Christmas Traditions at Darlington

Every family, however you define it, has its own Christmas traditions.  At least those families who observe Christmas, which we do at Darlington House.  I celebrate Christmas for the enjoyment of the holiday, and also for the spiritual message that inspires it, and me.

Christmas just wouldn't be the same
without pots of paperwhites about the house

There are a number of Christmas traditions that we observe at Darlington that I brought with me from my birth family, and there are ones of a more recent vintage that we have made our own.

FD, Camilla, and MD
Christmas 1947

As I have written before, one tradition that I observe at Christmas is to adorn the grill of our Rover with a wreath.  My mother, MD, decorated her cars with a wreath when I was a boy.  I loved it then, and I love it still.  This year we ordered our Rover's wreath from the good ladies of Cedar Farm.  I think they did a lovely job of it (they also made the wreath shown in the background, hanging on a door of one of our barns).

This year's Rover Wreath

Another Christmas tradition I observe is to set out a crèche.  MD was mad for crèches, and collected more than a dozen of them over the years.  The one we have at Darlington is a dime store crèche made in Italy in the 1950s that I bought at a Groupe Shoppe years ago.  I've been adding figures to it ever since.  If you look closely at the photograph you'll see that there is a little pug, given to me by my sister Camilla, among the adoring throng.

Our not entirely tasteful Christmas crèche

I also have a collection of Black Forest bears that I put out at Christmas.  I inherited the nucleus of the collection from my mother, who inherited it from her father.  I've added to it over the years, and I put the bears on the mantel in our Snuggery, along with half a dozen or so little Steiff toy animals that I played with as a child.  I've had some of them for almost fifty years.

The mantel in our Snuggery, decorated for Christmas

When it comes to food and drink we have a number of traditions at Darlington.  I always make sure to have a box of Darling clementines on hand at Christmas.

Every Christmas Eve, before attending the evening festival service at the Episcopal church in the nearby town (assuming I can stay awake—and sober enough—to attend it), I make a simple oyster stew, a dish that my sister Hermione introduced me to as a Christmas Eve tradition many years ago.

I think I may try Alex Hitz's recipe for
oyster stew this year
Image courtesy of House Beautiful

On Christmas day we tuck into an old-fashioned English dinner of prime rib roast and Yorkshire pudding (recipes courtesy of my dear friend Lindaraxa), followed by Stilton cheese and Christmas pudding with hard sauce.  MD adored hard sauce.

Lindaraxa's English roast beef and Yorkshire pudding
Image courtesy of same

In years past, when Fauchon still had an outpost in Manhattan, we used to put in a store of their sublime pâtes de fruit and marron glacé to eat over the Christmas break.  Now we console ourselves with chocolates and other treats, including blinis heaped with caviar or salmon roe and crème fraîche.  Champagne is usually within easy reach.

A Darlington tradition of Christmases past
Image courtesy of Fauchon

Another tradition of ours during the Christmas break is to drive to Albany, New York State's capitol, and have a festive lunch at the city's venerable Jack's Oyster House.  It's been an Albany institution for one hundred years now.  Jack's is usually packed this time of year with tables of happy revelers out for a holiday lunch.  We heading there for ours today, in fact.

Jack's Oyster House's card

A more recent Christmas tradition that we've added to our repertoire at Darlington is dipping into the most delicious egg nog imaginable, made by our friend Ted Greenwood.  Ted makes a large batch of it from an old family recipe every year and distributes it on Christmas Eve to his lucky friends in Ball jars.  He calls it Ted Nog.  It is beyond yummy, particularly when adorned with a bourbon or rum floater on top.  Needless to say, Ted is very popular with his fortunate friends this time of year!

Our friend Ted "Nog" Greenwood at a
Darlington dinner party several years ago

Another tradition I look forward to every Christmas is listening to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols sung by the choir of King's College Cambridge, and broadcast on our local public radio station on Christmas Eve.

