Halloweening With Madame Spider

 A book of haunting poems . . .

Some apple cider donuts, and a mug of freshly pressed hot apple cider to ward off the chill in the air.  Madame Spider approves.

Tea with the Prince

I'm about to sit down for a quiet tea in the Library. There's magic in this room. All my books are kept here, and characters come to life in the afternoons. Today, I'm keeping company with His Highness and his entourage. Won't you come in for a peek?

First, let's select the tea, shall we? My son, David, sent me this box of tea from England when he visited a while ago.

Once the teabags run out, I guess I'll have to go in person to pick up another box. I can't wait to see my husband's reaction when I break the news to him.

How about Afternoon Tea? It seems appropriate.

I try to allow myself a small flower budget to supplement the seasonal offerings from my garden.  Nothing picks up the spirit like fresh flowers.

And, when I can't get fresh flowers, I improvise.  Even pictures of flowers can improve my mood.

His Highness follows me all over the house, especially he likes to be around flowers. There’s a perfect rock set for him in the backyard, at the base of the clematis vine, but the opossum that lives under our deck keeps knocking him off his throne, so, in order to save his crown, literally, I've brought him inside.  I'm rather fond of him, you see, and I dislike bullies.

Once he settled in, the Prince invited other courtiers to follow him, and set up his court.  He brought with him the Chief of Protocol . . .

Madame Pompadour Butterfly . . . His Highness can be quite naughty, and I had to remind him that this was a respectable household.

Miss Bee, the Lady-in-Waiting . . .

And the Court Gossip, Mr. Dragon. He spends the day buzzing about, and knows the latest "on dits."

Perhaps I can get Miss Bee to bring in another cup for you . . .

Or perhaps not.  I'm terribly sorry, but I've been overruled. Miss Bee complained that I didn't give her enough notice, and the Master of Protocol says you are not wearing a hat. No hat, no tea. He’s very strict.

I guess I'll be eating the cookies by myself today, but I'll invite you for tea very soon, once I clear it with the staff.

Just a little bit Irish

While I was on hiatus last year, we held a St. Patrick's Day dinner for some very un-Irish friends

The guest list comprised Cubans, Mexicans, and to provide that necessary soupçon of Irish blood, we invited my husband.  He's the guy with the green polo by the window, who looks a bit put upon to have to pose for a picture when he'd rather be digging in!  My husband doesn't really know how much Irish blood he has in his background and is not interested in doing a search, however, the litany when he was growing up was “I'm English, Irish, French, Scottish and Italian . . .” usually things would trail off after that, but occasionally he'd add other nationalities just to keep things interesting.

I'm 2nd and 3rd generation Cuban born, my paternal grandfather having emigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands, and my maternal grandparents born in Cuba.  One of my relatives did some research on the Grimón last name and supposedly it may have originated in Belgium.  So you see, I cannot claim any Gaelic ancestry whatsoever.

And does not explain why I'm so fond of this holiday.  I got the shamrock napkins through a friend who gave them to me with the condition that I should use them once, and then pass them on to another person that might like to use them next, and that person should do the same.  My sister-in-law, Kathy (Kathleen, and of Irish ancestry), now has them.  I can't wait to see how she uses them!

I love party favors!  So, in addition to an Oxalis Plant, everyone got to take home one of these darling miniature books with Irish blessings!

I love the green in these goblets!  Don't they look great next to the green fields in the books?

I can't conceive of this dinner without some lovely Kerrygold butter, and what better way to enjoy this treat than by giving each guest their very own butter dish?  Some things are just to delicious to have to share.  

The napkin rings reminded me of a Celtic knot and they provided a nice contrast against the simple white dinner plates.

I scattered some gold and green fake coins for an extra dose of whimsy.  

Now for the food.  Two big platters of Corned Beef and Cabbage.  It's simple fare, but, oh, so delicious!

And for dessert, Bailey's Irish Cream Bundt Cake, and Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from Baskin Robbins, my son's favorite.

We "greened" the house a bit  . . .

Hoping that a leprechaun would stop by and find the house to his liking . . .

And maybe, just maybe, we'd find his Pot o'Gold!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dishes:  Traditional by Apilco, from Williams-Sonoma

Flatware:  Jefferson by Reed & Barton for Monticello

Water Goblets:  Williamsburg by Reed & Barton

Butter Spreaders:  Rosewood hadles, by Laguiole

Butter dishes:  Amazon

Table runner:  Pottery Barn

Placemats:  Crate and Barrel

Napkin Rings:  Tortoise Knot by Juliska

Square Platter:  BIA Cordon Bleu, from Amazon

Cake Stand:  HomeGoods

Nothing Gold Can Stay

                                                Nature’s first green is gold,
                                                Her hardest hue to hold.
                                                Her early leaf’s a flower;
                                                But only so an hour.
                                                Then leaf subsides to leaf.
                                                So Eden sank to grief,
                                                So dawn goes down to day.
                                                Nothing gold can stay. 

