Today on the blog I’m sharing Laurentide’s most popular lemon honey salad dressing. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe.
Read moreTorn Between Two Houses and Feelin' Like a Fool
During this work-from-home year, we have had the great good fortune of living in two places at once. Our farm is only thirty-five minutes from our suburban home, so we commute back and forth a lot. There are advantages to both. Here in the suburbs, I love chatting with Stacy next door. I appreciate the convenience of a garage, and of course the array of nice shoes, high class chapstick, and probably a thousand books. Not to mention the biggest perk: television!
Read moreOwning Up
This is a three-part story that really has nothing to do with the pretty photo above until the very end.
Many years ago, I took my young nephew to see Thomas the Tank Engine, a horrid film made expressly to lull adults to sleep. Which is exactly what I did. Who knows how long I’d nodded off but something startled me awake, and good thing too, as my little nephew had disappeared from his seat next to me. Nothing ruins a nap like a missing child.
Read moreBetty's Picnic
Let me introduce you to the Bettys. We are four friends who, many years ago while getting squiffed together, decided to call each other ‘Betty.’ We are the founding Bettys and if you hang out with us, you are an honorary Betty.
Yes, I know. A very youthful constraint, to name ourselves after hot skater girls. But in our defense, we had just put on the middle school carnival. I challenge you to spend six hours in a gym with two hundred tweens without reverting to those vapid days.
Read moreThe Tureen Is Dead. Long Live the Tureen.
Why are tureens obsolete? When did that happen? Was it before I was born? I mean, I’ve been around the block a few times. I know how to use a payphone and I’ve eaten at a Ground Round (Homecoming ‘79). Yet I have no recollection of seeing a host or hostess use a tureen. EVER. That includes my friend Wendy who is a Daughter of the American Revolution and owns finger bowls.
Last month at a small dinner, my friend Susan set her table with her mother’s china and sterling silver, and then ladled her delicious vichyssoise out of a Tupperware from the fridge. So burping plastic survived the leap to Y2K but not the elegant and functional tureen?
Read moreWhat's Your Best Advice? A Baby Shower with a Giraffe, a Grateful German, and a Fake Infant
I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend's expectant daughter last weekend. Those of you familiar with my fondness for Halloween will not be surprised that I wanted to create centerpieces with disjointed doll heads, arms, and legs. I asked my son what he thought of the idea, and his response illustrates the folly of seeking counsel on a baby shower from a nineteen-year-old male. He said, "You be you, Mom. It'll be great."
Never fear, the doll heads remained in my basement where they sit on the shelf, staring blankly into the darkness. One doll did make it upstairs. I painted his body to match the invites and the cookies and then attached him to the back of April the wicker giraffe. The parents-to-be took such a shine, I simply didn't have the heart to point out his lazy eye.
Read moreParty Like It's 1981
No photoshop here. This is an actual snapshot of my high school classmate, circa 1980. (To protect his identity, we can call him "Ken Nelson.") On the eve of another New Year's, let's talk about that cliché of all clichés: high school parties. If you hate reading about stupidity in action, skip to the end of this post. You'll see an odd little party accessory from 1941 that I am selling. The proceeds will go towards an old debt incurred during the most epic high school party I ever had the good fortune to attend. However, if you got a thrill out of the cracked Steuben egg in Risky Business, then read on.
Read moreHold Your Loved Ones Close
I don't know where to begin with this post because it is about loss and suffering - tough subjects to write about at Christmas time. But the truth is, this season is difficult for many people. Sadness does not take a holiday.
And Genna, the lovely young woman in the vintage dress, knows this too well.
Read moreA Dinner Party with Strangers from the Internet
WARNING: The first two paragraphs are long-form procrastination and not necessary to the story of the dinner party. If you have a short attention span, go directly to paragraph #3.
Do you procrastinate? Ugh, don't you hate yourself when you do? I publish a blog post every Friday morning. But on Thursdays, because I am a compulsive procrastinator, I put off the process of writing the blog post for as long as possible. Today I monkeyed around by looking at color swatches painted on the side of Patrick's house. For hours. It was the perfect procrastination activity because the task was concrete (pick a color), non-urgent (pick a color soon), and challenging enough to be a satisfactory way to procrastinate (pick a good color).
Read moreIt Was a Great Party!
When my son and future daughter-in-law expressed their wish to elope to Yosemite and return home to Wisconsin for a backyard soirée, I couldn't have been more thrilled. My hubbie and I got married in my parents' backyard nearly thirty years ago. What an honor that my son felt our home would be the perfect place to celebrate their nuptials.
It was a boatload of work but the work was fun! It all went by too quickly. I'm ready to do it again. All I need is another bride and groom. Anyone? Anyone?
Read moreParty Time at the Old Citadel
Hello! I just overheard a conversation between my son and a friend about this weekend's wedding shindig. He told his pal, "We're all working our asses off but we're turning this house into a party castle."
Read moreRifle Paper Peonies but No Sandwich Loaf? Phew!
