Chickadee Home Nest: December 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013

Cottage Neighborhood Tour

We live in a community of cottages designed, I’ve been told, after Seaside in Florida. All have at least a front porch, and many, as you’ve seen in my many posts, screened porches as well.

Decorated at Christmas, they’re as cute as can be. With the recent snow, I took a drive on a particularly beautiful, bright day, and when I came home in the evening, when they take a whole different look, I took another drive, enjoying the lights. I of course took some pictures then too.

So, here’s our community tour~

This one is across the street from us! After the a recent snowfall I stepped out on our front porch and took a few pictures…

…and how about that sky?! Those of you who visit often know I LOVE summer and always mourn its end, but God’s paintbrush always reminds me that every season has its beauty and gifts.

Aren’t the snowflakes on the door pretty—and something unique? And her beautiful bows are red-and-white checked, so they look pink from a distance.

~~Moving~~ Driving along~

And the Chickadee home :)

I’ve done these bows for years; they always look like cardinals in the tree. This year I added the red ornaments (Dollar Tree bargains!!).

One lone ornament…Two of our chickadees were going to help me decorate the bush with the ribbons and ornaments,but it started to snow, so as we headed inside, Middle Chickadee put his ornament on the tree. Yes, it’s staying there :). Love that sweet little touch. And are you wondering about the shovel? We got it on our trip to Richmond, Indiana (you can see that post here) in the fall.

I fell in love with the wood handle on the shovel as soon as I saw it in an antique shop. Imagine the hands that worked with this shovel! It’s not lightly used—it was used, and used often. I was happy to give it a home. Do you ever wonder what the original, long-ago owners of old things we buy at antique shops would say about our buying their belongings? Or the history behind the article? Would they be happy that their belongings are still valued and given a happy home? (More on the details of our front porch soon, I hope.)

Our view across the street.

Some of the cottages have two porches~

How’s this for cute?! Wait till you see it lit at night!

And one of our community gazebos.

And now…some nighttime shots~

I love the reflection in the window, and of course, the Adirondacks. I wonder if Lynn, the owner of this home, has taken a picture of this darling, beachy vignette, or am I the only crazy person trying to capture life as we roll along?

Oh, how I love snow on illuminated bushes! They look like cupcakes to me!

Our cottage (more to come at a later post)…

This is our community barn, at our community garden.

And last but not least, our light post. I LOVE light posts, especially in the snow, and lit~

I hope you enjoyed this tour, and that it provided a bit of respite if you’ve been busy with holiday preparations.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I’m thrilled to know you stopped by, and I’ll always visit back and comment too. If you like what you see, I invite you to follow me (I promise to follow back), and please—Pin away and follow me on Pinterest too! Thank you!!

NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are in my Etsy shop, but many are not, simply because I haven’t updated my shop. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available for sale, email me at coral5252@gmail.com and let’s talk!

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home Fridays at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/

Vintage Inspiration Friday at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Fresh-Cut Fridays at http://rosevignettes.blogspot.com

Sunday Showcase at http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

Sunday Creative Home and Garden Hop at http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com/

Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Masterpiece Monday at http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

Tuesdays at Our Home at http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

Tuesday’s Treasures http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Inspire Me Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Cuisine Kathleen at http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/

Wow Us Wednesdays at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

DIY by Design Party at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/

What's It Wednesday at http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Open House Party Thursday at http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

Thursdays at http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Monday, December 2, 2013

Easy Way to Serve Family Style

Here’s our PRETEND Thanksgiving table~

DSCN9636 “PRETEND TABLE???” you ask.

Yes…

THIS is our REAL table; our FAMILY table.

If you look carefully you can see that the babies’ place settings are on the far right and far left (on either side of me, :), and where the table legs accommodate them best).

Can you find the differences between the two tables?

Whenever our immediate family gathers—six adults and three children, ages 19 months to 6 years—I always, always, always serve our meal family style. It’s just such a natural way for me, grounded in my Cuban upbringing, where abundance, good food, and lively conversation are all part of a meal. That’s how our meals were served when I was growing up, and my husband and I continued to do it that way when our boys were growing up.

