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Enjoy browsing our table settings, recipes and travel journal.
Tablescapes
Here we feature our favourite seasonal tablescapes.
Inslee Fariss’ 12 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me... ... A Patridge in a Pear Tree. Thank you, Anthropologie, for a new and somewhat whacky twist on an old favourite. These particular plates are from a couple of years ago. Anthropologie has a new set by Nathalie...
A Glitzy Gold Penguin Table
The glamour of gold and white for a formal table never fails to please. Add in gold, tuxedo-clad penguins and you've got a layer of fun with the formality. I can never resist penguins. They're such silly birds – far more graceful in the water, of course, but so...
Kegler Winter Fox by Brayden Studio
This may be rushing the season a bit, but I couldn't resist. Thanksgiving has been over for weeks for us Canucks (she says, defensively). We just watched Charlie Brown's Christmas to kick off the season, and this pattern reminded me forcibly of the scene where...
Christmas Kitties by David Carter Brown
Cats and Christmas. Tangling ribbons, batting ornaments, snarling garland. Our cats greet the holiday season with a gleam in their eye. "Oh, Mum and Dad are bringing out the playground again!" David Carter Brown captures the essence of a cat's attitude to Christmas...
Winter Village by Pottery Barn
People tobogganing, Christmas trees and Santa's sleigh cavort across this vibrantly coloured holiday dinnerware by Pottery Barn. I bought it for the Cape house a few years ago, wanting something cheerful for the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are four generously...
Adams Currier & Ives Winter Scenes
Winter Scenes is a delightful set of twelve plates featuring scenes from the library of hand-coloured lithographs by Currier & Ives, the iconic American printmaking firm that was run by Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives. The line from the Christmas...
Recipes
Enjoy browsing our new recipe section which has been organized to simplify creating the perfect menu.
Seasonal Food and Flora
Here are some of our favourite seasonal recipes.
Rosemary Spiced Bourbon Old-Fashioned
Enjoy this spicy twist on one of the most venerable drinks in the cocktail kingdom. Homemade rosemary spiced simple syrup replaces the traditional sugar cube, and when combined with toe-warming bourbon, citrus juices, and a dash of orange bitters, you have the perfect...
A Dreamy Wedgwood-Style Fruitcake
A few years ago, visiting the Chatsworth Farm Shop during the Christmas Market reignited my love affair with moist, luscious, brandy-soaked fruitcake. The genuine article, not the sawdust brick masquerading as such, which is distressingly common. I could only...
A Festive Chocolate Orange Cake
This cake is the result of a happy collision of ideas. First, the plates (as so often happens around here). They're Woodland Berry by Williams Sonoma – a combined gift from daughter Lauren and daughter-in-law Annie for Christmas last year. I've been plotting and...
Gingerbread Village Spice Cake
When I was little, a crisp, spicy gingerbread cookie adorned with crunchy icing was the tantalizing reward to encourage exemplary behaviour while Christmas shopping with my Mum. Trailing around after her, scarf dragging and winter boots clumping, my thoughts would run...
Spicy Orange Ginger Cookies
We have my friend Leanne of the Apple Bundt Cake to thank for this recipe. It's adapted from Laurel Kreuger's recipe that won first prize in a baking contest held by Canadian Living Magazine in 1991. For ginger lovers everywhere! I took them to a cookie exchange on...
Lancashire Beef Hot Pot
This hearty one-pot stew is traditionally made with lamb, but is every bit as good with beef. The layer of potatoes forms a delicious crisp crust atop a mixture of beef, carrots and onions in a silky thick gravy. Just the ticket for cold nights. Serve with a side of...
Entertablement Abroad
Enjoy our travel journal of castles, cathedrals, country houses, wonderful tableware and delicious meals.
Entertablement Abroad: The Family Trip to England and Scotland
The Big Family Trip has been long in the planning. Originally on the docket for 2020 (sigh), it was pushed out to 2022 so as not to overlap with the Clans and Castles train journey Glenn, and I had booked for 2021 to celebrate our respective significant birthdays (you...
Entertablement Abroad—Stirling Castle
Castles have a long and complex history, much more so than stately homes. Fortified structures built during the middle ages by the nobility or royalty, their primary purpose was defence—keeping those inside the castle walls safe and keeping the violent attackers out....
Entertablement Abroad – England in the Autumn Part II
Following our time in England in the Autumn. Determining which train to take to Chichester was more complicated than I had envisioned. Staff shortages, line repairs, and similar disruptions ruled out the usual route from Victoria Station. Lauren and I eventually...
Entertablement Abroad – England in the Autumn
The long-awaited, oft-rescheduled trip to England was a heady mix of emotions: apprehension as to how difficult it might be to navigate changing requirements, elation at the freedom of travelling again, disappointment and frustration with the National Trust, amusement...
Entertablement Abroad – Ely Cathedral
As cathedrals go, Ely Cathedral is one of the biggies. Literally, at 537 ft long, but also because of its story, which began in 672. A lot has happened in the intervening 13+ centuries. Not just the usual political squabbling and overly ambitious clerics, but...
Entertablement Abroad – Sudeley Castle
Most of the grand manor houses we see in England have a history involving a lot of ups and downs. Sudeley Castle is the veritable Snakes & Ladders of the genre. The tale began innocuously enough with a commonplace event: William le Boteler of Wem married heiress...
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