Food!

I have been playing food stylist with some of my meals lately.  It's fun to remember which meals I liked, the recipes I used and what worked and did not work.  Since I am a visual person, having my iPhone handy to take pictures in the kitchen works fine and dandy.  Here is what I have been making lately.

My new favorite light meal or hearty snack:  I use Ezekiel whole grain flour less bread,  a smear of mayo and thin slices of ripe avocado with a bit of salt and pepper.  Inspired by this cookbook.

This was Sunday dinner:  Oven baked sweet potato fries (I toss in olive oil and a bit of cayenne pepper for a kick), brussell sprouts roasted with pancetta and then drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and marinated flat iron steak on the grill.   All yummy!

By the way, did you notice who is also interested in this meal?!

This was my lunch the other day:

Simple mixed greens with sliced strawberries, leftover chicken and a tiny chunk of cheese.  Vinaigrette.

I have always wanted to make a Tres Leches cake and finally did and it was delicious!  It is so moist and vanilla-y- almost like ice cream but still a cake.  I loved it.  The recipe I used was from The Pioneer Woman and was very simple.  You just have to make time to chill it but it is a perfect do ahead dessert.

I used fresh raspberries instead of the maraschino cherries she suggested (not of a fan of those).  I will definitely be making this again.  

What did I make today?

Some recent soldered work.  For the Scarlett O'Hara lover:

The flip side

 For the Jane Austen lover:  A little soldered charm brooch on a silk velvet hand stitched bow:

Sharing Something Special

I have finally unpacked and displayed my Mother's shell pin collection.  We lost my Mom last April and every time I started to do this I stopped because I knew it would be too sad.  Now I was ready and it was so wonderful unwrapping each one and remembering them being worn during different occasions.  You always had to be careful during hugs though as some of these are deadly sharp!

My mother started collecting these many years ago and most are vintage (many I purchased for her either on eBay or luckily finding them at flea markets or yard sales).  A few my mother actually made and those are just as beautiful.  She actually spent a week one summer teaching my daughter how to make them and they had a wonderful time.  I know material things are just "things" but sometimes they can be a powerful link to special memories.

Happy Holidays to You!

Holiday Vignettes

I went a little overboard decorating for the holidays this year.  Some years I am not into it and some years I am all in.  This is one of those years.  I am enjoying all the lights and tinsel and every corner of our home is glittering.  Ask me in January when I have to put it all away if I am this enthusiastic!  For right now I will bask in the glow of twinkle lights.

Come for a tour with me...

We've had two snow storms and unless we get a big warm up in the next week I think it is safe to say we will be having a White Christmas..yay!

This is our front porch and door which we never use.  Typical New England…very few of us use or shovel our front doors!

This is the back door which we use each day.

This was left on my door step by my good friend Carol.  Each year she makes wonderful arrangements for all her friends and family.  She put these little vintage creatures in mine because she knew I would love them and I do!  I am keeping it outside because it will last well into January that way.

This birch bark wall vase was made by a good friend and fellow Walpole Artisan Carolyn Kemp.  Carolyn is super talented in so many disciplines.  She is a master basket weaver, an amazing watercolorist and painter, she makes jewelry and creative ornaments for the garden out of natural materials, especially birch bark.  

Walk around the front of the house and this is what you will see.  I wish I could get a better picture of it.  I decided to set up my Dickens Village (first time in several years) and display it on the glassed in porch for everyone to see.  We live on the village green so it will be enjoyed by many!  It really shows up nicely at night.

Here is what it looks like inside:

It's a lot of work to set up and put away but really fun to fiddle with all the details.

Come back inside.  It's cold out there!

I have two bay windows that provide perfect surfaces for decorating.  Here is my little woodland Christmas terrarium.  I am in love with these LED string lights on a thin wire that can be bent any way you need.  They are magical.  I don't think I will ever put them away!

My gnome tower.

A favorite vintage Mrs. Claus vase.  She doesn't get the credit she deserves this time of year.

A lovely terrarium made by my good friend and neighbor Jeanette and topped with one of my handmade light boxes.

My Little Red Dollhouse has finally been taken out of the attic and decorated for the holidays.

I got this shadowbox frame a couple of years ago and it is fun to deck out for the different seasons.

This little girl is well over 100 years old.  She is a bit frayed around the edges but loves to come out for holiday season.  The book is one my Mom gave me (this is my first Christmas without her) and the illustrations are gorgeous.

I made this crepe paper wreath from a Martha Stewart kit several years back and it has held up pretty well.  Come into my "White Christmas Room".

White is my favorite color and I love doing the mantle all in white and silver and a touch of gold.  That portrait is of my great Aunt Helen.  My great grandfather took the photograph and hand colored it.  My grandmother painted the frame and preserved it.

This is one of the soldered boxes I made this year.  The tiny pink elephant always sat on the window sill of my grandmother's bedroom.

And finally come back into the Living Room to see our beautiful tree.  I found an untrimmed tree this year.  I do not know why Christmas tree farms insist on clipping their trees like hedges.  I like the natural untrimmed kind and I was able to find this in a unused back lot.  My daughter India was heavy handed with the tinsel but it really is quite enchanting at night.

Hope you enjoyed my tour.  Happy Holidays to you!!

xxoo  Loribeth

Have Yourself a Very Pink Christmas

I've been doing a little holiday soldering and tossing in some vintage elements.  Somehow this little pink elephant that belonged to my grandmother found his way inside.  I am enchanted by anything under glass!

St. Nicholas Book Village

Here is a little display I created for our Walpole Town Library using old books and pages from old books.  A little Book Village!