Who Wants Desert?

I love serving a beautifully made deserts on beautifully made German porcelain from the Victorian era. These gorgeous pieces have served me well or should I say I served them through the years. Downsizing is never easy but it's time to say goodbye to a few of my treasured pieces. They are now available for sale. From the top: Austrian hand painted cake plate, Zeh Scherzer and Company cake plate, Zeh Scherzer and Company large cake plate, bowls and snack tray,  and  Zeh Scherzer and Company relish tray and salad plates.

Christmas Center Piece

It's amazing what you can do with a few garage sale and thrift store finds for your Christmas center piece, I'm looking forward to making some new memories around the table.

Betty Crocker Christmas Cut Out Cookies

When my husband and I got married 34 years ago my Mom gave me a cookie cook book for a wedding gift.  My initial thought was "why", I wasn't that into baking. But life marches forward and soon enough I was baking cookies every Christmas. When my sons were little they always pitched in by being my official taste testers. Soon enough the Christmas cut out cookies became our tradition. I miss those little taste testers but every year they still look forward to these cookies and a few other things. Traditions just sort of happen when time passes and people gather for the holidays!

Below is a chronicle of this years cookie cooking festival.

 Ethel's Sugar Cookies is the one that works best and tastes best!! I don't use shortening in Christmas cookies...........just butter. Christmas only happens once a year.

Easy Creamy Icing is the best cookie icing out there. After 34 years of baking and decorating Christmas cut out cookies I have tested them all!!

I cheat and buy a gingerbread mix! Cut outs take a lot of time and this little trick has helped cut the preparation time. I switched to plastic cookie cutters about 30 years ago. They don't rust. And yes, these are the same ones.

This old Sunbeam mixer has never let me down. Plus harvest gold is the bomb!!

The dough needs to chill about an hour for the best results. Gooey dough does not roll or cut easily.

Cover your surface with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Cover the rolling pin with flour too. If necessary dip the edges of the cookie cutter in flour too. This will keep the dough from sticking. I love using my Mom's old rolling pin to make cookies.

I watch the cookies carefully. If they're in just a minute too long the bottoms will burn. Let them cool off before you ice them. I usually ice them the next day.

You have to work quickly once the icing is applied or the candy toppings won't stick. I usually do 3-4 cookis at a time.

After I gunk on as many sprinkles as possible I put them in the freezer so the icing will harden quickly.

Don't those look ridiculously yummy??

This is the same icing minus the food coloring! These little gingerbread reindeer are topped with sugar and cinnamon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Modern Christmas Tree Dot Com

Motel Interiors of the 60s

 

It's always fun to stumble across great collections of ephemera and this is a great collection!

 Roadside Pictures has a fantastic collection of post cards of motel interiors from the 60s. Some how I don't think Motel Liquidators has any of these items in their inventory.  This collection allows us to have a first hand glimpse at how it was.

Pantone's Fall Color Fashion Report 2013

Alrighty Pantone has announced the best colors in women's fashion for the fall!

PANTONE 17 - 5641 Emerald
PANTONE 18 - 4434 Mykonos Blue
PANTONE 15 - 0533 Linden Green
 PANTONE 19 - 3628 Acai
PANTONE 1 9 - 1662 Samba
PANTONE 1 7 - 1452 Koi
PANTONE 1 8 - 0312 Deep Lichen Green
PANTONE 1 9 - 2045 Vivacious
PANTONE 19 - 4215 Turbulence
PANTONE 1 9 - 1116 Carafe

Louis I. Kahn For Sale in Philadelphia

 The Esherick house, commissioned by Margaret Esherick,  in Philadelphia has been waiting for 51 years for a new owner.  This one bedroom Mid-century Modern home designed by Louis I. Kahn is for sale with an asking price of  $1,100,000.00. I'd be happy just to go to an open house!

The home sits on a 3/4 acre and with gorgeous windows that bring the outside inside, highlighting every season Pennsylvania has to offer. Once again a fine example of America's interest in Naturalism in the late 50s and early 60s.. This home highlights much of what Kahn took pleasure in creating during his 50 year career as an architect, teacher at Yale and lecturer at Princeton.

The kitchen was designed by Margaret Esherick's uncle, Wharton Esherick a well known sculptor and furniture designer in Philadelphia. Additional photos of the kitchen can be found on Flickr.

Wharton Esherick table