The choir of King's College Cambridge
Image courtesy of Zimbio

Of course we hang garlands and wreaths and put up a tree at Darlington, and we decorate the house festively for Christmas.  But, then, that's the subject of another post, soon to follow. . .

I found these little German wooden candles in
a hospital thrift store ten years ago.
I've put them out at Christmastime ever since

Tell me, Dear Reader, what are some of your Christmas traditions?

All photographs, unless noted, by Boy Fenwick or Reggie Darling

Reggie's Five Favorites: Drugstore Staples

Please note: For those of my readers who may be somewhat squeamish or faint of heart when it comes to the subject of personal hygiene, please be forewarned that today's post includes the discussion of products that, in some cases, one uses in the privacy of one's bathroom.

Continuing the series in which I discussed my top five favorite household cleaning products, today's post focuses on Reggie's five favorite drugstore staples.  These are inexpensive products widely available in pharmacies and supermarkets.  Many have withstood the test of time and have been sold for many, many years.  While Reggie's bathroom cabinets are full of expensive potions, lotions, and soaps from the likes of Kiehl's® and Molton Brown®, he doesn't use such products exclusively.  The more quotidian, everyday products that he reaches for are the subject of today's essay.

1. Listerene® Mouthwash

Reggie is a great fan of old fashioned Listerene® antiseptic mouthwash, America's oldest over the counter mouthwash.  Reggie prefers the original yellow formula—first sold to the public in 1914—that burns the inside of one's mouth free of germs with the intensity of a propane torch.

Reggie doesn't care for all the new-fangled, less assaultive, minty- and citrus-fresh flavored versions the company has brought out in recent years to appeal to a broader consumer base.  If Reggie is going to use a mouthwash (which he does), he wants it to be the real thing—and for him that means the original Listerene® antiseptic mouthwash that is so intense that rinsing one's mouth with it for more than a few seconds brings tears to one's eyes.  Pow! 

2. Pinaud Club Man® Talc

I first learned about Pinaud's "World Famous since 1810" Club Man® Talc from a barber I went to many years ago, who ritually dusted his clients' necks with this wonderful, old fashioned talcum powder.

Club Man® Talc isn't all that easy to find in drugstores these days, since when it is stocked at all it is usually relegated to the bottom shelves, along with other low-priced goods that appeal to an older, less-affluent clientele.  When I do come across Club Man® Talc's iconic green containers, though, I am sure to scoop up several of them to take home with me to stockpile.  I love Club Man® Talc's retro name and its packaging adorned with an image of a top hat and frock coat wearing, dandified swell from the 1930s.  I like the scent of the talc, which is not too over-powering.  And I believe it does a marvelous job for what it is intended for: namely, to sooth one's overheated, clothes-constricted body with soft, moisture-absorbing powder.

3. Rubbing Alcohol

Another drugstore staple that I return to again and again is rubbing alcohol.

When administered with a nail brush, rubbing alcohol is an extremely effective agent for maintaining the hygienic cleanliness of one's toes.  And that's all I'm going to say about that here.

4. Mentholatum® Ointment

Introduced in 1889, this menthol-infused ointment has been a bedside staple in the Darling households for generations.

Mentholatum® is particularly useful for moistening the inside of one's nostrils during the heating season, when one's bedroom's air can be dry as a bone.  Not only is it effective, Dear Reader, but a single jar of it can last for years.

5. NyQuil®

A newcomer when compared with the other staples discussed here, NyQuil® was introduced relatively recently, in 1968.  Described as "the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, best-sleep-you-ever-got-with-a-cold medicine," NyQuil® is my "go to" over the counter cold medicine.

There is nothing more effective than a healthy dose of NyQuil® to help get one through the night when laid low by a nasty cold.  And yes, I do sometimes take a swig of it directly from the bottle instead of measuring out the suggested dose in the provided plastic cup.

