Cape Cod Co. Lantern & Dining Room Update

Finally, there is light in the dining room!  

More specifically, a light.  Or should I say, a lantern.  The lantern. 

After chatting with Mike's mom, Joy, about my vision for the fixture, I told her that I wanted something that felt authentic for a "Cape Cod" style house.  Being Joy and an expert in all things unique and special, "Have you looked at Cape Cod Lantern Company?  They are in Chatham.  I believe they make all of the lanterns at Chatham Bars Inn."  Only Joy would know great things like that sitting in KC!

  Do you remember my post about our stay at the Chatham Bars Inn?  I oogled over the authentic fixtures and lanterns that hung seemingly everywhere on the property.  The photo above (no, that is not my family room...) is of the sitting room at the Inn.

So, I immediately searched their site and found the "5652 Concord" Lantern.  Not only did I love the style but I loved that this particular style was a nod to our New England home, Concord.  Perfect.

I love it.  It is simple, yet very striking.  The scale is lovely, which I was a little concerned about before it arrived... would it be too big?  Not big enough?  But, alas, it is just right.

I love that it is an authentic, handmade representation of our time in New England that hangs in the center of our home.  I imagine that we will take it with us to all of our future homes.  As Mike and I drove through Mission Hills on our way to dinner last weekend, I noticed all of the graceful lanterns that hung in front of the front doors of the large stately homes... maybe someday...

I'm not big on souveneirs, I mostly rely on photos instead of sweatshirts, but I have to say... This is one great souvenir!

I had it made (all of their fixtures are handmade to order) in Antique Brass finish with clear glass to compliment the original brass fixtures in our house.   The un-laqured finish will weather and age with time. 

 You may also notice a peek at our Christmas decorations that are beginning to take their places.  In our windows, I've hung fresh bay leaf wreaths.  They smell soooo good.

Here is another look at the room - a couple of stacks of plates, compote of tangerines, etc., piled in the center of the table from my holiday header shoot for the blog.

Another "authentic" decision for the room was to feature photos from our travels.  As I was getting ready to order some random prints of botanicals and birds, I decided to take a more authentic approach to the artwork that hung in our home.  I decided to have 11x14 photos from our favorite experiences displayed in the room.  

They are framed in frames that are painted the same color as our trim, Navajo White in Satin.  The walls are painted navajo white in flat.

Above : Stowe, Vermont and Martha's Vineyard

I included a caption of the place and date of each photo.

We plan to keep adding to our collection... maybe someday we'll have an entire wall gallery devoted to it... I imagine it in a long hallway - in the same stately home in which the lantern hangs in our entryway. 

Christmas Cookies | Sugar Cookies

As I'm preparing for my Holiday Christmas Cookie Brunch Workshop next week, I'd thought I'd share my tried and true, favorite recipe.  This is the same recipe my mom used when my sister and I were growing up, decorating sugar cookies for each and every holiday.  The dough is incredible to snack on!

Jenny's
Deluxe Sugar Cookies

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of cream of tarter
1 tsp of baking soda
1 egg

In your Kitchen Aid fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and powdered sugar.  Add Flour, vanilla, cream of tarter, soda, and egg.  On slow, stir together ingredients just until combined.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and wrap it with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  

Unwrap the dough and put it on a floured board.  Be sure to flour the rollin pin, as well. 

Roll out dough until 1/4 inch thick. 

Cut shapes.   Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.  




Bake for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees just until the edges begin to turn brown - baking time will depend on size and thickness of the cookie.  

Utilize scraps of dough by making them into a ball and re-rolling them and cutting shapes.

Royal Icing

3 egg whites
4 cups of powdered sugar

In the Kitchen Aid fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until almost frothy.  Add in the powdered sugar and whisk on slow until smooth.  You may need to add more or less powdered sugar or water to achieve desired thickness.  For sugar cookies, you want the icing to be thin enough that it will fall back on itself and smooth itself out, but not too thin so it will run off of the cookie.

Good colors are so important to making professional looking sugar cookies.  Here are my tips :

Red : When making red you need to use a lot of food coloring.  I also add orange to the red to make it less pink.  Add just a touch of green to the red to make it less electric.

Green : I add a little bit of yellow and orange to green to make it more of a natural green.  For christmas, I like to use two shades of green - light and dark. 

Blue : I add a little bit of yellow and orange to blue to make it softer.  It is a more sophisticated looking blue.

Home Depot Holiday Style Challenge | Our Mantle Makeover

To kick off the Holiday Season, I thought I'd share the mantle I created for the Home Depot Holiday Challenge.  After selecting bloggers to participate in their Holiday Challenge, they sent us supplies and gift cards to transform areas of our homes into winter wonderlands.  I was thrilled that I was selected to design a mantle... and was able to use my gift card to purchase gas logs for our fireplace! 

To see all of the photos and details about my design, visit here!

Do You See What I See?

