Tomato & Fennel Soup Simmering on My Stove
First off, I stole this idea and recipe... it was brutally cold on Sunday here in Dallas and tomato and fennel soup with grilled gouda sandwiches sounded wonderful and easy.
Here's how mine turned out:
The recipe calls for the soup to be pureed in small batches in a food processor. But if you have one of these handheld gadgets by Cuisinart, you can do it right in the pot. No heavy lifting of hot pots or the slowdown of doing it in batches. The gadget was invented by a chef and I can see why.
I love grilled sandwiches of any kind. I used rustic, whole wheat flour bread and gouda. It's the ground red pepper, garlic and Dijon mustard that make this sandwich more sophisticated than a plain old grilled cheese.
The recipe called for four sandwiches, which I stupidly cut back to two. Then I had to share one. I could have made six and not shared any of them, they were that good.
I love setting beautiful tables. While I have various kinds of china, I always end up using the most simple white, because food looks its best on white. Any chef will tell you that. The shallow soup bowls are Royal Doulton bone china, but the big porcelain chargers under neath are from World Market. Last I was there they still had them. My porcelain soup tureen is vintage, probably from the 80s or 90s, and the ladle is a fantastic 19th century Ironstone faux bois piece I got on eBay. It's one of my favorite things ever.
Something I would have done differently to the original soup recipe would be to add more salt. And, I would not have bought my fennel bulb from Kroger. They only had two, and both were small and sort of lacking in gusto. It was so cold out I didn't want to make two trips -- one to Kroger to get affordable ingredients such as butter and canned tomatoes -- and then another to Central Market or Whole Foods get specialty items such as fennel, which ended up not having as good a flavor as it should have. So my advice is to get your fennel from the best source possible so that the tomato and herbs don't completely overwhelm the fennel.
Oh, also I would have substituted the water for chicken stock. I had some in the freezer and why I didn't use it I'll never know. Chicken stock (not bullion) makes everything taste better.
The recipe shows the soup garnished with rosemary, but it seems to make sense to use the fennel fronds as garnish which I've done here. I think next time I won't garnish it with so much fennel either. Jut a light dollop in the center.
The recipe makes enough soup to have some left over. I had some two days later and it was even better. Somehow the herbs and fennel had a chance infuse with time and the flavor was just the best.
The recipe called for four sandwiches, which I stupidly cut back to two. Then I had to share one. I could have made six and not shared any of them, they were that good. 
The recipe shows the soup garnished with rosemary, but it seems to make sense to use the fennel fronds as garnish which I've done here. I think next time I won't garnish it with so much fennel either. Jut a light dollop in the center. 
These upholstered chairs are from Lisa Luby Ryan's Vintage Living. I think a trellis pattern seems particularly appropriate for a backyard studio. This particular pattern is from Hickory Chair. 
...an inherited silver candlestick was made a little more modern by setting it atop a glass pedestal, similar to this one at Wisteria. The beautiful embroidered vintage linen belonged to her mother.
Inside Michelle's office. I love this beautiful blue-gray rug with the glass top desk from Ikea. Michelle has used several of these glass top tables throughout the studio, which she says are perfect for spreading out samples for clients. I really love the watery blue color of the glass.
The desks are all from Ikea, and the white office chairs are Eames. The fantastic bubble glass table lamp is hand blown by Aaron Tate, and designed by Catherine Miller Accents. Click on the photo to see details.
From left to right, Michelle Meredith; Brittany Taylor, an assistant junior designer; and Lacey Carter, a design intern.
See that pretty wallpaper behind Lacey? It's all hand printed by Carolyn Ray.
It's a mermaid pattern! The artist came to the studio and painted two accent walls where Lacey and Brittany work (lucky girls!).
Michelle designed a pair of iron book cases to hold woven project baskets. Each project has its own basket (baskets are from Ikea). 
On the opposite side of the room, through these seeded glass pocket doors lies the garage, which functions also as a sample room. It's where Michelle parks her Porsche every night. Go here if you want to read a good story by Christopher Wynn at FD Luxe (complete with photo of Porsche in garage).
A tool closet converted into a space for textile samples and drawers full of beautiful pieces of glass tile, flooring, and various other examples of finishes. 
...Murano fixture in the powder bath. I always love to see what unexpected lighting designers hang in powder rooms.
...a charming visitor who came in out of the cold to warm himself near the window. This chameleon couldn't have picked a more elegant piece of vintage linen to rest on. To my delight, I was designated to scoop him up and put him out, after he caused a mild panic in the room. Michelle noted that he had already begun to change to the lovely taupe color of the embroidery (leave it to a designer to take note of a detail like that!) and once we put him in the backyard landscaping, he began to change to a shade of green...
....white peonies are my absolute favorite. And she found them in the middle of winter!
