,700-square-foot home southwest of Beaver Lake, Nebraska, is a blend of his lifelong passion for the outdoors and his fondness for mementos from his family’s past.

“I really love the rustic feel of my place with the barn wood and, obviously, the animals I’ve acquired over the years,” Smith says. “And I love the history” that’s reflected in the decor.

The hunter and fisherman made the outdoors his first priority upon purchasing the eight-acre property in 2000. He replaced a barn, put in a pond and brought in a half-million pounds of rock, including boulders, to give the landscape a northern Minnesota look and feel.

He planted wildflowers in the woods behind his home and created another acre of wildlife habitat to the west, clearing a lot of trees in the process.

“My career should have been in landscaping and habitat management,” says the 52-year-old former owner of Better Business Equipment Co., as he gazes out on the jewel of his work, a 100-by-80-foot pond.

He has since expanded the original parcel to 50 acres and added a nearby 160-acre farm, which he’s turning into a mix of crops and more wildlife habitat.

Turkey, coyote, raccoon, possum and all kinds of birds are familiar visitors to his home.

“I’m close enough to get to Omaha,” he says, “but I feel like I’m in the middle of the wilderness.”

His focus turned inside after selling the family business in 2015.

As with many home remodels, it started small.

He wanted to redo a three-season porch that had paper-thin windows and a leaky roof and walls. But he also liked the idea of opening up the area to the kitchen. Soon, the kitchen was down to its studs.

Three weeks near completion of the four-month project, he remodeled the main-floor bath.

“I just decided to go whole hog,” Smith explains.

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(continued from page 17)

He provided 30 percent of the ideas, and gave Libby Pantzlaff of Creative Interiors

by Libby credit for the other 70. Mike Sassen of Advance Design and Construction also had creative input.

Smith wanted to feel like he was sitting outside, so he sought a rustic feel in the hearth room, with barn wood walls, slate flooring and a great view of the pond and woods.

Along the way the project took on an historic bent, something he hadn’t originally planned.

A wall and backsplash in his new kitchen feature reclaimed Egyptian pavers used in the 1920s to build the Lincoln Highway, which snaked down Dodge Street on its way from New York to San Francisco. Smith and Pantzlaff spent a day reclaiming them from a brick pile at A&R

Salvage and Recycling Inc. The marble counters are done in what Pantzlaff jokingly calls a mossy oak pattern, because it reminds her of camouflage.

“I think it’s just got character,” Smith says.

The frames around the windows in the hearth room and kitchen feature oldgrowth oak from a western Nebraska barn.

Smith estimates the wood could be nearly 200 years old.

In the hearth room, a wall made from reclaimed wood from nearby Murray, Nebraska, has become home to many family heirlooms. Smith points out a log chain and skillet that traveled from Illinois to Kansas in a covered wagon.

“I had a pile of this stuff, and I said, ‘Libby, make it look good.’ ” The only time Smith balked, then re-

lented, was when Pantzlaff suggested using reclaimed corrugated metal from a barn for the hearth room ceiling. Now he’s glad he went along with the idea.

As an homage to what Smith calls the hunting that runs in his blood, racks from two deer and a 600-pound elk adorn another wall in the hearth room. A spot over the new coat closet is reserved for one of the bobcats that frequents his farm.

The beaver is homegrown, too. It lived in the creek behind his house. When it began killing off many of the smaller trees on the property, Smith trapped it and had it mounted.

It has definitely become a conversation piece with Smith’s guests.

“Most of them are pretty shocked,” Smith says. “Who has a beaver?”

inspiredlivingomaha.com 19

DESIGN DONE RIGHT

Pieces of Omaha history give house project a running start STORY CHRIS CHRISTEN PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY BEBEE

A

trip to a salvage yard for angle iron 12 years ago turned out to be a stroke of luck for a retired Omaha attorney with a knack for creating things.

The dealer didn’t have the metal, but he did have several hundred Douglas fir beams that once sheltered thoroughbreds at Omaha’s famed Aksarben racetrack.

The attorney’s eyes lit up.

“I remember as a little kid wanting to build a post-and-beam house,” he shares. “I have no idea where the idea came from, but I’ve always had it in the back of my mind.”

The salvaged beams – 3-by-16, 5-by-16, 5-by-18 and up to 28 feet long – would sit in storage for nearly a decade before he would figure out exactly how to use them.

Back in 2004, the attorney was looking for an acreage where he could make pottery and do some woodworking. He landed on 20 secluded acres in the north Omaha hills. The property had a 7-year-old two-story home and the original 1900s farmhouse; workshop space and scores of hardwood trees ideal for furniture-making, a hobby.

By a stroke of luck, he also found a sawmill on Craig’s List that he’d put to work.

Over the years, he filled in a failed pond and started an orchard just below the house. To keep deer out, he corralled the half acre with a live-edge fence milled from Chinese elms cleared from the property. He scattered wildflower seeds by the thousands, planted 400 to 500 saplings, propagated trees from acorns and educated himself on the surrounding flora and fauna to know what to clear and what to keep.

And he built his pottery kilns.

One day in July 2010, he came home from work, drove his car into the garage and immediately backed out. Smoke was pouring from the house.

A rag with linseed oil had spontaneously combusted, igniting a fire in the workshop. The fire burned itself out but the smoke damage was (continued on page 23)

ECO-FRIENDLY DESIGN

It can be zero degrees outside on a sunny winter day and by afternoon the temperature inside can be 80 degrees, thanks to western and southern exposures with large windows. In winter, motorized shades and 4-foot overhanging eaves keep the sun from overheating the house. In summer, the house is oriented so the sun passes directly over the roof and does not add to the heat load. Walls 12-inches thick with closed-cell foam insulation minimize heating and cooling costs.

20 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

HEARTH ROOM Buddy claims his favorite spot in the house. “He’s got a pretty good life,” his doting master says.

