A trip to Waterfire

On Saturday, my sister and I and our friend Debbi drove down to Providence, Rhode Island. We went to see the spectacular event, Waterfire. It was Debbi's first time at Waterfire.

Before we walked down to the river for the festivities, we decided to have an early dinner. We stopped at Union Station Brewery. The meal was delicious. We relaxed a bit knowing we would be on our feet all evening. We decided to forego dessert until later.

I discovered the night portrait mode on my camera. It's only been two years since I bought the camera! It seemed to give me better results on some of my shots.

You can smell the smoke from the fires but it is not overwhelming. It does not dry out your eyes either. It can be mesmerizing watching the fires burn. I could watch them burn all night, in fact I did!

Paper stars were lit along the bridges crossing the river. They are part of a fundraising effort to keep the fires burning at Waterfire.

My Boston Strong Duck made the trip with us. The story of the Boston Strong Duck is for another post.

Saturday night's event was a full lighting. Sometimes only half  the river is lit. We were fortunate to make the trip this night.

These luminarias are lit in memory of loved ones who have passed. This is my sister's dedication to her friend Lori. My co-worker friend Michelle died of cancer last month so I bought a lantern in her memory. Debbi bought one as well. We placed them at the river's edge.

It turned out to be a lovely evening, not too hot or cold. Earlier we had downpours but by afternoon the rains had passed. We had a terrible commute through gridlocked traffic. It took us much longer to get there than expected. Glad we left quite early so we could have time for a leisurely dinner.

After we saw the fire performer, we left to have the long overdue dessert. It was after 10:00 but we didn't care. We drove to Pastiche, a bakery/cafe that I suggested. It's a small place located at the Federal Hill section of Providence. It was packed and we had to wait to be seated. At 11:00 we were ordering and at 11:30 they were closing. I appreciated that they did not push us to finish quickly. The staff was very nice and efficient. A pleasant experience all around and a lovely ending to a perfect evening!

Easter Recap

I'm sure you all had a busy Easter Sunday. Mine was busy too. It started with Sunday morning Mass then we had Easter Brunch at the condo.

I had the good folks at Pondview Florist in Winchester fill my Harney Tea tin with a spring arrangement to match the tablecloth. White tulips with one blue hydrangea. They did a great job!

The tablecloth was a recent purchase at an estate sale. The photo doesn't do it justice.  It is a lovely shade of pink and definitely from the 50's

My sister made a couscous salad with tomatoes, garlic, basil, and lemon juice.  It was yummy!

I made overnight baked french toast. I make it for Easter and my Wimbledon Breakfast.

A mix of old and new at each place setting. New plates used as chargers and the smaller plate is vintage and was purchased at Brissonte in North Reading.

For dessert, we had a chocolate Easter Egg cake.  It was filled with chocolate cake and chocolate mousse layers. Delish!

Next, my sister and I went to the nursing home to visit my Mom and to take her to the dessert buffet. We didn't eat much. I had a few chocolate dipped strawberries.

They do a really nice job with variety and presentation. The residents at the nursing home looked like  they enjoyed it.

Too bad I wasn't hungry. I would have enjoyed the key lime pie or the caramel cheesecake.

I changed the entire tablesetting for the evening crowd.  I had friends coming over for dessert and coffee and tea.  This time I used a white tablecloth with the lavender table runner with the little LED lights running down the center.

Everyone got a Lindt chocolate bunny to take home. I am so OCD that I replaced all the ribbons on the bunnies' necks.  They came with red ribbons but that would clash with the purples and pastels of the tablescape.  So I used white and pastel colored ribbons instead.

Here's another view of the floral arrangement with tea tin. The beautiful sugar pot was a gift from my friends Mary and Don.

Yes, I did stand on a chair for this shot. I wanted you to have an aerial view of the table and of the lit runner. I wasn't sure I would like it but I do like the white plates on the white tablecloth. Another estate sale find.

Linen napkins from Pier One and violet china was purchased at various antique stores.

Petit fours in pastel colors. These would be so beautiful on a tea tray. I found these at La Patisserie in Winchester.

My friends all brought desserts.  Mary made a cream cheese pie and lemon cookies. Ellie brought brownies on a 100 year old plate that was her mother's. Debbi brought pistachio salad and flowers.

I also made up a fruit and cheese plate to offset all the sweets.  We had multigrain flatbread, water crackers and Triscuits plus red and green grapes for color and herbed goat cheese, a sharp white cheddar and a wedge of brie.

With all that entertaining yesterday, it was tough to get up for work this morning. I was a little tired but it was worth it. I had such a wonderful time with friends and family.

Weekend R&R

So this weekend was a long weekend and I had three days of R&R. Sweet!

