Our kitchen

Our kitchen is coming together- and true to the impatient child that lives inside of me- I've moved in. 

 

 I found a bunch of my vintage oil paintings & hung them above the sink as I've been planning to do for months and it makes me soooooo happy:

 

 

Yes, I know, there's still painting & electrical to be done & cabinets to attach, but my artwork is up.  I try to ignore the blue painter's tape, open electrical outlets & such and just focus on the finished parts of the kitchen.  (It works surprisingly well when you are cooking for the first time in 3 months!!! yay!!)

 

Our island- which will be covered in reclaimed wood from the Lorimer Workshop in Rhode Island- and topped in honed marble- will be finished in a few weeks.  For now, I got a piece of navy gingham oicloth to put over our plywood.  (I think I'm going to keep it for really messy days- ie kids' art & craft projects & pizza parties ;)

{Our contractors worked really hard to make our kitchen functional for us on Thanksgiving & stayed late -when I know they wanted to be at home with their families- getting the appliances hooked up the night before.  We did a turkey (rotisserie style ;) in the oven & are just so thankful for everything.  I know there are many out there who are dealing with storm damage & who are trying to piece back together their homes, which is really tough & our thoughts have been with them.}

Here's a photo of the main wall in the kitchen, where the range is (and hood will be)...

{I love my range.  I didn't think it was possible to love an appliance but I sort of do.  It looks good and cooks food faster than any oven/stove we've ever had before.  We've always inherited our appliances with our houses and so this house is the first time we've done research & purchased what we really want.  There is SUCH a difference, I had NO IDEA. Crazy.}

Here's a picture of a beef (before we cooked it) on Saturday for some friends...

 

Now, more about this range.  (The Smeg Opera--- discontinued but I was able to find one.  There is a newer model available, but as far as I've been able to tell, it doesn't come with the rotisserie function.  BUT...  there are stands you can buy to put in any convection oven to make rotisserie-style food.)  It's Italian as was pointed out to me.  (I thought it was Australian because in my serach for rotisserie Smegs, I could only find them on the Smeg Australia site so I got completely confused.)  BUT-  THIS THING IS AMAZING.  Again, I've never purchased my own appliances before and I've never cooked on any high-end appliances before so what I'm comparing it to is generally the lowest available range from Home Depot, but hot damn!!  It's crazy!!! 

We overcooked the scrambled eggs on the first morning because we didn't know eggs could even cook that quickly.  We turned around & they were done.  (We had gas burners at our last house too but this one has much higher BTUs I guess...  I got it because it was pretty. ;)  (And came with good reviews.)

I searched for hours for this thing and looked at lots of different brands- all online- before coming to my decision.  I wanted an affordable professional style range (which for us, ruled out many of the higher-end brands like Wolf or LaCanche- MY DREAM ;) that looked good & had good reviews.  Having a rotisserie function was something on my dream wish list and I pretty much flipped out when I found one that had it all.  (To check out some more ranges I found that looked good, go here.)

I am really liking some of my other appliances too, so when I get the chance, I'll post on them too. 

And finally, just wanted to share a quick pic I snapped (when I was in my Norman Bates rocker holding the baby this morning) out our loft window...  Watching the sunrise with the boys has become one of my favorite things...  It's so peaceful and recharges me somehow:

I hope your Thanksgiving was special & that you find some quiet time in the holiday whirlwind we're now entering into!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Picture Frame Wreath

I decided to try something a little different for my Christmas wreath this year.  I recycled an old picture frame and turned it into a wreath.   I went monotone with the bronze and gold colors.  I loved the acorns on the corners of the frame but, the area of the frame where the bow is was in need of repair. 

The gold laurel leaves, the tassels, the bow, and ornament hide the frame damage well.   I used things I had to create this frame and didn't buy any supplies.  The ribbon for the bow was bought at a 50% off after Christmas sale last year.   So there you have it, a recycled Christmas wreath.
 