                                                                       — Robert Frost

Valentine's Day 2017

It had to be red roses ...

The toile placemats depicted such a lovely romantic scene!  He's on his knees, asking for what?  Is he asking for her favors?  Is he proposing marriage?  Methinks the lady needs further convincing ...

In another intriguing scene the lady seems to be listening to the troubadour(?).  No, it can't be a troubadour, his hose and shoes seem too fine.  Is he wooing her?  If so, his technique needs improvement.  He really needs to look into her eyes.  Or maybe he's trying to tell her to go away . . .  Alas!  Men often don't understand a woman's heart.

I have been, once again, transported by another romance from Alexandre Dumas.  Are you familiar with The Sphinx?  I thought I was an AD connoisseur, but I hadn't heard of this one!

Save it for your next vacation, when you can linger, and pay attention to the various strings of the plot and it's many characters.  I loved it!

I used all my French-looking patterns.  The dishes are Mikasa French Countryside, and the flatware is Jefferson, by Reed & Barton for Monticello.  Both have the "fiddle and thread" pattern typical of the 18th century.  The plaid napkins are from Pottery Barn, several years ago, and, finally, the wooden heart I found at Joann's and painted myself.  I needed a heart on the table.

Red goblets were a HomeGoods find several years ago, and the champagne flute are Chartres, by Atlantis, now discontinued - they were given to us at our wedding.

I forgot to photograph the food, but because St. Valentine's fell on a weekday, the menu was simple:  Strawberry Spinach Salad with Sliced Almonds and Poppyseed Dressing, Roasted Chicken with Steamed Broccoli, and for dessert . . .

Two proven aphrodisiacs, at least at our house:  Chocolate and strawberries!

Of Frogs, Princes and Fathers

One upon a time, in a land far away (well, 90 miles south of Key West, actually), 

there lived a little girl who loved to read – a habit nurtured by her father, a serious book lover and avid reader. 

While she was growing up in the sixties, the Evil Communist Regime was strengthening its yoke on her beautiful country.  Books were becoming scarce, but her father was part of an informal network of neighbors and friends that would lend out books, just like a library.  While the little girl continued to read, there was no opportunity to re-read, one of the true pleasures of reading aficionados, because the books had to be returned right away.

One summer afternoon, however, the father was actually able to buy and present his daughter with a brand new book for her very own collection: “El príncipe rana” – The Frog Prince - which she promptly devoured and reread many times over the coming months until it was in tatters.  

The little girl fell in love with the story, in part because she could relate so much to the princess in the book:  She was a bit lonely, a bit spoiled, definitely daddy’s girl, and had a powerful aversion to frogs.

Then, that very summer, on another sunny afternoon, a frog happened to jump through an open window and got inside the house.  The little girl began screaming, while her mischievous brother tried to catch the frog.

Finally, the father came running, rescued the poor frog, and set it free in the garden.  The little girl never forgot that summer, and her love for her father-champion and for books continued to deepen as the years went by.

That lucky little girl learned more than a few important life lessons that summer.  Among them, the sanctity of all life, including that of an ugly frog, and, because in her young mind, the king in the book got mixed up with her father, both honorable men, she also learned the importance of keeping her word.  Lastly, she learned that under no circumstances whatsoever would she ever eat frog legs.

It was not until much later in life that she finally understood one more lesson from the events of that summer:  Handsome princes come in all shapes and sizes.

In honor of all the wonderful lessons that little girl learned from her father, I’ve prepared a breakfast tray fit for a prince - my Prince, that is.

Featuring FROG Jam!  Have you ever tried it?  It's made from a combination of fruits - Fig, Raspberry, Orange - and Ginger.  Delicious!  It seems the time was just right to crack open that precious jar I'd been saving for a while . . .

I first spotted this lovely tray at More Fun Less Laundry, a blog that has become my primer for beautiful living.  

I looked for it everywhere, because, naturally, it was no longer available, until I finally found it in an obscure website.  

The tray box was a mess, and the tray itself was covered in dust, but I didn't care, I now had my own lily pad tray with frogs, butterflies and flowers!  Perseverance pays.  Oh, I'm going to have such fun with this tray!

A blue and green plaid napkin seemed perfect for both frogs and princes. 

 The leafy napkin ring did, too.

And the tray was brought upstairs to the bedroom, so my children's father could have a grand start to his Father's Day celebration . . .

like the True Prince that he really is.

Happy Father's Day, darling!

Joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.