With only a few minutes to spare between finalizing recipes and last minute shopping, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!  Since we are having our big dinner tonight, here is our holiday table. Photos haven’t been edited, but hopefully you will enjoy them anyway!

I almost ALWAYS do a white table cloth, but this year I added placemats given to me last year by my friend, Connie. The design reminds me of a New England snow scene.

Once again, I am using my silver beaded chargers. The napkin ring is from Pottery Barn – a simple velvet ribbon and silver bells. Napkins are from Ballard Designs.

Since I only have 6 napkin rings and we are having dinner for 8, I used a wired red ribbon for the settings on the ends of the table.

The dishes are the Reindeer pattern from Pottery Barn.

Behind each chair has a ribboned wreath from Ballard Design (as shown in my last blog post).

I have refreshed the flowers in the silver mint julep cups with white tulips and roses.

Candles and votives complete the ambiance.

Dinner tonight will be individual beef Wellingtons, roasted root vegetables, and a salad.  For dessert, I am making a mocha and raspberry trifle from a 1998 Bon Appetite recipe.

Lastly, this is the VERY first time I have made a gingerbread house from scratch.  I used a Martha Stewart template for a log cabin and baked each of the sections.  I had such fun doing this, maybe because I love renovating homes.

The chimney is covered in pecans, while the roof tiles are mini Hershey chocolates and York Peppermint patties. Gingersnaps make up the border fence and walkway.  Hershey kisses top the roofline.

Graham crackers mimic shutters on the yellow cellophane window panes.  My snowman is made up of 3 snowball cookies.

He even has a carrot for a nose!

My husband added lights and the control box is tucked in the back of the house.

I’m dashing off to do some last minute shopping! Have a glorious day!

As promised, here is our 2018 holiday home tour.  I tried a few new things this year. There are several pictures so please pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee/tea and enjoy!

The Entry

Since the outside of the front door is rather magical, I wanted to make the entry feel as special. As I mentioned in my last post, I have ALOT of fresh garland and used it on the front staircase bannister.

The petticoat table isn’t really my style, but it’s an antique and I’ve never seen another.  The mirror on the bottom was used to check your hemline. Unfortunately you can also see my Dyson vacuum cleaner in the reflection! So much for trying to take perfect photos.

I assembled a collection of colorful ornaments in glass vases this year.

I love those fabulous faux candles (that light with a remote) and placed a few on the stairs. Bells are hung in the garland on the newel post.

In 2011, we went to Disneyland right after New Year’s to celebrate my daughter’s 10th birthday. The Chip and Dale store had all their ornaments on sale for 75% off.  I bought them all, literally, with the intention that they would be appropriate for a Christmas tree at our cabin.  However, we have never had a tree up in the mountains so the ornaments have been boxed up for the last several years.  A woodland theme for the front hall tree was the perfect solution. Now we are enjoying all those ornaments.

This old log cabin has been in our barn for years collecting dust.   With its own rocking chair, the tree on the porch and wreath on the upstairs window, it fits with the woodland theme.

I even wrapped my hostess gifts with simple in mind and placed them under the tree for handy retrieval at the front door. Custom made tags by Dixie Design.

Living Room

To the left of the entry, this is the view of the living room.

I kept the mantle rather simple this year, with garland and candles but added 2 new trees on the ends. The boxwood topiaries are from The Enchanted Home and stay on the mantle throughout the year.

The tree is a fresh one from Whitfill Nursery. We have never been disappointed in the quality of trees this wonderful nursery provides. Combined with the fresh cedar garland, the entire house smells like winter. Tucked into the corner by the windows, the tree is filled with cherished ornaments we’ve collected over the years.

The Nativity Scene is placed on the top of the piano. Baby Jesus will arrive on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, the 3 Wise Men roam around the house as they make their way to Bethlehem.

Dining Room

Tried and true, the vintage glittery village rests on the sideboard.  Lights are placed under the snow and each little house is lit from behind.

On the adjacent wall, above the fireplace, is a mantle filled with snow globes.

