Winterthur, Part 1

OH, CHRISTMAS TREE!

Our extended family starts the Christmas season every year by gathering together and going on an outing.  Each year we choose different places, events and activities to enjoy together. But they all have one thing in common- they must get us in the Christmas SPIRIT!

This year we went to "Yuletide At Winterthur".  Winterthur was the country estate of Henry Francis DuPont, located near Willmington Delaware. DuPont was an avid collector of Americana antiques and a horticulturist. Now a museum, Winterthur is a delight to the eyes! It's massive mansion, naturally lanscaped grounds and world class museum give hours of astonishement and pleasure.  It had something for everyone in our large group!  If you live within driving distance of this magical place  you should visit- it will be a highlight of your Yuletide season!

For our visit, Winterthur was dressed in it's holiday best. As a Christmas treat, I will be bringing you the beauty, inspiration and wonder of Winterthur in several  December posts!

Winterthur is filled with Christmas trees at every turn- resplendent in magnificant themes and dripping with drama and beauty!

As we arrived at the Mansion we were greeted by festive and friendly people as well as 2 dazzling Christmas trees mirrored on either side of a huge window in the reception area. 

Happy, gilded and bright, these trees stood in glass alcoves overlooking the bucolic grounds. Over-dressed and every inch embellished, they set the tone for the glorious surprised we were yet to see.

I was fasinated that the base of the tree was a gift box. Very creative. It set the mood for a gift-of-a-tree!

Both trees were similar in color, and design, but the decorations were subtly different.

The tree on the right had more of a natural element, but full of glitzy leaves and frills!

Red sparkling netting swathed the tree bringing an element of drama and rich color!

An explosion of colorful Christmas balls gave shine and punch! And playing a supporting role, bunches of berries brought a bursts of color and that extra pizzaz! The berries and balls were also placed on the inner branches of the tree. This gave this evergreen depth and great richness!

This is a case of "more IS more"! Many different leaves in color and texture and glitz! Beautiful!!!

A fireworks effect of berries adorned the top of the tree.

The tree on the left side of the reception area carried the same colors and some of the same elements as it's sister tree on the right, but it was arrayed with glitter-laden poinsettas, golden holly and jeweled fruit.

This beauty was wrapped in a green gossamer ribbon. Christmas balls popped out of the tree on long picks for a very interesting and profuse look.  I am looking for these. They were beautiful on the tree!

A darling pinecone hung from a bough. Notice the Christmas ball behind it echoing the pinecone. The attention to this kind of detail makes the tree so interesting.

This tree, like the other had gilded leaves of every kind. 

Arrayed in yuletide splendor, these trees not only gave great visual delight but I was also "gifted" with some great decorating tips:

*Many elements can be used, especially if you want a well embellished look, but the color palate must be kept simple.

*Metalic and sparkle can be mixed for a very rich look
*Decorating a tree from the inner branches out gives depth and interest to your overall design.
*Don't ignore the base or the top of the tree.  Have something interesting to look at so the eye travels the whole length of the tree.
*Using wide ribbon as garland adds softness and color.
*Repeat, repeat, repeat elements for a cohesive look.
*Sometimes less IS NOT more!
*Think outside the ornament box.  Use greens, and picks of berries.  Find interesting things to nestle in the tree. 
*Get inspired, look for ideas to use as a springboard to create looks you love.
*Don't overtink it.  If you love it, then it's right!
I will be sharing several more trees (and more decorating tips) from Winterthur along with my own tree that has been inspired by these beauties!

Menu Nov 30- Dec 4, 2009

Menu Nov 30- Dec 4, 2009

The Thanksgiving leftovers are gone- we ate some and I sent most of them home with family.  I am in the "transition" mode. Taking down Fall decorations and donning the house for Christmas.  I am not good at decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.  I call that "cross-holidation".  I guess it is because I usually host Thanksgiving and I want to give this beautiful and special holiday its due!

