Blazing Fire and Christmas Treats

Posted on December 18, 2013 by sbranch

Oh, I have treats to show you, blazing fire too!  Here’s treat #1:  Musica

 Something delicious is cooking!

Where do we start . . . let’s see, how about here. . .

This is Titcombs Bookshop in Sandwich on Cape Cod where I went to sign books last week.  But look what they did — with brown plastic tablecloths, they made the front of their shop into a gingerbread house! They cut heavy white paper plates in half and glued them around the doors and windows, and used some as edges to the “house”  . . . they made candies out of them too, and lollypops in the window boxes.  Isn’t that brilliant!?!  I thought so too.  I’d love to try this on our house next year.

I’m almost all unpacked from the trip now . . . I thought I’d show you some of the things I got at antique stores as we crossed the country.  First off, lambs!  You know how much I love lambs!  I had a few before we went away, but on this trip whenever I saw one I thought would fit with my little group, I would get it.  It was so fun to unwrap them, slowly, after forgetting what I’d gotten.  I have a flock!

And look, treasure! I found a Beatrix Potter figurine of Samuel Whiskers!  There was no possible way for me to leave him in that dusty old store, alone and unloved.  I’d never seen this figurine before . . . did not even know what I was missing.  Adorable thing, I saw it from across the room and honed in on it like a submarine sonar system.  (Like I know what a submarine sonar system is, I think I made that up, but you know what I mean!  Like Jack and his rubber band!)  And now Samuel has friends.  Never to be alone again.

And later, in another store, I found Mrs. Tittlemouse!  Another BP person from 1948 I did not know existed.  In her jaunty striped coat with the

bow on the back!  She’s now lined up with the others on my kitchen shelf . . .

And look at this gorgeous vintage tea set I found!  It was displayed on a starched white lace tablecloth in an antique store in Oklahoma City and practically glowed in the dark it was so pretty.  I walked round and round it like a tiger in a cage.  It was such a good deal, I couldn’t leave it there, so we wrapped it all in newspaper and brought it home, and now I’ve given it a nice soapy bath.

It’s all hand-painted, gold-edged, and made in England, it even came with an old silver sugar spoon!

The set serves six, it’s only missing one cup.  But I mixed-and-matched it with both old and new china cups and mugs, to see what it looks like, and I think it’s even better.  I love mismatched! You know what a dish person I am.

Here’s what it says on the bottom.  I don’t think it has a pattern name; I’m thinking Tuscan is the name of the China company.  Has anyone ever heard of it?

I love nesting . . . I’ve been making up for lost time . . .

We’re taking it slow . . . we haven’t even trimmed the tree yet.  That’s OK, it’s in a bucket of water in the dining room, so we’re close.  There’s a wreath on the front door, we’re getting there. We have Christmas in our hearts! I’m determined to enjoy this season and in order to do that, I want to go slow and not feel hurried.  If something doesn’t get done, it won’t matter.  A little poinsettia in the window is just fine for me . . .

I’m just happy to be . . .

I’m spending lots of time in the kitchen with my little buddy . . .

Jack is interested in everything I do, and everything that goes on outside our window ~

It’s been really cold, but beautiful . . . decorative cardinals have been flocking around the feeders.  Note, you California/Florida Girlfriends, that there is no color out there in the garden, it is a sepia/white world here in the winter, which is why we were blessed with the Cardinal.  What a gift!

And it’s not cold inside, it’s crackling and cozy and smells just wonderful . . .

One thing I’ve been doing is making a few little food-gift items for friends.  This morning I made one of my favorite candies for this time of year, chocolate-covered Almond Brittle from page 132 of Vineyard Seasons.  SO easy, and perfectly irresistible ~ and very mailable . .  I thought I’d show you how, in case you have a last minute someone you’d like to please . . . . But first, more MUSICA for the kitchen dance . . .

So all you do is (don’t blink because this recipe is really fast!) put one pound of butter and two cups of sugar in a large heavy pot on top of your stove.

then pour in one-quarter cup of water . . .  hook a candy thermometer to the side of the pan . . . don’t let the tip touch the bottom.

Melt the butter together with the sugar and the water over medium-high heat . . . boil mixture briskly until your candy thermometer reads 300°.

Stir and stir, boil and boil, and while you do you can count your blessings and . . .

watch the birds and stir a little more . . .

The mixture will cook and darken like brittle should.  When it reaches the “crack” hard candy stage on your candy thermometer, 300°, remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in two cups of sliced almonds.

Then spread the mixture thinly on an ungreased (plenty of butter already in the recipe) cookie sheet (or two) and allow it to cool.

When the brittle is almost cool, melt eight ounces unsweetened chocolate over low heat in a heavy pan, stirring constantly.

