Holiday Decorating

Yesterday afternoon was a beautiful 61 degrees and did not seem  like the end of November.  But nevertheless, I made my way up into the attic and brought down a few Christmas decorations. 

I think I will keep it simple this year....light and airy and not too complicated.  Here are a few things I put around the dining room to help us get in the spirit of the season.  I have used vintage spice boxes that are filled with ornaments and boxwood clippings (the boxes are a flea market find), vintage silver baby cups filled with moss and cranberries, embellished sea stars, and a tin angel that I have had for years. 

This is a little holiday warmup...as December gets going, I will keep adding to the decorations.  I still can hardly believe it is Christmas again!   

I hope your week is off to a great start!

Annie

The Old Red Mill

I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving and are enjoying time with friends and family.  We had a gorgeous day today after the wind died down...I honestly thought the chimney might crash onto the roof last night- it was that windy!   We took a little drive today and visited a town not too far from us.  It is all decked out for the holidays and looked so charming.  I love this working mill and the views across the pond to the town.  I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos I snapped... 

See you soon.  

Happy Thanksgiving

The table is set and the menu is planned.  Our guests arrive this evening and all that is left is to enjoy each other and remember all that we are thankful for.  I probably will not post for a few days so that I can be with my family.  I hope you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday filled with family, friends and delicious food! I leave you with a little  glimpse of my quick guest room facelift.  It only involved a gallon of paint and shopping in my linen closet for some things I have not used in awhile.  I think it looks restful.  Have a great long weekend...

xo,

Annie

Palmiers

hi everyone...I hope you had a great weekend.  I baked these cookies yesterday afternoon and I just had to pass this recipe on to you.  These are so easy and really delicious....and if you are looking for a cookie to add to your Thanksgiving desserts, then this is it!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2   cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2   sheets Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted

Combine the sugar and salt.  Pour 1 cup of the sugar-salt on a flat surface such as a wooden board or marble slab.  Unfold the first sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry.  This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar.  With a rolling pin, lightly roll the dough until it is a 13" square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on the top and bottom.  Fold the sides of the square towards the center so they go halfway to the middle.  Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough.  Then fold one half over the other half as though closing a book.  Slice the dough in 1/2" slices and place the slices, cut side up on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (I use a Silpat liner).  Place the second sheet of puff pastry on the sugared board, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixture and continue as aboved.  There will be quite a lot of sugar left over on the board.

Bake the cookies for 6 minutes or until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn them with a spatula and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side.  Transfer to a baking rack to cool. 

They are so yummy!

Recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris.

Party Dresses

We have party dresses on our minds....

My daughter has a holiday dance and dessert coming up in a few weeks.  We went into Manhattan last weekend to look for a dress...  nothing too expensive mind you.  We found two dresses and bought them both....she will decide between the two and then one will be returned.  One is a beautiful dark green color which is very festive and looks beautiful with her hair.  And you know what?  It cost less than the amount we paid for parking!  Go figure. 

As you can see,  I am still having fun making little gift tags and ornaments.  I really could fuss with these all day...

Tartan

My computer crashed on Sunday afternoon.  I got the dreaded blue screen error message and now I have to re-install my operating system and start over.  Everything that was on my computer will be lost....I am not too good about backing things up, you know?  But thank goodness most of my photos are stored in Picasa!  So in the meantime I am working from my daughter's computer...her's crashed a few weeks back with the same error!  Is the lifespan of a dell computer about 3 years?

I thought I would share with you a little tartan purse I made.  It will be in my shop soon.  I love tartan and it is so in this season....do you remember wearing tartan kilts when you were young?  We used to wear those and they were so pretty!  I have added a vintagy pin in the shape of a snowflake to this little bag...just right for the holidays.

Have a great week!

Madeleines

It was French week at school and parents were asked to send a French dessert.  I didn't want to attempt anything too complicated...but I figured I could handle these. They are sweet little shell shaped cakes and they will disappear quickly!  We made lemon flavored but you could do lots of variations.  The recipe we used was adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris.

3 extra large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract (Ina uses vanilla)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shredded coconut (we did not add this)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Thoroughly grease and flour the madeleine pan.

Beat eggs, sugar and lemon extract on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add butter and mix.  Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.  Stir into the batter with a rubber spatula.

With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed.  Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool.  Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

These do require a special pan with the cute little shell shapes...mine is by Wilton.
Wishing you a great weekend!