Category Archives: Uncategorized

I can admit that I have a PROBLEM when it comes to spices. We have been eating a lot more vegetarian dishes lately, and they have called for out of the ordinary spices/herbs. Many years ago, my husband bought me a bunch of spice jars and I way outgrew them over the years, so everythingContinue reading “Taming the Spice Cabinet”

My husband loves chicken cordon bleu, but I HATE frying foods. And, he got a spiral sliced ham from his work for the holidays. The ham is on the sweet side, so I used Fontina cheese, instead of the typical swiss or gruyere. I lightened up the recipe, and baked it instead. Ingredients: 5 largeContinue reading “Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu”

I had surgery at the end of November and knew that I wouldn’t be up for taking down a lot of Christmas decorations so I am using our little tabletop tree again this year. There are a few whimsical items in the living room and I bought a whimsical tree skirt from Crate and BarrelContinue reading “Our Actual Christmas Tree”

There is a recipe in the Junior League’s Centennial Cookbook for Forbidden City Chicken and it is DELICIOUS, but you need to leave your house when you put it in the oven because it smells so good that you will be salivating until it is ready to eat. This recipe is a riff on thatContinue reading “Forbidden City Chicken with Coconut Pineapple Yellow Rice”

It’s around the doldrums of winter that I get the gardening bug BAD and gardening catalogs know it. Here are a couple of my favorites that you may not have heard of. Van Engelen Bulbs vanengelen.com has really high quality bulbs and a huge variety of species and varieties. From the daffodils and tulips, toContinue reading “Great Plants, Great Selection, Great Prices”

I love to wrap a beautiful package, but people who know me will tell you that if it’s magazine worthy, there is probably the worst prank gift in a gorgeous box. Over the years, I have found some fantastic sources for reasonably priced packaging items, and some are even made in the USA! Cream CityContinue reading “My Favorite Packaging Sources”

This tree is reindeer, sleds, and a colorful old fashioned beaded garland with a stick topper. This tree is icicles and snow flakes with a snow flake topper and glistening leaf picks. This is a Sugared Fruit tree with dark berry picks for a topper and magnolia leaves woven in. I made this tree withContinue reading “Themed Christmas Trees #2”

The first tree is a Berry Beary Merry Christmas tree with bear ornaments, red berry sprigs and a vintage teddy bear for the top. This next tree is a Gilded Forest tree with gold berry picks for the topper and throughout the trees, and gilded leaf ornaments. This tree is an All Natural tree withContinue reading “Themed Christmas tree ideas #1”

Here are photos from our family Thanksgiving table. We used white Johnson Brothers plates, silver napkin rings, white cloth, mercury glass candle holders and vase, and some decorative pumpkins of various materials. We also had some silver plate candy dishes with coordinating foil wrapped candies and mexican hot chocolate pumpkins for place cards. The flowersContinue reading “The Actual Thanksgiving Table”

I love this tablecloth for fall events. It has great colors for fall. I paired it with a couple different types of purple mums in a copper footed dish and in little glass vases. I put apples and plums on a cake plate to finish the look.