I am also getting ready for a Cookie Exchange- well... actually 2. One at the Church where I am speaking and one at my home on Sunday! And as it would happen, I am having 5 rugs cleaned on Monday, speaking on Tuesday and the tree I just put up is having a lighting problem! I just baked 9 dozen gingerbread men ( my house smells like Christmas!) and they are covering every surface in my kitchen! I haven't nailed down my "lite fare" menu for Sunday's Cookie Exchange.  I am going to be visiting many blogs to get ideas!  I have about another 100 things on my plate, not complaining, so this week will be busy and productive. No time to cook a large roast or make a plum pudding... who would do that, anyway?

The menu this week is quick and easy! I will make extra soup and crab cakes to freeze for another dinner.  Have a great week!

Monday:

Mixed Greens with toasted Hazlenuts, Apple and Pomagranate Seeds in a Citrus Dressing
Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce
Leftover Potato Pancakes

Recipe: Crab Cakes
1 lb lump crab meat
2 slices of fresh white bread, torn in pieces
2 TBS mayonaise
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
3 TBS melted butter
1  tsp dried parsley
1 egg, beaten

Put crab meat in a bowl and pick over for any shell or cartlidge.  Add torn bread and toss. Add the rest of the ingredients and incorporate, being careful not to break up crab meat. Form into 5 large cakes.

Heat large oven proof skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1-2 TBS cooking oil, let heat.  Cook crab cakes in skillet for 5 minutes each side until golden brown.  Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Serve with tartar sauce. This is a delicious recipe!!!!!  I am requested to make this all the time.

Recipe: Tartar Sauce
1/2 cup mayonaise
Juice of 1/2  lemon
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 TBS rellish
1/2 tsp grated onion (optional, I don't always use onion)

Combine all ingredients and serve with Crab Cakes.  Refrigerate leftover tartar sauce.

Tuesday:
Panzanella Salad
Chicken Picata With Spaghetti

Recipe: Chicken Picata
4 Split Chicken Breasts. boneless and skinless
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
5 TBS butter
5TBS olive oil
1 cup good white wine
Juice of 3 lemons
1/4 cup brined capers
3 TBS parsley

Pound chicken breast very thin between plastic wrap.  In a shallow dish add flour and salt and pepper. mix well.  Dredge chicken in flour.

In a large skillet, heat 3 TBS butter and 3TBS olive oil.  When hot add 2 chicken breasts and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.  Turn and brown other side about 3 minutes.  When cooked transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Add  1TBS butter and olive oil and cook the rest of the chicken.  Transfer to plate.

Turn off heat. Add lemon juice, wine and capers to the pan. Turn on heat to medium and scrape brown bits.  When liquid starts to simmer add chicken back to pan and cook gently for  about 5 minutes.  Add last TBS butter to pan and melt. Add parsley.  Serve over thin spaghetti.

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Meal
Southwest Wedge Salad
Beef Enchillada Casserole
Refried Beans

Recipe: Beef Enchilada Casserole
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
taco seasoning packet
8 large tortillas
1 large jar salsa
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef in a skillet and follow directions on taco packet to make taco beef.

Put 2 tortillas in the bottom of a slow cooker.  Spread 1/3 ground beef mixture over tortilla. Add 1/3 jar of salsa over beef, and then 1/3 cheese over salsa.  Tear 3 tortillas into strips and put over cheese.  Using the next 1/3 of the above ingredients, start with the beef, add the salsa and then cheese.  Repeat.

Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Serve with refried bean.

Thursday:
Oven Roasted Garlic Pork Tenderloin
Baked Potato
Roasted Aspargus with Shaved Cheddar Cheese

Recipe: Oven Roasted Garlic Pork Tenderloin
2 pork tenderloins
6 cloves garlic
2 TBS olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Dry off tenderloins with paper towl. Put tenderloins in a roasting pan.
Press garlic over tenderloins.  Add oil, salt and pepper and rub tenderloins.  Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or as long as overnight.

Take tenderloin out of refrigerator and let come to room temp for about 30 minutes.
Heat oven 450 degrees.  Remove plastic wrap and put tenderloin in oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes.  Cut on a slight diagonal.

