Dinner Fit for a President

The Liberty Blue Ironstone china was made in Staffordshire, England as a promotional item for the American Bicentennial, by Benjamin Franklin Federal Savings & Loan Association.  

I only own a few pieces of this china, just enough to put together a simple dinner table for two, in honor of George Washington, our first president.

The dinner plate depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and it's slightly smaller than a regular dinner plate, so I added the Lenox Federal Platinum dinner plate beneath it, to act as a charger.

Then, came the Bread & Butter plate, depicting Washington leaving Christ Church.

Ever since I began collecting dishes, it's become a compulsion to turn the plates upside down to see what I can find on the back side.

The darling cobalt, glass-blown vase came from the gift shop at Monticello, originally the residence of fellow Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson.  I'm sure Jefferson could never imagine his home becoming a museum with a charming little gift shop, but there you have it.  It wasn't easy, a mere few days after Valentine's Day, but I managed to find some spray carnations with a touch of red on the leaves.  Now, I could have some red, white and blue on the table.

The Reticello lace napkins, were given to me by my godmother on the baptism of my second son.  They are only 18" x 18" so I generally prefer using them for luncheons, but I felt Martha Washington might have appreciated them, following Abigail Adams advise to her husband in a letter dated March 31, 1776, to "remember the ladies."  The placemats are Sferra in the Clearwater color.  Similar shades were often found in colonial homes paired with Prussian blue.

The Jefferson flatware by Reed & Barton for Monticello.  I've had this flatware for years and still love the Fiddle & Thread pattern typical of the 18th century, and which Jefferson loved.  With all his flaws, I'm a big fan of TJ.

The Laguiole butter knife with the rosewood handle, is made in France, but derived from a Spanish-Arabic knife style typically found among the shepherds in Cataluña, Spain.  It's doubtful that it would have appeared in Martha's table, George would probably not have approved, but I love these little spreaders and bring them out to play whenever I can.  

George might have been a stickler for proper behavior, and even wrote a book about it.  I wonder what he would think of today's manners.  I wonder what he would think about my calling him George.

The Cape Fear candlesticks are made of pewter, an alloy very common in Colonial America.  Cape Fear is an actual port in North Carolina, but very treacherous to make landings, hence, the name. Both the glasses came from the Dollar Tree.

The table is set.  For dinner, a hearty beef roast surrounded by root vegetables, all of which could be found in the colonies.

And for dessert, Cherry Pie.  It was delicious, I cannot tell a lie.

A Valentine's Day Picnic

Anyone who has ever stopped at Mary's of Home is Where the Boat Is, knows that her blog should come with a caution sign, something like:  WARNING:  INSPIRATION AHEAD.  POSSIBLE ADDICTION AND FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY.  ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY OF FALLING IN LOVE!

So, when I was looking for inspiration for my Valentine's Day celebration, I discovered this gem among many, many of her Valentine's Day posts.  She calls it The Love Boat.

Doesn't that look amazing?  I immediately knew this was it.  So what if there were some minor difficulties?  I mean, I don't own a pontoon, it's the middle of winter here in the Midwest, and there's no possibility of getting out on a lake right now . . .  But!  I have some plaid and a picnic basket.  How hard could it be?  Well, it turns out that there’s so much more than meets the eye! Mary’s seemingly effortless stylings actually require quite a bit of planning, and a natural flair.

First, Mary used these darling white napkins with a rickrack trim.  I remember seeing them at Pier 1, and walked right past them as though they didn't exist.  I am not a good browser.  I usually go to the stores with a single purpose, and my brain shuts down to other possibilities.  Now they are no longer available, but I've had these other napkins for the last 10 years, and I figured they would do.  You can also find them in here, in another blog post.  They are not exactly the kind that I would take to a picnic, but this is, after all, Valentine’s Day.

Mary also used red napkins in a tiny gingham pattern, which I have in brown, green, pink, yellow and lavender, but not red.  But the larger gingham pattern is close enough.  Oh, and it so happens that I already owned the same exact cutting board from Kohl's.  Score!

As for the picnic basket, I have an old Longaberger basket from the 90's.  Do you remember those days when so many of us thought we'd perish unless we owned at least one Longaberger basket?  This one was one of the exclusive ones that only show hostesses could buy.  Lucky for me, I had a consultant that had a very practical streak, and once she became convinced that I was not party material (at least, NOT this kind of party) she let me buy the hostess specials at retail, swearing me to secrecy over her breaking the rules.  What made it exclusive was the narrower size of the slats.

JE T'AIME!  Isn't that romantic?  I headed off to World Market to see if I could find it.  