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I got my indoor bulbs going.  As a kid, part of Christmas decorating meant sticking plastic holly and poinsettias all over the house.  It's amazing how just a few sprouting bulbs placed around the house can easily replace most holiday decorations and bring each room to life.

Here I've started paperwhites in a trio of McCoy planters in the Greek Key pattern.

I've also started a few amaryllis in my turquoise McCoy planters.  The front planter is the Daisies pattern and the back one is Sand Dollar, often referred to as the Necco Wafer pattern.

Photo:  Wikipedia

Not only are Necco wafer candies nostalgic as a treat from my childhood,

the Necco wafer factory was just a few blocks from my house.

It's nice to keep a record of the amaryllis you're growing so you

can search out those favorite varieties the next year.

My favorite from last year was this La Paz.

This year I thought I would try a few new ones called Picotee and Lemon Star.

I'll show what they look like when they bloom.

The flowers are always something to look forward to as we head in to winter.  And I'll probably pick up some more to start in a few weeks so I have greenery and blooms through most of the winter.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It might seem I'm pushing the season with the title of a Christmas song, but thanks to the fine doctors at Mass. Eye & Ear Infirmary, it's most appropriate.  I'm hopefully on the right track; I'm hearing again and feeling well enough to throw together Thanksgiving dinner for four.

A few corners may be cut but no one will notice.

I have tons to be thankful for today including all of you, my friends around the world,

who are kind enough to check in regularly and see what I'm up to.

Even if you're not celebrating Thanksgiving today, I hope you have great day!

How to Make The Prettiest Pie Crust | Pie Crust Recipe | Plus... Chocolate Meringue Pie Recipe

 



If you're counting, yes, this is the third pie post in a row.  It is Thanksgiving, after all.  This is only not a recipe, but a tutorial on making a pretty pie... a step-by-step guide to crimping a pretty pie crust.  After all, most pies taste great, but a really pretty pie can put it over the top!

The Easiest & Flakiest
Pie Crust Recipe

2 pie crusts

18 tablespoons cold butter (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor with the steel blade, add flour, salt and sugar.  Cut butter into small pieces, then add it too the food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is crumbly.  Slowly pour in water until the mixture begins to form a ball or come together as dough.

Dump it out onto a board and form it into two disks.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator, unwrap and place it on a well floured board.  Roll it out with a rolling pin, moving the dough in between each roll to form a circle.

Fold it into quarters.

Put it into the pie plate with the point of the fold in the center.  Unfold.

Fold under the edges to create a nice 'bump' around the edge.

Pinch the edge between your thumb and forefinger.  Move along the edge, all the way around.

Use pie weights when baking if you are "Blind Baking" the shell, or baking the shell before it is filled like you would for a cream pie, like chocolate, banana or a lemon meringue.   These pie weights were my Granny's...  they probably filled 100's of lemon meringue pie shells.

Oops.  I forgot to prick the bottom before the pie weights went in!

This is the crust after it was baked, then filled with chocolate custard.  I used my friend (and cousin-in-law's) Lorin's recipe.  Lorin made this for my family and it was so good, I begged her for the recipe.  Here it is!

Chocolate Custard Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
2 Cups milk
2 ounces unsweetened choc/or cocoa conversion
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
I tsp vanilla
2 Tbs butter

Combine sugar,cornstarch, chocolate and salt: gradually add milk. Cook and stir over medium high heat till bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir moderate amount of mixture into yolks: immediately return to hot mixture and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat add butter and vanilla. Pour into shell.

Top it with mernigue :

Meringue:
4 egg whites
6 tblsp. Granulated sugar
¼ tsp. cream of tarter
½ tsp. vanilla

With your mixer on high speed beat egg whites, cream of tarter and vanilla. Gradually add in sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Top pie with meringue and bake at 350 until golden.

 Post toast.

Toasted meringue cloud!

Here is the easy to pin strip!

Bedclothes

Image:  Serena & Lily, Hero bed with Wyeth duvet

Blogger friend Carol Beck and I took a ride up to Zimman's Fabrics in Lynn last weekend.  She's working on a new project that I'll tell you more about later and I wanted to find some fabric to make the "suit" to slipcover my bed.  I've heard people rave about Zimman's for years and it didn't disappoint.

There were plenty of really gorgeous fabrics that would have fit the bill--in fact, a little overwhelming--but unsure I'm going to be able to pull this off, I was a little hesitant to spend the $40 to $80 a yard. 

I did a little searching on ebay and found this herringbone plaid for only $8 a yard and there's a few extra yards that I can remake something if I mess it up.

Here it is draped over the headboard next to the new drapes and a white

pillow cover just for reference.

I think it will be perfect.

So I'm disassembling the old cover so I can cut similar pieces

that I'll pin together on the piece before sewing it.

It's this end piece that has a slight curve to it that will be the biggest challenge I think.

If I sew this label in to my piece, will it give it more credibility?

I had hoped to have this done by Thanksgiving but a terrible ear infection has left

me feeling like I should be kicking back a little bit.

I should be on the mend soon.