May Breakfasts are a Rhode Island tradition. Churches, fire stations and community groups hold them each year all over the state.
Our local one in town is held at the "red church" either right on May 1st or as close to that date as possible.
It was cold and wet this morning but the food and coffee warmed us right up:
scrambled eggs
bacon and sausage
pancakes
hash browns
blueberry coffee cake
fruit and juice
coffee
Today is final preparations for Hurricane Irene, which is due tomorrow here in Rhode Island. When I was going down the list of what needs to be done I suddenly realized I had not "taken in" my hydrangeas for the coming year and if I did not take them in today they would be unusable once the hurricane arrived.
When I say "taking in my hydrangeas" I'm talking about preserving the semi-dried blooms for use in the house from now until next summer.
Here's what I do:
I wait until late August when the blooms are fading and drying on the bush. My hydrangeas are bright blue during their blooming season. At the end of the summer they are many different colors - lovely faded colors like purple, light blue, lilac, even some tinges of green - and the trick is that you want to have them retain these beautiful colors while completely drying.
When I cut a stem off the bush I remove all the leaves and also shake the bloom head to rid it of any insects camped inside.
I've been doing two large bouquets for the house, for one I use a frog for the other I don't.
Fill the containers you want to use about 3/4 full of water. Arrange your hydrangeas and then display them and DO NOTHING ELSE. Let the water evaporate over time - DO NOT refill with water.
I find hydrangeas preserved this way retain their gorgeous colors from the day you picked them, they dry completely and they stay this way until the next August! Pretty amazing.
This arrangement is done with a frog in the bottom of a large silverplate bowl:
This one I just stick the stems in and arrange without a frog:
My sister Beth has been visiting for the holidays and we both love to cook and bake. We just whipped up a batch of delicious, unusual jam. Probably nobody you know has tasted this before so this is a delightful gift to give special people. It has a gorgeous, clear-red appearance and it is very easy to make.
Here it is:
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup water
Scrape vanilla seeds from pod into a heavy saucepan. Add pod and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 20 minutes.
Jam will thicken as it cools.
Puree jam in a food mill set over a bowl, discarding skins and pod.
Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Makes 2 cups.
Those of us living in the East Bay area of Rhode Island get to enjoy Blithewold Mansion and Gardens whenever we like -lucky us!
Here are some photos taken today, a sunny spring day which climbed to 93 degrees, a Rhode Island record:
We've done a brunch the last two years and find we really like this approach - lots of creativity possible with a menu like this and the dishes are done by 3 pm instead of 7pm!
The Swedish biscuits below are a recipe from my grandmother, executed beautifully by my husband, Steve. The cake is a fantastic lemon ginger pound cake from Martha Stewart, one of the best pound cakes I've ever made to be sure. Many other items on the menu.......very enjoyable!
I am putting away the last of the Christmas items and also looking out at our third major snowstorm this season (picture below of our last one). While re-looking at this year's Christmas cards I was reminded of a great idea a friend of mind passed on to me last year - making gift tags out of Christmas cards which normally would be thrown away. This is a winner of a project from every perspective: it reuses and recycles something, it produces something useful, it can be worked on whenever someone has time to do it (including kids), it's a relaxing indoor activity AND it can even become a family tradition.
Putting children in charge of this project would reap even more benefits. Deciding which part of the Christmas card could be fashioned into a gift tag requires independent thinking, creativity and good fine-motor skills - all highly desirable attributes that kids should be developing. Then there's the contribution the child is making to the family's yearly holiday celebration - "priceless"!
I don't remember where I got this recipe but it is just the perfect holiday snack - and kids can make these charming little reindeer themselves. I have made them with my 4th grade students many times and everyone - kids and all those neighboring teachers down the hall we served them to - loved them:
Reindeer Snacks
Triangular tortilla chips
Soft cream cheese
Red bell pepper
Raisins
Mini Pretzels
Spread cream cheese on one side of a chip. Cut red pepper into very small pieces to make reindeer noses and place on the cream cheese; complete the reindeer "face" by adding raisins for eyes and pretzels for antlers.
These are a great combination of salty, sweet and crunchy at the same time - enjoy!
Every year I get such delight from unearthing the Christmas ornament boxes and looking once again at the collection we have accumulated over the years. Actually, my mother started giving me Christmas ornaments when I was in college and the collection just took off from there. Wherever I find myself I can spot a mile away an ornament that is destined for our Christmas tree.....I've got ornaments from London, Japan, New Zealand, Saks Fifth Avenue, the Metropolitan Museum, Ikea, the National Cathedral, Sweet Berry Farm in Rhode Island, Lillian Vernon, Home Goods, catalogs, Freeport in Maine, New Brunswick in Canada and of course, our boys. I can pretty much tell you where and under what circumstances I obtained just about every item on the tree. Pretty nice!
