Valentine's Day Dinner for Two

Sometimes, when I'm not feeling inspired, I rely on the flowers to speak to me.  This year my husband came home with a couple of mixed bundles that were so beautiful and looked so fresh, especially the mini-carnations, that I just knew this would be the starting point.

The whorls continued with the ruffles in these soft pink napkins.  They really did remind me of the pedals of a flower.  

I pulled out the lace placemats from Horchow, which I've had for a while.  I first used them here when my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.  Unfortunately, they are no longer available.  The flatware is Jefferson by Reed and Barton, for Monticello.  I've also had it for a while, and have used them here and here, among many other tables.  I love the gentle heart-shaped curve of the handle, perfect for the day of Love!

The goblet and wine glasses are part of my wedding crystal collection — Chartres, by Atlantis.  After all these years I still love them!

The rose gold chargers were a lovely complement to the pink . . . 

So, I decided to pull out the copper tube napkin rings . . .

And the copper hobnail votive holders.

The salad plates are part of the Williams-Sonoma Citrus Salad Plates.  This one is supposed to represent a pink grapefruit.  The set of four comes with a lime, lemon, orange, and grapefruit plate.  It seemed to go so well with the copper that they just fell into place.

And, voilà the table is set!

Time to start thinking about the food, my least favorite part.

To start, a Grapefruit Avocado Salad on a bed of Romaine, with Goat Cheese Crumbles, and a simple vinaigrette with Dijon mustard.  I should call this the Costco salad since all the ingredients were picked up there.  The grapefruits may be the sweetest and juiciest I've ever had, so if you live near Costco, run and pick up a bag!  

The salad was followed by Pan-fried Garlic Shrimp, served with Quinoa Fiesta — a quinoa salad with corn, red bell pepper, jalapeño, scallions, dressed with lemon and olive oil.  

The dinner was delicious and it left us filling satisfied, but not stuffed so that then we could indulge in some sinful desserts!

Dark-chocolate covered strawberries . . .

My vanilla custard (Natilla), decorated with a powdered cinnamon heart in the center.  This is one of my husband's favorite desserts.  Actually, my entire family loves it.  I make it all the time, so to dress it up and make it seem special, I created my own stencil in the computer, cut it out, and used it to create the heart.  

The sugar cookies came from our supermarket, but balanced out the plate, and my husband loves cookies!

And once dinner was finished, the flowers remained, to delight and make me feel loved.

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

Practicing Hospitality

Welcome to the Bee Room!  Won't you come and stay with us for a while?  The room has been ready for a couple of years now, and it's already received guests, but just recently, it's been very empty, what with this awful Covid-19 that is still causing havoc in the world.

This used to be my son, John's, bedroom before he had the audacity to grow up and move away.  Alas!  I haven't seen him since last Christmas season, and I miss him terribly.  Here he is showing me the flan he made using my recipe.  The baton has been passed!

I miss his brother, too.  David, is currently in Abu Dhabi, UAE, serving with his Army unit.  He was pretty bold, too, growing up, and learning how to drive and everything.  I won't see him this year at all.  Maybe next year (Covid and Army permitting).

But I've digressed.  It happens to me every time I think of the boys.  I did not want to buy new furniture, as my husband and I are just a few short years away from retirement, and we will not be staying in the Midwest.  So we polished the old IKEA furniture in the room, added a comfortable mattress, and I indulged in my own touches, which we can pack and take with us, and make the room a cozy guest retreat.  Our guests now stay in a room full of bees — friendly bees, that is, not the annoying ones that hover over our picnics.  Won't you come in and stay a while?

But first thing's first.  Function over form.  Gone are the board games, the Pokémon card collection, the art supplies, the grade school and high school memorabilia.  Instead, you will find extra pillows (encased in dry cleaner bags to keep the dust off), and a big, cozy comforter.

On the other side you will find a luggage rack to hold your suitcase.  I put a lot of thought into this rack, believe it or not.  It is not the prettiest rack I saw, but it was the only one that didn't have protruding ends that could dig into luggage.  Can you tell that this has happened to me?

You will also find towels, a basket full of travel-size goodies, like shampoo, hand lotion, etc., and several empty shelves to store your shoes, or anything else you'd like.  There are also two bars to hang up clothes, and cedar hangers that make the closet smell wonderful.

Next, I tackled the most difficult, and not fun, part of the project — selecting paint color.  My name is Maria, and I am a color-commitment-phobe.  Is there a 12-step program out there for this?  It took me months to decide.  And this was the final choice:

I selected the middle shade, called Risotto; nothing bad has ever happened to me while eating risotto, so I figured I'd be safe.

The windows were next, and I fell in love with the embroidered bees in these sheer panels from Country Curtains — which, unfortunately has gone out of business.  That was what set the theme for the room.  

