"The Music of Food" for VIE August 2022

Read “The Music of Food” by Suzanne Pollak in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

'Conquering Fear' by Autumn Phillips for VIE June 2022

Read ‘Conquering Fear’ by Autumn Phillips as told to Suzanne Pollak for the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE.

'Learn to Live in Wellness' for VIE March 2022

“Now that people are beginning to invite others inside again, our wellness centers can make them feel cared for, but it starts with ourselves. We do this by letting our true spirits reign. Design is as vital the health of a house as food and drink. People choose paintings for their walls, pieces of music that lift them during their day-to-day activities, or soft lighting and candlelight to change moods.

“How you arrange your personal habitat is a window into why you truly are. Your passions, hobbies, and idiosyncrasies become apparent. The private you becomes known. Houses done by an interior designer and left exactly that way may have less of your spirit roaming around. People fall in love with individuals, not a perfectly done look that is so in style now. People fall in love with quirky individualism and personal expression. When you are reflected in your house, it’s the beginning of finding wellness through the freedom of expressing your authentic self.”

Read more in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

Thanks J. McLaughlin!

“All year ‘round, there’s always something simmering in a yellow Le Creuset pan on Barbara’s range. She and her daughter Madeline are taking virtual cooking classes with Suzanne Pollak at the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits. Barbara also finds inspiration in Melissa Clark’s From the Pantry in The New York Times. And, now that the holidays are just around the corner, she’s making her signature Meyer lemon marmalade with fruit from her own trees.”

Thanks to J. McLaughlin for the mention in the latest blog post & newsletter! We love having Barbara and Madeline in class and hope YOU will join us this Holiday season too…

'A Few of my Favorite Things' for VIE August 2021

Suzanne’s past collection of very rare ‘tea cultivation’ dishes from the Qianlong period c. 1750. (Credit: Christie’s catalogue.)

“Whether we have the brio of an heiress or the confidence of a young boy with pocket money, we can find objects we want to live with at any age. I began collecting as a child in Africa by peeling stamps off letters. A generation later, one of my sons was an aspiring collector in middle school; first Matchbox cars, then on to belt buckles, paid for by his weekend job at a car repair shop. His experience mirrored other collectors who desired to find the choicest objects and discard others as inferior or not up to snuff once he learned more. He faced another common collector dilemma when his belt buckle collection expanded in number: where do I store or display all the items? Yet another problem surfaced because of this particular collection; the size of the buckles themselves expanded, with some as large as salad plates! His imagined future growth must have played a role — a preteen wondering if he would ever be big enough to wear such belt buckles!”

Read more about building and displaying your own personal collection of treasures in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

"Open Up and Connect" for Lux Lifestyle Magazine

Credit: Mark Staff Photography

“Going from formal to informal is a breeze for Pollak who once owned 300 place settings. I pressed for more of her secrets to outdoor entertaining with pizazz. Below are some of the helpful hints I gleaned during our talk:

• Be short and sweet. Just one hour can be a lovely drop-in with cocktails and small plates.

• Help your guests feel you hospitality outside; if you are hosting by a fire pit, place cozy blankets or shawls on the seats.

• Fire in any form creates a sense of warmth, a phenomenon since the prehistoric times. Use it! A fire pit, fire ring, etc., in the Spring, when weather might not be so welcoming outside, will light the night.”

Read the rest of of “Open Up and Connect: Fresh Air Entertaining Tips with Suzanne Pollak” in the latest issue of East Coast LUX Lifestyle Magazine (pages 80-84) HERE!

"Dream Honeymoons" for New Orleans Bride

“When you return home from the Academy of Domestic Pursuit’s enjoyable cooking course, you remember how Dean Suzanne Pollak didn’t only teach you to prepare Planter’s Punch, pimento cheese, plump shrimp and grits and a peach dessert. She also gave you some advice. ‘P is for playfulness,’ she’d said, as you worked in her kitchen. ‘Remember: always keep playfulness in your marriage. That’s the key.’”

Read more about how a class with the Dean can spice up your honeymoon in Charleston SC, via New Orleans Bride HERE! Special thanks to Becca Hensley, Travel + Lifestyle Writer, for the article…

Winter Week Four

The past week featured our three guest teachers from very different backgrounds sharing dozens of insider secrets and tips from their cultures:

• Youmna taught us how to make her mother-in-law's Morrocan Hrira. Youmna's trick with saffron, to get the most aromatics out of these pricey golden-orange threads? Rub them between your palms to release maximum perfume before putting into the recipe. Do as the Moroccans and serve something sweet like dates with this soup.