My sisters kindly threw a bridal shower for my daughter-in-law last month. A bridal or baby shower in our family used to entail a godforsaken food substitute known as "sandwich loaf." My grandmother made the seven-layer abomination and passed down the recipe to my aunts who bought into the fantasy that sandwich loaf is something that people actually wish to chew and swallow. It is in fact an egregious invention requiring special bread sliced horizontally onto which you spread egg salad, ham or spam salad, chicken salad with a little gristle and bone for protein, chunks of green olives, sprigs of parsley, and soggy walnuts all encased in thick pasty cream cheese.
Read moreModernizing a Vintage Christmas Cookie Recipe
Let's start the discussion today with a question: flour sifting. Why? Why? I'm all ears. Seriously, does separating the wee particles of flour moments before combining them back together make a whit of difference in flavor?
As you can guess, this post is an opportunity for me to nitpick. Or, more diplomatically, it's a break-down of what it takes to modernize an old-school recipe. I'm taking my favorite Christmas cookie recipe, which came from my grandma, which she got from dear Mabel Shauber who, God rest her soul, might have been the original prototype for Dana Carvey's
Read moreWeekend Listicle // A Few Secrets from a Busy Cook
'Tis the season to season! Family is arriving and I'm busy in the kitchen, whipping up delectables. My feet ache already so this post is short and easy. Just a few quick hints and kitchen shortcuts from me to you.
This pepper is great in stuffing. I like the very subtle smoky flavor. I also sprinkle it in cheesy potatoes for the day after Thanksgiving. The jar is pricey but lasts a long time.
Milwaukee Iron is delicious on any comfort food. It's a yummy way to jazz up plain ole frozen corn. The Spice House, here in Milwaukee, created it to commemorate the 95th anniversary of Harley-Davidson, also a Milwaukee original.
In last week's gravy recipe, I referred to French salt. This is the kind I use. My grocery store carries it.
If you have the oven space, this blasted broccoli is the best roasted vegetable recipe ever, I kid you not. I now make two trays because it gets gobbled up like popcorn. Here's the recipe from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The smaller you cut the stalks, the better. The drier the broccoli, the better. Also, the recipe states that you should use your oven's convection setting, if possible. They're right. I've tried it in a non-convection oven and it doesn't turn out nearly as crispy.
I love cranberry chutney. This year, I'm serving it with cardamom whipped cream.
If you don't want to roast an entire turkey, this recipe is super easy and yields a rich stock for gravy. I make it once a month all winter long. The next day, we have Monica's turkey sandwiches with the moist-maker middle.
Have a wonderful holiday!
P.S. The salt and pepper shakers are new in the shop. They remind me so much of my parents. My mom is peppier than a Milwaukee Bucks cheerleader and my mustachioed father is salty in that interesting, unexpected way that all immigrants share when they verbally go to town in a non-native language. Photo by Renn Kuhnen.
Forty Cups of Gravy
Gravy: the liquified essence of a bird's life. A good one has hints of sunshine, rain, corn mash, and even slaughter. Hyperbole, you think? Never!
My grandmother taught me how to make gravy. Hers was a basic recipe, nothing extra added in, other than the sheer effort it took to make a few gallons of the stuff. That's the catch, you see.
A three-gallon batch of gravy takes on a life of its own. But when the family swells the way that ours has, it is a necessity. So now, my job at Thanksgiving
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Guest Etiquette
I am featuring this pretty water carafe and tumbler because its rightful place is on a bedside table, perhaps in your guest room. Yes, it is upon us! The holiday season lurks and the delicate dance between guest and host will soon commence. Lucille Ball sums up the complexity when she says of her cousin Ernie, "He stayed overnight with us for a couple of weeks once."
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Tea for Two
A few days ago, I stopped by a friend's house and she fixed me a cup of tea. That's inaccurate actually. She served me tea. With a porcelain tea set on a silver tray. It was wonderful. We curled up on her couch, batted away her hissy kitty, and drank cups and cups while talking about life, hellion children, the dangers of retail, and falling instantly in love with our better halves. I will be writing more about her in the coming season, as she is a true original.
Read moreA Party for Stacey
I am in the very fortunate position to have a bestie who lives next door. The value of this situation cannot be overstated. When I run out of something -- eggs, vodka, patience, ice for the vodka -- Stacey rescues me. She lends me lifesaving necessities like statement necklaces, extra bedrooms for the in-laws, a car. A condo. She lets me hide giant gifts in her garage on Christmas Eve. Is there anything she doesn't do?
Read moreRum Punch Party Kit
This week, I attended a wake. It was the eighth time I attended this particular wake. My friend Ellen holds it on the last day of school. We gather at 1:00 on her patio. Some of us wear funeral black. We mourn the end of school and the beginning of dog days spent in the company of our darling angels. Yes, we are bad moms. But we are bad moms together. Our bad-momishness is enough of a thread to tie us together for an afternoon of grapefruit gimlets.
That's how the best parties happen. You take a common thread and transform it into a luscious party bow that wraps around a bunch of people and ta-da!
Read moreHere's a Drink to Drown Your Sorrows
It was hard enough to say good-bye to the 1960s the first time. Now we have to do it again? Mad Men, that silky smoky show which captivated millions of viewers and inspired me to buy every piece of midcentury barware I found, is coming to a close. Don Draper is free falling through the skyscrapers on Madison Avenue one final season and we are bereft.
Read more