The center of our home is both literally and figuratively the kitchen. Besides being in the studio, the kitchen is my most favorite place to be. It’s here where my creative nature takes hold and blend color and flavor to tickle our taste buds and add ceremony to our lives.
In our reproduction Cape-style home with its faux Ell, we enter from the backdoor into a hall way that opens up to the open area kitchen and dining room combination.
On my butcher block center island (that David built) I made a display that honored some of the inspirations in my culinary history. Books given to me by family members, some historic recipes from my grandmother and her rolling pin. They all sit in the basket that I have used since 1974 for shopping farmers markets, broken handle and all. In the last post I showed you the minature of that basket that sits in the Keeping Room shown again here.
Get the recipe for Aunt Toddies steamed pudding and its history here.
More nods to my love of baking on my copper cooling sill.
I like to swag this window each year with my fruit ornaments. I love how it looks over the table that my grandfather stenciled with fruit. This year I added more fruit decor with a vase of faux fruit surrounded by jars of fruit jam and dried chilies from the garden, all in the same color scheme. Anything can be a decoration when a bow is tied on it!
Into the dining room I went with a more natural colored theme giving emphasis to the golden tones in my cabinets and using acorns as the theme.
Acorns hanging from the chandelier ….
Acorns in the lighting…
Acorns on the table…
The three wisemen that my grandparents collected during their travels in Mexico on top of an antique picnic basket sandwiched between two “acorns”. I scavenged these finials from a bed that was thrown on the side of the road then painted.
A new yummy dish that I came up with for a Christmas breakfast last week with friends is this Yam casserole bake. Cheese, sausage, apples and pomegranate seeds layered with sliced yams. Delicious! Get the recipe here.
All gorgeousness, Jane. Thanks for the inspiration!
You are welcome Debby! Thank you for taking the time to look through this and comment. I bet your home is wondrous too!
My personal favorite is the lovely swag in the kitchen over the table. Just beautiful!
Mine too. Probably why I keep repeating the theme each year! Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙂
Hi Jane….
Your home is always lovely, but especially during the holiday season. I am fascinated by the steamed pudding. I understand the carrots, as they are sweet on their own, but potatoes…..hmmmmm. Ever tried to make it GF? Asking for a friend. 🙂
Hi there Lynn, Thank you!
This recipe could easily be made gluten-free by substituting the wheat flour for any one-to-one GF flour. I personally have a hard time digesting those GF flours because of all the starch & gums, though, so I find using quinoa flour or even buckwheat flours to work well as a replacement. The nature of a steamed pudding is to be moist and slightly gooey so there shouldn’t be any worries about it holding together without the gluten. The starch in the potatoes really helps stick it together too. And to your question of is it sweet enough by using potatoes – it is plenty sweet with those raisins! A have try then leave a comment how it worked out GF!
Yeah! The delicious casserole and steam pudding recipes! Thank you Jane. Merry Christmas! Your house is stunning!
Thank you! Merry Christmas!
I’m inspired to put a small tree in my kitchen- I have lots of fruit and vege ornaments. And maybe a swag over the window……. sue dehaan
Wonderful Sue!! I can see it. Wouldn’t Kay be proud of us!