The cherry wood furnishings are from Thos. Moser of Maine. The hearth features the homeowner’s own ceramic works, plus a collector's piece by Warren MacKenzie and another by mentor Jerry Horning. Hempel Sheet Metal Works fabricated the chimney.

inspiredlivingomaha.com 21

FOYER A bench made from Chinese elm provides a handy spot for swapping street shoes for house slippers – a requirement for all who enter.

SUNROOM Soda-fired tiles and tongue-and-groove cedar paneling are recurring design elements. The stained glass elements were created by Valerie Batt of Painted Light Stained Glass.

DINING ROOM The table was crafted by the homeowner some 20 years ago. The chairs are from Thos. Moser of Maine. The paintings are by a Boston artist.

22  SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

(continued from page 20)

so pervasive, a decision was made to tear down the house and rebuild on roughly the same site. His post-and-beam dream was about to become reality. Getting there, though, would be an allconsuming exercise of sketching, designing and engineering. He also would have a ton of anxiety to overcome.

He had a lot of ideas and knew how to work with wood, but had no formal training in drafting and no experience in new home construction. He tapped an architecture student – a former law partner’s son and neighbor – to help him with the base design. Eighteen months later, he arrived at a boxy, shed roof plan that passed a structural engineer’s inspection with flying colors.

Building permit in hand, he still had some trepidation. “It’s sort of like building a great big cabinet,” he told himself to get beyond some lingering self-doubt.

Construction took 3½ years. During that time, the old farmhouse became a place to lay his head.

Every inch of every phase of the post-and-beam project was meticulously calculated and hand-illustrated from multiple angles in a building plan executed by the homeowner and two willing hands with carpentry experience.

Subcontractors were hired for the concrete, electrical and plumbing work and other jobs beyond the homeowner’s ability.

When all was said and done, “I had one beam left over. That was cutting it closer than I planned,” he says, grinning.

“I thought I had maybe three beams to spare.”

The most fun, he says, was putting up the posts and beams.

It took two months to cut them to size and to do the intricate joinery. Working with a borrowed crane, the posts and beams were up and connected in 10 days. Roof joists came next, then the fascia boards. “Everything went together so perfectly, it astonished me.”

Today, he calls the home a folly. “It’s whimsical and not very practical,” he says of the minimalistic 1,600-square-foot, onebedroom dwelling.

In total, the house incorporates 20 species of wood, five from his property.

Both the design and the post-and-beam construction style make the dwelling rigid enough to withstand a 300-mph straight line wind by the structural engineer’s assessment.

Floors are poured concrete with internal liquid heating elements, basement included. In the kitchen and hearth room, the concrete is finished with a marbled epoxy; other areas are finished with oak plank or soda-fired tiles made over three years.

“The house is all about detail,” the homeowner says, pointing out trim work that incorporates three, sometimes four, types of wood. In the kitchen, bur oak cabinetry is meticulously grainmatched and doors and drawers have precision-routed half-circle grabs for an ultra-clean profile.

Countertops feature alternating strips of Douglas fir and walnut laminated together. Walnut planking is used in the backsplash and the back wall of the kitchen in a successful ploy to conceal the basement stairwell.

“There’s still another year of puttering around,” the homeowner says.

“It’s really quite a lot of fun.”

All because he went looking for some angle iron.

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KITCHEN The homeowner enjoys cooking and regularly invites friends for dinner. His U-shaped kitchen cleans up in a snap. “I really didn’t want anything in the house that makes a mess.”

POWDER ROOM Bathroom vanities employ the alternating wood technique used for the kitchen counter. The laser-cut wood mirror was custom-made by Dan Adams.

24 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

KITCHEN DRAWER Dinnerware and serving pieces from the homeowner’s kiln.

inspiredlivingomaha.com 25

MASTER BEDROOM The blanket box, dresser and bed are the homeowner’s handiwork.

MASTER BATH Images of woodland creatures find their way into shower tiles while chemical swishes add interest to floor tiles, all made by the homeowner.

26 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

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HOMESPIRATION

Welcome to folksy, artsy, bike-friendly Malvern STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY KURT A. KEELER

J

ay Burdic has watched a renaissance outside the windows of his Malvern Bank office. Five to seven years ago, the southwestern Iowa town was at a tipping point. Empty storefronts dotted a two-block stretch.

“There was no life to downtown,” Burdic says. “Now, there are times when it’s hard to find a parking place.”

Art galleries, restaurants, a bakery, a fitness center, hair salons, a toy train store, a pharmacy, and medical and veterinary clinics draw customers from all over the area, including Omaha. Longtime staples remain, such as Mulholland Grocery, Side Street Styles, the Hangout bar and C&M’s Cafe.

The town of about 1,200 has capitalized on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail that passes through it, decorating the downtown with a bicycle theme.

“We’re becoming an eclectic art community,” says Liz Baldwin, owner of A Stitch in Time needlework shop.

It’s sometimes difficult to get everyone on the same page in rural America, Burdic says, but that’s what Malvern did.

Anita Reich made the big first step in 2004 when she bought two vacant buildings for a gift shop and coffee bar, where Classic Cafe & Catering now operates.

Other small businesses followed. Downtown revitalization and Iowa Great Places grants have been the icing on the cake.

28 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

“The bank has backed a lot of people and projects,” says Bonnie Pierce, president of the guiding Malvern Area Betterment Association. “Buy-in keeps getting greater and greater.”

Artist Zack Jones returned to his hometown after living and training in Arizona around the same time the business district was perking up. He has played a key role in the realization of several public art and tourism initiatives. “Persistence is paying off,” he says. “I’m excited about the public art you’re starting to see around town. If this was smack dab in Omaha, it would be an area you’d take note of and gravitate to.”

Mayor Mike Blackburn promises Malvern isn’t done yet. “We’re engineering it as we go. That’s the beauty of a small town.”