• Celeste learned how to make Party Pickles from the best teachers of all, her six grandparents. Celeste's healthy tip? Replace chips with crisp pickled cucumbers.

• Victoria says that in Spain, if something is cooked in a paella pan then it is paella. Paella is usually served for Sunday lunch. Fish stock cooks for 20 minutes; to make it golden, leave the onion skins in broth and add saffron.

Yet more accolades from the Academy's fabulous students:

• It was a pleasure seeing you again today! I just love your classes and the fact that I have two new recipes to serve. I look forward to taking more classes with you.

• Thanks Suzanne! Celeste was a great teacher. The pickles are delicious. It was a lot of fun.

• Paella is easy if you prep. and have Victoria de la Maza and the Charleston Academy as your teachers!

• Such fun to do this on a cold wintery day with a fire going in the kitchen too!

• That was so much fun! Always good to see new and familiar faces.

(It might be time to start an Alumni Association…)

Don’t skip class during the last two weeks of school! We still have plenty of lessons to learn. Have you ever wondered about the art of napkin folding, how to make the best New England chowder or a magical tagine? Satisfy those three wonderings next week — find more details & registration links HERE.

First Week of Winter 2021

THANKS to local food editor Hanna Raskin for her report on cooking cassoulet with Suzanne (via Post & Courier).

Here’s what students are saying about Winter 2021 classes so far:

• “My first week was outstanding. I really enjoyed it because the one hour gave me a soothing distraction from Covid and confidence that we will return to being able to celebrate lovely dinners with friends and family. Your enthusiasm is contagious.”

• “I really am excited! Your enthusiasm is contagious! I have been following you for years and love the book.”

• “The cassoulet was a big hit! So much fun to cook and serve...my friends were impressed!”

Plus, a few useful tips covered this week:

• STOCKS - Save all roasted and raw bones to make stock. Stocks can be made easily from bones, a few carrots and onions, water (or previously made stock for a double stock) in a 225-degree oven overnight, for eight hours. Your house will smell divine.

• TABLE SETTINGS - Thinking about buying a set of dining room chairs? If you want to spend less money, find a variety of chairs and then paint them the same color! Chic! Victoria de la Maza's pet peeve: sharp corners on a dining room table. Use padding, then a tablecloth. Everything sits better, looks smoother and more comfortable.

• CASSOULET - Slow cooking transforms food. This stew of beans, pork, lamb and duck or goose is a masterpieces of many generations, but not overwhelming to prepare. One step at a time!

NEXT UP…

• French Onion Soup on Tuesday @ 10:00 EST

• How to Seat a Table on Wednesday @ 2:00 EST

• Extraordinary Gumbo on Thursday @ 2:00 EST

Secure your spot by registering HERE.

"Our Many Selves" for VIE December

Photography by Mark Staff.

“The portrait is an exchange between photographer and subject; for a multiplicity portrait, it’s also a dialogue with the subject and herself. Mark captured my domestic life. For twenty years, my business was caring for and feeding a family. The kitchen served as the engine of our house, creating a firm foundation for those connected to me (and even cha-ching-ing change while I briefly ran an illegal bakery). These pursuits allowed me to rule the roost with calm instead of chaos, to squeeze all the potential out of one room. Cooking was my way to mother and mentor, instill manners, awaken culture, and learn history, music, and cuisine. Providing proper nourishment ensured that each child might reach their potential one day because they were fully fed and loved as they grew up. The room gave its all, and so did I!”

Read more about seeing your selves in a new light via a great portrait, in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

'Generosity Never Sleeps' for VIE November

Remember sharing?

“Imagine if we learned about the power of cultivating generosity? The changes that happen in our brain’s wiring—to the way we think, act, and perhaps design our lives—are astounding once we begin a practice. Generosity is a subject in which we can become more proficient. It may start with self-centeredness, but our capacity grows as we move away from that center towards other more genuine motivations. The movement to selflessness often involves a gradual maturation. It takes time, and we all must begin exactly where we happen to find ourselves at the time.”

Read more about generosity, and how to create a practice of your own, in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE…

'The Ten Commandments of Quarantine' for October VIE

If the Addams can do it then so can you!

“During the past six months, cooking and dining may be the only good times to step away from doing your day job at home, hovering over your computer or trying to manage your child’s education. Spending an extended period of time together around a table nurtures family relationships and establishes a foundation for lifelong intimacy. The three key words are SIT, TABLE, TOGETHER…as opposed to individuals spread out in different rooms, eating in front of their screens, hiding out in their bedrooms. You must eat together. Period.

As much as we may crave ditching dinner and escaping to a restaurant, today is a different world. Taking a break from screens, meetings, and homework, getting in the kitchen and preparing food means we eat together. Nightly meals are the time for face-to-face human connection now more than ever, even if it’s only with those we see all day long, love the most, and get annoyed with the quickest. Mouths need to be fed! We have a tremendous chance to make little adjustments and strengthen family times by knitting our family together, one dinner at a time….”

Read about the other nine Commandments of Quarantine in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE.

'The Greatest Gifts' for May VIE

“Our brains tend to run wild with stories all the time, even more so after a cancer diagnosis. The [first] surprise gift from the unknown sender was titled A Year to Live by Stephen Levine. Receiving the book out of the blue, between the time of the biopsy and the doctor’s calling to report on the result, served as a sharp wake-up call. Who sent this? Who cares? I considered the gift in the context of fantasy, my brain fuzzy with unwanted, unexpected news. Could this be a gift mystically organized by my deceased father and cousin’s spirits? Were they trying to tell me: ‘Pay attention! It’s time for you to do the things that matter to you, things we did not have time to do before our deaths from cancer’?”

Read more about three of the greatest gifts (all surprising in their own way) received by the Dean, when she needed them most, in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE.

'Be Well' for February VIE

“Self Care is ‘the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.’ But this requires us to develop a specific intelligence.

It means listening to your body and letting it guide you, going granular on how you view your emotions, paying careful attention to how you are feeling, asking if you need to take care of yourself, and knowing what that means at that moment. As scientists learn more about the balance between the body and the brain, they have discovered that the mind often acts like an unruly toddler and does not listen. The brain responds to signals from the body, but who among us is trained to pay attention to those signals? Only professional athletes, and even they usually have a team of care specialists working behind the scenes. The brain can easily misinterpret or overrule what the body is saying.

When you realize new patterns have come to life, listening means using this information. Do not ignore what your gut is telling you. When you follow your body’s signals, you develop fluid intelligence. Listen to your body, and then instruct your brain: ‘Hey, it’s OK. We’ve got this! You don’t need to worry; we are safe — so chill out.’”

Learn more about the true meaning of Wellness, and how to implement it, in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE…

"An Authentic Voice" for July VIE

“Corene” by Jonathan Green (1995)

“What makes very young people able to turn passions into a living, marrying their gifts with the discipline to create their life’s work? How can they know so early, possessing the confidence and necessary focus to keep them on their path? I dreamed of being a painter but derailed in college, distracted by thoughts like, If I am not Picasso, is it worth it? If my work is not going to hang in the Met, what does that say about me? In I am not ‘in,’ then can I still keep going forward and not give a damn what anybody thinks?

Jonathan Green knew in his very being the irrelevant nonsense of those distractions, which don’t mean a thing at the beginning of a career — or maybe ever. That’s why I love him. He actively chose to master one field (actually three: painting, fashion design, and the social graces) instead of being a jack-of-all-trades.”

Read more about Charleston-based painter Jonathan Green in Suzanne’s latest article for VIE Magazine HERE…

Charleston Academy in Cosmopolitan

“And remember: In a sea of square-shaped biscuits, always make a heart-shaped one.” -T.A.

In her article “This Instagrammable Hotel Will Make You Forget Literally All Your Responsibilities,” Taylor Andrews writes about “errrything you have to do when you stay at The Beach Club, no matter what time of year you go….”

And guess what #7 on her list happens to be? “Learn how to throw a Southern Dinner Party. [The Dean] taught us how to throw a proper dinner party that included creating the perfect fluffy biscuit and shrimp and grits, but you can organize any sort of etiquette or cooking event with her if you’re interested in a different kind of Saturday-night rendezvous.”

We loved having Ms. Andrews visit while in town. Read her complete list via Cosmopolitan HERE!

Etiquette for Sophisticates, VIE January 2019

We’ve been over the basic rules of etiquette before — but in case you need a little refresher, turn to the pages of VIE Magazine (January 2019), where the Dean covers everything from Common Sense to Cell Phones.

Most of all, she identifies the only rule that really matters. Any guesses? Read the full article HERE!

"Setting New Traditions" for November issue of VIE

Rita Hayworth carves the bird.

Expecting a crowd? Extended family or perhaps friends for a long Thanksgiving weekend? This may be the season to take the torch from those who have gone before you, to branch out and begin traditions of your very own. In case you are looking for a few great ideas on how to implement your personal style — from frying turkeys to divy-ing up dish duty, plus what to serve beyond the feast — (or if you just need a pep talk…)

Find the Dean’s latest piece for VIE Magazine HERE on their site!