Back From Italy
Great to be back to Arizona! Love all the rain and enjoyed a
wonderful morning hike this morning.
We had an amazing Candelaria Design Tour Italy – our 15th
Italy Tour and our 17th Tour overall. Starting our trip in Florence
we spent two amazing evenings in this Renaissance masterpiece. We then made our
way to our farmhouse compound in Umbria where we spent the week exploring both
Umbria and Tuscany! From there our base trip finished in Venice. Then a few of
us went on to Lake Como and the Villa d’Este where we celebrated Isabel and my
wedding with a small ceremony. Overall, one of our best tours ever and always
nice to leave Phoenix when its 107º and come back to October and the 60’s!
Our Italy Tour next year will feature Florence, Umbria,
Tuscany, and the northern Italian region around Treviso. That tour begins
September 11th through the 25th http://www.candelariadesign.com/blog-content/2008/09/italy-trip-day-1.html?rq=trevino
. Our Spain Tour will begin on May 29th through June 11th
and will feature Barcelona, Granada, and finish in San Sebastian. Both tours
are filling fast so get on board quickly! 
Tomorrow tune into ABC 15 and Sonoran Living at 9am as I
will be speaking about the hot trends in Kitchen remodels. LIKE our Candelaria
Design Facebook Page and post a picture of your kitchen and we will select one
kitchen for a design consultation! This will be my second appearance and I’m
excited to be featured once again.
Lot’s of great projects on the boards and under construction
right now and my first week back from Italy was busy! A special thanks to my
team while I was away! We are cranking on so many great projects and have a
busy Fall coming our way. My partner, Meredith Thomson, AIA is off to Cincinnati,
Ohio this evening for the American Institute of Architect Custom Residential
Architects Network AIA CRANS https://www.aiacincinnati.org/cran/
and Principal, Vivian Ayala will be off next weekend to the BOND Custom Forum
for America’s Leading Custom Home Architects http://www.bondevents.com/en/2018/07/20/introducing-the-bond-custom-100/
. We are proud to be ranked Number 14 in the entire country for 2018. Both will
come back with a lot of info from these events on the trends in custom home design!
Of course, one of my favorite things to do besides designing
and architecture is cooking. We got busy in the kitchen this week for sure.
Sunday night, I whipped up a wonderful grilled swordfish – see the recipe
below. Then Monday I welcomed my project
team from one of our Paradise Valley projects who had flown in from across the
country come over for dinner at Casa Candelaria. Nothing like Hatch Red Chile
short-ribs over homemade pasta. No pressure cooking for likely the top
cabinetmaker in the world and probably the person who has designed and
installed some of the most beautiful kitchens anywhere, Christopher Peacock. Fun
evening for sure! http://peacockhome.com/home
Then Friday night we fulfilled our silent auction donation
for a Paella dinner for 8 for Gigi’s Playhouse https://gigisplayhouse.org/phoenix/
. Tons of fun and so fulfilling to donate this dinner for one of our favorite
charities.
Then last night I got back to my Traegers and smoked some
ribs and roasted a chicken over a cast iron skillet of golden potatoes for Mom
and Dad and a few close friends. Add a grilled artichoke and some of our wine
from Italy and you have the makings of a wonderful evening.
I’d like to make a couple call outs of new books available
written by two of my good friends. The first is Glam Italia! How to travel Italy: Secrets to Glamorous Travel by
Corinna Cooke https://www.amazon.com/Glam-Italia-How-travel-Italy-ebook/dp/B07FN7R8K5/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1538956015&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=glam+italia&psc=1.
Corinna runs her own Glam Tour and I love her passion for Italy! Dinner is
long overdue my friend. 
The second is Chopping
Wood by my good friend, Jim Steg! Love your zest fir simply going for it –
relentless!!! https://www.amazon.com/Chopping-Wood-School-Mentality-World/dp/1719888353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538956122&sr=8-1&keywords=chopping+wood+jim+steg
You definitely want to pick up both of these books.
Then the book we are featured in by Patricia Hart McMillan, Christmas by Design – Private Homes
decorated by leading designers is coming out soon in time for the Holidays!
We have three Candelaria Design homes featured so get your copy now as the
perfect gift for the Holidays. https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Design-Private-Decorated-Designers/dp/0764356542/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538956227&sr=8-1&keywords=christmas+by+design+private+homes+decorated+by+leading+designers
Finally, our Candelaria Family continues to grow, as our
long-time associate, Tim Mathewson and his wife Amber gave birth to their new
son Maverick Woods Mathewson! We wish them both endless happiness and love with
their new family!
Grilled Swordfish
This is a real easy way to enjoy a swordfish steak. I picked
up a nice swordfish filet from AJ’s. Let it come to room temperature and then
brush it with olive oil and I squeezed a little lemon over the top then
sprinkle a little paprika on both sides and set it on a hot grill pan that you
pre-brushed with olive oil. Just leave this on the pan for about 5 min and flip
and get the grill marks on the other side – again about 5 min or just enough
time to get the grill marks as the fish will finish in the sauce.
Then for the sauce, I get a non-stick skillet and add a
couple tablespoons of butter and melt that over medium heat. I halve as many
cherry tomatoes – I like the multicolored tomatoes – and add those to the
melted butter along with a couple tablespoons of capers, three or four chopped
cloves of garlic and one diced shallot. Then as that starts to cook I squeeze
the juice of one lemon and about a cup of white wine. Let that all cook down
and as it cooks and your swordfish gets its grill marks add the swordfish to
the tomato sauce and bath the swordfish in the wine and tomato sauce until the
tomatoes are softened and the swordfish is cooked through. Add chopped thyme,
basil, salt and pepper along the way and serve with the tomato / caper sauce
spooned over the swordfish and garnish with fresh cut Italian parsley. Pour a
glass of Pinot Grigio and add a baked potato with butter, sour cream and chives
and enjoy!
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