Here is the view from the front hall to the dining room.  I added these sweet boxwood wreaths (from Ballard Designs) to the back of the chairs.  I feel like I need to do something about the dark furniture in the dining room, but that’s a project for the new year!

The Kitchen

My friend, Janie always has a Christmas tree on her counter.  I stole her idea and this year I added a small Christmas tree on the kitchen island, with any ornament related to cooking or food.

The Library

Most of the artwork on the first floor gets changed out for Christmas paintings. Matryoshka dolls we purchased in St. Petersburg are placed on the mantle.  Done by a Russian artist, each doll represents a Russian fairytale.  There are 8 more inside the smallest one below,  but if displayed, the cats would have a field day.

We also tuck these remote control lighted candles in the bookcase.  With the fireplace roaring and the candles on, the room is quite magical at night.

Lastly, my sweet husband had my last 3 Christmas paintings framed and they are hanging in the mudroom.

Thank you for joining me for my holiday home tour.  We feel so blessed to live in this historical home, where many holidays have been celebrated over the generations.

This weekend I will be setting the holiday table and if time permits, I hope to share it with you on Monday.

The first exterior decorations to go up for the holidays are the multiple wreaths placed around our property.  There are two lighted Balsam Hill ones on the front entry gates.

The largest lighted one is placed on the front of the well tower.

Everything looks very different at night.

Since our daughter is living in our guest cottage during her last year in college, we simply added a lighted wreath beside the front door.

Bright red amaryllis and holly leaves are the perfect complement to the wreath on the forest green Dutch door at the back of the house.

My husband gets all the credit for erecting and lighting the 7 trees that grace the front entrance.

Battery operated candles are placed in each window.  Someone recently asked me why we do this.  Growing up in Connecticut, my mother always had candles in the windows. So I researched why and here’s what I discovered.

The tradition of lighting candles in the windows of homes during Christmas was brought to America by the Irish. The Irish were persecuted for their religious beliefs by the English. When Christmas came, they would leave their doors unlocked and a candle burning in the window to let the priest know he was welcome in their home.

Each year my husband and I have the debate about white vs. colored lights.  I am partial to white lights; he loves colored ones.  So we compromise~~he gets colored lights on the wreath on the well tower and a tree that is placed in front of the pool house. White lights are used everywhere else.

I was a bit ambitious on ordering fresh cedar garland this year (2 strands each 75 feet long) and I am using it EVERYWHERE.  On the outside back terrace, the garland is the main stay of the centerpiece.  I added faux bois vases I purchased from Painted Fox.

I then added seeded eucalyptus, red berries and a few pinecones.

The vases are filled with fresh greens, red roses and white hydrangeas. Every year we host our neighborhood board holiday party and this centerpiece was perfect for the wintery theme.

Two metal hand painted angels are hung on the master bedroom terrace fireplace.  I bought these years ago from a street vendor and have never seen them again. I love how whimsical they are!

My next blog post will be an interior holiday home tour.  I have tried a few new things this year and cannot wait to share them with you.  I hope you are taking quiet moments for yourself during this crazy time of year!

I have been MIA for the last week.  It all started Thanksgiving morning.  I woke up full of energy and excitement for the holiday.  Mid-morning I suddenly had the worst abdominal pains, which was the beginning of a wave of vomiting and the “other”.  The good Lord gave me a break long enough to get dinner on the table.  That night I again, got really sick.  Then it was gone.  I can only attribute the food poisoning symptoms to the sushi I ate the night before.  Note to self: Do not eat sushi before hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

48 hours later I came down with the worst cold/flu virus and have been literally out of commission for the last week.  I haven’t been sick in 20 years so I guess I was long overdue.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  In spite of the crud, it was a truly wonderful day.  There is nothing better than having the house filled with those you love. Tried taking the annual family holiday photo and there was a lot of this…..

and this…..sigh…..But I was able to get one or two good photos eventually!

Usually by now, I am well into Christmas decorating.  Fortunately, my husband made significant progress in the outdoor ones.  Getting the huge wreath up on the front of the well tower requires agility and balance!

The guest cottage has its own Christmas colors~~ just adding a lighted wreath seems appropriate.