Friday:
Salmon Pinwheels with Lobster Stuffing (from Seafood dept. at grocer's)
Sauteed Rice
Spinach with Garlic Oil

Recipe: Sauteed Rice
This is my grandmother's recipe- a real family favorite.  She said "sot-eeeeed" rice.
1 cup long grained rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 TBS veggie oil
3 TBS fresh parsley

In a large skillet, add 1 TBS oil and heat over meduim heat.  Add onions and celery and cook until soft and transulucent.  Add 2 TBS oil and rice.  Sautee rice for 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and cover.  Cook until  rice is done, aprox. 20 minutes. 
Chop parsley and add to rice before serving.

Saturday:
Easy Shrimp and Crab Bisque ( from Debbie Rineer, thanks Deb!)

Parmesan Bread Sticks

Recipe: Easy Shrimp and Crab Bisque

1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 stick butter
1 1/4 TBS. Old Bay seasoning
1 pint heavy cream
1 lb broken shrimp (peeled, cleaned and broken in bits)
8 oz. crab meat
Combine above and heat thoroughly. Pour in bowls. If desired add a dash of sherry or madeira wine.

Sunday: Soup Day
Cookie Exchange: Menu in Progress-

Check back later for complete menu

Enjoy!
I am participating in Menu Plan Monday, at Organize Junkie

Sunday Scripture

Sunday Scripture: November 29, 2009
1st Week Of Advent:

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Israel

And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the field, and keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly afraid.
And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people;
For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom His favor rests.
                                                                                                         Luke 2:8-14

Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem Israel

Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem Israel

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Israel

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving Blessing-

I come into my study in the early morning hour while it is still dark, and sit down with my Bible to read and give thanks on this day of Thanksgiving- I am deeply aware of the blessings I have and I am filled with joy and gratitude! The upstairs bedrooms are full this early morning- full of my children and family held so dear, still sweetly asleep.

No big show-and-tell table this day. Just a quiet picture to paint my feeling of peace before everyone else in the house gets up. ( I will post complete table in January)  I love this time... just me and God. Talking and listening and breathing in His presence!

A Psalm for Thanksgiving
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing,
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And His faithfulness to all generations.
                                                               Psalm 100

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may God richly your lives!
Happy Thanksgiving!
With much affection,
Yvonne

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan @ Between Naps On The Porch.

Slow Cooker Estofado- Spanish Beef Stew

Estofado- A Spanish Beef Stew

This was a new recipe for me. This recipe is from " Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook"... and it's not! I modified it a little and doubled the recipe.  It is delicious and has a great depth of flavor.

Recipe:
2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 lg. yellow onion. peeled, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 cup salsa ( use what is in your referigerator or pantry)
1/2 cup chili sauce
2 TBS. good red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/3-1/2 cup dry red wine.

Mix flour, salt, pepper and paprika and dredge beef.
In a large skillet over med high heat, coat  with 1 1/2 TBS oil. When very hot add onions and cook ,stirring until sweated and soft. Add garlic for the last 2 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.  Add the rest of the oil and heat until hot, add beef and brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker. Add salsa, chili sauce, vinegar and water to slow cooker.

Pour wine in skillet and heat over medium flame. Stir and scrap pan of brown bits. Reduce heat and let wine reduce just a bit. Pour in slow cooker. Stir ingredients .

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. ( In my slow cooker, Estofado was done in 5 1/2 hours)

I served this over rice, and had cheddar biscuits on the side.  Roasted broccoli in garlic oil rounded out this dinner.

Estofado got a muy bien and 4 thumbs up!

Enjoy!

I am joing Debbie @ Dinning With Debbie for Crock Pot Wednesday.  Great recipes!

Hydrangeas In Rustic Urn- Tutorial

Thanksgiving Centerpiece Tutorial:Taking natural elements and turning them into a centerpiece.

I see things all around me that inspire and delight me. Beautiful things! And many of the blogs I visit are like big picture books filled with creative ideas and helpful instructions.

I recently saw a breathtakingly lovely urn at Artie's blog, Color Outside The Lines.  Bold, yet delicate, hydrangeas accented with pheasant feathers spilling over a creamy urn . It was magnificant!  I knew right away that I would try to make something similar for my Thanksgiving table. Thanks Artie, you blog and ideas are truely inspirational!

