Saturday Meanderings

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My notion of having a relaxing day was somewhat thwarted as cooking for a smaller group still requires the same amount of time and effort. Reminds me of camping~whether you go for a weekend or two weeks, you still need to pack and unpack the same amount of equipment. Nonetheless, sitting around the table with family eating delicious food is well worth the effort and time. I know many people already have their Christmas decorations up, but now fall decorations get taken down and winter/holiday decor goes up here at Bella Terra. So glad you are joining me for the last Saturday Meanderings of November, where we chat about all good things this week.

Thanksgiving Recap

Here are some photos of our day. The newly purchased Gardenia tablecloth from Studio McGee’s collaboration with Loeffler Randall is now my favorite. I am drawn to the English cottage look lately, with this warm gingham plaid, a flower motif and ruffled skirt.

The pattern looks beautiful in our dining room, and I use most of the same elements as the Holiday Styling Workshop luncheon table. Instead of an elaborate centerpiece, I cut some fall leaves from our pomegranate trees, use copper mercury glass votives (originally from West Elm but find similar here) and insert these yellow pom pom floral picks.

The food is so fabulous (homemade and from scratch) and Thanksgiving would not be complete without the legendary pumpkin pies made by my husband. Looking forward to a few days of leftovers!

Making a first Apple Pie

On Wednesday, my dear friend, Christine came over and we made her first apple pie.

Using my decorative rolling pin, Christine makes this attractive lattice crust pattern. While Christine is assembling her pie, I work on an apple dessert too.

Instead of making an apple pie this year, I elect to make apple hand pies. What a pain using this plastic pocket pie mold I bought from Williams-Sonoma years ago. Each time I make these, I silently curse asking myself why I do this? Has anyone had good luck with this gadget?

I even wrote a post about making these in 2017 and they were equally painful then. However, I plow through making them (some better looking than others) with a bit of salted caramel.

An egg glaze and sprinkles of sugar finish them off before going into the oven.

Would have been a lot easier to just make an apple pie.

Nature’s Signs of Autumn

The end of November/December is our official autumn. The leaves are changing color and falling to the ground and the earth has a certain smell to it. Sweaters are needed in the mornings and the joy of cooking and baking has returned.

The grapevine arch over the garden entrance is turning it’s deep red. It’s interesting how the rhythms of the season align with our energy patterns. For me, I sense a natural inclination towards rest and reflection in fall and winter with shorter days.

Is autumn over where you live?

Our Back Staircase Night Light

We have a back staircase that goes from the mud room to the upstairs hall. When we renovated the house in 2000, we discover an exterior window in the upper section of the staircase enclosure. Since it appears to be original to the house, we didn’t want to remove it.

Instead, we put a light on a timer behind it and now it functions as a night light for the stairway. I don’t want to jinx it but the same light bulb has been illuminating this space every night for the last 25 years. What’s on the other side of the window? It is actually behind shelving in my husband’s side of the closet.

The back staircase also serves as a gallery for my paintings. Our unique night light is something that I take for granted, but am grateful it shines during those night time trips down to the kitchen. To see the remodeling of this space, click here.

Loving These Table Lamps

I do not spend a lot of time on Instagram, but I love Suzanne Zingg’s style @suzannezinggstyle. She creates the most gorgeous tables. In a recent post, she shows the same table but with different accent colors.

These red table lamps are so darn beautiful. Suzanne was kind enough to share her resources: the bases are from @pookylightsus and the shades are from @luxeandbeau_store .

Mary’s Must Haves

Who remembers when Black Friday was the shopping day after Thanksgiving? I feel like we’ve been having Black Friday sales now for a few weeks. However, there are some great deals to be had. Here are a few of my favorites~some on sale and some not.

If you are doing any cookie making or pastry work this holiday, I cannot recommend enough an embossed rolling pin. However, do make sure it has deep engraved embossing. If not, the pattern will not show up well on pie crusts (it may work on soft cookie dough). I recently bought one and the embossing is so shallow that it really doesn’t place any pattern on the dough.

Here is one I found on Amazon that would be great for cookies or pie crust. It’s not on sale but you can buy it here for $14.99. Just ordered this and it will be arriving this weekend.

My vision for our holiday decorations is simple~greens, burgundy velvet ribbon and lots of candles. I found this beautiful 2″ ribbon on Amazon and it is the perfect color. If burgundy is not in your holiday color scheme, not to worry. This ribbon comes in 20 different colors and there is 20 yards per spool. Priced at $25.99.

Remember those soft Timeless T-shirts I recommended over the summer? Well, I am in need of long-sleeved ones and Banana Republic Factory has them on sale right now. My recent order of 6 T-shirts (crew neck), including tax is $62.55. Say what? Seriously, I love these shirts and even if they only last one season, they fit well and are so soft. They also have long-sleeved turtlenecks and v-necks in a variety of solid colors and stripes. Of course, the short-sleeved ones are available also at a fabulous price. Check them out here.

If you have an IKEA near you, check out these very affordable Korken ($2.99 each) 34 oz. glass bottles with a tight-fitting stopper. I keep 4 of these in my refrigerator filled with water at all times.

When we have guests or need water at the dinner table, these bottles come in handy. In an effort to reduce our plastic bottle usage, I always put a few of these on the table when I have a meeting. Plus, if you are feeling extra crafty, you can etch the bottles to personalize them. See my 2018 post on etching glass bottles here. Would make a nice holiday gift!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! Looking forward to sharing all things Christmas with you soon.