COMING EVENTS • Malvern Market, Saturdays through Sept. 9. Vendor booths open at 7 p.m.; live music begins at 8 p.m.; downtown plaza. Free. Bring lawn chairs. malvernia.com • Sept. 9, Wabash Trace Marathon, a Boston Marathon qualifier. shenandoahiowa.net • Sept. 16 and 17, self-guided Southwest Iowa Art Tour. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. swiarttour.com GOOD TO KNOW A bridge replacement project north of the business district will result in a short detour through October.

WHERE TO EAT Moreau’s Backerei & Pizzeria Try a gourmet cookie from an Old World recipe or indulge in some Top Carnivore pizza. Salted caramel pecan rolls are a specialty of Fred and Amy Moreau, who opened the bakery two years ago. Customers are waiting Friday and Saturday mornings for the rolls to appear hot from the oven.

Classic Cafe and Catering Where else but small-town America can you order a prime rib sandwich for $8.50 and top it off with some luscious strawberry shortcake? Business is so good that a reservation is needed on weekends. Piano man Bill Gilbert, 86, drops by at his leisure during the week to play the classics.

C&M’s Cafe For $6.95, check out a daily special that tastes like mom used to make. Owner Coleen Driscoll opened the eatery 12 years ago, and it remains popular for its sundaes, milkshakes and blitzes. The No. 1 seller? Black raspberry.

Stop by on a weekday, and you might catch 82-year-old Harvey Kahl and his red customized ’57 Chevy golf cart.

The Hangout Bar The Hangout is a big draw for visitors taking a break from a day on the bike trail.

Enjoy locally brewed Keg Creek Beer and Iowa-brewed Exile Beer. Sit inside or head to the patio on Market Nights to listen to music.

“With the big glass window, it’s like you are sitting on Main Street when you are sitting inside the bar,’’ says patron Emily Hilton.

WHERE TO STAY Malvern Depot Bunkhouse airbnb.com An old railway office, the building has been renovated for overnight guests – complete with kitchenette, Wi-Fi and a chalkboard wall that serves as the guest book.

Sleeps six: Double bed, bunk bed and futon in cabin-like floorplan. $99/night, double occupancy; $20 each additional guest. Located two blocks from Main Street, near Tunnel of Love at Wabash Trace trailhead.

Pierce Crossing 31052 Little Lane, Malvern, 712-624-8850 Two-bedroom guesthouse, operated by Greg and Bonnie Pierce.

Five acres of restored prairie with a mile of mowed walking paths through native savannah oaks, and a wooden deck overlooking Silver Creek. Fire pit, gas grill and starlit nights. 1950s décor.

Project Art Church 201 E. Fourth St., Malvern, 480-628-9234 Artist Zack Jones has transformed the former 1870s Presbyterian church into a living space, working studio and gallery. Just call for an appointment. You can even stay for a night or two via airbnb.

inspiredlivingomaha.com 29

WHERE TO CHILL The Little Zen Garden Created by Zack Jones and a host of family members, the park sits on a former vacant lot on Main Street. Young and old alike will delight in its lily pond, garden flowers and metal art.

Fairview Hills Golf Course No tee time is needed at this nine-hole gem south of town, which was renovated four years ago. It has some hills, but the fairways are wide and open. Though it’s an easy course, the more advanced golfer will discover a challenge or two.

Wabash Trace Nature Trail The 63-mile scenic trail winds through the Loess Hills of southwest Iowa and has been recognized as one of the best in the country. It’s an economic boon for the eight towns it passes through, including Malvern.

WHERE TO SHOP Downtown Brown Boutique and Gift Shop Owner Stacy Means likes to say her 7-year-old store has a little bit of a lot of stuff. She carries everything from the latest clothing styles to memorable blasts from the past. Get a makeover or buy a fragrance based on your significant other’s zodiac sign.

Then pick up a vintage item or a toy for your kids.

30 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

Fine Arts on 5th Gallery and Studio This isn’t a co-op, proprietor Marge Boska says. It’s a gallery, just like you’d see in a bigger city.

People notice. The 2-year-old gallery offers paintings, photos, sculpture, pottery and jewelry from several local artists. Classes are available for kids and adults.

Small wine-and-canvas parties also are offered.

Mulholland Grocery Store Wohlner’s customers will see a familiar face in owner Tom Mulholland, whose great-grandfather opened the original Mulholland Store in the 1870s. Tom worked the butcher counter at Wohlner’s for 20 years before deciding to buy the store when it came up for sale nine years ago.

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HOMESPIRATION

STORY CHRIS CHRISTEN PHOTOGRAPHY KURT A. KEELER

We're on one

of our wandering weekend drives when a little directional sign, partially hidden in roadside grasses, catches our eye on the outskirts of Malvern, Iowa.

Intrigued, we leave the paved highway and zigzag along a country road to our unplanned destination: Pierce Crossing, a country-fresh guesthouse on aptly named Little Lane about a mile southwest of town.

It’s love at first sight. My husband and I are equally smitten by the pristine clapboard exterior, complete with geranium-filled window boxes and gingerbread accents.

Now, if we can just peek inside.

We have a chance, we figure, if the fella in the red pickup truck trailing us owns the property. And appreciates unannounced visitors. With notepads and cameras.

Greg Pierce gives us a cheerful welcome.

“We were going to tear down the house when we bought the acreage in 1999,” he offers as he unlocks the door, relieved that we’re not an overnight reservation that slipped through the cracks.

An out-of-town sister talked Greg and his wife, Bonnie, into renovating the house as a place for her to stay. “But she’s never used it,” Greg says with a chuckle.

Instead, the Pierces turned the farmhouse into a B&B with a twist. “It’s a bed and bring-your-own bagel,” Greg quips. “We don’t serve breakfast but we do provide a fully equipped kitchen.”

The Pierces, who live in a new home nearby, have been welcoming guests since 2001.

“It was a wreck,” Greg recalls of the renovation project he largely took on himself.

“We had an old house in town that I had remodeled three times, so I got pretty handy” at carpentry, he explains. Chatting, we learn that he's a Vietnam vet and former Northwestern Bell employee. He jokes that he's been retired so long that everything he worked on during his career is obsolete.

Not the contents of the guesthouse. Everything old is new again.

“People say the decor reminds them of Grandma’s house or Aunt Bessie’s house.”

32 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

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Visitors can’t help but smile when the door flings open to a riot of 1950s kitsch and color, starting with a sunflower-yellow sitting room with floral-print cafe curtains, white wicker furniture and a splatterpainted floor.

Flamingo pink – in paint and accessory motifs – takes flight in the bathroom. “It’s so ugly,” Greg says, shaking his head.

“You’d never put it in your own house, but it works here.”

The kitchen boasts a happy mix of black-and-white floor tiles, red-and-white gingham curtains and white vintage appliances. In the living room, furnishings straight from “Leave It to Beaver,” the

34 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

sitcom that ran from 1957 to ’63. And Greg’s obsession: Ugly lamps and ceramic panthers.

Upstairs, two bedrooms sleep four. But floor space in the living room is ample enough for a crowd.

“A family from Kansas comes every year and they sleep 11,” Greg says.

Step outside, and the landscape whispers “Little House on the Prairie.” If only the massive bur oak by the side porch could take us back to its roots – 250 to 300 years. We’d even settle for 100-year-old stories from the trio of sheltering cedars behind the house.

An even bigger natural delight is five

acres of restored prairie, a section of it only a stone’s throw from the house.

Guests have access to a mile of mowed walking paths through tall and short grasses and wildflowers nurtured over 15 years. A deck overlooking Silver Creek’s only stretch of falls is the perfect spot for enjoying a picnic and a bottle of wine.

A fire pit, firewood and gas grill also are at guests’ disposal. A star-filled sky is complimentary too. But a moonlit night?

Priceless.

“It’s a little slice of heaven,” Greg says, standing on the overlook. “Although, at times, the coyotes are a little noisy for some guests.”

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THREADS

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40 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

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DESTINATION

Salt Lake City provides the perfect blend of elements for motherdaughter getaway.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY HEIDI THORSON

T

he main criteria for this trip was for mother and daughter to go somewhere with mountains, water, wildlife and a cityscape – all within a 45-minute radius.

My mom is fascinated by the history of a place – why its earliest settlers came, why they stayed and why things are the way they are. I enjoy capturing the wonder and beauty of a place through photographs.

Salt Lake City, which neither of us had previously visited, became our destination.

My mom arranged the transportation and left the rest to me. Her only request was to experience “foodie” places. I went to work scouring blogs, trail maps and social feeds.

Here's our don't-waste-a-minute guide.

Temple Square

PACK

TRAVEL

EXPLORE

We each took one carry-on bag and one personal item for our four-day trip. We didn't need much: Tennis shoes, a few T-shirts, shorts, leggings and a light jacket would cover us for a cool morning hike and a hot day hike.

An early-morning flight from Omaha had us in Salt Lake City in time for breakfast. That give us a whole day to explore downtown before checking into our hotel.

• • • •

42 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

Temple Square Salt Lake City Public Library Red Butte Garden Natural History Museum

CHANGING LIGHT FROM ENSIGN PEAK TRAIL

Dusk – 9 p.m.

Below, golden hour – 8 p.m.

Sunrise – 6 a.m.

Morning – 7:30 a.m.

HIKE Choosing our path The All Trails app was useful in identifying the right trails for us.

The app shows hike locations, distance, difficulty level, useruploaded reviews and photos.

Ensign Peak (city view) We did this hike twice – first for a sweeping sunset view of the city and again for a sunrise view.

Insider tip: Follow the trail beyond Ensign Peak for a grander view.

Antelope Island State Park (Great Salt Lake, wildlife views) We had been forewarned about the no-see-ums – tiny, biting insects. We went anyway. Though the bugs hijacked an intended hike for a sunset view of the Great Salt Lake, we did get a spectacular view of the free-roaming buffalo, deer and antelope on the island.

Antelope Island

Stewart Falls

Stewart Falls (mountain views) A popular, well-traveled hike.

Best at sunrise or sunset.

Bridal Veil Falls (mountain views) Insider tip: Plan a roadside stop here on your way to Provo, or park and hike for a closer view of the roaring falls.

Red Butte Garden

Red Butte Garden (nature views) We stayed within the gardens, but trails beyond the lush, shaded grounds lead to an incredible bonus view of the Salt Lake Valley.

inspiredlivingomaha.com 43

EAT Eva’s Bakery (Downtown Salt Lake City) This was our first foodie stop – a darling, Instagram-worthy breakfast spot. The vegetable quiche, croissant sandwich and coffee were enough to fill us up for our morning walk around Temple Square.

Stoneground Kitchen (Downtown Salt Lake City) Explore the public library, then head to Stoneground Kitchen. This restaurant is located on the second floor of a building across the street. Insider tip: Sit at the two-person booth facing the window. It’s great for peoplewatching.

Harmons Grocery (Downtown Salt Lake City) Comparable to Whole Foods, we stopped here to pick up snacks for our hikes.

Ruth’s Diner (Emigration Canyon, Salt Lake City) It’s hard to go wrong with a local diner. Ruth’s railcar-turned-restaurant did not disappoint after a sunrise hike.

Pulp Lifestyle Kitchen (Downtown Salt Lake City) The place for fresh hipster smoothies.

Depending on when you go, food trucks also rally nearby.

Atticus Coffee, Books & Teahouse (Park City) Park City is quiet in the mornings, but this is a coffee hot-spot for early risers.

Light breakfast options available and recommended before setting off on a morning hike.

Good Thyme (Provo) Fresh seasonal produce and a constantly changing menu. Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and vegan options available. Shares space with Roll With It Creamery.

44 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

Roll With It Creamery (Provo) This was literally the main reason for our drive to Provo – to eat rolled ice cream. It’s an up-and-coming food trend. One-size serving and all the toppings your heart desires for just over $5. It’s a lot of ice cream for one person – sharing is acceptable.

