Hi Everyone

It is almost that moment when the lucky ones among us have the chance to rest, eat and drink, and take a step back - see below for my appreciation of a book on this subject. Once the flurry of Christmas preparation is done, the time around the winter solstice lets us withdraw and follow the example of animals that hibernate. We can then reset for the New Year while also putting to bed the old one. May I wish you all a great break and say thank you to our clients in the UK, USA and Switzerland and to the craftspeople, suppliers and installers who bring our designs to life.

An exciting event this year was the installation of the latest all-but-invisible hob system - a dramatic innovation - in a kitchen we built more than twenty years ago in North London. The hob (lower left in picture above) comes from TPB Tech in Barcelona. Its pale grey surface is multi-layered for durability and patented. Aluminium is the first material, then Bakelite, then a second heat-resistant aluminium layer, all topped off with coloured porcelain: you can choose from 17 different colours including gold and rusted steel effects. Using induction, the surface heats only under the pots and pans, which sit on barely-visible slight elevations. It is a most versatile design. For operation, there are the options of touch controls on the surface or knobs at the front. The clients chose the latter, which we incorporated into a little row of decorative circles.

We kept all the existing kitchen cabinetry apart from the cooking area, leaving in place the big curved storage cupboard, dresser and grid cupboard with its peephole window into the next room. A small circular table is an additional feature. It makes visitors from all generations feel especially welcome. A new set of tiles handmade by Alex Zdankowicz provide a lively but subtle pattern on the walls, with sparklets of colour.

We had two big birthdays during the pandemic. Finally this December our grown-up children were able to carry out their celebration plan. This was to take me and Becca to the Landmark Trust’s Palladian Villa Saraceno near Padua. It was frosty in Northern Italy as at home, and on a clear morning we were treated to a magical view of the snow-covered Dolomites glowing pale pink and jagged on the horizon. In the library of the villa I identified a rare table-chair, which our two little grandsons put to good use eating their supper in front of a fire. I’ve seen table-chairs before in historic records but never in real life. What a great idea: a portable item of furniture at a child’s scale, in this case part of a particularly elegant environment.

Speaking of pauses...

Curiosity about the ways in which the physical fabric and arrangement of interiors channel our emotions always informs my work. We know colour affects mood but what else makes an impact? All objects - paintings, wallpaper, plants, bric-a-brac and furniture, bring their associations and stories with them. This turns them into tools for a designer or homemaker, allowing us to manipulate atmosphere. Do Pause: You are not a To Do List by Robert Poynton relates to this idea. Poynton, an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School in Oxford, says that the most meaningful parts of our lives are not primarily worldly achievements but being present. ’Time is not in the clock, he says, but inside our minds and bodies; likewise, in Charles Spence's words, ‘taste is on the tongue not in the food’. Poynton argues for a habit of taking a pause that lets you stop, even just for a second, to reset, find yourself and feel present. In a kitchen a perching point helps to do this, or a cooking spot with a view out of a window or onto the table. Stopping in a normally busy place for creative thoughts or observations helps us escape or think something through, whether it is an important decision or a variation on a well-used recipe.

We need own our own time and place and Poynton, who describes himself as an experience designer creating holding spaces, acts as a guide. His elegantly written book gives us pause to think. We can thereby do better at designing homes to feel homely and using our spaces more fully for good living.

My Christmas recipe this year is carrots and they are very easy as well as delicious. It's a gently spicy dish from Riverford Organic Farmers who supply us with weekly organic vegetables and other delicious things including sourdough, meats and milk. 

Here is their Braised Carrots with Mulled Cider & Thyme, with the flavours of Christmas including mulling spices, clementine complete with zest and West Country cider - or in our case a bottle saved from summer in Normandy. The technique allows you to cook in a minimal amount of liquid, reduced at the end to an intense flavour, the carrots glowing orange.

800g carrots, peeled and chopped into 3cm angled pieces; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 star anise; 3 whole cloves; 1 fresh bay leaf; 1 clementine, sliced into discs; 200ml cider; half tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Heat one and a half tablespoons of oil in a large pan. Throw in the carrots and a generous pinch of salt. Fry for a minute or so before adding the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, bay, clementine and half the cider. Clamp a lid on tightly - I use parchment paper instead, folded over. the pan - and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until tender. Check them every few minutes. Stir well and check the liquid, adding a dash more cider as/if they're starting to dry out or catch. Remove the lid (less necessary to adjust parchment as it lets out more moisture) for the final 4-5 minutes to let the cider evaporate and allow the veg to colour slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme leaves. Pluck out the spices but leave the clementine slices. Serve immediately.

For spontaneous meals, fish is a very handy resource. As Alistair Blair from the Fish Society and his and team point out in this video, much supermarket fish has been frozen and then unfrozen before sale so it is not as fresh as you would think or want. Fish Society fish is superior, super easy to store and use, and it defrosts quicker than many other foods. The packets of ‘misshapes’ of posh fish like monkfish, halibut or smoked salmon disappear very fast in our household. The smoked eel is incredible.

A seasonal treat is London’s Gingerbread City exhibition. My daughter Augusta works for Tibbalds: planners, urban designers and architects. At work she helped with this year’s Gingerbread City theme, the creation of spaces that are convenient for us nature friendly at the same time. Zaha Hadid Architects took part, along with 80 other firms of architects and engineers. Hurry and see this charming fairy-tale exhibition if you can. It closes on 2 January and is at the pop-up Museum of Architecture, 6-7 Motcomb Street SW1X 8JU.

Cheers to all,

Johnny