My friend Kristina, the Domesticated Gypsy, recently told me about this divine ambrosia called Dickinson’s Country Pumpkin Butter! It’s the perfect topping for applesauce pancakes, maple scones, apple pandowdy, buttery shortbread and cinnamon swirl toast with raisins. Enjoy! ~Melissa
~Make cider floats! Pour real apple orchard cider over cinnamon ice cream ~Harvest grapevines and make homemade wreaths for Christmas gifts…here’s a new twist on this idea. homemade grapevine wreath ~Go to a grape stomp or participate in a grape harvest at a local vineyard. ~Host a harvest party: plan a hayride, have a campfire,…
This is a delicious, cinnamony-sweet butter spread for toast, scones, muffins, popovers…whatever! You may want to add jars of this yummy treat to your Holiday gift baskets. I like to use my Red Wing pottery beater jar to make this spread. This little jar is also nice for making salad dressings, beating eggs, and even…
“Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed.” Shakespeare’s Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream There is nothing quite like the scent of lavender for relaxation. I have been making lavender linen spray for years, as well as using Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day lavender scented laundry detergent and fabric softener. Recently Jeff and I have…
“We are an online marketplace where you can discover and buy food directly from small, passionate food producers and growers.” ~ quote from the Foodzie website I discovered an amazing resource for purchasing artisan foods online. It’s sort of an Etsy shop for foodies and for people who care where and how their foods are…
~ ~ ~ The Spirit of Scent~The Proust Effect ~ ~ ~ From the book “Welcome Home” by Melissa Placzek ~page 96~ “But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more immaterial, more persistent,…
I wear different perfumes according to the season and my mood… Here are my 6 favorite summer scents: Summer Hill by Crabtree & Evelyn This perfume will forever remind me of the east coast. Strolling the streets of Boston, and touring Nantucket Island… A light and airy fragrance captures a perfect summer day in a…
“Ecstasy is a glass of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth.” Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) For my friends who are just learning “The Mysteries of Tea” and have recently purchased their sun tea jars… 🙂 MightyLeaf tea is the BEST tea for making sun tea! The same wonderful quality of loose tea and the…
Have you seen the cutest pasta in the world? I noticed this on the shelf next to the only store bought pasta I’ll use, Barilla (I prefer homemade.). Barilla also makes this adorable ‘baby’ pasta, Piccolini. My favorite are the baby bowties, and here is a good for you recipe using them. They’d also be…
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. ~William Morris My friends Heather and Tom gave this to me for Christmas a couple years ago and I just love it. Beautiful and useful. Perfect! Thanks guys! It’s available at Patina stores if you just have…