And there you have it, Dear Reader: Reggie's five favorite drugstore staples.  Open the bathroom cabinet in our city apartment or at Darlington House and you will be sure to find these waiting there to greet you.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite drugstore staples?

Please note: Reggie has not, nor does he expect to, receive anything for recommending these products.  He is doing so for the sole purpose of entertaining his readers, which is why he writes this blog in the first place.

IPhone photographs by Boy Fenwick

Reggie's Five Favorites: Household Cleaning Products

Back when I first started this blog, I wrote that I would do a series called Reggie's Five Favorites in which I would share with you, Dear Reader, five favorites of mine within a particular category.  The first—and only—installment that I wrote focused on cookware.  Well, more than two years later, I am finally posting the second installment in the series, this time focused on my five favorite commercially available household cleaning products.

Laundry day at Darlington House

I am fortunate to write that I am not responsible for most of the cleaning and laundering that takes place at Darlington House and in our city apartment.  There are others in our employ who ably take on such responsibilities for us.  However, Reggie is no stranger to rolling up his sleeves, donning a bib apron, and tackling such mundane tasks as scrubbing the surface of a stove or doing a load or two of laundry.  That is because there are times when I am not entirely satisfied with the jobs done by those who do them for us.  As the saying goes, "If you want it done right, [there are occasionally times when] you have to do it yourself."

Herewith, Dear Reader, are the top five commercially available household products that I use when engaging in such tasks:

1. Caldrea® Mandarin Vetiver Dish Soap Liquid

There are any number of attractively packaged and pleasantly scented dishwashing liquid soaps available today, unlike when I was a lad, when all of them came in uniformly ugly plastic bottles and had cheerily artificial smells.  One certainly no longer must decant one's dishwashing liquid into a discrete and "tasteful" bottle the way Martha Stewart taught us to do twenty or more years ago.

My favorite dishwashing soap is Caldrea®'s Mandarin Vetiver Dish Soap Liquid.  Not only is it highly effective in cleaning dishes and utensils, but its scent is marvelous.  It is a delicious combination of blood orange, grapefruit, and wood-bark essences.  Heaven!

2. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day® Lemon Verbena Countertop Spray

Where would we be today without Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day® household products?  Handsomely packaged and readily available, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day® aromatherapeutic household cleaners are staples in our house and apartment.  I particularly like the company's light and citrusy lemon verbena scented countertop spray.

According to the products' labels, "Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day® provides hard-working, naturally occurring ingredients and essential oils that are tough on dirt and grime, yet gentle on your home & the earth."  They are also biodegradable and cruelty-free.  What's not to like about that?  Also, who doesn't love the fact that they are named after the reassuringly homey Mrs. Meyer, an actual Iowa homemaker and mother of nine whose daughter founded the company and named it after her?  Do check out the company's website, where there are several quite charming videos, including one of an interview with the one and only Mrs. Meyer.  Who knew?

3. Bar Keepers Friend® Cleanser & Polish

I tell you, Dear Reader, this is a miracle product.  Bar Keepers Friend® (ungrammatical as it may be) is a gentle scouring powder known as "The Can-Do Cleanser."  It has been made since 1882.  According to its old-fashioned label, it can be used to clean stainless steel, chrome, fiberglass, porcelain, ceramic cooktops, copper, tile, and brass.

I use it to scour our stainless steel sinks and stove tops, and when I do, the gleaming results verge on astonishing!  I have found nothing better to remove the residual, sticky, stubbornly baked-on goo from the surface of our stainless steel stoves.  Barkeepers Friend® is both strong enough and gentle enough at the same time for me to use it to polish our copper cookware, where it does an admirable job of brightening up the metal's surfaces in a jiffy.  In my house, Barkeepers Friend® truly lives up to its motto of "Once Tried, Always Used."

4. 'All'® Free Clear Laundry Detergent

I don't know about you, but I cannot stand perfumed laundry detergents, and I find the scent and residue of fabric softeners revolting.

