Afternoon Tea

Well, hello dear friends!  I really wish I could have all of you over for a big afternoon tea of scones and tea sandwiches and little petit fours.  But for now won't you please join me for a little humble spot of tea?  I've brewed a pot of Earl Grey and baked a spiced cake last night (half of which went into the freezer for a later time.....the secret to being prepared when guests drop in unexpected!).  And I'm willing to sit and gossip away the evening if you are up for it!

The table is all set for us!  The beautiful wreath in the background is from my Aunt.....what a wonderful surprise it was before Thanksgiving!  A little more tea?

Now, settle in and tell me about what's going on in your life.  Please leave comments telling how you are relaxing in the middle of the 'holiday season'.  As you can possibly tell, tea is my big relaxation technique lately.

In The Kitchen

I have more food in my kitchen right now than I have in a long, long time.  And I figured that I might as well share what that means for my household.  The food is for this week, and a little into next, since I took some time to menu plan.

On a vintage glass cake stand that an old middle school teacher gave me while G and I were engaged (I bought a cake she made at a cake auction and she told me congrats and to keep the cake stand!) we have spaghetti squash, butternut squash, tomatoes, onions, acorn squash, garlic and elephant garlic!

My food cabinet in the kitchen.  Lots of tomatoes, oat meal (irish and quaker oats, and we have more on the counter), and chocolate!

On to the refrigerator:

Pellegrino, apple cider (for mulled apple cider) and a pot of butternut squash soup in the back.

I have 2 dozen brown eggs, planning on doing a lot of baking!

Our deli drawer holds some parmesan, fresh sage, goat's cheese and greek yogurt.

Chickpeas and portobello mushrooms (for soup this weekend).

Chicken, bone in, helps to make stock/broth for the soup.

My veggie drawer: carrots, celery, belgian endives, spinach, red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce. 

An orange for mulled wine, couple of pear, unwaxed organic lemons for water and chicken, red potatoes and golden delicious apples.

Prepared for baking!

Milk, clotted cream, and heavy and light cream.....ingredients enough for scones and quiche!

And the freezer:

A bag of frozen chopped onions on top, some pumpkin loafs (we froze them to keep from eating them all!), roasted butternut squash puree and a ton of flour!

Well, you either enjoyed this trip or were bored out of your mind, but I was so excited I had to share!  And yes, sadly I am that anal about where everything goes (all facing forward, lined up neatly).  It took G a little while to get the hang of it, since I also keep all of our glasses and dishes as precisely.  OCD anyone? 

Black Friday

Garret and I needed a vacuum (the one we had in England was a German plug, and so we donated it before leaving) and on Black Friday we picked one up at Wal-mart for $24.  It's simple, not even a hose, but good enough for our suite (where the dogs spend the most time).  A review online stated that it was great, from a woman who uses her vacuum twice a day!


Dirt Devil Dynamite

It really is dynamite!  I took it for a spin around our (carpeted) room, and then onto the hardwood sitting/office area, and into the tiled bathroom.  It sucked like no other!  It also happens to be the perfect width for our stairs, making it easy to suck up dog hair.  Just a little area, and I am embarassed to admit it had balls of my hair (sorry, but figured it was best to be honest).  It was disgusting, but I was glad to have it up off my floor!

*This is not a paid endorsement, I just really like this vacuum.  It definitely has me interested in looking at other Dirt Devil products (such as little ones for the kitchen)!

Warm Home

G and I keep it downright frigid in our house.  Short of the house heating up from cooking (which surprisingly it does quite quickly) our house is in the low 60's.  It's how we like it, if we get cold, we bundle up or bake.  
We also eat warm foods, like a new favorite roasted acorn squash.  A little salt, butter and maple syrup and you have this:

It was delicious and simple to cook (about 50 minutes total).  Definitely something we'll make again soon!

My New Baby!

On Sunday night my husband and I headed out on an adventure to Wal-Mart!  After having been cooped up in the house Saturday and Sunday I was a little bit excited for the trip.  We had a mission:  hunt down a new baby for me!
Here she is:

(With a free subscription to Martha Stewart Mag to boot!)

And once we got home I sat down to figure her out.  I ended up ripping apart an old baby blue t-shirt of G's because he's a skinny minnie and the size L drapes on him now.  Jerk.  Anyhoo, no bitterness here at all.  I made it into little bags for him when we travel (prepping for Christmas early).  Two shoe bags and two small bags for things like his watch and cuff links (because God knows he doesn't keep them in anything like the box that came with them).  I'm hoping to eventually put together a little travel valet for those things, but for now voila, the shoe bag (using the neckline as a drawstring on this shoe bag, the others are string-less currently, but that will be fixed this weekend). 

Espress Yourself

Espresso made in our Bialetti.  

Happy Fridge

Green Goodness