Summer Weekends in Maine

*Camden Harbor for fireworks*

*Dinner at Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast*

*A walk in the woods in Camden Hills State Park*

*John's Ice Cream Factory...good, but didn't live up to the hype*

*Clam cakes and chowder in Portland*

Happy Summer!

A Vintage Home

Even though we're nowhere near being ready to decorate our house, or maybe because of it, I spend a lot of time fantasizing about home decor...I love imagining what our house will look like, where we'll put some of our favorite items, and what colors we'll choose. My vision is still rather vague, but countless hours spent perusing home decorating magazines, books and blogs have helped me to narrow it down to one basic idea.

And of course, it was the obvious choice, right in front of my face the whole time. This old house, all of the cool stuff we found in it, our love of rummaging through yard sales/antique shops/craigslist...of course we'll go with an eclectic vintage style, hopefully featuring a bunch of yet-to-be-acquired unique finds, and influenced by our love of travel and preference for cozy, welcoming spaces bathed in natural light.

On a related note, I am chomping at the bit to check out the Todd Farm Flea Market in Rowley, MA this year. It's held every Sunday, is HUGE, and supposedly flies under the radar compared to the highly acclaimed Brimfield, MA Antique Show. Can't wait for the season opener in April!

Here are some shots of our current stash of vintage items that will help set the tone for our future decorating schemes...

*vintage Christmas ornaments...

handed down from my grandparents*

*I see this lovely pink glass container on a vanity or dresser*

*this mirror came with the house and dates back to at least the 40's. I intentionally put a steep $85 price tag on it during our yard sale because I really didn't want it to sell!*

*a little polish and this dainty silver-plated pedestal bowl will look great*

*I can't wait to redecorate our office in a way that showcases the vintage banker's chair and desk that Steven found on Craigslist*

*I never wear them, but I love this vintage Eiffel Tower brooch. I'm determined to find a creative way to repurpose it.*

*this teacup is a part of my "Girl Room" vision for the parlor*

*I don't know if it's cut glass or crystal, but I think this wine carafe is really pretty*

Can't wait to go flea market hunting!

Christmas Cookies

Just wanted to post some pics from my Christmas cookie marathon:

1. Parisian Minicakes A Czech recipe and family favorite, these pink sandwich cookies are filled with a sweet ground nut & dark rum spread.

2. Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies This cookie is what happens when Peppermint Bark and Thin Mints have a baby. And yes, that's as good as it sounds. Just like Emily at CupcakesandCashmere, my cookies did not come out looking like Martha Stewart's...but hey, I'm sure I'll have a chance to perfect the white chocolate coating, because these cookies have been deemed a new Christmas staple.

3. Linzer Cookies Another family tradition, these pretty little cookies are filled with red currant jelly and melt in your mouth. If forced to choose a favorite, I'd have to pick these.

4. Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies Steven's mom makes these knockout cookies every year, and they're so good we thought we'd make a batch, too. Another mouth melter.

Homemade Eggnog

At one point during my Christmas cookie baking marathon on December 23, I caught myself twirling around the kitchen in a most ungraceful fashion while squawking along with Christmas carols on the radio. (Thank God I was home alone.) As it was only 10:30 a.m. and I generally don't exhibit any sprightly behavior until after noon, it required an explanation.

I quickly realized--it must be the eggnog.

You see, I had partaken of a couple glasses of the eggnog I had made the night before, well, because I thought there wasn't that much left and it would be a shame to waste it. It ended up being 3 servings. Did I mention it's made with rum, bourbon, and cognac?

It's all good, though. My mother assured me that it's completely fine to drink boozy eggnog at breakfast time "because it has eggs in it".

Makes sense to me! ;)

(If you're interested in making your own eggnog, I thought this recipe was a good one. However, I'd leave out the egg whites, as the whipped cream made it plenty frothy on its own. Also, be ready for the "kick"--this is not your grocery store's eggnog!)

Holiday Cheer!

You may be surprised to hear this (maybe not) but I can be a bit of a humbug when it comes to Christmas. In recent years, all of the chaos and hullabaloo of the season, combined with the gift-giving stress and Iron Chef-like intensity of food preparation has nearly overwhelmed the sweetness of the season for me.

Not this year.

I'm feeling so festive this year, it's silly. Obviously, the impetus for my change of heart is having a house of our own, being able to decorate it and be merry in a million little ways all season long, in addition to the starburst of Christmas with our families.

