Melissa

Relaxing Ritual~Tea Time

“It’s always tea time.” ~Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland I’ve been taking pictures of tea scenes for the tea book and thought I’d share one of my favorite relaxing rituals with you. Tea time outside. Taking time for tea is a relaxing ritual I’ve been enjoying for years. Everything about tea relaxes me… Choosing a…

# 11 and #74

#11 I started posting a “word of the day” on the bistro board that hangs on our dining room wall… My commitment for the “Day Zero” Project is to expand my vocabulary by 100 words in the next 1001 days, but I think I love this word a day thing too much to ever stop.…

Gifts From the Garden

“Plants cry their gratitude for the sun in green joy.”  ~Astrid Alauda Another gorgeous autumn day! The sun didn’t join us until later in the afternoon, which was okay because my friend Nancy and I were busy making magic in her kitchen. We talked and talked while we cleaned and cored bushels of apples… plunged…

house warming ~ little luxuries for autumn

~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,…

Baked Oatmeal with Apples & Sausage

“You have to eat oatmeal or you’ll dry up. Anybody knows that.” ~Kay Thompson Delicious baked oatmeal sweetened with applesauce and brown sugar. This breakfast treat can be served with apples and sausage (see recipe below) or a healthier ‘every day’ version that I like is to serve it with is vanilla yogurt, berries and…

Relaxing Ritual~Back Yard Campfire

“Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”  ~George Eliot Last night we grilled steaks and hung out in the back yard around a little campfire. Enjoying the crisp fall air under a canopy of stars while watching…

Sugar & Spice Honey Butter

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…

Ole!

Amazing, amazing, brilliant message from one of my favorite writers, Elizabeth Gilbert. I have felt this fear. I’m feeling it as I make this journey from scribblings in a notebook to novel. Please watch.

Cream Sherry Pumpkin Bread

“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as…