Copper Common (Downtown Salt Lake City) This is a bar, not a restaurant, and you must be over 21 to enter. Offers upscale drinks, charcuterie boards and house-made frites.

The Cliff Dining Pub (Draper) Go for the sunset views from the patio dining area.

Roll With It Creamery

Les Madeleines (Downtown Salt Lake City) When there’s a line almost out the door, you know you’ve hit the foodie jackpot. Each coffee is served with a small madeleine. Check out the delicious pastries and noteworthy breakfast sandwiches, and don’t leave without eating a Kouign Amann.

Indoor and outdoor seating available.

Cafe Niche (Downtown Salt Lake City) We stopped here after exploring the Chalk Art Festival. Glasses of peach lemonade and shared plates of the shaved Brussels sprouts and the tzatziki lamb meatballs were a perfect midday snack before our afternoon flight home.

Eva's Bakery

Les Madeleines, Kouign Amann Eva's Bakery, vegetable quiche

EXPERIENCE Chalk Art Festival An annual mid-June event at The Gateway, hosted by Utah Foster Care. The festival benefits the 2,900 children in Utah foster care. This year’s theme was “Share Your Heart.” Go to watch the artists at work and vote for your favorite. Food trucks, shopping, live music and a kids splash park are part of the fun.

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HOST

You enjoy status as the British royalty’s go-to designer, holding a Royal Warrant of Appointment both to the Queen of England and Charles, Prince of Wales. What’s behind that designation?

When you work for the royal family, you can’t talk about the personalities or the intricacies. Having the Royal Warrant is public acknowledgment of your discretion and reliability ... I’ve had the Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales since 2006 and from the queen for two years.

You were artistic director for the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Were they very involved?

They were very involved. It was a completely normal family wedding.

Do you have royal greenhouses at your disposal?

When it is something like one of the weddings, then I have many things at my disposal, such as the gardens of Windsor Castle and the gardens of Sandringham in the case of the Cambridges’ wedding, and the gardens of Highgrove in the case of the Prince’s wedding (to the Duchess of Cornwall).

It sounds so exotic and exciting.

It’s like work for any client. It’s important to put the client first, and to be very respectful of what they like and of their privacy. It’s no different from working for anyone in the public eye.

Is it nerve-racking having your work on such a public stage?

On the occasion of the Cambridges’ wedding, I wasn’t nervous at all until the press got involved.

As far as I was concerned, I was really only trying to please the main client — the bride. If I were doing your wedding, I would want you to be pleased. The most important thing is that the bride was happy. That was how I kept reassuring myself.

Be it regal palace or farmhouse table, fresh-cut flowers always star STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SHANE CONNOLLY

Shane Connolly’s work as a floral designer has taken him all over the world, propelled by two royal weddings to his credit. In midSeptember, the Northern Ireland-born Connolly will travel from London to speak at the Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show.

In a phone interview from his studio in North Kensington, he chats about seasonal harmony in his designs, cow parsley and a vow of silence when it comes to his work for the British royals.

46 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

What makes a good flower arrangement?

To me, it is something that is aware of a sense of place, that feels right in its setting. Hopefully, you get a feeling for the formality or informality of the occasion. You wouldn’t do a golden bowl of roses and orchids in the middle of the Nebraska countryside. It would look pretentious. Usually the way to find that balance is to see what is available in local gardens and markets. That to me makes a good arrangement. It looks as one with the setting and the season.

Is there a flower in Nebraska you’re looking forward to working with in your floral-arranging demonstration at the antique show?

I haven’t done my research yet. I’m really looking forward to finding out what I can get. I have requested that I might go to a few gardens to cut things.

What is the creative process behind an arrangement?

It’s more every event and every commission. We don’t often do just one arrangement. It’s more the look of a whole event.

Every one is completely different. Keeping the sense of place, that’s the most important thing. If it’s a party for your birthday, I would want to know about your interests, and I would want to know how you are. Do you like your friends to be impressed, or do you want them to feel relaxed? It’s the same approach to every commission.

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What has been your most outrageous commission?

Once we lined the inside of a grave with flowers. That’s unusual. It was the request of the dead person’s wife. I had to climb into the grave and stick flowers into the earth.

What advice do you have for people doing their own arrangements?

Don’t try too hard. Keep everything simple. Also, find the right container. To me the easiest way is to have several simple containers rather than a big arrangement. You can put flowers in little containers in the middle of a table. That’s a very easy way to get a beautiful effect, and you also see the flowers.

Do you follow the latest trends?

I don’t like the word “trends.” People feel they have to follow them. Especially brides, because they are usually younger and not quite so confident in their tastes. It’s nice to not be strung into that.

Do you have a beautiful garden?

I certainly have a garden. But I wouldn’t like to say it’s beautiful. I try hard.

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Do you have a favorite flower in your garden?

Gardening is the thing that brought me to flowers. It’s the thing I’m constantly guided by. If you are a gardener, your favorite flower changes all the time. The first time a lily of the valley blooms, you think “That’s my favorite flower,” and then it’s gone.

If you were a flower, what would you be?

I think I would want to be something like cow parsley or a wildflower. I wouldn’t want to be an orchid or a rose.

LAURITZEN GARDENS ANTIQUE & GARDEN SHOW WHAT: Weekend filled with noted speakers, fine antiques exhibitors, mini seminars, designer walks and a garden market.

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 15-17. Patron party, Sept. 14.

HIGHLIGHTS: Friday, 11:30 p.m. lunch and lecture with interior designer Mark D. Sikes and House Beautiful editor-inchief Sophie Donelson; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. floral demonstration with London-based designer Shane Connolly, using personally selected flowers and foliage from local gardens; Sunday, complimentary mimosas while supplies last; 11:30 a.m. lunch and cooking demonstration with Omaha Steaks chef Grant Hon and award-winning mixologist Tyler Fry. Nikki Boulay fields questions from the audience.

INFORMATION, RESERVATIONS: omahaantiqueshow. org

FOR THE WAY YOU LIKE TO LIVE L E T U S B E Y O U R I N S P I R AT I O N O N L I N E

INSPIREDLIVINGOMAHA.COM PHOTO: JEFFREY BEBEE

inspiredlivingomaha.com 47

HOST

STORY MARJIE DUCEY

W

PHOTOGRAPHY HEIDI THORSON

e don’t have the gardens of Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace at our disposal, but inspiration can be as close as our own backyard. Shane Connolly, a floral designer for England’s royal family, begins with what’s in season.

That provides a big canvas in Nebraska. In the summer, mainstays like peonies, delphiniums, hydrangeas and

LOCATION LAURITZEN GARDENS

roses take their turn. Fall follows with the rustic colors of mums, sunflowers and coreopsis. Drawing on general chair Janel Sunderland's blue-and-white theme for the Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show, Sept. 15-17 at Omaha’s botanical center, we invited three local floral designers to imagine centerpieces worthy of a royal fete.

In keeping with Connolly's style (which he'll demonstrate at the show), each arrangement looks as if it were just picked from Queen Elizabeth II’s gardens.

FLORAL DESIGN: Sheila Fitzgerald, A New Leaf VASES: Designer's own and courtesy of Janel Sunderland

48 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

FLORAL DESIGN: Rose McCormick, Beyond the Vine Flowers and Home Decor PITCHER: Courtesy of Carolyn Baldwin

inspiredlivingomaha.com  49

FLORAL DESIGN: Ann Etienne, Voila! Blooms and Decor in Dundee VASE: Designer's own

50  SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

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AU COURANT

Don't be intimidated! Jump right in and give it a try.

STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY HEIDI THORSON

The row of tomatoes on the counter keeps expanding, and that bowl of apples you impulsively purchased during a family trip to the local orchard needs attention.

Many cooks are taking care of their bounty by canning. The practice has been around since the early 1800s. But that doesn’t mean you have to can like grandma did.

52 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

Nancy Urbanec, a Nebraska extension office assistant who works with food, nutrition and health, shares some new ideas.

BALL BLUE BOOK GUIDE TO PRESERVING The gold standard since it was first published in 1909, this guide continues to evolve. The more than 500 recipes include the tried-and-true, but recent versions have more creative twists. “People don’t want to stick with jams and jellies,’’ Urbanec says. “They want to spice it up and give (their produce) its own unique flavor. You can’t do that unless you know the pH balance, or it wouldn’t be safe.’’

Try the Salsa Ranchero, which has been tested with fresh lime juice instead of vinegar and is the right acidity to neutralize botulism spores, making it acceptable for processing in a boiling water bath or an atmospheric steam canner. freshpreserving.com/salsa-ranchera BALL SURE TIGHT LIDS Ball says these are the most significant improvement in home canning lids in the past 30 years. A new guarantee says the seal will last up to 18 months. That’s important.

Break the seal during storage, and you’ll have to throw that lovely produce out with the garbage. “As long as it has been properly processed and it’s sealed, it’s safe,’’ Urbanec says. She still recommends cycling through your canned produce, using the oldest first.

BALL & McCORMICK RECIPE CARD MIX Not everyone wants to can bushels and bushels of produce or has access to large amounts of fruits and vegetables. Ball & McCormick’s premeasured spices with recipe cards are perfect for small batches. Pasta sauces, pickles and salsas are perfectly seasoned, with no excess spices to store. Each packet mix will make two quarts or four pints, and includes directions on how to process or freeze for long-term storage.

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FREEZER CONTAINERS OR BAGS Some cooks don’t want to toil over a hot stove or are afraid to do their own canning. Good news: Just freeze your produce instead. There’s still some work involved, such as peeling, seeding, coring and blanching. But it’s much faster than canning, and there are no worries about botulism. You just need to find space in your freezer.

Urbanec adds another caveat: “You really need to use containers meant for the freezer. That keeps air from flowing through your container and over your food, preventing freezer burn.’’

QUART OR PINT MASON JARS Did you know you can use them in the freezer? Mason jars are tempered glass, meant to withstand heating and freezing. It’s the perfect rigid container that’s moisture/ vapor proof, odorless, grease-proof and capable of being tightly closed to prevent freezer burn. Urbanec says you need to leave an inch or more of head space at the top of the jar to allow for food expansion. Any Mason jars that have nicks, cracks or other damage should not be used for canning or freezing.

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GARDENING

STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY HEIDI THORSON

SNAG THOSE SEEDS! If you have a favorite plant and want to save some of its seeds for the following year, the Douglas-Sarpy extension office’s Kathleen Cue says it’s important to remember that seeds from self-pollinated plants such as beans, heirloom tomatoes and lettuce will produce true to their variety. Expect variation in characteristics from vegetable seeds saved from wind-pollinated plants (beets, corn and spinach, to name a few), insect-pollinated plants (peppers, eggplant, kale and melons) and hybrids. Seeds from these vegetables have a genetic makeup that’s different from the parent plant, so be prepared for variations in how the vegetable performs, looks and tastes.

NOTE: To save seeds of summer and winter squash, pumpkins and cucumbers, keep the vegetables on the plant until after frost to allow full seed development, then proceed with the steps for drying.

You’ll find some joy, too.

“Ornamental grasses are beautiful in the winter landscape,’’ Cue says.

Need to know what to leave? Cue offers this guide.

• Perennial plants and ornamental grasses. Both develop a hollow stem as they dry out in the fall, and that’s the perfect winter home for pollinators, especially native bees. Even peonies don’t need to be cut back, unless they are diseased. “If you are too tidy, you are killing them when you remove them from the site,’’ Cue says. “It’s best to do your cleanup in the spring.’’

• Daisy-type flowers. The cone-like heads of these flowers, such as a rudbeckia, are chock-full of seeds. Those seeds are a food source for birds that don’t migrate south. “Our bird friends appreciate having a food source that isn’t buried under the snow during the winter season,’’ Cue says.

