Black Eyed Susan's Kitchen

NEW TRADITIONS

              "Things change", a minister once told me..."do not become complacent, but learn to adjust." ...and so we have. We have lived on our street for many years, and we have watched the children, ours included, work their way through grade school, and learning to ride two wheelers to high school and learning to drive cars. Some families have moved out and younger ones have moved in. I have felt very, very fortunate to live on this cul de sac of fourteen houses with the very nicest neighbors, both new and old. The block consists of new born babies, middle aged families, and an original home owner in her mid 80's.
                Last year, we hosted our first holiday open house, with a desserts and drinks party on the Sunday evening before Christmas. It was a wonderful success, and we will be doing it again this year. A party like this  is a no pressure opportunity to chat with the neighbors in a relaxed setting, among pretty decorations. Everyone brings a dessert, and/or a bottle of wine....rather like a pot luck. Last year we had brownies and cookies, I made a Tira-mi-su, and a bowl of fresh whipped cream.
There was a cheese platter and all sorts of wonderful sweets to enjoy.
I pulled out some of the serving pieces that I will be using for this party to give you an idea of how the table is set up. It is fun to set the table with a mixture of new dishware and vintage serving platters and cake servers on pedestals. I layer the Spode Christmas tree pattern dessert size plates with vintage green depression glass plates, and put out little green depression glass nut bowls. The painted cake taker was an ebay purchase several years ago, and something that I treasure. There is a vintage glassware set in which the bowl is filled with fresh whipped cream for the guests to dollop on ginger bread or any other dessert they would like. My giant Wendell August punch bowl is filled with candy canes right now, but that may change and be used for punch, or some other candies or cookies. Vintage milk glass is festive for any holiday, whether it is with the red of the peppermint candy canes,  or blue candy canes. A Christmas tree decorated with gum drops and gnomes is on the sideboard and is very festive when lit up.
         This year, I will remember to take some pictures of the party and share the wonderful goodies that everyone brings. The best part of this party is that it is a simple no stress way to enjoy an evening with the neighbors and no one has to drive home.
    This post is being linked to Susan's, Between Naps on the Porch, Tablescapes Thursday event. Please click on her link to see more festive table settings.
♥, Susan

 


 

SPECIAL FOR PINK SATURDAY

                     Walking through our town today, My friend Jenny and I came upon this store window and I just knew it would find its way to a Pink Saturday post. Please note that the rubber duckies under the tree are also pink....toooo cute!
                 Beverly,of the How Sweet the Sound blog, our host for Pink Saturday
, requested a little something special this week. She asked us to include a childhood memory that was special. Growing up, we celebrated Chanukah, and I was not formally introduced to all of the trappings and trimmings of Christmas until I married my husband. The highlight for us as little children was a Chanukah party every year in my father's, cousin's, Brooklyn brownstone. My Nana, had a huge family and the sisters and brothers all married and had children (my father being one), and then they had children (me and my 4 siblings), so there were many, many aunts and uncles and cousins to play with.
They would set up the basement as a big party room with tables set out with potato latkes, 
sour cream, tuna salad, and lots of sweets.
There were dradles to spin and lots of fun to be had. Every child was given a gift...a very inexpensive toy to take home. It wasn't fancy or glitzy, but it was a wonderful party where the hugs from all of the relatives were honest and sweet. It was the kind of family get together that was all heart and soul....I would give a lot to relive one of those parties...but the memory is just fine.
          Thank you to Beverly for being such a lovely hostess...click on over to her blog to see more of Pink Saturday.
♥, Susan