We use 'all'® free clear liquid laundry detergent to wash our laundry, both at Darlington and in the City, because it is free of perfumes and clear of dyes, and it is biodegradable and free of phosphates, too.  My sister Camilla introduced me to 'all'® free clear several years ago, and we've used nothing else ever since.  Thank you, dear Sister.

5. Oxi-Clean®

This is another miracle product.  Oxi-Clean® is a versatile, oxygen-based stain fighter that's chlorine-free and color-safe.  I use it to clean and whiten yellowed or stained white clothing and linens, instead of relying on harsh chlorine bleach.

I have found nothing better to restore and revive tired linens and return them to their original whiteness than Oxi-Clean®.  Here's how I do it: I fill the washing machine with water, pour in three to five heaping scoops of Oxi-Clean® powder (depending on the size of the load and how soiled it is) and also a regular dose of 'all'® free clear laundry detergent.  I let the water agitate so the Oxi-Clean® and detergent are completely dissolved and dispersed, add the sorted laundry, and let it all soak overnight, and sometimes longer, up to 24 hours.  I then run the machine for a long cycle, and double (and sometimes triple) rinse it when completed.  The clothes come out stain-free and as white as possible.  Oh, and of course I only use the scent- and dye-free variety.  And yes, I really do decant the powder from the ugly box it comes in, and I use my own metal scoop instead of the flimsy plastic one provided.

Lastly, if you really want to get your whites "whiter than white," I suggest that you hang them to dry in the sun, as we sometimes do at Darlington, as shown in the photograph at the beginning of this post.

Tell me, Dear Reader, are there commercially available household products that you use and that you would recommend?

Please note: Reggie has received nothing in return for these recommendations, nor does he expect to.  He is sharing them with his readers solely for their pleasure and enjoyment, which is why he writes this blog in the first place.

Photographs by Boy Fenwick

Reggie's Favorite Christmas Music Around the House

Like most people, Reggie enjoys listening to and playing Christmas music this time of year.  He is known to sing along to it—sometimes quite loudly and much to the annoyance of those around him—in the car, while out shopping, and around the house.  Even though he would like to, Reggie is not allowed to start playing Christmas music before the morning of the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, and he is required to stop playing it at midnight on Boxing Day.  He didn't make this rule, but he good naturedly agreed to it and follows along with it in the interest of maintaining matrimonial harmony.

Reggie spent much of his boyhood and adolescence singing in church choirs and secular choruses, and he knows—or at least thinks he can recall—the bass/baritone part to many carols of the season.  He happily sings along at church, at least when he finds himself there, and he is overjoyed to attend parties where carols are sung, where he joins in enthusiastically.  Most of the time this is met with bemused tolerance by those around him, but sometimes not.  Only last week Reggie attended a party where a quartet of caroling singers dressed in period garb out of A Christmas Carol had been engaged to stroll throughout the rooms, entertaining the guests.  They were distinctly not pleased when Reggie tried to join in on their fun by adding his own harmonies at one point.  Ah well, he thought while reaching for another glass of egg nog, at least he wasn't the one walking around in pseudo-Victorian clothing that night.

In any event, today's post is not supposed to be about Reggie, but rather about the music that he plays (some claim endlessly) around the house during the Christmas season.  I've divided it into three categories: contemporary, popular classics, and traditional.  They are all favorites of mine, and are given a lot of airplay at Darlington House this time of year.

The first and newest recording on this list, Let it Snow!, is a short and swell offering from today's King of Swing, Michael Bublé, that is sure to please even the most jaded member of your household.  Man, this guy can sing!

I first learned of the Blenders, an extremely talented a cappella quartet that has been singing together since their college days, from my dear brother Frecky, who sent me Nog, their first Christmas album CD, five or so years ago.  I cannot get enough of the Blenders' gorgeous close harmony singing of carols and standards on this and their other Christmas albums CDs.

