Purples for a Winter Wedding

I was so glad to be able to do Jacqui's wedding. We had a lot of fun! The color scheme was purples, blue & black. I went to the SF Flower Mart for my first time. It was so neat!

Fiddlehead ferns were the best find!

I used Hydrangeas, mini Calla Lillies, Carations, Football Mums, privet berries...

Roses, Dendrobiums, Delphiums, Euculyptus..

I didn't make the cake, but I got to decorate it with flowers!

Wedding Preview

The House at Christmas

I just finished Moira's stocking yesterday. Each time I make a new one, I make it easier than the one before. My favorite part about this one was a mistake! I was sewing the crochet trim around the top & when I sewed the end down, I thought I was on the backside. Oops. Not. There was a big fat seam down the front. BUT, I happened to have 3 white pearly buttons in my button jar. Hooray!

Moira was checking out the newly hung stockings. She seemed to like the decorations pretty well.
We went with the piano idea. Thanks Nicolle!

I love the stockings I made for Scott & I, crazy quilted out of vintage fabrics. They took forever. When I made them, I didn't have any little ones running around, and I was confined to bed rest. So, it was a fitting project for that time. I don't think I'll make anymore like that, though!

Speaking of Husbands

and speaking of food. My husband has fond memories of a childhood meal called cube steak. Have you heard of it? I never had, before he mentioned it. What? What is cube steak? Apparently it is pre-tenderized beef. He told me it is a simple & affordable meal that his mom would make often. That is the way we ate, as I grew up. But, we never ate cube steak. The other day he told me that he very much would like to eat it again some day. So, I finally bought some at the store today. Then I Googled for a recipe. This is the sort of stuff that kept coming up.

CUBE STEAK AND GRAVY
Cube steak
1 c. flour 1 c. Crisco 1 tsp. salt 4 tbsp. flour
(for gravy)1 tsp. pepper 1 can evaporated milk
Roll cube steak in flour; set aside. Melt Crisco and put steak in frying pan. Fry until brown, turning meat over to avoid overcooking. Remove meat; pour flour in pan and brown constantly stirring. Add salt and pepper. In a bowl, mix 1/2 can with milk with 1/2 can water. Pour into flour mixture. Add steak. Stir until desired thickness. Pour up and enjoy a delicious meal.

Really Honey? Are you sure? Are you positive?
I am delaying. I am making pizza tonight instead.

Seasons Change

My gorgeous Snowball Viburnum, given & grown with love by my husband, is a fabulous yellow in the winter. Funny that the "snowballs" don't come 'til Spring.

Front Porch

In December

Red Again

My current Christmas table.

Made with Love

Scott & I watched Julie & Julia this weekend. Julia was such a marvelous character, moving me tears on a number of occasions. I have known that they are many, many Julia fans out in the world. A few years ago, Scott & I were at Copia, in Napa, for her birthday celebration. I had a hard time comprehending peoples high, crazy admiration for her. I didn't really know anything about her, before that day. Her friends & fans at the museum that day, taught me some neat stuff about her. The movie has done more to help me understand her. I am starting to get it. I think I want to read "My Life in France". And, I now feel the need to own Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Even though, I don't think I particularly enjoy French food. I mean, aspic, pate, fois gras? Gah!! Julia really showed people the JOY of cooking. (Even though she wasn't the author of that book.) I love that.
We should live with passion. And joy. God made us for His glory & for His pleasure! We are made in His image & He made us to enjoy good things. I am so grateful for that. I am so grateful for good food.
Cooking is a way that I love to show tangible love. When you create something for someone, you are giving them a real part of you. I was facebook chatting with my friend Laura about this today. She called cooking a love language. How brilliant. God gave us so many beautiful, good things to show His love. How wonderful to be able to love others in the same way.
What do you like to give to your love ones, that is "part" of you? Something sewn, grown, written, cooked, baked, painted, drawn, crafted?