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The Scottsdale architectural firm of Candelaria Design Associates is one of the premier luxury residential architecture firms in the country. Enjoy our blog which features our work, our travel, our recipes, wines, tips on design and decorating, and the lives of our clients and employees, etc.....its all the ingredients for the Candelaria Design Lifestyle. Contact Candelaria Design to start your dream residence 602-604-2001!

October 2011 Blog - MRA Custom Home Events


Candelaria Design Blog
October 2011

Welcome to October!!! I think we all breathe a sign of relief from the long summer when the calendar flips to October. It’s my favorite month of the year – cooler weather for sure, fall, football, World Series, and winter visitors falling in love with Arizona!

Thank you for your readership of our Candelaria Design Lifestyle blog. Over 12,000 readers thus far with over 1050 viewers last month.  So thank you for checking in and we will do our best to add some great material in the months ahead.
MRA Morning Glory Estate Lot 2

This month we have two wonderful events coming up – both having to do with our client MRA Custom Homes  http://www.mrahomes.com/ . Construction is nearing completion on these two $10 million homes we have recently designed for MRA on their beautiful subdivision located on Morning Glory just north of Mockingbird in Paradise Valley. On October 16th we are proud to have these two homes included on the AIA Phoenix Metro Home Tour http://aia-phoenixmetro.org/architecture-month/home-tour-2011/. The tour is a self guided tour and will feature several homes of all different styles throughout the Valley and runs from 10am – 5pm and costs only $25.00 and benefits the American Institute of Architects.
MRA Morning Glory Estate Lot 3

The second event includes an exclusive invite only party at the homes on the evening of October 21st followed by an open-to-the-public Open House weekend on October 22nd and 23rd from 12 noon to 5 pm.
MRA Morning Glory Lot 2 Kitchen

My relationship with MRA started in 1999 when they approached me while I was still at CCBG Architects to design their new spec home on Desert Fairways Drive in Paradise Valley. When I decided to start Candelaria Design later that year, they chose to follow me and were one of my first clients. We both fondly reminisce many times of our first meetings at my dining table in my condo and working out the design details all by hand on my drafting table. The home we designed with them drew wonderful attention for both of our companies and profitably sold allowing them to have Candelaria Design create two more homes followed by three more homes, and now these two homes all over a course of the last 12 years. Both of our companies have a great respect for each other and a commitment to quality and creativity in design and construction that clearly shows in these homes.
Aerial View of MRA Morning Glory Estates

The two homes on Morning Glory represent a culmination of the 12 years of our collaboration and both homes are on the one hand very similar in execution and quality but very different in style. One home is a formal Mediterranean Estate the other a French Country Chateau. Beautiful materials adorn both homes, from carved limestone to custom roof tiles, and both are landscaped impeccably by Berghoff Design Group http://www.berghoffdesign.com/ who has also been a key component in the execution of these homes over the last 12 years. The homes are also green in that they are constructed with insulated concrete block, foam spray insulation at the roofs, double insulated windows, and solar panels discreetly positioned on the homes to reduce the overall energy consumption.
MRA Morning Glory Estate Lot 2 

The MRA quality is clearly shown in these homes and I encourage you to attend these events. You will be rewarded with a visual experience that I hope will inspire you and  give you a fabulous sneak peek of these homes that will surely be marquis homes in
Paradise Valley.

PR & Press

October is turning out to be another great month for PR and Press. Check out the newly released issue of LUXE Magazine and the beautiful home featured that was designed by my associate, Vivian Ayala. This is a beautiful project she spearheaded and we appreciate the attention this home is receiving. More to follow on this feature!
Mountain Residence - Flagstaff, Arizona

We just received word that we have been included on the 2011 list of Top Mountain Architects and Designers in Mountain Living Magazine http://www.mountainliving.com/article/top-mountain-architects-designers-0 . This is our sixth consecutive year to receive this honor.
Dream Home to be featured on Phx Home and Garden Tour - Nov 6th

As noted last month stay tuned also for the November issue of Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine, as one of our homes will be featured in the Dream Homes Extreme Tour to be held on November 6th. Tickets are limited and can be purchased on line at http://www.facebook.com/PhoenixHomeGarden?sk=app_203351739677351.

Tapas at Twilight - Earth & Images


I want to thank all of you who attended the Tapas at Twilight event at Isabel's store, Earth and Images http://www.earthandimages.com/ , last month and the launch of her new website. With the Holidays coming check out her site for unique gifts for clients, friends, and family.


Italy Trip 2012

The Candelaria Design Italy Trip is a go for 2012! We have had great interest thanks to our Candelaria Design Italy Trip 2010 Facebook Page (800 fans and counting) and we are excited for our 9th trip which will depart Phoenix on May 30, 2012 and return on June 12th. See our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Candelaria-Design-Italy-Trip-2010/415280225531?ref=mf for more details on the cost and itinerary. Prior blog postings also go into more detail from our 2010 Trip. I’m taking 12-14 travelers and I know this will fill up fast – so call Meara and book your reservation. We will have a great group going, and in addition to Florence, Tuscany and Umbria, we will be hitting the coast and Portofino.  I am looking forward to the adventure once again.

October Recipe of the Month

Many of you have asked that I provide the recipes to some of our Facebook cooking postings so here we go…..

Cioppino Pasta


We had a great time putting this little dish together last month. My girls were watching Anthony Bourdain – yes the acorn does not fall far from the tree - and were inspired by his visit of the seafood market in Seoul, Korea whereat Anthony and his host were eating fresh squid and baby octopus. They asked if there was a market like that here in Phoenix. Well we don’t quite have the venue they saw on his show, but I did tell them there was a pretty good fresh fish market at the Ranch Market at the Chinese Cultural Center http://www.phxchinatown.com/99ranch_market.html . Well they got very excited and we were off to find some baby octopus and squid. I was curious to see how this one was going to play out. My two youngest are age 9 and 6 so tentacles and fish heads although interesting may not be appealing once sitting on the dinner plate.

We made our purchases and headed home to clean the squid and octopus and de-vein the shrimp. That was fun and was like science class. With a little garlic, butter and pasta we whipped together a dinner that not only was fun to shop for, but was inexpensive to make and was a lot of fun to prepare and was only outdone with how great it tasted. My girls loved it and you will too.






Ingredients:

1 lb of Baby Squid
1 lb of Baby Octopus
1 lb of Shrimp
4 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of olive oil
6 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper – don’t add if serving the kids!
The squeeze of two lemons
1/4 to 1/3 cup of white wine
2 cans of diced tomatoes with the juice
3 scallions diced
2 teaspoons of thyme or Italian seasonings to taste
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 box of pasta – fettucine, angel hair, spaghetti – whatever!

Clean the seafood – go to google to find very simple directions! Chop up the cleaned seafood as you like. Get your pasta cooking and cook el dente. Melt your butter and olive oil in a large pan – I love using my paella pan. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper – sauté and add the lemon juice and white wine. Add the seafood and cook until the shrimp change color and appear cooked through. Add the diced tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper. Drain the pasta adding two ladles of pasta water to the seafood. Add the pasta to the seafood and toss everything together. Let this concoction cook for 3 minutes or so so all of the flavors combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Add the diced scallions for color and flavor and serve it up! You can always add clams or mussles also – we didn’t see any fresh supply the day we went to the market but they are great in this dish!