Sherry

I will join:

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Cottage Style Link Party  at Lavender Garden Cottage

Mod Mix Monday  at Mod Vintage Life

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Sunny Simple Sundays  at Sunny Simple Life

Share Your Cup Thursday  at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Doors & Wreaths at On Sutton Place
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove 

Home Sweet Home #94

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home!   Happy Thanksgiving to all of the American readers!  I was just cooking the pies and almost forgot to get the party going, but, I remembered between the pie baking and the turkey going in the oven!  This week I showed off a Thanksgiving look on the buffet. 

I was Prepping for Christmas with this tea.

And I made this classic French Sand Cookie and discussed how it freezes well and could be pulled out for Christmas just to decorate and eat!

Now I would like to highlight some of the posts that caught my eye last week.

 The Farmer's Daughter at The Country Farm Home finished the Keeping Room remodel and it was a beautifully finished space!

Jody and Stan of Rooted in Thyme had a post on paper whites with some of the most gorgeous garden eye candy!

Shannon at A Southern Belle with Northern Roots showed off her Great Aunt Julia's cupboard and recalled how the piece made her think of her Aunt.  This, to me, is what the Home Sweet Home party is all about.:)  I love it when you guys have a great memory associated with anything special from your home.

Heather and Vanessa of At The Picket Fence showed us how to create a Ballard Design holiday table runner for much less.  I thought this was a really cute project!   

Mary at Sweet Little Bluebird showed off some Snickerdoodle Donut Muffins.  Don't they look delicious!

Many great links every week!  Keep it coming!  Thank you to everyone who joins me at Home Sweet Home!  It is wonderful to have you here!

Sherry

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I will join these ladies today:
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Home and Garden Thursday  at A Delightsome Life 

Inspiration Friday  at The Picket Fence

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sister's Stuff 

I have a special request:  If you pin another person photos please go to their site and pin from there.  If it is my work you can pin away I won't mind.  Thanks!

 

 Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:

Attention: To link up with inlinkz you must have a permalink back to this party in your post or they will not allow you to link.  

Link up anything in your home or garden.  I love seeing neat shops too!

My button is on my sidebar for the party, if you want to use it.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower. Please don't link up more than two posts.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Please visit some of the other blogs and get some great inspiration.  Thanks.:)

Now let's see your beautiful homes, delicious recipes, crafts, or whatever makes your home special!

French Sand Cookies

The French Sand Cookie is a classic French butter cookie.  It is also called a "Sables" which is French for sand and refers to the crumbly sand-like texture.  This recipe was adapted from The Budget Cook Book by Ida Bailey Allen dated 1935 (also a Depression-Era cookbook). 

1/2 cup of margarine

1 cup of granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon almond extract

11/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

  

 Cream together the margarine, sugar, egg yolks, well beaten, and the extract.  Sift together the dry ingredients and work them into the first mixture. Cover and chill the dough for a few hours.  Then transfer to a slightly floured board.  Roll to one-fourth inch in thickness and shape as desired with a cookie cutter, keeping the cookies small.  You can dust the cookies with plain or colored sugar crystals and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 11 minutes.  This makes about 2 dozen.

In doing a little research on this cookie I discovered it froze well.  I thought this was perfect for American cooks this week who are looking to make the holidays a little easier.  I thought it would be nice to bake a batch of these cookies this week and then pull them out in a few weeks and decorate them.  That way half of the work will already be done before the Christmas season.  I froze several and then pulled them out of the freezer to thaw and decorated mine with a white chocolate tinted red and some crumbled up peppermint.

How do they taste?  They taste like a mix between shortbread and a crisp sugar cookie with the almond flavor.  I love the almond flavor in a crisp sugar cookie with coffee or tea.  It is a great mix.  So have a little tea and enjoy!

