kitchen Archives - Page 19 of 29

Thanksgiving Table Décor | Part 3 | Menus + Linens

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

I love it when all of the lovely details start to come together. With the floral centrepiece and Moroccan-inspired “punched tin” mini pumpkins complete, it was time to finish the place settings. I love a simple yet layered place setting, and I am a big fan of the use of beautiful typography to set the mood for the special meal. Enter my lovely friend Melody Hansen, who graciously offered to design menus for this year’s Harvest Gathering in order to give it an extra special touch of thoughtful detail and design.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

I love collaborating with people who understand my aesthetic. The natural and organic simplicity of Melody’s hand drawn illustrations framing the top and bottom of these elegant menus were the perfect choice to communicate the casual elegance of our seasonal celebration. The watercolour paper on which we chose to print the menus had the same quality as a natural linen fabric – simple yet substantial and sophisticated.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

I’m a big believer in linen napkins – firstly because they are better for the environment, and secondly because they make the meal feel more elegant. That said, I didn’t want the table linens to feel formal. With 14 people sitting around the extended table that we added, I also needed to come up with an option that was cost effective. The solution? $5/yard fabric from Designer Fabric Outlet, a bit of time in front of my sewing machine, and voila! French bistro style cotton-linen blend table napkins that were the perfect bridge between formal and casual, just like the menus.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

With the table settings complete, tomorrow I’ll dive into the food preparations. Can’t wait to share some of my favourite Harvest recipes with you!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 7th, 2012|4 Comments

Make Something Mondays | Thanksgiving Table Décor | Part 1

I love the Harvest season and all it brings. The cool, crisp air seems to heighten my senses to the deepening colours and this season’s magical, temporal light. I am easily won over by the heartier flavours of all the root vegetables and roasted goodness coming from the oven, making up for the shorter days and signs of winter’s approach. For now, nature is showing off in all her splendour, inviting us to slow down and stand in awe of the beauty of this season’s transitional state.

One of our favourite things about this season is our annual Thanksgiving gathering. We love our more impromptu gatherings that happen so often with friends descending spontaneously to connect over a meal. We decide together what we should make with the ingredients we’ve got in the fridge and the making of the meal is as much of an event as the eating of it. But every once in awhile, it’s lovely to plan things out more thoughtfully, with careful attention to the details that make it feel like a celebration. It doesn’t have to be serious to be thoughtful. Just an intentional expression of gratitude through the mediums of food and friendship. Thanksgiving is a beautiful opportunity to do just that.

This year I felt like playing with mini pie pumpkins for a potentially cliché but hopefully charming addition to the table decor. Here were my weapons of choice:

Four mini pie pumpkins
A cordless drill with 3 different sizes of bits {all quite small}
A couple of spoons for scooping out the guts of my pumpkins {I saved the seeds and roasted them with sea salt, of course!}
A small paring knife to cut my openings

I chose to open the mini pie pumpkins from the bottom as I didn’t want the cut out to interfere with the patterns I was hoping to create.

Using the drill {and inspired by Moroccan tin lanterns}, I set about trying to create delicate yet simple patterns that would allow the light to come through and create interesting patterns of candlelight on the table. This was my attempt at a slightly fresh take on pumpkin carving!

PHOTO BY GABRIELLA HANSEN

What I learned was that my mini pumpkins were in fact too mini for the flame. Great idea, wrong scale! Within a few minutes, the less-than-festive odour of burning pumpkin began to fill the dining room. Yikes! In our scramble to keep them from totally combusting, I didn’t manage to get any pics to show you the charming and patterned glow they cast on the table. Plan B. Candles beside the minis instead of inside them. This is what experimentation is for, right? Now we know, 3″ to 4″ pumpkins are too small, but I stand behind the idea as one that would totally work on a slightly larger scale!

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN {CAPTURED JUST BEFORE THE BURNING STARTED!}

I’m dying to see a Moroccan-tin-lantern-inspired pumpkin all lit up {and not burning}. Maybe one of my lovely friends south of the border will make these for your upcoming American Thanksgiving celebration in a couple of weeks? If you do, please take pics! I’d love to see them.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 5th, 2012|0 Comments

Weir’s Lane Lavender Farm + Apiary

Some days just cry out for an adventure. Not necessarily a big one, but a change of pace, a new environment, a sensory experience. On just such a fine and recent day, a friend and I decided to take a drive out into the country to visit Weir’s Lane Lavender & Apiary. When we go on these adventures {we are prone to day trips together} I always try to brand it a Thelma and Louise adventure. She then reminds me that Thelma and Louise actually kill someone in that movie. I acquiesce that perhaps it’s not the best branding of our adventure, and then we move on to just being our normal, pacifist selves and enjoy the day together! It’s a rather charming pre-adventure ritual we’ve developed.

Photo by Cathie Coward

It really is amazing to realize that our South of France lavender field of dreams is being realized just outside of Burlington in the sweet farming community of Flamborough. The couple who own Weir’s Lane have quite an interesting story. After 25 years in the software industry wearing thin for one, and the other tiring of the commute from Toronto to teach at McMaster University, the owners decided a few years ago that a major change of pace was in order. They packed their Bloor West bags and headed for the country, still uncertain of what they might do with the farm they had chosen to be their new home.

After exploring the possibilities of goat farming and realizing that the cost of enclosures to protect the goats from the local coyote would be too precious, Kevin {the former software specialist} landed on lavender. I’m not sure he realized how poetic and therapeutic a choice this would prove to be.

Kevin describes the process of slowly converting their massive corn fields into lavender fields, smiling about the learning curve he’s been on since he has taken on this fragrant adventure. We wander and listen intently as he tours us through the newest lavender plants he put in this past Spring. Even the rarer white lavender are doing well, and it’s clear that Kevin has honed his agrarian skills quickly as he describes his process to us.

Where there is lavender {especially lavender in abundance} there are bound to be bees, and this simple law of nature led Kevin to Part 2 of his adventure: The Apiary. Bringing in an experienced local apiarist to get him started, Kevin is now producing raw honey and beeswax in abundance.

Photo by Cathie Coward

The farm now boasts an impressive 250, 000 bees who feast not only on the lavender, but also on the natural wildflower fields that frame their main source of sustenance. Most of the bees die off for the winter save the queens and a few of their workers. The process of disassembling the hives is fascinating as the bees literally clean the screens themselves, eating away at the remaining honey and beeswax.

The lavender harvest at Weir’s Lane leads to all kinds of amazing uses. We learned that French Lavender – less fragrant and milder than English – is primarily used for cooking. In contrast, English Lavender is the therapeutic lavender most of us would think of being used in aromatherapy to soothe frayed nerves. It also has some amazing uses topically, such healing cuts and scrapes and soothing bug bites!

Photo by Cathie Coward

Of course, the lavender can also be purchased dried by the bunch. The buds can be purchased by the bag if you feel inspired to create your own bath salts or therapeutic eye pillow. The charming little farm store is brimming with lotions and creams, beeswax candles and even lavender-infused raw honey – endless gift-giving options. Just delightful.

The season really has come to an end now, but I highly recommend putting this fragrant farm on your adventures list for this coming summer! We will definitely be back to see how the newest fields of lavender are doing while we drink in the therapeutic bliss of their fragrance.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 24th, 2012|0 Comments