So as much as I love to set a table with a beautiful centerpiece and overflowing with interesting touches, I don’t envision such tables as being for our family—those tables are my PRETEND tables. For our family meals I set the place settings correctly, but the “centerpiece” is the bounty we will share!

Family-style serving speaks of family and abundance. I love the sharing that goes around the table, “Todd, I’m running low on dressing,” or “Could you pass the pickled eggs, please?” or my favorite, “Having this platter of roast beef right in front of me is dangerous” (as he takes a few more nibbles). All this just does a mother’s heart good.

If you elect to go this route, I assure you that a table overflowing with food, dishes and goblets or glasses, and baskets of bread will surely bring into focus the abundance of blessings that surround you.

Easy Way to Serve Family Style

I know a lot of cooks don’t want extra people in the kitchen when they’re cooking—they want people out of the way, but these “people” are MY people, and I love it when they come in and go straight to the kitchen to ~~say hi to mom~~ “check out” the progress, do a little taste testing, and really, to help with whatever is left to be done. Some of you who have followed me for any time know that one of our sons is a professional chef, and the other has been managing restaurants for many years, so they know their way around a kitchen, and in fact know a lot more than I do (“Really, BJ, I need some knife skills, PRONTO!”), so they really do help!

All the help extends to getting the food to the table, and that’s where my Serving Family Style ORGANIZING STRATEGIES come in handy.

Serving Family Style ORGANIZING STRATEGY #1:

Label all the serving dishes.

I started labeling the serving pieces years ago, as an organizing strategy for myself after one time too many of grabbing one of the dishes I’d set out to serve the corn soufflé (recipe here) and then finding that I needed just that dish for another side dish…. So it was a sanity-preservation move to avoid the last-minute Musical Serving Pieces game.

Now, Strategy #1is a huge help with so many cooks and helpers in the kitchen. Whoever is helping to serve can look right at the labels and find the piece that is assigned to the food. Easy way to “manage your help.”

Serving Family Style ORGANIZING STRATEGY #2*:

Set the corresponding serving utensil next to the serving dish.

As you can see in the picture above, every dish has the corresponding serving utensil next to it, except the on-the-rocks glass that is intended for finger food (one of my husband’s childhood favorites~~green onions). This will help your family to not use the fork intended for the turkey to serve the potatoes, leaving only a slotted spoon for the turkey, and requiring that you get {back} up to locate another serving fork.

Serving Family Style ORGANIZING STRATEGY #3:

Use lidded serving pieces to keep the food warm.

Okay, I admit it (as I’ve done over and over in this blog): I love silver and crystal and china, and…beautiful things. But I have three covered silver casseroles (think chafing dishes without the stand/warmer) that I press into service over and over again BECAUSE THEY ARE SO PRACTICAL.

Here’s the practical beauty to these casseroles: The Pyrex liner allows you to bake in them, and when you’re ready to serve you can add extra-hot water in the casserole bottom, so the hot water, combined with the fact that it has a lid, keeps your food WARM. And yes, they look pretty on the table without being too formal.

(To polish/not polish?? Completely up to you. I can live with the tarnished/shabby look, then turn around and completely enjoy the beauty of freshly polished silver.)

Serving Family Style ORGANIZING STRATEGY #4:

Save your linens…USE UNDERPLATES.

TWO good reasons to use underplates:

To catch drips/save your linens;
To make it easier to handle hot dishes.

Oh, and did you notice the asterisk on Strategy # 2?

* Well, this technically isn’t a strategy…it’s a proper-setting tip: The serving piece never goes into the food until the first person is going to use it. The inclination is to place the utensil in the food, but nope! On the table it stays until it’s really going to be used to serve the food. How often do you see beautiful magazine sets where the serving piece is in the food, and it’s obvious none has been served from it yet? Do you study magazine pictures like I do? They’re such a source of inspiration and entertainment to me!

I hope these tips are helpful to you. I wish you many meals at a table laden with the bounties of our land and the love of your family around it.

Next I’m going to do an easy dessert bar and other switcheroos that will simplify holiday meals, so before I do that post, what other tips would you have me add to serving family style? What has worked well for you that needs to be shared?

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