AN AMERICAN HOUSE AT CHRISTMAS

UNE MAISON AMERICAINE A NOEL

We were invited to a yearly Christmas Brunch très americain this morning. The house is magnificent, our hosts are fun and very entertaining, the ambiance always warm and relaxed, the food delicious and plentiful, and the eggnog and Champagne flow and flow and flow ...but what is the most memorable every single year is the care, effort and artistry put into the Holiday decor by our host. You see, he is a SERIOUS collector of Christmas Antiques. He lectures about his collections and is forever on the lookout for a new exquisite piece he does not own yet. He is also, always, very happy to point out each stunning ornament or tree, its quirks, its history, its origin. This year he has surpassed himself! every corner, every mantle, every pedestal held yet another priceless treasure; I could not wait to share this with you; (Please forgive my basic photographic skills with my basic digital camera).

The entry hall

The rotating music box tree

all the trees are "feather trees" all horizontal branches and not much greenery

The vintage Christmas illustration

The living room

The "runway" with Santas in various color suits

You can stay for hours admiring each ornament in the perfect displays

the patriotic red white and blue tree a little bit 4th of July, a lot December

the quirky pipe-cleaner tree

the vintage holly desk ensemble (cigarettes? very vintage indeed..)

The dining room

The star at the top: very finely embossed gilded tole

Lucifer wreaking havoc in the serene mantle display

small tree large one-of-a-kind ornaments

The library

the wood village with windmill

The family Christmas tree

of course, just as special and refined as the "collection" trees

Thank you dear hosts, for the magical show and the wonderful time.

au revoir.

Hostess Gifts

LES CADEAUX D'HOTESSE

It is not always easy to find a thoughtful hostess gift and this is the time if ever there was one, to put a little effort into this endeavour as 1) there is a great number to be given at this time and 2) hostesses are receiving quite a few these days and the self inflicted "uniqueness competition" is on. The bottle of wine or Champagne is always nice.. relatively facile but creative enough in a pinch, and always very welcome.

The hostess was moi, the other day, and my adorable guests found the perfect little cadeaux for the occasion. Here is a glimpse (in alphabetical -first name- order)

I love les parfums pour la maison and this one is FANTASTIQUE! clean, slightly flowery smell, not too sweet. This is going to replace my usual rite: a scented candle burning ( I love Mizensir) or a pot-pourri (Jo Malone 's are heaven) merci Ann

A tea ball with a tiny tea cup at one end of the chain for our favorite Lapsong Souchong loose tea; no fishing out the leaves nor the boule à thé after tea time. And we drink gallons of tea...merci Anne

Macarons. Crunchy and soft at the same time. chocolate and vanilla. perfect. period. merci Anne, for this delicious treat also.

The snow has arrived and what better than a piping hot cup of chocolate from Williams Sonoma to forget the cold. yummmm...merci Diana

Anything encouraging me to stay organized and anything made with proverbial Japanese refinement (here from Awagami) is ALWAYS a very big hit with me. merci Donna

How does this guest knows me so well? we have met only a few times... am I that transparente? home made biscotti. such a personal gesture. merci Pascale

and FOR my divine guests

An ornament on each bread plate; a nod to the dessert, poires au sirop de thé vert /menthe: pears with green tea/mint syrup

One last word:

MERCI mes amies for the kind attentions and for your fun, interesting, and always chic presence. (a lot of black and white and all shades of gray was worn...tall boots and thin legged pants. I was the only one with a bit of color: a purplish rouge cardinal scarf on a grayish celadon sweater). And BRAVO for finding the perfect little something; non, vraiment you shoud not have, mais merci tout de même, beaucoup.

au revoir.

DINING ROOMS

LES SALLES A MANGER

I have been thinking about the center of the holidays: the dining room (I mean after the salon...because... the sapin de Noel-) and wondering how other people are going to dress their houses and more specifically, their dining rooms for the holidays. Well...I guess, mostly, we'll never know, will we? not for the dining rooms where we are not invited...

The classics

JADHny

JADHny

JADHny

The not-so-classic classics

the naturals

the ultra mod

the somewhere-in-the-world

JADHny

images xjavierx, ooh food, poumique, marie claire maison, decorology, elle decoration, follow studio, impossible princess, midcentury jo via flickr and william a boyd for JADHny

au revoir.

HOLIDAY LUNCH WITH FRIENDS

DEJEUNER DE FETE ENTRE AMIES

I invited a few friends for a Holiday lunch  and, vrai miracle!, they were all free and willing to sacrifice their precious Holiday time to come to my house. As they were so generous with their time, I was going to be generous with mine and set a table as special and sophisticated as I could make it with some of my favorite pieces. I decided on a Winter Theme: I had to go fish out a nice white tablecloth from the closet where it has hung for...months, and white napkins: a tad formal- it's the Holidays after all. I dug through my silverware boxes. I brought out the white and silver dishes and thought that the red striped Venetian glasses and coral porte-couteaux would warm up the look. With such a wintery setting, I opted for a soft mango-pearl irisé coffee set for after lunch café (the French way) On the menu...let's see: a  hot butternut squash soup with a dollop of crème fraiche and toasted Brie tartines, a plain green salad, and for dessert, poached pears (canned, oui, absoluement) with green tea/mint syrup? Ah, oui, pas mal.

A crisp white damask tablecloth with monogrammed napkins

A silvery centre de table: inexpensive silver ornaments mixed with antique ones including the 40's windmill which is my favorite one of all.

Art Deco dishes from the Brussels Antiques Market in the Woluwé part of town

 Water glasses from Venice and coral chunks as porte-couteaux

Small silver vases for a few holly cuttings here and there; they were used for holding cigarettes when smoking was still considered acceptable at the table... and everywhere else.

Silver serving pieces from both our families, some American, some French

An Art deco bowl from Paris for the coffee-time chocolate truffles

and a Holiday card as place card with each guest's name

et voilà,

The table is all dressed up

Le café is to be served in the mango-pearl service à café from the antiques market in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Provence

Soyez les bienvenues, mes amies 

 images JADHny


La soupe
BEST COLD DAY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
 
butternut squash
butter
Vidalia onion
chicken stock
nutmeg
half and half (may use fat free)
dill
salt and pepper

Peel 1 large butternut squash. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds and pulp. Cut into 1-inch chunks. (what?  buy it all peeled and cut!)  Sauté 1/2 chopped Vidalia onion in 2 tablespoons butter until translucent. Add cubed squash and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Add 6 cups chicken stock or low sodium bouillon. Simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Puree in blender. (Do not do this while squash is hot. Steam may crack the glass or cover of blender.)

Return pureed squash to a pot. Stir in 1 cup half and half or milk (more for a thinner soup). Add 2 tsp. dried dill, 1 tsp. nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish each bowl with a sprig of fresh dill.

Serve with a French baguette.
(I also add  a dollop of cream and a little nutmeg and serve before we sit down)

Submitted by: Linda Sjogren to cooks.com

au revoir.