I reach for Diana Krall's Christmas Songs when I'm in the mood for something sultry, which she delivers in jazzy spades on this recording.  I usually play it after sundown, as it is best listened to accompanied by a scotch on the rocks.  I mean, look at her!

Moving on from contemporary and into the popular classics, the first on my list is the Carpenters' Christmas Portrait, featuring Karen Carpenter's mellifluous renditions of popular Christmas songs.  I can't help myself—I love this recording!  I play it so often this time of year that if it were an album I'd have worn out the grooves by now.  I'm not surprised the Carpenters were the only "rock band" invited to perform at the Nixon White House, given their wholesome appeal.

If I want to play classic Christmas standards during a party or while decorating the house for the holiday, I put on Croon and Swoon, a compilation of timeless classics by some of the most popular, pre-rock-'n'-roll vocalists of the mid-twentieth century.  You know the ones I mean.  There are two song-packed CDs in this series, and I have both of them.  There's just nothing quite like the velvety sound of Mel Torme singing "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" to get me into the Christmas spirit.

Go ahead and laugh at me, but I love this album.  Recorded before he became a parody of himself, Andy Williams is fabulous here.  Did you know that he got his start singing backup in a night club act for Kay Thompson of Eloise at the Plaza fame?  Yes, he did, which attests to his vocal creds, given that Miss Thompson coached some of the best singers of her day, including Judy Garland and Lena Horne.  His rendition of Miss T's "Jingle Bells" arrangement is a knockout.

Now, I know I'm pushing it here with this one, but I play this recording at least a couple of times every Christmas season.  And that's because Miss Doris Day is at her absolute whipped-creamiest on this, her Christmas Album.  But be forewarned: in order to avoid an onset of hyperglycemia do not attempt to listen to this album CD while consuming anything sweet, such as cocoa or cookies.

Moving on from the popular classics and into traditional Christmas music, the first on my list is Pops Christmas Party by the Boston Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Arthur Fiedler.  In addition to orchestrations of holiday standards, it includes beloved music from The Nutcracker and the Pops' iconic rendition of "Sleigh Ride."  What's not to love?

She may have multiple personality disorders, but Miss Kathleen Battle has the voice of an angel from Heaven, and on A Christmas Celebration she sings traditional carols with stunning lyric beauty.  The first time I heard her rendition of "I Wonder as I Wander" it stopped me in my tracks.

Moving on to England and back in time more than a century, A Victorian Christmas is a collection of traditional English carols and music from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Many of the works on this disc are from Sir John Stainer's Carols New and Old, first published in London in 1871.  This is the perfect album CD to play while opening presents on Christmas morning.

Closing out my Christmas-music favorites is a recent recording that I received for supporting the local public radio station I listen to in the country.  A Christmas Festival features the Cambridge Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, accompanied by the organ of the Royal Albert Hall, under the direction of John Rutter.  It is full of traditional English carols, hymns, and music, and is perfect to play on a wintry December afternoon spent wrapping presents.  It's also a good warm-up for the annual Christmas Eve radio broadcast of "The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" service held at King's College, Cambridge, that Reggie makes sure he listens to every year.

So, here you have Reggie's favorite Christmas recordings, and the ones that you would be sure to hear should you find yourself at Darlington House between now and Boxing Day.  I encourage you to add any of these albums CDs recordings downloads to your own collection of Christmas music, as I think you, too, will enjoy listening to them.

Tell me, what are some of your Christmas music favorites?

Photograph of boy choristers courtesy of Getty Images; all album CD covers scanned by Reggie Darling

The L.L. Bean Boat and Tote Bandwagon

Reggie, like many of his readers, is a great fan of the iconic L.L. Bean Boat and Tote Bag and considers them to be indispensible in his day-to-day life.  Originally introduced by the company in 1944 as "Bean's Ice Carrier," they have been in production ever since, and are today widely used for purposes well beyond carrying blocks of ice.  Reggie first remembers seeing them in the early 1960s as a young boy, for Reggie's mother, known as Mummy Darling (or "MD"), was a great fan of the bags, and there were many of them in our household when I was growing up.  In fact, I can't remember a time in my life when there weren't at least several L.L. Bean Boat and Tote bags knocking around.  MD loved the bags for their sturdy good looks, easy practicality, and good value--attributes that continue to recommend them highly to this day.

Photo by Boy Fenwick

The first Boat and Tote bags I remember were made entirely of colorless canvas, with the handles and the body made from the same plain white material.  Later, contrasting handles and bottoms of nautical red or blue appeared.  Over time, as the bags gained popularity, additional color options were added, and today the colors available to purchasers of these bags are virtually limitless, particularly when taking advantage of L.L. Bean's custom color palette choices.

At Darlington we have quite a few Boat and Totes, and we use them all the time.  Many of our bags have "Darlington" embroidered on them, as we use them to transport flotsam and jetsum between our city apartment, where we live during the week, and Darlington.  When we are in the city we keep one or two bags open and at the ready for receiving stuff, such as clothing and books, to take to the country, and we do the same in the country for the reverse trip.  In addition, we keep a bag in each of our automobiles embroidered with "Car" to hold things like bungee cords and reflectors, and Pompey has several bags for his belongings embroidered with his name, too.

We don't just use Boat and Tote bags at home, either.  I use one embroidered with my initials to lug documents back and forth to my office (just as I did for books in school), and Boy uses and supplies his staff with Boat and Tote bags embroidered with his decorating firm's name and logo, ordered from L.L. Bean's direct-to-business arm.

Since Boat and Tote bags are virtually indestructible, we are reluctant to let go of ours when they become worn.  And so we use our older bags for purposes that don't require them to be in pristine condition.  Once we cycle a bag out of the clothing and personal effects transport phase of its life we use it for groceries and other shopping expeditions, and our oldest bags--worn ones that still remain sturdy--are used to transport things like tools, or for storage.

As far as I am concerned, there's no other place to buy these bags than from L.L. Bean.  Why buy them from imitators when the "real thing" is readily available from the original purveyor at an attractive price?  Just as I don't buy fake Gucci loafers or Belgian shoes, I don't buy Boat and Totes made by any other supplier than L.L. Bean.  And I think you shouldn't, either.

The Belgians Bandwagon

Reggie is one of the legions of bloggers who is a devotee of Belgian Shoes.  These iconic, soft-soled slippers, known as Belgians, have a long-time, cult-like following among the Social Register set and fashion cognoscenti, and more recently among certain lifestyle bloggers.  They are available in this country today only from the carriage-trade Belgian Shoes store on East 55th Street in Manhattan, and also from the company online.

The "Mr. Casual" in brown calfskin, a personal favorite

The store isn't all that much to look at, as it sits in a nondescript building on a side street, and is very plainly decorated, if one could call it decorated at all.  But what treasures are to be found inside of it!

The store on 55th Street, just east of Park Avenue

Belgian Shoes was founded in the 1950s by Henry Bendell, a nephew of the founder of the Henri Bendel store in New York (and who was, himself, once president of that fabled retailer), and their shoes are still hand-sewn to this day in the country from which they've taken their name.

A catalogue from years gone by

(note colorful options for women)

The store is open only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays.  They do minimal advertising, only in The Wall Street Journal and Quest Magazine, and the shoes are mostly sold by "word of mouth" to repeat customers and those introduced by same.  Not surprisingly, they are rather expensive.

Belgians have been the subject of countless blogosphere postings, including a recent one by Admiral Cod.  While it's not that I've got much to add to the volumes of what has already been written about these addictive slippers, I do feel compelled to write about them here because, well, Reggie believes he is the one who really discovered Belgians in the first place . . .

. . . at least among a group of friends he once had, but doesn't run with anymore.