PASTEL OR NO PASTEL....DECISIONS, DECISIONS

          I am having a holiday decorating dilemma this year. In years past, I would grab a theme and run with it....a coherent color scape would help to start that decorating process. Perhaps I am a bit distracted, or maybe I am just looking for something different, but the holiday decorations are going up more slowly this year. So far, the decorating is more of a default situation...a this is how it has been done the last few years so this is how it will be done this year. I am torn between  the soft sweet pastel palettes of white and pink, which have made their way to the dining room window and back porch,
and the intense reds that I have always identified with the holidays. So far, I have the back portion of the house in pastel shades, and more of the bright colors in other parts of the house. but no cohesive plan. So, I have pieces of decor waiting for me to work into vignettes, but no plan yet. Maybe I am over thinking this...I ask you...am I the only one having this decorating dilemma? Perhaps it is a lack of discipline to stay with one theme? Is anyone else out there feeling as I do?
              I am linking this post with Melissa's The Inspired Room, for her Holiday Linky Friday  . Maybe I will find my decorating mojo after looking at the other blog links.
♥, Susan
 
 
 
 
 

I TRIED A CLOCHE AND I LIKED IT!!

               

So, here it is...I have lived more than half a century and I have never cloched before. Marty, over at A Stroll Thru Life, is having a cloche party, and I just had to say yes and give it a try. Here it is my first cloche, what do you think? I had this cloche for years, and never knew what to do with it.  I bought this tiny creche at a yard sale this summer, knowing that it would be an ornament of some kind, added a little putz church, the deer, and two angels and voila. This delightful little cloche will be displayed here for the rest of the season, and now I have cloched, and I liked it. No telling what I will be cloching next!
        Thanks so much to Marty for this fun adventure...go on over to her blog and see who else has created a cloche. 


♥, Susan 


 

DINNERS IN DECEMBER

                       It began with the gift of a teapot almost twenty years ago. Spode Christmas Tree pattern dishware has been a favorite ever since. Over the years, I have been gifted many more pieces to this collection of dishes, however, I have also found many at yard sales. The sets of plates, cups, saucers, and some other special pieces were Christmas presents received over the years. Last year, I bought this set of candleholders and this bowl at a yard sale as well as the tray on the hutch. This year, I found this platter at a yard sale. On December 1st, I take all of these dishes out of storage and use them until the new year. Tonight, it was just my husband, myself and my son having dinner in the kitchen, and just setting the table for a simple dinner is so much more festive. The table is set with the Spode dishes and glassware, a 1950's vintage tablecloth with a lot of shiny gold still in it (hard to show in the picture). Dinner was cheese ravioli with peas and vodka sauce, and a salad with cucumbers and hearts of palm. I really like red and white as a holiday theme, and will be using my milk glass pieces with candles and candies this year.  I think that they are very pretty together.
        I am linking this post to Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch for her Tablescape Thursday linkup. Please click on over to see all of the other fabulous table settings.

♥, Susan
 



 
 

SOMETIMES YOU JUST KNOW

                       My husband and I were driving to the seafood store a few towns away from where we live. This was almost a year ago, but I have never forgotten the moment. We live on a peninsula with lots of wooded areas and of course we are bound by two rivers and the ocean. It was that twilight part of the day, not evening but late in the afternoon, and we were chatting about the  Cioppino that we would be cooking for dinner when three deer flew across the road.
Three very large deer. I can't for the life of me figure out why I knew this, but I told my husband to wait...and sure enough the fourth deer came flying out of the woods, ran across the road, and back into the woods on the other side. How did I know there would be a fourth deer? I just did, and it is a good thing because that would have been an awful way to end the day. 

                       I have always told my children to listen to their intuition. It is a very powerful tool in staying healthy and happy. A little common sense and a good intuition can be very helpful when you are not sure what to do next. This was just a thought that came to mind and memory this morning while I was bringing Christmas decorations up from the basement. Tomorrow is Tablescape Thursday, and I will have a post featuring vintage holiday tablecloths.
                       Have a good day, and listen to that little voice inside your head...it is there for a reason.
♥, Susan

A LITTLE PINK HOLIDAY PIG

               The happiest of Pink Saturday's to everyone. We started our holiday happiness last week with a trip to the Swedish Christmas festival. I have mentioned this in a few previous posts, however, what I did not show and tell, was this adorable little Swedish Tomte that we bought at the festival. We have a small collection of these mythical Scandinavian creatures that we like to show off at Christmas time. It is rare to find one with a female figure, but riding a pig...that was just too cute! We also found this young lady holding some holiday gifts and a teddy bear...too precious. When the decorating is finished, I will post the entire collection. In the meantime, happy pink decorating, and happy Pink Saturday.  Please click on over to Beverly's How Sweet the Sound to see other pink Saturday lovliness.

