STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

More Cuisine

• Cuisine: ‘Pickles to Relish’ Jamlady scores another hit
• Cuisine: Wining and dining — an art
• Cuisine: Flavors from the heights

Share and Enjoy [?]

The year 1992 was a very good one for local glass artist Stan Saran. Gulfshore Life’s Annual Design Guide of Southwest Florida profiled him as an outstanding artist, and Cooks magazine featured one of his fanciful accessory pieces, a replication of pizza in colored glass.

Saran worked here at his Marco Island studio for 20 years, and only recently retired. He was born in Toronto, but the family moved to Miami Beach when he was only 12, so he considers himself a Floridian. His mother was an artist who had trained in Europe, so he developed his interest in the subject in early childhood.

Saran studied psychology and journalism at the University of Miami. After a brief stint in Chicago, writing music and producing records, he headed for New York City and the world of art. He apprenticed at several studios, working on designs for fabrics, wallpapers and women’s clothing. This last endeavor proved a commercial and artistic success.

His early family home in Toronto had a number of stained glass windows, and Stan still remembers being enchanted with the sunlight filtered through the brilliant hues. In 1976, it was this memory that drew him to the medium of glass. Everyone else in the field was doing flat work, but Stan went back to the last years of Louis Comfort Tiffany and began to produce three-dimensional glass art. His pieces were instantly in demand — decorative lamps, small tables and pedestals for plants or sculpture.

After three or four years of this, he began to investigate and create items in clear carved glass, which had fallen into disfavor in America in the early 1930s as plastics came on the scene. He had visited Marco for several years, and decided to abandon New York and relocate here in the ‘80s. The building on Front Street, after 18 months of renovation, was ideal for him, with a studio below and apartment above. Today, his masterful carved glass creations are in private collections and public buildings all over the country.

Cooking has always been his major hobby. Saran’s mother was an accomplished chef as well as a painter, and he started his early culinary career in her kitchen when his parents entertained.

His favorite cuisines? “My first choice is Indian, hands down, then Chinese, Greek and Mexican. I love spicy foods, and my mother swore that the first word I ever said was chili.”

Saran comes by his preferences naturally, since his family’s roots were in India. They long ago immigrated to Poland, but the Indian name Saran has persisted to this day.

His kitchen would be the envy of any cook in America. In shiny black with accents of red and white, the room is dominated by a huge six-burner Wolf gas range. He has all the usual major appliances and a host of smaller ones, mostly tucked away behind a “garage door” cabinet. The dramatic color scheme is carried throughout his home, even to black and white china, and the lighting is superb, with skylights and recessed overhead fixtures.

We sat at his glass bar and sampled some of his recipes: banana bread and brownies with cinnamon coffee. He makes cherry brandy for friends at holiday time as well, and has taken up candy-making in retirement.

Saran’s mother Genevieve was known on Miami Beach as “The Chocolate Lady” and made about 500 pounds a year of exquisite hand-dipped confections to give away. They were beautifully packaged in small white boxes with her name and the trademark which she designed, a single red rose.

“She carried chocolates around in her pockets and purse,” Stan told me, “in case she met any children.”

Saran now makes amazing hand-dipped and decorated chocolates and also special bars named for his mother. You can’t buy them — like Genevieve, he gives them away to fortunate friends.

I asked him for an original recipe to share with readers, and here it is:

Chocolate-covered coconut fruit balls

2 cups Baker’s Angel Flake coconut

12-15 candied red cherries

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup walnut pieces

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

5 tablespoons light corn syrup

A few teaspoons rum, brandy or liqueur (optional)

1 package white, milk or dark chocolate bits

Thoroughly blend all ingredients in a bowl except for chocolate, and refrigerate 45 minutes. Form into ping pong-sized balls, pressing mixture tightly together by hand. If balls fall apart, refrigerate another 15 minutes and be sure all balls are tightly packed.

Dip balls in melted chocolate of your choice and place on a foil-covered tray. If white chocolate seems too thick, thin with a tablespoon or so of shortening. Don’t use too much — the chocolate won’t harden. Refrigerate candy for half an hour, then remove excess chocolate at base with a sharp knife. Place in tiny paper cups and keep cool until you give them away.

Does this make you yearn for something sweet? Stop at Mark Beatty’s Black Truffle shop at the Island Plaza and treat yourself — he has a staff of eight during season, and sells marvelous bakery goods and candy. Mark’s opening a new place in north Naples soon, a sort of coffee house with a twist. It will seat 25 and serve desserts, coffee and candies. Stay tuned for more details.

If you’ve a yen for something cold, Ron Ellis at the nearby Tutti Frutti has been serving up frozen yogurt for five years, and also carries Edy’s ice cream, original Florida cookies and candies. They also serve light lunches.

The chocolate strawberry at Shops of Marco has indoor seating and will celebrate its 25th birthday next year. New owner Nigel Redwood from England says that they now make all of their own ice cream and gelato, as well as over half of there candies. Stop in to enjoy a very special cup of coffee.

The ice cream at Sweet Annie’s on Bald Eagle Drive comes from private local dairies. Owner Ron Beebe also has candies and pies, and a counter fountain which will remind you of the 1930s with malts, shakes and sodas. The store expanded a few years, and now sells plush animals and other souvenirs. Ron also owns a small shop called Beebe’s near the Marco Theater.

---

Marion Nicolay is a regular contributor to the Marco Eagle. Contact her via e-mail at marion387@earthlink.net.