In addition to plain leathers, Belgians come in exotic hides and fanciful prints

(not for the faint at heart)

But long before that, I first learned about Belgians shortly after moving to New York after college, thirty years ago.  That is when I met and befriended a high-tone decorator named Harry who I am no longer friends with for reasons that are known to him but remain a mystery to me to this day.  I guess I did or said something off-putting, but Heaven knows I don't recall whatever it was.  Ah well, life goes on.

One can also have one's crest applied to one's velvet or patent leather Belgians

Anyway, Harry wore Belgians almost all the time, as certain swell-New-York-lifelong-bachelor-decorator types are known to do, and insisted that I make a pilgrimage to their store on (then) East 56th Street and buy myself a pair or two.  Being an open-minded chap I took his advice and did so.  I've been a devotee ever since.  In fact, I'm wearing a pair as I write this post that you are now reading, Dear Reader.

One time Harry and I were out on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where we were, admittedly, doing a bit of slumming.  We had gone out to a boozy dinner at the then white-hot fashionable Bowery Bar, and were standing on a street corner afterwards, discussing what to do next.  As we stood there, up towards us came a stumblebum, hand outstretched, begging for change.   As I reached into my pocket, Harry leaned over to me and said, sotto vocce, "The shoes, check out the shoes!" and motioned with his head toward the feet of the supplicant in front of us.  I looked down at the fellow's feet, and saw, much to my surprise, that he was wearing what appeared to be a brand-new pair of Belgians.  The incongruity of this was, to put it mildly, astonishing.  "Where did you get those shoes?"  I asked the bum.  He responded, "Do you like them?" "Why, yes I do like them,"  I said, "but tell me, do you know what those shoes are?"  I asked.  "They're comfortable, that's what they are," he said.  I responded, "Yes, I'm sure of that, as I have the same ones.  But those are expensive shoes, and not usually seen in this part of town.  Where did you get them?"  He said, "I got 'em at the Mission.  They've got lots of good stuff there they give away, for free.  You should check it out, you might find something you like there, too!"   Harry and I roared with laughter at this, and I said, "I'm sure that you are right, my good man, given what's on your feet."  I then handed him a dollar, and off he wandered into the night, wearing his Belgian Shoes.

The Belgians ad in the May Quest Magazine

Several years later I took a share in a beach house in Fire Island Pines and fell in with a fast party-boy set that found my choice of footwear to be almost as amusing as Harry and I had found what the Bowery bum had on his feet that night.  At the time, the prevailing shoes of choice in the Pines were decidedly more plebeian in origin than my favorite slipper.  During the better part of the decade I spent going to the Pines I don't recall ever seeing a person there, other than myself, wearing Belgians.  Admittedly, Reggie was a bit of a fish out of water in that particular community on Fire Island.  For, on the other hand, when he visited friends in East Hampton it was, at times, difficult to find someone who wasn't wearing Belgians.

Reggie in his Belgians-wearing Fire Island days

But it was not until Boy and I bought Darlington House that my fondness for Belgians truly became an addiction.  As my readers know, Darlington is an old house and in the country, and for much of our occupancy has been a drafty and sometimes chilly place to hang one's hat, at least when the weather turns cool.  Under those circumstances, having a comfortable house shoe to slip in to when coming in from a sometimes wet, muddy, or snowy outside is advisable.  That such a shoe should have a soft sole is desirable, too, when many of the floors in said house are wood.   And that's where the genius of Belgians comes in.  Easy to slip in to and out of, they are supremely comfortable to wear, and their soft soles are perfect for silently traipsing through Darlington's rooms.