♥, Susan

FANCIFUL INSPIRATION

Gumdrops, Fairies and gnomes on a  whimsical, woodland Christmas tree to bring smiles to a child's face. Theme trees can be so much fun, and appeal to children of all ages. This year we are planning to decorate several trees...the themes?...we will have to wait and see. Like these trees that decorated out living room in December, last year, they will be laden with fantasy, color, and beautiful gifts from Mother Nature herself. We are excited to start the holiday decorating process and see what develops....let the fun and games begin!
           This post is being linked to Melissa's blog, The Inspired Room for her Holiday Linky Friday.
♥, Susan
 

THANKSGIVING...WE ARE GRATEFUL

              Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving! The table is set, the turkey is roasting, and the yams are baking. Family will make their way to our door, and children have arrived home, from college. We are grateful...to be able to share this day with those we love...for our good health....for our happy state of mind...and most of all, we are grateful to be Americans and have the opportunity to celebrate this with whom-ever we choose...we are grateful for those who came before us and fought to make this country a free place to express how we will worship.
               Here is a little peak at our Thanksgiving table, all dressed up with pretty floral arrangements on two tables joined together to accommodate everyone. I am using vintage English Staffordshire dishes in the Royal Mail pattern. The cloth napkins are in autumnal shades of cinnamon, plum, and olive.
The serving pieces to be used will mostly be white ironstone, milkglass, and some vintage aluminum. This Canterbury Arts aluminum serving set is from the late 1940's, and is one of my favorite patterns. We have been using it to serve a cranberry-orange relish for many years now.  One corner of the sideboard is displayed with hand-crafted favorites, and the other side, shows a few other Canterbury Arts trays.
             This Thanksgiving tablescape is being linked to Susan's, Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. Please stop by her blog to see the other dressed tables.
♥, Susan

 
 
 

 

BLACK AND WHITE AND SILVERWARE ALLOVER

                   My husband and I got up nice and early this morning to attend the Swedish Christmas fair. It is sponsored by the Swedish Womens Educational Association every year as a fund raiser. It is small town holiday happiness to us and a perfect way to start  thinking about family,   friends, and celebrations. Every year, we find something special to bring home with us. My big excitement this year, was a black and white rag rug. Since I started going to the fair, many years ago, they have always had a table full of these hand made rugs for sale.
Usually they are much smaller. I have bought so many of these that I did not expect to find or buy one this year. When I saw that they had one in black and white, I had to look more closely, and I realized that it would fill in our downstairs hallway. I thought of my Goth-Girl collection and how well the black and white would work with them, and I thought of the kitchen floor and how well the rug would play off the black and white tiles. That was pretty much it for me...a new rug for the hallway, and a helping and grateful  hand once again to the lovely Swedish ladies.
  
 
 
                There is something about an approaching holiday, that makes me want to be neat, tidy, and super organized. 
Could it be the thought of relatives looking through the drawers in the kitchen? Well, our silverware drawer came apart the other day, and I nearly went into panic attack mode! First of all, we put all new cabinets in the kitchen about seven years ago..top of the line Kraftmaid...all wood. How could this happen? That poor drawer was supporting two sets of flatware, many assorted serving pieces and several seafood, fondue, and cheese serving implements. It was time for a major reorg. I decided to make better use of the drawer in the desk/sideboard in our dining room. It had turned into a catch-all junk drawer, so I cleaned it out, found containers to fit in the drawer, and organized the things that I rarely use in it. Seafood crackers and forks, fondue forks, cheese servers, pie cutters, napkin rings, and all of the candles waiting in the wings to be used. This is much better. Now the two sets of flatware can fit in the silverware drawer in the kitchen. The drawer has been fixed...we are now organized...so bring on the holiday company. You need a fork? You know where to find it...no embarrassment here.  I am linking this organization metamorphosis with Susan's Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and thank her once again for hosting this fun event. 
♥, Susan