Category — Linda

… me!!! Yes, it’s true that yesterday I received a Christmas gift from me, for me. I bought myself a grape hod! You ask, “What is a grape hod?” It is a metal or woven basket that was used in the vineyards of France to gather grapes. The vineyard worker would strap the hod on his back during the harvest and gently toss the picked grapes over his shoulder and into the hod.

Two summers ago when we were in Wisconsin staying with our friends, Jeff and Jen, Jen and I went to our favorite home decor store in the town of Minocqua. It was there that we spotted a gorgeous vintage grape hod that was hanging on the wall filled with a gorgeous floral arrangement. We fell in love on-site, but when we saw the price tag – well, let’s just say that it was a couple of thousand dollars out of our price range. CLICK HERE to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

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Thank you for all your sweet comments about my Christmas dining room and “tablescape” which I posted yesterday. That’s right, I misspelled “tablescape” in my post title, and not a soul told me until sweet Amy finally left a comment at 12:30… which I didn’t find right away, so I wasn’t able to correct my error until 2:30. Embarrassing!  Please, please, please, always feel free to point out my mistakes and alert me to my missed spell-checks, I will sincerely appreciate it. Thank you, Amy! (of Amy’s Famous Taco Soup)

Now, how about we check out the rest of the house – all dolled up for Christmas? Come on in and let me fix you a drink from my sweet little “retro bar” set-up. First things first!

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This is my Christmas dining room. I was planning on showing you the whole house, but I took too many photos, so just the dining room for today.

I own more than a dozen patterns of dishes, but these are my holiday favorite. They were my parents’ wedding pattern. Over the years, my mother disliked them more and more. So when they divorced in 1981, she left them with my dad and he gave them to me. They are Mikasa Fine China in the Shasta Pine pattern. I love them, especially the square salad plate.

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You won’t find me in the kitchen today. No, I’m off to my favorite one-a-month sale with my BFF, Peggy!  HERE is where we are.  In fact, at the minute this post goes up, we will be scouting around for new finds. The sale runs all weekend long, so come if you can, you’ll find The Perfect Christmas gift!  Here are just a few of the treasures we found last month…

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… I will be manning the booth at an awesome BAKE SALE at the Phoenix Public Market. The decadent baked goods have been made by the talented women of our local chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

The sale begins at 8:00 am and ends at 1:00 pm.  The lovely, Chef Gwen, and I will be selling the treats during the second shift, beginning at 10:30, so please come by and see us in action!  We are fun and we are funny!

What? You still need more enticement to come to the market? Here are a few of the luscious items we’ll be offering:

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Peggy and I love to go to a once-a-month vintage sale held on 7th Avenue in Phoenix. It’s called Sweet Salvage and the next monthly sale is this weedend. Last month I spotted this lovely silver platter – turned chalk board. Instead of buying it, I knew that I could make my own, since I have chalk board paint and I have a couple of nasty old platters that I’ve been storing. For what, I did not know, until I saw this lovely piece.

Honestly, I kinda wish I would have bought that one, it is so pretty with the handles and the rectangular shape… maybe it will still be there!

Until then, here is the one I made with my tattered old round tray.

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Although it has taken me much longer than usual to get into the Christmas spirit this year, here is what finally motivated me to just “do it!”  It is an essay written by my daughter, Marissa, when she was in elementary school. It used to hang in my bedroom but was taken down quite a while ago.  Luckily, I ran across it yesterday, just in time. I hope it warms your heart, it certainly did, mine!

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… your homemade vanilla extract. That is, if you made it back on October 1st when I posted THIS. Even if you were a few days or even 2 weeks behind me in getting yours in the bottle, don’t worry, go ahead and package it up today.

Here are the six little bottles I made. I used a small funnel to transfer the liquid into each container then folded each of the vanilla beans in half and stuck one into each container before closing.

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So, my new little game, “What the Heck is That?!?” proved to be quite pop-pop-popular! That makes me happy! And I learned a few things from it…

Firstly, I need to make it harder and get even more “close up” with my photos.

Patti, who was the first to place her guesses (within 8 minutes of the post going up) got the first two correct, right off the bat!

My daughter’s memory isn’t as good as I thought. FYI, Maris – all these items are in the glass-front cabinet over the kitchen desk. I was sure you would remember “smelly” item #3!

Some of you were very “creative” in your guesses. Which I LIKE! Such as, “a carved something or other.”  Um, yeah, that’s vaguely correct and yet, so wrong!

And no, Sara, I do not sew – not even a little bit!

Oh, and yes, that is a close-up of red cabbage as my intro photo today – SWEET!

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I made these luxurious little toffee cakes for the last class of my three-week series at Les Gourmettes Cooking School last Wednesday night and then served them again for a dinner party at a friend’s home last night. They are a true Christmas treat. Make, share, and enjoy!

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