Since I am not feeling 100% well yet, I am tackling the easy stuff.  The family room sofa gets a seasonal slipcover change ~~hence the velvet forest green  and holiday pillows.

Hanging the wreaths in the windows is another easy task. Click here to see a previous post on this.

Several years ago we received a gift of a paint-by-numbers Santa.  We worked on it every year, a little at a time.  Last year we finally completed it, had it framed and now it proudly hangs as one of our holiday pieces of art.  What a fun tradition this would be! Have you seen some of the paint-by-numbers paintings? They are very attractive!

The only good thing about being sick for a week was I started and finished my annual holiday painting. When I began painting 3 years ago, I decided to try and create a new one for each holiday.

There is much to do but it all magically comes together each and every year. Wishing you a healthy December!

Thank you so much for the feedback on my last post.  Based on consensus, I went with the silver beaded charger~~still surprised I hadn’t thought of it before.  A bit of thistle is stuck into the napkin for color and texture.

I was so excited when I made the decision to go silver, but then panicked because most of my stemware is rimmed with gold.  However, I was able to find enough plain glasses to use.

The centerpiece is a combination of potted plants from Whitfill Nursery (my favorite here in town) and fresh flowers.  Ornamental cabbages, alyssum, and dichodra were replanted in various size containers.  I used pot de creme vessels, cereal bowls and smaller bowls (that I purchased from West Elm and use for everything!).

The fresh cut flowers were purchased from Safeway.  I was a bit surprised they had protea, which has a fun shape and is a lovely shade of rose.  Coupled with roses and mums, the colors of the plate are well represented. Four silver candlesticks are staggered for height and dimension.

I added a few white pumpkins and a combination of real and artificial leaves.

One of my followers requested more room shots vs. close up photos, so here is a larger view of the dining room. My apologies for some of the darker photos.  Our dining room faces east and between the front porch and the porte cochere, the natural light is very limited. One of these days I need to invest in professional lighting.

On one side of the dining room is a fireplace.  Here on the mantle, the individual mercury glass votives spell GIVE THANKS.

The sideboard has our Pilgrim family (a Costco find several years ago) and a painting by the late California artist, Lynn Winans.

Wishing you and yours a blessed, loving Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful for your continued support and readership of my blog. We have so much to be grateful for~~our prayers are with those who have lost their homes to fire and hurricanes. To our service men and women who are away from their families this holiday, thank you for your service.

Sending big holiday hugs to you,

It is the time of year that my basil is very abundant.  Once the weather gets too cold, all that luscious green herb goes black. Since it was 39 degrees one morning this week, it is time to harvest it.

I plant the basil next to the tomatoes in the garden. The general consensus is that basil – both the plant and extract made from the leaves – can be an effective natural deterrent for white flies, mosquitoes, tomato hornworms, aphids, houseflies, and asparagus beetles. The basil is also thought to (somehow) improve the flavor of the tomatoes if planted nearby.

My dear friend, Gwen gave me this recipe in 1993.  It has been my go-to pesto recipe since then.

Having a food processor makes this quick and easy.  If not, you will just do some chopping and blending.  I love recipes with a few ingredients-fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and two types of cheese.

Separate the leaves from the stem.

Place all the ingredients, except the olive oil in the food processor.

While the food processor is running, slowly add the oil.

Look at the beautiful color of the pesto.  As I was making this, the girls came into the kitchen asking what smelled SO good! The scent of basil is so unique and aromatic.

I have a ton of basil to use and will make several batches of pesto.  I tend to freeze this in 1-2 cup batches in Ziploc bags,  but you can also preserve it in the canning process. Or just store it in the refrigerator. We go through it so quickly so I do not know how long it will keep in the fridge.

There are so many uses for pesto~~ over pasta, in scrambled eggs, or as a sandwich spread. Dunking a piece of artisan bread in pesto with a glass of wine could be a whole meal for me!

Pesto is a great staple to have on hand during the holidays.  Please enjoy this simple recipe!

Simple Pesto Recipe (given to Mary by her friend, Gwen)

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