No luck.  However, I did find this other beautiful bottle, and, after all, isn't that how we should always choose our wine, by the look of the bottle?

I do not own any of those beautiful Skyler dishes that Mary used, but these pretty ones might work.

It’s called Pink Toile by Churchill, and depicts several idealized scenes from the English countryside.  The scene below shows a gentleman is getting ready to jump a fence with his horse, if you look to the right, his hound seems to be hiding among the bushes.

Further to the right a young man is holding a fishing rod, a swan swims nearby, and in the center of the plate, cows graze in a bucolic setting.  Yes, indeed, perfect for a picnic.

I found some heart-shaped crackers at World Market, too!

So here's my basket . . .

Now for the cheese tray.  Crackers, cheese and fruit . . . check!

My Nantucket dish by Wedgwood is even similar to Mary's . . .  I served some of our favorite cheeses:  Provolone, Port Salut and Wensleydale with Cranberry.

Because Valentine's Day fell on a Friday -  a work day for me, we had our picnic at night, and because it was dinner time, we needed something a bit more substantial, so I prepared some chicken salad and placed it on a bed of radicchio . . .

It came together very quickly by using a rotisserie chicken and adding onion, celery, roasted red peppers, cranberries, salt, pepper, a little mayo, and lemon juice.  It's one of our go-to dishes when we are busy, and my husband never seems to get tired of it!

Well, we sat on the floor by our fireplace and had our own Winter Picnic for two, while the fire crackled and some love songs played in the background . . .

We opened the champagne, which was delicious!

I pulled out our Waterford Millenium Flutes with the Heart Design . . .

I couldn't resist getting two different kinds of the Chocolove Chocolate Bars, my favorite flavors . . .

They were both excellent, but I must confess, I loooved the Orange Peel. 

And both of them came with poems printed on the inside of the wrapper!

Our "Love Boat" Picnic was wonderfully romantic, and, on a day when the wind was howling outside, we cuddled by the fireplace and celebrated our 36th Valentine's Day together.  Thank you, Mary, for helping me plan it!  Hoping that your day was filled with love.

Oscar Night 2020

A dear friend has been hosting a glamorous pajama party for 20 of her nearest and dearest women friends and relatives for the last several years.  So, while her husband watches football upstairs, Cathy takes over the man cave and transforms it into a swanky lounge and theatre in which to watch the Oscars on TV.

Over the years, the ladies have begun bringing gifts for the other guests, not in any regular way, and it's all completely unpredictable in nature, it's certainly not required, and there's no expectation whatsoever, but we all end up going home with some fun swag.  I think, it's because we are all women, and the caring instinct takes over, especially in the midst of so many other wonderful women.  We all seem to want to give!

This year, remembering the success at Christmas, I decided to bring the ladies some Fannie May candy. 

When I went to the store, I noticed that Fannie May was celebrating its 100th Anniversary, and thought it would be special to take advantage of this opportunity.  Sometimes, things click into place so easily!

The reusable tin box contains creamy caramels covered in chocolate, and features the iconic Chicago "L" — the system of elevated train tracks that loop parts of Chicago's downtown.   I'm not sure how much this would be appreciated outside Chicago, but it was a hit at my Christmas Eve party, and I hope the ladies approve.

The lights were dimmed, and there was a lot of glitter and sparkle . . .

There was lots of champagne!

And, popcorn, of course . . .

as well as many other snacks.

Ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille . . .

Three Kings Day Open House 2020

2019 will always be to me "The Year of the Hiatus" - I stopped blogging last year because ... I'm not sure, too busy at work, to unfocused at home, Facebook ... but I've missed the journaling, and my blogging friends, and having a visual record of what I've done.  So, with a great deal of caution, careful not to over commit, here we go again.

We held our almost-annual Three Kings Day Open House on Sunday, January 5, and we were lucky enough that my oldest son, John, was still with us on Christmas vacation.  John is now living in Charlottesville, Virginia, and we had not seen him since the previous Christmas!

Here he is with some of his college friends that came to the Open House.  It was so wonderful to see these cute faces!  I've missed them!

So, I've had a lifetime of trial and errors with this Open House.  It started as a small gathering with just my brother's family, which included three nephews which are about the same age as my two sons.  I wanted to teach them about our Cuban tradition of gift giving on Three Kings Day, and to celebrate Epiphany, the revealing of the Christ-child and the light of God to the world.  Many European countries and those of Latin and South America also celebrate Three Kings in their own way.