• Leaf litter. Give your leaf blower a break and leave some behind. As the leaves break down, they enrich the soil, provide some shelter for things like butterflies and ladybugs and benefit several bird species, which scratch through the leaves looking for food. It’s also good for your plants. Leaves can be worked into the vegetable garden to increase the tilth of the soil.

WHAT GOES, WHAT STAYS Now that you have all those tomatoes picked and stored away, you’re ready to retreat inside to watch some football.

Sure, you’ll still have to rake or mow your leaves. But you don’t have to spend hours cutting back every bush and flower in the yard.

Quite the opposite. Leave them in place, and help out pollinators and our feathered friends.

WINTERIZING YOUR TOOLS The one thing you do want to clean up is your equipment, especially that hard-working mower. Drain the fuel and clean out the dead grass packed under the deck.

It’s a great idea to put every piece of equipment away in spick-and-span shape. Then it will be ready to go on that first warm day next spring.

Tim Almgren, sales manager for family-operated Ty’s Outdoor Power,

WHAT YOU DO 1. Remove the seeds from the vegetables when they are fully ripe.

2. Separate the seeds from the pulp and allow them to dry on a newspaper or paper towel.

3. Place dry seeds in airtight containers and store in a cool dry place.

54 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

offered these suggestions to make sure your lawn mower springs to life next May: • Empty the fuel. It’s easy. Just let the mower run until it’s out of gas. If you can’t be bothered, at least add some fuel stabilizer. “It keeps the gas from going bad,’’ Almgren says. If you do leave untreated gas in the tank over the winter, dump it out in the spring and start fresh.

• Give it a bath. A good cleanup is always a good idea; leaving gunk packed under your mower isn’t.

“It will corrode over the winter,’’ Almgren says.

• Get a tuneup. Most people do all their maintenance in the spring.

Almgren says if you are already cleaning your mower, take the next step. “It’s not a bad idea to change the oil,’’ he says. Change the spark plug, too.

Do all the above, and your mower should do just fine, even if it has to sit in a shed until spring.

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PROFILE

Camel boom ahead? If so, Omaha biologist shares the glory STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HAROLD ISENBERGER & BRENDAN SULLIVAN

For three months each year, Beth Crichton’s life sounds like a tale best told in an exotic novel.

A biologist doing groundbreaking research might not sound so colorful. But throw in a desert kingdom with sheiks and wealth beyond imagination ...

And then there’s the primary reason Crichton has traveled to the United Arab Emirates for the past six years.

Camel sperm.

Yes, you read that correctly.

“It’s a great item of conversation,” Crichton says while sitting at the dining room table in her Dundee home. “People are intrigued.”

The 71-year-old scientist leaves behind her gardening, volunteering and research papers each January to travel to Dubai, where she dons jeans and a polo shirt and drives 25 miles into the desert each day to delve into the mysteries of cryogenics and sperm preservation.

Crichton works at the Camel Repro-

56 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

duction Centre, a state-of-the-art facility financed by wealthy sheiks to improve their camel herds for sport.

Just how big is camel racing in that part of the world? “Camel racing is huge,” Crichton says, noting local television’s non-stop coverage throughout the season.

“They race for big money.”

Crichton and her center colleagues are on the verge of a scientific breakthrough.

For the first time, frozen camel semen has been used to impregnate several females who will give birth in March or April. While that may be old hat to cattle producers in Nebraska, who ship frozen semen all over the country, it’s a big deal in the camel industry.

“The sheiks will go crazy when they are born,” Crichton says.

That anticipation is what is sending Crichton and her husband, Harold Isenberger, back to Dubai for what Crichton says is the last time. But she’s said that before.

It’s hard to let go of years of work in reproductive biology, including seven years at Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium working with the big cats and gorillas.

“I love keeping my hand in science, which has been my life,” she says.

It brought her to the United States from Australia in the 1980s and also led to her marriage.

Back then, she was studying bat reproduction in Arizona. Isenberger, meanwhile, was forging a railroad career. They joke that they met under a railroad bridge while she was doing research, and he was working as a dispatcher.

Isenberger keeps the practical side of their life going in Dubai while Crichton works. It also gives him time to pursue one of his great passions.

“He has all the time in the world to read,” Crichton says.

Both found another interest while in Dubai, where Crichton works for Dr. Julian “Lulu” Skidmore. Skidmore’s

husband, attorney James Berry, is developing an orphanage in Tanzania. Funding is always an issue, and Crichton and Isenberger are helping to raise support in the United States. Six buildings have risen, with plans to eventually house 300 orphans at the Larchfield Children’s Home.

It’s a far cry from the extravagance of Dubai, which boasts the tallest building and biggest mall in the world. It’s a city of contrasts, where sheiks and their families peruse goods from some of the most famous stores in the world while people from countries such as India and Pakistan do the day-to-day, behind-the-scenes work that keeps the country going.

The couple live in an apartment in the Dubai World Trade Center, and have loved taking advantage of all that the cosmopolitan hub has to offer, from camel races, dhow cruises and sand dune riding to visiting beautiful mosques and going to the opera, the Dubai World Cup horse races and the international tennis tournament each February.

Both are big tennis fans.

Though it’s winter when the couple visits the Emirates, the temperature is usually a balmy 70 degrees.

They won’t stop traveling if they no longer go to Dubai — it just might mean more family time in Australia.

Come spring, though, they’re always happy to return to their residence of almost 20 years in Omaha, where Crichton’s beloved gardens will be about to bloom.

“We leave life here and have to pick it up again,” Crichton says. “It’s always good to be home.”

inspiredlivingomaha.com 57

THE HIDDEN PANTRY

CONFIT BASICS

Age-old cooking method tames tough cuts RECIPES + PHOTOGRAPHY CHAD LEBO

I

grew up in central Pennsylvania. And though it’s perhaps the northern end of the Bible Belt, it is arguably the very buckle of the Chip Belt. Or perhaps it’s more metaphorically accurate to say the extra extender hole punched into the Chip Belt.

