Ding Ding Ding Went the Bell...

I sing... the way most people would whistle or possibly hum... I sing... not very loudly... usually... I mean I don't suddenly burst into song and start belting out Broadway show tunes... but loud enough, occasionally, to be heard... which is not always a good thing... (at the office, in July, part way through a mindless Christmas carol). I have early recollections of my Grandmother singing while meandering around her house... nowhere else... not even the garden... not that I was there the majority of the time...but still, it would be hard to forget... Clang, Clang, Clang went the trolley... (which seems to be so completely out of character for her) but, obviously, was not... So, it must be genetic... this singing...

5th Floor Housewares...

My earliest shopping forays were at our downtown department stores, accompanied by my Grandmother, who always ended our day by taking me out to lunch... Today, I skipped lunch and headed out to Macy's on my lunch hour instead... they're having a one-day sale... this is the preview day... Being a seasoned shopper, I ended up doing a respectable amount of damage in just under an hour and left with some gorgeous bed linens for a mere fraction of their original prices... If you're lucky enough to have a Macy's near you, I highly recommend you check it out... while you're at it...grab your daughter or your granddaughter and make some memories along the way.

Pass the Truffle Oil...Or Not...

As much as I love food... to cook... to eat... to watch food-themed shows and collect fabulous cookbooks... I find I am a narrow-minded ingredient snob... I've never had cilantro... descriptions rife with deep, earthy undertones translate to me as tastes a great deal like dirt... and while I love evergreen trees and adore potatoes in any shape or form... tasting the combination (rosemary potatoes gratin) nearly put me off both for life... so it is with this reasoning (or lack thereof) that I have decided to hunt down some straightfoward, no nonsense cookbooks from our past... not as far back as the settlement cookbook of my Great Grandmother's time... I may like things simple... but I still want my poultry to come to me de-feathered... if I find something easy, wonderful and not canned... you'll be the first to know... check back...

Sisters...

I'm the one in the cute dress...

you're the one with the bad perm... ha ha...

don't tell Mom... okay? okay?

hey... I'm too old to ground right? ...right?

Happy New Year...

Visions of Sugar Plums...

It's just about this time every year... after I've singlehandedly eaten my way through several tins of Christmas cookies, that I develop a desparate craving for fresh spinach, beets and all things salad...
Nothing like a hippity skip trip through the farmers' market in the dead of December... Ah well, back to those buttery jam crescents... and maybe just a little eggnog...

Chestnuts Roasting...

We, most of us, have recipes that become holiday standards at our dinner tables, whether passed down through generations (candied Spam skewers, anyone?) or our own takes on the old classics (roast turkey...with a sage foam)... Here's a small sampling of ours...

Holiday Ham Glaze

1 cup mango chutney

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

juice and zest from 2 large oranges

Combine ingredients and pour over ham prior to baking.

Christmas Cheeseball
2 8-ounce bars cream cheese
2 ounces Buddig beef (finely chopped)
4 scallions (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon onion powder
Combine all ingredients and form into one large, or two small, balls. Refrigerate.

Russian Teacakes
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans (chopped)
powdered sugar
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add pecans.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar while still warm.
Cool completely and roll again in powdered sugar.

On the First Day of Christmas...

Each year, I marvel at how quickly Christmas comes and goes... in the past, Christmas Eve was spent with my father's side of the family... Christmas morning always found us at home opening our gifts from Santa...
then onto brunch at my maternal grandmother's house... and back home again for Christmas Day dinner with my mother's side of the family...

It wasn't the twelve days of Christmas by any means, but it gave the holiday legs...a little longevity... Today, my comparatively small family has become even tinier... and this present day Christmas has dwindled down to a few hours on Christmas Day... I might have to start instituting a few new traditions... after all, I have a whole Christmas Eve to fill...

Merry Christmas...

to my sweet and silly family...

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home. ~ Charles Dickens

T'was the Night Before Christmas...

when all through the house... gifts were being flung into bags... cookies were being tossed into tins... and any smart creature was huddling under the Christmas tree safely out of the melee... not much poetically, I know... yet quite accurate... thankfully, all our stockings had been hung by the chimney with care... in the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there...

Happy Thanksgiving...

Dishpan Hands...

I try to consider indies and local artisians first when I shop... the time they invest in their products equals a level of craftsmanship you'll be hard pressed to find elsewhere. Case in point... Etsy ... hold tight to your pocketbooks this place is fabulous!! A new Etsy shop, dishpanhands, is up and running. I purchased a number of her dishcloths before she opened her online shop... they are w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l... add some bath goodies and bubbles and you've got some perfect, just in time for the Holidays gifts... because these make fab washcloths as well...

Vintage Visuals...

Eye candy from another era...

Trick or Treat...then...

Waiting impatiently for darkness... running across lawns... through (almost always wet) leaves...

holding bags or pillowcases filled with candy... big candy bars... homemade popcorn balls...

even pennies and nickels... they were worth their weight at the little neighborhood corner store... icy cold bottles of soda from the pop machine... canisters of pretzel rods... oodles of penny candy... how to choose?

They did the Monster Mash...

My little brother's love for Halloween is steadfast, (fanatical) and longstanding... think Linus in the Great Pumpkin patch...

so, in his honor, I've decided to wind down October with a post or two celebrating the creeping, crawling, costumed, decorated and orangey bits of life...

all you have to do is find a comfy seat on the broom... hold tight... and come along for the ride...