05/16/2019

The Paradox of British Tabletop Style – To Fuss or Not to Fuss?

Whether it’s a new royal baby, becoming reacquainted with granny china or there were actually moments of sunshine this week to pick flowers without having to wear a coating of rubber from all of the biblical East Coast rain–British style reigns. The English may be known to be fussy with their hats and hundred pound draperies but they also have a loose quality, notably on the table.

An imprecise display of tea ware, garden-picked flowers and pastries create a casual yet welcoming table setting.

 

How to get the British look? Think layers and personalization:
  1. Layering: Formal place settings complete with butlers and finger bowls is all very manor house, but a more casual setting eliminates many of the rules. There is still rich detailing but lost is the precision of looking too matched. A variety of tea ware, pulled-from-the-garden flowers, and a lone textile create a setting like no other.
  2. Embellish Embellishments: Back to the no-rules mindset, add accoutrements to the unexpected, like flowers and powdered sugar to the pastries.
  3. Be Selective: Sometimes a basic teabag is just that, basic. Be adventurous with more high end teas, which are a great investment from the packaging alone.

 

03/19/2019

Inspired Spring Tablescapes for Easter

It starts with crocuses, the garden waif that’s aggressive enough to break through thawing winter soil. Colors soon burst onto the scene. Garish Easter items take over candy aisles. Open your doors and it sounds like an aviary from the wail of birds. These are the notes to take to your Easter tablescape.

Pastel trimmed dishware by Pip Studio directs the scheme. Accents and treats complete the look.

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02/22/2019

No Recipe Healthy Banana Muffins – Yes, No Recipe!

Time to retire the measuring cups. When you have a home of baked goods enthusiasts, you can wing a recipe the way you do pasta and scrambled eggs. Banana muffins are always guaranteed to go straight from the pan to the tummy, so when you make them as much as we do you tend to improvise based on the number of people around while tweaking with more nutritional-dense ingredients like egg whites, low-fat milk, whole wheat flour and oats over white flour and maple syrup and apple sauce as a substitute for sugar.

Using all-natural ingredients that are kitchen staples, blend to your favorite consistency. By preparing without a set recipe, you are likely to bake more, which guarantees the fresh factor.

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12/07/2018

Need an Idea for a Fun Friday Night Dinner? Go for a Peppermint Shake!

Shakes as a meal may rattle a nutritionist as a substantive choice unless made with a bushel of kale and chia but, after a challenging week, sometimes dessert for dinner is the best solution. Besides, it’s better than infusing yourself with your happy hour favorite.

Our holiday Fun Friday go-to is a peppermint milk shake, which has the right combo of creamy and mint that tastes like drinking a frozen candy cane.

Recipe:

Peppermint Milk Shake

Serves:

2

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 scoop peppermint ice cream (if not available, alternate with vanilla ice cream and a teaspoon of peppermint extract).
  • Whipped cream
  • Crushed candy cane
Directions:

Add all ingredients in a blender and mix until in liquid form. Pour into a glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed candy cane.

Resources:

Peppermint extract: McCormick

Striped straw: Strawtopia

Pink paper background: Midori Paper

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11/02/2018

18 Pumpkin Products You Need to Try Before Fall Ends

If you want to make a girl squeal, and this is a family-friendly site, give her a pumpkin pie latte with a spice scented candle. Come fall, women obsessively search for pumpkin flavors to amp her senses. (Note to reader: Buy in bulk due to pesky limited-edition availability.) Move over fall foliage and chunky sweaters worn with to-the-knee boots, pumpkin flavors are the true autumn attraction.

Pumpkins are to the fall what peonies are to the spring–capturing the best of the season.

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07/31/2018

Picking Blueberries and What to Do with Them

Once mid summer hits beaches, firecrackers and anything involving a flotation device begins to lose its recreational appeal. Finding new ways to extend the season becomes more urgent as Back to School promotions infiltrate the shopping aisles. Connect with the outdoors and contribute to a healthy lifestyle by picking your own fruit as an alternative summer event. We chose blueberries because an abundance of this anti-oxidant rich fruit is always welcomed in our household. 

The natural appeal of fresh picked blueberries.

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07/10/2018

You Can Eat Pizza Everyday with Variety

Hashtag blessed profiles omit the real family time. You won’t see the strife over agreeing on a program everyone can watch. Leaving the house at the same time. Finding common ground in the distribution of household chores. Though agreement can be found in two areas: pizza and the family dog (more on the family dog for another story). How can you serve pizza regularly without it being pulled from a cardboard box? We spent a month creating different versions that are simple, delicious, even healthy and all-natural to promote a happy home.

Recipe: Grilled Salad Pizza

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06/26/2018

20 Need-It-Now Gifts for the Tea Drinker

Considering allergic pollens and all things British are currently in the air we find cause to drink–tea that is. From ceremonial to health, tea’s benefits have been touted for millennia. Foster the lifestyle by becoming acquainted with the variety of ways it can be enjoyed.

Blooming flower tea tastes as good as it looks. Try it cold too.

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06/09/2018

Forget Tumble Jungle – Throw a Vintage Birthday Party

Once in the not so distant past all you needed to get a party going was a cake, clown and group of energetic kids. Now hosting a splashy birthday has fallen into the annals of team tryouts and college acceptance letters in the game of parental oneupmanship. As a possible safeguard against future teenage pressures, we find keeping it simple with a classic twist to be a successful model.

A homemade cake with a themed pattern and treats achieve a festive setting.

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06/08/2018

Say No to Sneezes: Make an Allergy Calming Tea

Forget the hot nanny, allergies kill the passion in a relationship. Sneezes that should come with an advisory warning, a dependency on Kleenex, teary eyes, coughing up questionable particles resembling the slime my son makes—it all places a moratorium on anything fun. So how to remedy your clogged head and enjoy the fundamentals of living once again? Take a natural approach and make an allergy calming tea.

Create homemade tea for a natural way to treat allergies.

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