My favorite potato chip was Grandma Utz’s. At the time, they were only available locally and were exceptional not only for being extra thick, but because they were fried in lard.

Perhaps that’s the reason I have a soft spot in my increasingly clogged heart for meat cooked confit (pronounced "con-fee").

The simplest version is the grand-père of slow food. Duck is gently heated in a copper pot until the fat renders out and the bird poaches for nearly 24 hours. Done well, it is the definition of tender.

That’s why it’s an ideal method for cooking tougher cuts like poultry legs and thighs and a variety of wild game.

Combining those two, the recipes and techniques featured here all use wild turkey legs. To demonstrate the versatility of this tried-and-true traditional method, three legs were all started and cooked confit, but finished in different styles.

One leg is finished under the broiler and served over greens. Another is dressed with barbecue sauce and seared on the grill. The last uses the über-tender meat as the base of savory, spreadable rillette.

58 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

The “Confit Basics” recipe will get you started and can be used to simmer any tougher cut of meat. Generally, there are three standard steps. Meat is cured in salt for hours or days, poached in seasoned fat for four hours to nearly a day, and finally rested for a few days to months to preserve and finish flavoring. I don’t find the final step of aging to be crucial, so most often I finish the meat by grilling, frying, broiling or pureeing directly after poaching in the fat. It’s less work, requires less waiting and, frankly, is just as good.

If you fear your cardiologist will disown you upon learning that you poached last night’s dinner in beef tallow, relax. Unlike breading and vegetables, meat is not a sponge. It will not absorb the fat. Gently poach a lean pork loin in lard for 10 hours, and it will come out no less lean than when it went in. The fat simply provides a great even cooking medium that completely surrounds the meat and doesn’t evaporate like water, stock or wine does with extended cook times.

The fat is not one and done. It can be refrigerated and used for two or three more batches of confit, or just pull out a tablespoon at a time to fry flavorful eggs or add depth to a seared chicken breast. You also can upscale roasted corn on the cob by mixing equal parts butter and confit fat.

Try the recipes and techniques and give fat a chance. Help preserve this old and delectable tradition.

Any fat can work for confit. Traditionally, it should be fat from the animal itself, but pork lard pretty much works for any meat. Even olive oil will do.

Spices used in the confit are up to you. Those listed below provide a good starting point.

1. Liberally coat the meat with kosher salt and some thyme or other strong herb of choice.

2. Allow meat to cure in fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

3. Heat oven to 200 F. 4. Tightly pack and layer meat into an oven-safe dish that has sides tall enough to keep the confit fat from spilling out. Depending on the amount of meat, a baking dish may do, or a casserole may be best.

5. Mix 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1-2 whole cloves, 1 garlic clove, 1 bay leaf, ½ shallot, small whole hot peppers or flakes to taste (optional) with the lard or other fat and heat to simmering on stovetop.

6. Pour hot fat over the meat until it is covered by ¼ to ½ inch.

7. Place container of meat in the oven and cook until very tender. Depending on meat and the cut, it may take as little as four hours or as long as 12-plus hours. Internal temperature is not as important as texture. Meat will be cooked and safe, but it is done when it’s nearly fall-off-thebone tender. For quicker cooking times, adjust oven to 250-300 F, but meat can end up tougher.

8. Use right away with recipes offered here or store in the fridge for a few days, first, to finish seasoning.

9. For long-term storage, be sure meat is below the surface of the fat and refrigerate for up to six months with plastic wrap directly over the surface of the fat. Can also be kept in freezer in vacuum-sealed or other airtight bags.

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BARBECUE CONFIT

More a technique than a recipe, this works with any kind of domestic poultry or wild game bird. Best with the dark meat legs and thighs, but also could be done with breasts. Pheasant legs are particularly delightful. Our photo example uses a wild turkey leg.

1. If using meat still warm from cooking confit, dip or brush with barbecue sauce of choice, then heat over direct high heat on the grill for a couple of minutes until seared and caramelized.

2. If using preserved meat that was cooked confit but is cold, first place in 350 F. oven until warmed through, then finish as described in Step 1.

3. Serve with grits (see photo), vinegardressed greens, slaw, etc. Avoid rich sides like macaroni and cheese or sweetened baked beans.

60 SEPTEMBER/OC TOBER 2017

CONFIT RILLETTE

Pronounced “ree-yet,” this easy minced meat spread is simply a course pâté. It is great just spread on bread and washed down with a dry wine. Use on a charcuterie board, as part of a banh mi sandwich, atop a deviled egg, etc. Can be made with any meat that has been cooked confit.

Fantastic with duck, both domestic and wild.

1. Check that the meat has no cartilage, gristle, bones, etc.

2. Combine 1 tablespoon dry white wine, 1 tablespoon fresh herbs, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, 1 teaspoon warm confit lard/fat, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns and puree with immersion blender or food processor.

3. Mix to an even, smooth texture. If it seems too thick to spread, add equal parts additional white wine and cream until smooth and spreadable.

4. Can be used immediately, stored refrigerated or even frozen in airtight container.

5. Most flavorful served at room temperature.

SEARED CONFIT OVER SALAD WITH MUSTARD DRESSING

The technique of searing the confit meat works with legs, thighs and even roasts. The salad can be made with any strong green that has character and bite. We show a confit wild turkey leg over fresh foraged purslane. Not a mustard fan? Swap the dressing for a favorite vinaigrette. The important thing is the acid to cut through the rich confit.

1. If using meat still warm from cooking confit, heat under high broiler for 2 to 4 minutes until browned and crisp. If using preserved meat that was cooked confit but is cold, place in 350 F. oven until warmed through and then finish under high broiler for 2 to 4 minutes until browned and crisp.

2. Let meat rest. For dressing, whisk together until evenly blended (or shake in a jar): ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, hot sauce, to taste, salt and black pepper, to taste.

3. Dress 4 servings greens with two-thirds of the dressing.

4. Serve meat over dressed salad and drizzle with remaining dressing.

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