I planned to stay home Saturday night and watch the Patriots- Broncos game by myself. Such a fan am I that I like to watch the game without distraction in the comfort of my own home. I guess I am a football snob.  I was invited to a playoff party at my friends Deborah and Roger's home. I accepted the invite and so I went to the party with my friends Kim and John.

We had a wonderful time at this small gathering. Great food and great company. They made sure I got a front row seat and I was in heaven. I had a fireplace with a roaring fire on my left, sandwiches and snacks on the coffee table in front of me, and a large screen TV with the game playing right in front of me. Football viewing perfection!

I just had to take a picture of Nathan's Tshirt. He is the youngest son of Roger and Deborah, Nathan made an appearance as Santa at my Christmas Soiree. I think his picture is on that post.

Kim and I were admiring the sleigh in the living room and Deborah told us the story of how they acquired it. Roger and Nathan thought they should get a sleigh for the front yard for the holidays. They looked at  a number of antique ones but this one is new and it can actually function as a real sleigh. The price was comparable to the antiques. It was made by the Amish and they only make 12 each year. It is magnificent!

On Sunday, still euphoric from the Patriots win, I decided to have a couple people over for coffee and dessert. I made an apple crisp and my sister made a lemon cheesecake out of lemon curd.

The four of us also had chocolate pizzelles and cornmeal ginger cookies. It was a nice

laid back evening.

I was excited to use my new lantern purchased after Christmas at Pier One. It gives off a nice warm glow.

I used the recipe from one of my Susan Branch cookbooks for the apple crisp. It is super easy and takes no time at all. I decided to rest it on my silver cakestand with the crystal drops. You can't go wrong with crystals and candlelight for simple elegance.

We drank tea and coffee out of little bird mugs. You can see them in the photos above. I love black and white toile. Each mug has a cover for keeping the beverage warm and a saucer to limit spillage. I don't  have many of the mugs so I can't use them with large groups. 

I had a nice relaxing weekend. How about you? What were your plans?

Easter Festivities

Today I had my Father and Sister over for brunch. First, there was church and then we went to my condo for Easter Brunch. We started with a salad of baby spinach, goat cheese, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, and slivered almonds with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.



Orange juice was served from my hydrangea pitcher.



A daytime view of the table setting.



I made the same french toast recipe I used for last year's Wimbledon Breakfast. It's an overnight baked french toast with maple syrup and cream cheese. So yummy and so easy. I got the recipe from the Angel of the Sea Bed and Breakfast cookbook.

My Sister made a Swedish Apple Pie and we had it for dessert.



In the evening, I invited my Sister and 4 friends over for dessert. Everyone brought something. We had fruit salad with blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries and a sweet cream dip. Also, brownies, lemon cookies, more Swedish apple pie and a chocolate mousse layer cake. That's it pictured above.



It really was quite spectacular looking. We couldn't wait to cut into it.



It was just as spectacular on the inside. And delicious too!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Impromptu Dessert Night

For Christmas, I bought a friend a new cookbook and an oven mitt from Anthropologie. As I thumbed through the cookbook the day I bought it, I thought I might like one for myself but I decided against buying one. At that time, my dollars needed to be spent on Christmas gifts for others.

Well, the other day I was at Barnes and Noble and I looked for the cookbook and found it. I had a members card so I saved a bit on it.

Mmm, "cinnamon, spice, & warm apple pie- comforting baked fruit desserts for chilly days", the very title makes me salivate. I couldn't wait to get started on my first dessert. I went to Whole Foods on my way home from Barnes & Noble. I sat in my car in the Whole Foods parking lot and looked through the recipes. I decided to start with the first recipe, apple and blackberry crumble. I just love blackberries!



Although I consider myself better at baking than cooking, I am certainly no expert. In fact my repertoire is pretty much limited to apple crisp, lemon squares, and brownies.

The recipe called for porridge oats and I couldn't find them at Whole Foods so I used what I had on hand, the regular rolled Quaker Oats. Later, one of my friends told me I should have used steel cut oats. Ok, good to know for next time.



I was hoping my apple and blackberry crumble would turn out just as nice as the one pictured in the book.



Here is MY apple and blackberry crumble. The recipe called for a variety of mixed apples so I used braeburn, granny smith, and one lady pink gala apple.

I thought it turned out well so I invited a few people over for an impromptu dessert. We sat in the living room and enjoyed our dessert and the fireplace. It was a chilly night so a warm apple dessert and a cup of tea was just the ticket!



Vanilla ice cream is the perfect topping for this dessert although whipped cream would also be nice!

I've decided to make every recipe in the book and blog about it a la Julie and Julia! Maybe they'll make a movie about me too!