Fall arrived quickly in Oswego. Days grew cooler, then cold. We studied, attended classes, had parties (although hardly the kind of partying today's students do!) and we reveled in being our own keepers...in charge of ourselves. I had a boyfriend...handsome, exciting and fun...with a HARLEY!!! He also had a car at school but this sheltered Jewish city girl loved zooming along the country highway, my arms around his waist, and the wind in my face. Oy!!!
In all, I was loving college...loving being on my own...loving my new friends..loving my exciting studies... And then... it snowed! ...and snowed...and snowed! My dorm room was on the third floor and we used cafeteria trays to slide out of our window, where the snow rose to the sill! Enormous ice tunnels were created to walk through to get to classes and still, it snowed. Huge islands of ice sailed down Lake Ontario..and still, it snowed. The landscape was blanketed in white, like a shroud over the once verdant campus. This Princess was not amused!
I struggled to attend classes, fighting the bitter cold and driving snow to arrive on time. At Christmas Break I informed my parents that I was applying to college nearer home. At this break I also met a young man attending Columbia University in NYC so the idea of being closer to him made thoughts of my Harley riding days quickly fade. I was young...I was fickle...I had a plan!
The following September I transferred and attended a school much closer to home. With it's proximity to the city the school had visiting professors and I was able to study with the reknown psychologists who lectured there. Majoring in psychology and minoring in education was perfect for me. I was happy and so were my parents. In my junior year I had a work/study at a school for children with "emotional disabilities"...a euphemism of the time... I loved those kids. I worked hard and had some measure of success. Upon graduation I entered the New York City School System and chose the school in Bedford-Stuyvesant where I had done my senior year student teaching. I had a class of children with assorted problems. They were mostly poor and misunderstood by parents hard pressed to make it day to day. I brought breakfast to school every morning. Toast, cheese and fruit and school milk. My local grocery store supplied me with much of what I brought in. With some food in their hungry bellies, these kids were more likely to pay attention...and they did. I loved this class...I made progress...and then I met Peter. I stayed in this school for two years until I married him. We thought it would be easier all around if I taught in Newark which was a shorter drive from our apartment in New Jersey...mistake...BIG MISTAKE!!! For many reasons, far too many for this piece, I hated it. I know it seems like I cannot see anything through...but I choose to think I correct my mistakes as soon as I catch them.
I quickly found a position back in New York at P.S.1 in Chinatown. I was absolutely in heaven. Fabulous school, wonderful teaching staff and I truly adored the Principal, Mr. Toby Kurzband. I had a wonderful class all of whom challenged me and all of whom I truly loved. Things sailed along smoothly until...I became pregnant! I finished out the school year but at the time (about 45 years ago) you could not teach after the 5th month...so...there I was...jobless at home... and bored senseless.
I must say, motherhood was truly wonderful...we moved to a larger apartment, made new friends and saved for a home in Westfield, NJ...a beautiful, upscale NJ community. My baby boy was smart, beautiful and the light of my life (still is!!) We were doing what every other young couple in the building was doing, biding our time until we bought into the American dream...a home in the suburbs. I decorated our apartment and with my mother's guidance put together a stunning home. One by one our friends began "the house hunt"...and one day, my closest friend called. She said they had found a house to buy and she wanted me to help her decorate it! I was taken aback at first...I didn't know thing one about this...but actually, I did... Hadn't I been at my mother's side for years? Wasn't my mother a professional interior designer? Of course I had the experience of watching and learning from her! So, since youth gives you the courage and innocense to do anything...we began the project, and my friend patiently stood by as I "made my bones". I simply thrilled to awakening each day and having this job to work on. I knew her tastes and her budget and proceeded, guided by these. A sitter helped out when we went into the market to shop but I basically worked from home. This excited me. I was immersed in color...texture...scale...pattern...I was finally doing something that came from my core. The time passed quickly and before we knew it it was installation day. Beautiful ivory silk curtains banded in a blue Scalamandre trim were hung...ivory, blue and yellow fabrics covered the artfully arranged furniture and a baby grand piano, shiny and important held one end of the room, facing the fireplace. The adjoining dining room glowed in the light of an antique crystal chandelier and the polished mahogany table reflected the crystals above. The Queen Ann chairs were upholstered in a blue and ivory print with a tiny blush of rose. I was thrilled...she was thrilled.
Early the very next morning my phone rang. It was my friend's neighbor. She had stopped in to see the finished design project and now wanted me to do her home!!! I was on my way... OMG...I could really do this! And so it began. In the ensuing years I have gone back for additional education in the field, but design has to come from a place inside you...the technical aspects are what I took away from my classes...but the creativity and taste I took from my mother...it flows through my DNA.
Morris Township, New Jersey
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| Basking Ridge, NJ |
I am ever mindful that I have a tremendous resposibility for the comfort of my clients...respectful of their budget and exert my best effort not to impose too much of myself in what I will leave for them. I have found my true calling. I have loved the over forty tears I have been doing this and will continue to do so for as long as I am able. I am constantly amazed and always honored when people trust me with the design of their homes...what I always try to leave behind is a little love. What I have taken away has been lifelong friendships and a pride in my work. I have gone from knowing how to pick color to full scale renovations and have worked closely with architects and contractors on the most technical of projects. I have indeed found a true calling...a lifetime of work that never bored me and always excited and challenged me. How lucky am I?
Among my best recipes are those I have gotten from clients...
Linda L’S DRUNK ROAST PORK
3 medium carrots
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 1/2 lbs. boned pork loin 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 c. flour spread on waxed paper
Salt
2 tbsps. grappa, marc or good dry grape
Freshly ground pepper
brandy
1. Peel and wash carrots and cut lenghtwise into little less than 1/2” sticks.
2. Tie up pork loin and fasten securely with twine.
3. With long, pointed and thick tool (meat probe, i.e.) pierce meat in several places on both ends. Keep holes about 1 1/2” apart and paralell. Into each hole push a carrot stick. (if you want the carrots can go right into the pot.
4. Choose a braising pot or casserole, possibly oval, just large enough to contain the roast later. Put in oil and butter and turn heat to med high.
5. Turn the meat in the flour and when butter foam in the pot begins to subside, put in the meat. Turn until it is browned all over.
6. Add the grappa. After a few seconds when it has boiled away, pour in the wine. There should be enough wine to nearly cover the meat...if not add some more to cover.
7. Add nutmeg, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Give the meat one or two turns. When the wine comes to a boil, turn the heat down to simmer, and cover tightly...place double sheet of foil between the lid and the pot. cook at very slow heat for three hours. Turn occasionally.
8. After 2 1/2 hours check liquid. If there is a lot of liquid remove the foil, set top askew and raise the heat.
9. Meat is done when it is very tender to a fork. It will be quite dark. some dense, syrupy sauce will be there too. Cut meat into thn slices and arrange them overlapping on a platter. Spoon all of the sauce over the meat.
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