I hope this tutorial inspires you too!

Thanksgiving Urn Centerpiece:

Aquire urn. I bought mine, but you could use an old flowerpot, basket, bowl on a pedestal or even a big painted jar. This was an investment piece for me.  I am putting the arrangement in my daughter's and son-in-laws guest room when it is done on the table. I did not spend anything on the natural elements. Just got them from my yard.

Gather supplies:
Dustbuster (great tool, to keep from having a disaster of a mess, clean up as you go)
Turntable (to put urn on, so you can easily turn it when decorating, see urn picure above)
Dried hydrangeas
Twigs
Styrofoam block to fit urn
Florist's tape
Feathers
Florist's picks
Ornaments

I got some of my hydrangeas from the bushes around my home, and got some from friends bushes (thanks friends!)

Remove all leaves from hydrangeas. This is where my dustbuster comes in so very handy!  I get discouraged doing a project that leaves an atomic-bomb-of-a-mess and takes longer to clean up than to actually do the project!  And this tends to be a messy project.  Take a couple of seconds, to dustbust your mess, and go on.

Collect long willowy twigs. I used Weeping Cherry branches.

Strip the branches of leaves. Again, use your dustbuster! Not only on your work surface, but on the foor. You will be glad you did!

To anchor the arrangement in the urn I cut a piece of styrofoam block to fit inside the urn and used sticky, shiny florist tape to anchor the strofoam.  I have had many a sloppy and floppy arrangement because I did not do this step! Live and learn.

 

It is important to know how high, wide and deep you can make your centerpiece. I was going to put the urn in the middle of the table. The bottom of my chandelier is 32 inches from my table, so I decided that my centerpiece could be no more than 29" high. (See info about arrangement height at bottom of tutorial)

The width did not matter for this centerpiece, and the depth should be no more than 22" to accommodate

the place settings on the table.

I began by placing the twigs in the urn to give me perameters to work in.  I measured and cut a twig to fit in the center of the urn that was 29" high.

Now it is time to add the twigs to give a limit to your width and depth.

After all the twigs have been stuck in the urn, and have been checked to make sure of spacing and length, begin adding hydrangeas.  This is where you have to play a bit. I begin by placing the hydrangeas to form almost an outline of the fullness I want and then fill it in.  Continue to turn the urn and remember to sweep up the mess with your dustbuster!

Keep working until the arrangement has the fullness and look you want from all sides. It is worth the extra work and attention to detail here.

After arranging the hydrangeas, add feathers. I put them on picks so they would be easily go into the styrofoam.

Turn the arrangement as you place in the feathers so they are evenly distrubuted.

To add an extra sparkle and shine I wanted to use glass acorn ornaments.  They were grouped in three by putting them on a wire pick.

Place them here and there, in the arrangement.  Try to place some high, medium and low.  Even distribution is the goal.

This technique would work wonderfully with greens for Christmas too.  If I were not using  this arrangement in another room after Thanksgiving, I would also add greens on picks, and use glittery Christmas ornaments instead of the acorns.

I might try this technique using holly and greens with loops of ribbon on picks and ornaments.I have a Christmas bowl that would work nicely for this type of arrangement.  I would put it on a pedestal.

The important thing is that you have done something yourself and learned something new! That you have taken what you have and with just a few additions made something very special!

An extra note: I was, until recently, very worried about the height of my arrangements- I felt that it was important that my guest could see eachother so they could enjoy everyone's company. I said "the comfort of my guest before beauty". But, I also know that nothing give a punch to a table like a high arrangement. 

Susan, our lovely host, wrote me a little note and told me that it is perfectly fine to have an arrangement as tall as you like, just remove it during dinner.  This sounds wonderful.  I will replace this big urn, with a low

arrangement filled with hydrangeas, and put the large one on my sideboard. Thanks, Susan.

I am joing Susan for Metamorphsis Monday, at Between Naps On The Porch. Thanks Susan

I am joining Jules @ Persimmon Perch for Made It Monday, Thanks Jules!

I am joining The DYI Show-Off