The check outer panels also came from Country Curtains.  

So, you may ask, how else do you add bees to a bedroom to stay on theme, but don't have the guests feeling like they are being attacked by a swarm?  Well, to that I say . . . hold my honey . . .

I first saw these linens with embroidered bees on my first trip to Venice.  I didn't buy them there because my husband was already looking harassed, wondering how we were going to get home with all the stuff I had already bought.  However, they were meant to be mine because I found them again on eBay while casually looking for something else.  The sheets are so soft!  And I like that the bees are embroidered very subtly tone-on-tone.

The "Sweet Dreams" pillow also has some bees embroidered.  

I thought that was enough for the bed, but a dear friend had different ideas, and sent me this as a hostess gift, after she stayed in the room.

The beading is exquisite.

It didn't take very long to scatter the room with honey bees.

The old IKEA desk stayed in the room and is great to place a laptop, and it can double as a vanity in a pinch.

All the outlets in the room were updated with USB ports to charge the many electronic devices that everyone seems to travel with nowadays.

And a few more bees can be seen buzzing about . . .

The bee pens seem to be a popular item, and we love when our guests take them as a parting souvenir.

And there's a guestbook with the sweetest notes from our visitors!

Some of our visitors have gotten in on the action and have sent us bee additions to the room.

The room is ready for our guests.  I'll have a cozy lavender candle waiting for them . . .

And, if they like, I'll fix them a nice breakfast in bed . . .

With Egg Bites (recipe coming soon!), a croissant, tea, and honey sticks to sweeten their tea.

And I'll be as happy as a bee that I have blooms fluttering about bringing joy and life into our home.

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

Living with Lavender

There's an insidious resident in our house which seems to dwell in our drawers and linen closets.  It's not an unwelcomed guest.  In fact, it was invited into our home with open heart, or at least, open nostrils.

Lavender is that scent that makes me feel good, and  allows me to breathe freely.  It's not the only scent that I love, mind you, but this one reminds me of my paternal grandmother's armoire, from which lavender scent wafted, and where she kept a tin of cookies for her grandchildren hidden away so she could dole out the treats in secret.

It was during Spring cleaning this year, when I noticed for the first time the degree to which our house guest had made itself at home.  Well, it might be easier to show you . . .

Lavender is known for its ability to induce sleep and improve its quality.  I thought this would be a nice addition to the Guest Room for our guests who find themselves away from the comforts of their usual surroundings.  The cover is made of a really soft velour and it feels wonderful on the skin.

Have you tried ECOS laundry detergent yet?  It's earth-friendly and cleans beautifully.  There are other fragrances available, and even one without any fragrance at all, but naturally, I was drawn to the lavender scent.

There's lavender-scented soap and lotion in the Powder Room, although this changes throughout the year.  However, it seemed like a perfect scent for Spring - and Williams-Sonoma was having a sale.

Our drawers are full of sachets!  The ones above are a collection of the heart-shaped pink and red ones that I've accumulated over the years.  I wrote about them here.  But there are more . . .

Well, see for yourself . . . I've purchased the sachets here and there, as much for the looks as the scent.  These sweet sachets are proof that little luxuries don't have to cost a fortune.

Just keep an eye out and you'll spot them where you least expect them.  The poupettes (little chicks) are adorable, aren't they?  They make me smile.

Lavender candles have also found a way into the linen closet.  The Dyptique candle is exquisite.  I'm saving it for a special occasion.  The other one is HomeGoods swag.  It smells wonderful.  It's nice having a little candle inventory.

How does the saying go, “In for a penny, in for a pound?”  Why not try lavender tea?  I fixed myself a pretty tea tray using the Nantucket teapot and teacup.  The basketweave pattern puts me in mind of a country setting with buzzing bees and lavender growing wild.

Bees love lavender in bloom, and they make a delicious honey by pollinating the lavender flowers.  It seemed right to bring them out to hover over the lavender-embroidered napkins.

The napkins were an Etsy find and I adore them!  They're begging for a tea party . . .

So I baked a new tea bread:  Downton Abbey Lavender Tea Bread.  Yes, I'm still pining for Downton . . .

It wasn't bad, but I've decided I prefer my lavender as a scent throughout the house, rather than in my food.  I couldn't separate the taste from the scent in my linen closet.  Here is the recipe, if you'd like to try it.  It was . . . unusual.

There are many other scents that I love, like the smell of fresh oranges . . . cinnamon in the kitchen . . . . a fragrant Christmas tree.  We'll talk more about those another day.

What about you?  What scents run through your house?  Do you like lavender?  Do you do Spring cleaning?  Are you pining for Downton Abbey?  Tell me anything at all.  I'd love to hear from you!