In Cuba, we wrote our letters to the Three Kings, not to Santa, and we knew their glorious, albeit mythical, names:  Melchior, Gaspar (or Caspar) and Balthazar, and we knew from where they came!  After receiving our gifts, we'd have breakfast and for mid-morning merienda (snack), we'd have Roscón de Reyes - our version of Three Kings Day, always bought at bakery.  I don't know anyone who actually baked the yeasty treat at home.  One thing I've loved about America is their ability to take a tradition and make it their own, so I've adopted this particular approach for the Open House, and the day is as much a reflection of my whim, as it is about tradition.  You'll see what I mean ...

First a Hot Chocolate Bar.  The Spanish, from where our traditions are derived, love hot chocolate.  And I've been intrigued by the many hot chocolate bars I've seen on Pinterest, so I decided to set one up.

I've been playing with a program on my iPad called "Layout" and it makes some very easy collages.  The Hot Chocolate Bar included Candy canes, Williams-Sonoma Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark (this one is now a staple at our house, it is so delicious!), decorated marshmallows (also from W-S), Dark Chocolate Caramels, Peppermint Poles, Chocolate-covered Coffee Beans, Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouettes Wafers, and RumChata to go with some very delicious Hot Chocolate (from W-S).  I draped one of my plaid throws over a basic white tablecloth, and pulled out my Mikasa French Countryside mugs.

It was a cold day, so for the adults that preferred something less sweet, and perhaps with a little alcohol, we offered some Mulled Wine and kept it warm in a crockpot.

And it was served on my Irish Coffee glass mugs ...

The Open House was held beginning at 2 P.M.  It was supposed to end at 6 P.M. but friends kept dropping by, so we actually walked out our last guests at 7:30 P.M.  Planning food for this event can be challenging.  There are those that come earlier and are looking for something light.  For them, I made a tea sandwiches:  Basque-style tuna sandwiches on Oatnut Bread, and Cucumber Sandwiches on White Bread.

Here's the super easy and oh-so-delicious recipe for the Basque-Style Tuna Spread:

4 5-oz. cans Genova Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil, drained
2 8-oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese
½ jar Roasted Pepper Bruschetta (about 5 oz.)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 shakes of Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

With a fork, combine tuna, softened cream cheese, and Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta and mix until fully integrated.  Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  This will yield enough filling for three loves of Oatnut Bread.  Basque cooking is noted for their inclusion of local red peppers ad Spanish smoked paprika.  This bruschetta, although Italian, mimics the flavors beautifully.  Oh, and take the leftover bruschetta and serve it over boiled, roasted or mashed potatoes.  Yum!

There were treats aplenty, including the Honey Pecan Butterballs that are a staple in our home.  I've blogged about them here.

I ordered canolli from a nearby bakery ...

My son made his famous Black and White Chocolate Bark with Pistachio and Cranberry ...

I baked a Flan ...

And a cake with the fève baked inside and whoever found it was declared King or Queen for the Day ...

Oranges have a deep connection to Christmas in many cultures, symbolizing the gold balls that St. Nick left for a poor girl, or the bright star that followed the Magi, or the fact that they were considered a special treat during the Depression, and so, a prized gift at Christmas.  They are also in season at this time of year, and I decided a while ago to adopt the custom of having something orange during Three Kings, so I spread Orange Slice Candy around the house.

I know my peeps, and there are some (mostly guys) who start prowling around the kitchen, looking for something more substantial to eat, so I made Pulled Pork Sandwiches (for which I have no pictures!), and I also made a Hot Buffalo Chicken Cheese Spread ... I made four recipes of it during the party. Thank goodness I had enough supplies!

So many lovely friends!  All these photos were contributed by friends since I was too busy having fun to remember to snap pictures.

We ended up with both, a King and a Queen, since one of my friends brought a special Three Kings Day cake with the fève, or bean, inside ...

And everyone took home a goody bag ...

The goody bags included gold chocolate coins, an  assortment of candies, a Godiva Blood Orange Dark Chocolate Bar (my current favorite), a lottery ticket, and a little cardboard box ...

The little box contained a paper scroll with a House Blessing, and a piece of chalk to mark the door of the house ...

The blessing is another European tradition that I tried out one year, and it's become so popular that I now find myself shopping for white chalk in late December to include in the loot bags.  Some friends have panicked on the few years when I haven't had the Open House, and I've actually had to make some to give away.  This year, the door would be marked 20 + C + M + B + 20.  C M B stands for the names of the Kings - Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar.  It also means Christus mansionem beneficat - Latin for "May Christ bless this home."

And a star to light our way ...

It was a lovely way to start the year, and it never fails to fill me with joy and gratitude.  Happy New Year!