Part of the pleasure of wearing Belgians, aside from their comfort, is that they have tone: one doesn't often see them off of the UES/Greenwich/Hamptons/Palm Beach/Hobe Sound axes.  Of course there are other, more off-this-beaten path enclaves that one occasionally encounters a Belgians-wearing fellow traveler, such as Far Hills, Lake Forest, Grosse Pointe, Wayzata, Hillsborough, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, River Oaks, Highland Park, Mountain Brook, Buckhead, Charleston, Middleburg, Chevy Chase, Gladwyne, New Canaan, West Hartford, and Brookline . . . just to name a few.

One each of our Darlington Belgians

Boy and I have, between the two of us, eight pairs of Belgians that we keep at Darlington, in assorted colors and leathers.  We wear the soft-soled "Mr. Casual" model, the only one worth owning as far as I'm concerned.  We each have several more pairs in our city apartment, too.  Boy also keeps a pair of Belgians (which he calls "Belgiques") in his office that he brings with him to wear in clients' recently installed houses or apartments, where the occupants often initially go shoeless or wear slippers to protect their new (and rather expensive) polished floors and handmade carpets.

I don't usually wear my Belgians when out and about, as I consider them to be primarily a house shoe.  I rarely wear them when leaving Darlington's property, and almost never out in the city.  I will admit to occasionally wearing mine when making a quick trip to the corner for a carton of milk, or when taking Pompey out for a discrete morning constitutional, and I sometimes change into them for a long plane ride.  However, that's about the extent of my public wearing of Belgians.  While I think women can look marvelous wearing them when out and about (and the color combinations available to women are extraordinary), I generally think most men look a bit, well, fey when doing so.

But I can't imagine life without them.

Tell me, where do you wear your Belgians?

Belgian Shoes
110 East 55th Street
New York, New York 10022-4540
(212) 755-7372
http://www.belgianshoes.com/

All photos, except of Reggie, by Boy Fenwick; photo of Reggie by Hazel Hazaga

Reggie's Five Favorites: Cookware

The is the inaugural posting in my "Reggie's Five Favorites" series in which I share with you from time to time, Gentle Reader, selections of what I consider to be my top favorites in a particular category. As outlined in the December 12th posting in which I introduced the series, these favorites will be culled from the many and far-ranging categories that I think will be of some interest to those who read this blog.  Categories covered may include such things as books, ceramics, hats, films, household objects, tools, music, and more . . .

Today's posting focuses on cookware used on the stove-top or in the oven.  I thought this would be a good place to start at this time of year when many of us are particularly focused on the pleasures of hearth and home. Boy and I both enjoy cooking, particularly when we are at Darlington, and one of the pleasures we take in it is having a well-considered collection of good quality pots and pans. Over the years we’ve assembled a core group of cookware where the common theme is utility, heft, good design, performance, and pleasure of use.

Here are Reggie's Five Favorites:

1. All-Clad Stainless
At the top of my list is our collection of stainless steel pots, pans, and roasters manufactured by All-Clad Metalcrafters. I love them because they are versatile, durable, attractive, and a snap to clean.

2. Le Crueset Dutch Ovens
The grand-daddy of enameled cast-iron dutch ovens or casseroles, we have one in almost every size, all in the iconic “Flame” orange enamel--the only color worth having as far as I’m concerned. These are perfect for making stews and soups, and for braising.

3. Cast-Iron Skillets
Often relegated to the back of the cupboard in today’s kitchens, if even there. I have cast-iron skillets, in several sizes, that I regularly use when high-heat searing or frying is called for. They are easily picked up at tag sales and junk shops.  The trick to prevent rusting is to season and maintain them with a light wipe of vegetable oil after each use.

4. Antique Copper Pots
Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they are a marvelous conductor of heat as well. Despite the infrequent bother of having them re-tinned when needed, the joys of owning and using antique copper pots far surpasses the modest maintenance they require.

5. Old-fashioned Lobster Pot
Found in the kitchen of every seaside cottage, these inexpensive spatter-enameled 4-6 gallon warhorses are a joy to boil up a mess of lobsters on a summer’s afternoon.

So, now that you know what my favorites are, what are yours?

All photos by Boy Fenwick