Candles ablaze? Yup.

Superhuman consumption of eggnog? Check.

Our *first* Christmas tree up? Since December 5th.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Winter Wonderland

Halloween Weekend

It was a good one. We decorated, I tried out some autumn-appropriate recipes I'd been eying for a while, Steven carved an awesome pumpkin, and the weather was beautiful. (Thank you bizarre New England climate!) We didn't get a ton of trick-or-treaters, but we had some, and they were pretty cute...especially the 5 year old Darth Vader. :)

Steven's jack o' lantern:

Isn't it great? He just DID it...no tracing, no copying...he just envisioned and executed. It was so impressive! And we had so many compliments on it throughout the night. Okay, I know I'm gushing, but I'm just in awe...my pumpkin carving abilities have not advanced past the basic 2-triangle-eyes, open mouth-with-a-single-tooth stage!

I also loved the other decorative items we had on the front porch. I'd like to have even more next year so it really pops (and Steven demands corn stalks, LOL), but I think we did a good job of using a melange of gourds/squashes, and I thought the mums we planted in the flower pots were super pretty:
I don't know what these flesh-colored gourds are called, but I absolutely love their exaggerated segmentation. The big bluish one in the background is a Blue Hubbard squash, which is supposed to be good eatin'. If this one is in good shape after decoration duty, I think I might make a soup or casserole out of it.

Speaking of cooking, I did quite a bit of it this weekend, which was really nice...I had been itching to do some "recreational cooking", as I call it, for a while now. I settled on 3 very autumnal recipes from various Martha Stewart Living magazines:

Pork Loin with Apple-Cornbread Stuffing: Awesome recipe! I thought the stuffing was delicious and I'll definitely be making this again. I do have to say that I found the butterflying, stuffing, and tying of the pork rather challenging. (It fell apart when I served it.) However, the recipe is worth the hassle, and I'm sure it will get a lot easier with a little practice.

Apple, Leek and Butternut Squash Gratin: Meh. Won't be making it again. I love these ingredients, but nothing special happened when they were combined like this. Roasting them with some salt and olive oil probably would have tasted just as good or better.

Apple Onion Tarts with Rosemary-Manchego Crust: WINNER! It's such a good combination of ingredients and flavors...sweet caramelized onions & apples, some zing from cider vinegar, woodsy rosemary, and nutty salty manchego. We had these for dinner tonight, and they were fantastic!

I also wanted to post a picture of these adorable cupcakes my MIL brought up for Halloween...aren't they cute? Steven's mom is in a league of her own when it comes to holiday decorating, and these festive cupcakes are just a tiny little taste.
A very yummy taste. :)

Cocktail Friday :)

I've decided to implement a new domestic tradition...Cocktail Friday! I figure it's a great way to usher in the weekend, try new things, and learn the art of mixing drinks.

So for the inaugural drink (drumroll, please)...

The Manhattan

Equal parts whiskey and sweet vermouth (for the sweet version), this cocktail is a classic--a favorite of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, as well as the ladies of Sex and the City (in addition to the Cosmopolitan, of course). But more importantly, it was the signature cocktail of my beloved grandfather, who would have celebrated his 99th birthday today. Every big holiday would find him mixing a pitcher of his Manhattans--measuring by eye, of course, and then by heart when his vision grew poor. One part alchemist, all parts gracious host, he'd supply us all with his specialty drink throughout cocktail hour. It's just one more thing I'm going to miss as our first holiday season without him approaches....but tonight, I'm raising my glass to a classic.

Na Zdraví!

Vánočka Bread Pudding

I am a big fan of all things pudding. So when we ended up with leftover Czech Christmas Bread (called "Vánočka"), I immediately thought: Bread Pudding!

Yes, maybe we (my Czech grandmother, my mother, and I) did go a little overboard this year when we made 15 loaves of vánočka...but this was so freakin' good that I think we'll make just as many next year and reserve the less-than-perfectly-braided loaves for New Year's Bread Pudding:


I used the recipe for Bread Pudding with Spiced Rum Sauce from Epicurious, but substituted the vánočka for challah. Very easy, and I definitely recommend making the rum sauce...it was delicious and added that extra ooomph, nevermind holiday spirit.

And just for reference--the beautiful, sweet, buttery wonder that is Vánočka: