A Bit of a Wild Week – Happy Thanksgiving!

by Helen Kain | Oct 4, 2020 | Brown, Fall Tablescapes, Green, Orange, Thanksgiving, Yellow

I can’t decide if the last week has been more Greek tragedy or French farce – Monty Python meets Italian Opera? You decide. We’ve had a sick cat, a flurry of cooking, a kitchen catastrophe and a lovely Thanksgiving/Birthday dinner with family. From the...

Dahlias Delight

by Helen Kain | Sep 30, 2020 | Fall Tablescapes, Orange, Pink and Red, Purple

I’ve never been a big dahlia fan. They’re a pain in the butt to grow. The magnificent flowers come from quite unprepossessing tubers that need to be hauled in and out of the ground each year. Tulips and daffodil bulbs survive (and even thrive) on the cold...

Let’s Have a Group Chat

by Helen Kain | Sep 17, 2020 | Blue, Fall Tablescapes, Pink and Red, Summer Tablescapes, White

Ducks, ducks, ducks. As long-term readers may recall, one of our granddaughters, Juliana, is crazy about ducks. Her “first day of school” board when entering Junior Kindergarten listed “a duck” as her desired adult occupation, somewhat to our...

Embracing Fall Colours with Ashworth Ironstone

by Helen Kain | Sep 2, 2020 | Amber, Cobalt, Fall Tablescapes, Terracotta, Thanksgiving, White

Suddenly, it feels like Fall. It’s time to call on richer colours, and what better place to start than with what I think of as my “York” Ashworth Ironstone, named for where I acquired it. Long-time readers may recall the tale of how this set of...

A Jewel-Toned Table with Roasted Plum Tart

by Helen Kain | Aug 16, 2020 | Desserts, Fall Recipes, Fall Tablescapes, Pies & Tarts, Pink and Red, Summer Recipes, Summer Tablescapes

“Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums, tell me when your birthday comes!” Does anyone else remember jumping rope to that rhyme? It often pops into my head in late summer when overflowing farmers’ markets send me scurrying into the kitchen, eager to...

A French Menu

by Helen Kain | Apr 1, 2020 | Amber, Blue, Brown, Fall Tablescapes, Spring Tablescapes, Summer Tablescapes, Vintage glassware

Let’s go to France this week and see the tulips.  Wait … that’s wrong … tulips are Holland. And they’re supposed to come in the spring. But these tulips arrived last summer, at Trader Joe’s. It’s a mixed-up world right...