by Helen Kain | Feb 21, 2021 | Black, Green, Home, Orange, Recent, Spring Tablescapes, Yellow
Drama, drama, drama. Though not a fan of it in my personal life, I’m all for it where it comes to tableware. Henriette, by Anthropologie, made a brief appearance last year and has since retired to the wings. But what a performance! Vibrant orange, yellow, pink...
by Helen Kain | Feb 9, 2021 | Holiday, Sweets, Valentine's Day, Winter Recipes
Chocolate and roses are traditional Valentine’s Day fare. Combining them in a cake is the best of all possible worlds – served with tea, and augmented with pink champagne, of course! Add in pretty pink china and we have a lovely (albeit chilly) setting for...
by Helen Kain | Feb 6, 2021 | Green, Home, Pink and Red, Recent, Spring Tablescapes, Yellow
Soft pastel shades and fresh flowers are an instant cure for the winter doldrums. English Garden by Certified International was new for 2020. The trellis pattern on the soft green, scallop-edged dinner plate was an instant hit with me. I can see styling it a dozen...
by Helen Kain | Jan 30, 2021 | Appetizers, Fall Recipes, Holiday, Home, Mains, Recent, Winter Recipes
Spanakopita was a mainstay at neighbourhood get-togethers back in the day, and the offerings ran the gamut from soggy mess to succulently, crisply delicious. Elena’s were the gold standard to which we all aspired. One year, just before Christmas, Elena got a...
by Helen Kain | Jan 27, 2021 | Grey and Pewter, Pink and Red, Spring Tablescapes, Vintage china, Winter Tablescapes
You can’t beat antique French Faience for weird and whimsical tableware, and this colourful collection is one of my very favourites. At the head of this feathered army, we have Le Roi or The King. Rather haughty, isn’t he? These plates seem to have...
by Helen Kain | Jan 13, 2021 | Breakfast, Fall Recipes, Food Gifting, Holiday, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Sweets, Winter Recipes
Our virtual baking session just before Christmas produced more than Orange Chocolate Cake. My friend Leanne had assured me her recipe for biscotti was quick and easy, and she was right. We whipped it up in no time. Biscotti means “twice-baked” in...
by Helen Kain | Dec 31, 2020 | Brown, Christmas, Green, Recent, White, Winter Tablescapes
Let’s send 2020 on its way with a whimsical table setting, with plates featuring handpainted watercolours of woodland animals set with humble pine cones and some glitzy gold. Designed by artist and founder Hannah Dale of Wrendale Designs, they are described...
by Helen Kain | Dec 29, 2020 | Fall Recipes, Holiday, Mains, Winter Recipes
Claridge’s Hotel has been providing luxury accommodation in the heart of Mayfair since the 1850s; Martyn Nail, the executive chef of Claridge’s, has been overseeing the kitchens for more than 30 years. There is something very comforting about the...
by Helen Kain | Dec 15, 2020 | Brown, Christmas, Green, Pink and Red, Recent, Winter Tablescapes
Winter greenery, in the form of holly, pine, juniper and winter berries, feature heavily on Woodland Berry plates by Williams Sonoma, The dinner plate has lots of clean white space in the centre, forming a perfect backdrop for a delicious feast. The salad plate is...
by Helen Kain | Dec 13, 2020 | Christmas, Recent, Sweets, Winter Recipes
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...
by Helen Kain | Dec 7, 2020 | Holiday, Mains, Recent, Vegetables, Winter Recipes
The weeks leading up to Christmas are fraught with opportunities for overindulgence. This vegetable-packed chili is a healthful antidote to a surfeit of sweets. Our family loves it, even the die-hard meat eaters and small children. It’s warmly spiced, without...
by Helen Kain | Dec 4, 2020 | Blue, Christmas, Green, Pink and Red, Recent, Winter Tablescapes, Yellow
Nostalgic and colourful, these sturdy ironstone salad plates inspired a delightful few days of baking. I toyed with the idea of making a gingerbread house and even went so far as to bake a gingerbread bundt cake. Nice, but somehow lacked panache. The houses make you...
by Helen Kain | Dec 4, 2020 | Christmas, Sweets, Winter Recipes, Winter Tablescapes
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...
by Helen Kain | Dec 2, 2020 | Books, By Season
Three weeks to Christmas and Santa’s elves are busy, including the ever-creative Mary Plumstead, my partner-in-crime at Entertablement. Mary has been whipping up a bookplate for the hardcover version of Entertablement – The Four Seasons. Doesn’t it...
by Helen Kain | Nov 23, 2020 | Brown, Fall Tablescapes, Green, Grey and Pewter, Tea, Vintage china
Have a cuppa? It’s the British cure for whatever ails you and seems particularly apropos in this hustle-bustle week. Whether navigating Thanksgiving preparations, Christmas arrangements, Zooming or Google meeting, it seems everyone is a bit … ahem, testy....