Sherry

I will link this to: 

Home at Rose Chintz Cottage

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

On the Menu Monday at Stonegable 

Rooted in Thyme Simple and Sweet Fridays

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

A Pinteresting Party  at Tutus & Tea Parties

The Teaist Tea Talk Link Up  

Sunday Funday Blog Hop at WTFab 

Your Great Idea Link Party  at Or so she says...

Our Stair Rail is in!!

Our iron stair rail went in and I wanted to share some pics with you.  I spent a lot of time pouring over images of railings and figuring out just exactly what I wanted.  We worked with Tom Owens of Herndon Ironworks and his railing is truly beautiful.  It's really special to be able to work with true craftspeople on our home and to be able to do things that are a bit outside of the "box."

 {Tom Owens- bottom left- & his team of craftsmen. They are all so good at what they do!!}

For our railing, I wanted something that felt both modern & old at the same time.  It's simple & clean and spare and has a beautiful patina. 

When I visited Herndon IronWorks (literally a mile away from our old house) Tom & I looked around the shop so we could determine the finish I was after. 

We soon found out that I was drawn to the metals that had aged naturally over time vs. any faux aged finishes.  Everything I liked was outside & had weathered to a rusty black. 

To get the finish I wanted, Tom set the new iron for our railing outside & let it weather for a few weeks. 

{We used 1/2 inch square pickets for our rails, seen at the top left of the above photo}


The end of the top rail is a lamb's tongue that gently swirls into a sort of vine around the post:

 

It's the slightest bit of curve & "pretty" & quirk in an otherwise very spare & clean design.  I love little elements like this & it's sort of a microcosm for how I like rooms to feel. 

You might remember that our stairs were originall very steep, and so to make them a bit more manageable for our boys (and us! ;)  CarrMichael Constrution put new stairs in.  I wanted to be able to see the sides of the stairs & to have the drywall go right into the steps themselves without a stringer, so Mike Carr (owner of CarrMichael) made it happen.  Here's what the stairs looked like before:

{Justin, my very sweet little man}

...And here they are now:

{two other sweet ones- Dave & Ashby} 

 The temporary door at the top of the stairs & the wooden horizontal old railings will both be removed & we've got lots of cleaning up to so (walls, woodwork, etc.) but we're on our way!!  I love how the pickets attach directly into the drywall.  The curve into the drywall and are out farther than the stair treads, so they actually make the stairs even wider than before because there's so much more usable space on them. 

I'm so happy with how everything turned out & I really can't thank everyone who was involved enough.  It takes so many hours & brains to really come up with something good & it's definitely worth it!!  To read more about my stair inspiration, click here.




If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Prepping for Christmas

Having a little tea under the Christmas tree while decorating this week.

Aren't these pretty chintz tea cups.  They are by Grace China.

I found a recipe in my vintage cookbooks for a French Sand Cookie.  They are simple and delicious.  They also freeze well, so you could make them this week and pull them out at Christmas to decorate.  I'll talk more about that and share the recipe tomorrow.

Wishing you a fabulous week! 
Sherry

 I will link this to:

 Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage 

A Return to Loveliness  at A Delightsome Life 

Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites

Tea Cup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life 

Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 

Tea Talk at The Teaist

TCOH Thanksgiving

I have one more quick change to the buffet to show you today.  I took the centerpiece from the Thanksgiving table and used half of it to make this arrangement on the buffet.  The chalkboard simply states "Grateful for U."

I love the deer paint-by-number I found at a local antique store.  I just placed it in an easel to show it off.

I also made a video of all Thanksgiving looks for the last three years from TCOH.  If those of you with hand held devices have trouble viewing this, here is the direct link.
I wish each and every one a wonderful Thanksgiving! 
May you be blessed each day!
 

Sherry

I will join:

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Cottage Style Link Party  at Lavender Garden Cottage

Mod Mix Monday  at Mod Vintage Life

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Sunny Simple Sundays  at Sunny Simple Life

Share Your Cup Thursday  at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

My Monday Muse at Carter's Cottage