Then brush the warm chocolate over the top of the candy.  Let it cool completely before you

break it up into pieces (I hit the bottom of the pan with a hammer to put hairline cracks in it all over, then I do the rest with a knife).

. . . and then I fill the tins and boxes I’ve collected to use for Christmas gifts . . . old ones and new ones from the pantry . . .

I had this darling box that I lined in a lace doily,  and I knew the perfect person to give it to. . .

It’s the same person I’m giving the dishes to . . . the perfect little gift for . . .

Y O U !

Surprise!  Yes, it’s YOU ♥ YOU ♥ YOU, (like bread and fishes, I wish it could be all of you, but for a few days, it will be only YOU, and then, one of you really will walk away with this elegant little English tea set, just in time for Downton Abbey! It’s my present to you.  It’s been so long, I wanted it to be something nice.  The minute I saw these dishes, I thought, my girls will love these.  But then, I couldn’t send them out without a little homemade something!  That wouldn’t be right. So I made you some Chocolate-Covered Almond Brittle to remember me by.  Now all you have to do is leave me a

comment at the bottom of this post and you’ll automatically be entered for the drawing for the Tea Set and box of homemade candy.

(BTW, If this blog comes to your email box, in order to enter you will have to click on www.162.240.10.175/~susanbs3/susanbranch/ and come here to the online version, then scroll to the bottom of this post, look for the tiny word “comments,” click on it and leave a word or two and you’ll be entered!)

Then our girl Vanna (Vanna is the same as a “random number generator” only our Vanna has a lot more verve and style) will be pressed back into service. She’s done NOTHING for months, it’s about time she earned her keep. In a few days she will choose one of your names from her giant Santa hat and I’ll announce the winner.  Tell your friends too Girlfriends, your sisters and your mom, because even if you don’t win, you could get invited to Tea (possibly even Twine) at their house and have candy to boot.   You can leave as many comments as you want, Vanna knows to only count each name once.  She is a contest-engineering genius.

So while I’m cleaning up, I’ll tell you about another surprise.  Because if any of you bought a signed copy of our new book A FINE ROMANCE from our studio for your friends and family during this month of December, you don’t know it, but you’ve already given a gift to some very special people. Oh yes! Seven dollars from each purchase through our studio for the entire month of December will be going to Casa Pacifica, an organization in California that “Builds Foundations of Hope” for abused and neglected children. ♥ 

So I got lambs and new BP People and I got to go out and meet so many of you, and you got dishes and candy, and lots more I hope, and we all made a little bit of a difference for children and families, because without you there would be no FINE ROMANCE. ♥  High five, Girlfriends.  Thank you also for the wonderful reviews on Amazon, I know it’s you.  We are still number one in England Travel Guides!  Thank you so much!  We make a little difference in our own little kindred spirit world.  What goes around comes around.♥

And now it’s time . . .  I can smell it from here . . .

I put a little something in the oven for lunch . . . and it’s ready!

A big delicious, salted buttered sweet potato all caramelized and ready to go.  Oh yes.  Perfect for this cold day.  Off I go now.  Don’t forget to leave your comment Girls.  Good luck, I hope you are having just the very best time! ♥

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Happy to Be Home

Posted on December 12, 2013 by sbranch
Hello my darling girls … I can NOT begin to tell you how happy I am to be home. I’m going to put on some ★ MUSICA★ for us . . .
This is the view from out the windows over my kitchen sink.  It’s good to go away for three months, then when you get home you are extra grateful with cup runnething over all over the place.  Alive!  Alive!  We made it home alive!  We were living as birds on a wire out there.  The big wheelers and oil trucks did not kill us after all!  We did not slip off the road into a ditch.  The house is still here!  My cozy quilts, candles, the stove!  The cooking!  The cats!  The TV clicker we know how to work!  Nothing changed!  A long delicious winter is coming.  Downton Abbey is coming!  Very happy . . . but we were tired.  It was a long trip ~ we didn’t realize how long until we stopped.  We’ve been going to bed early, smooshing in our cold bedroom with rattling windows under big feathery quilts.  Last night for dinner we had chicken soup, a wedge of ice-cold iceberg lettuce with chopped tomatoes and creamy-lumpy blue cheese on it, and a big sweet potato.  In front of the fire, all quiet and crackling, log falling, embers breaking.  It’s freezing here.  We ate the skin on the potato too, because it was organic ~ I buttered and salted it and I cooked it hot at 425° so the skin would caramelize a little bit and be extra flavorful and we didn’t have to put any extra butter on it because it already tasted so sweet and good.  It wasn’t fast food.  It wasn’t something from our ice chest.  It was real!  The heat from our stove warmed the kitchen.  We are coming to ourselves again, and this Friday is the big yearly Christmas dance our friends have given at the yacht club every year since 1979.  So in addition to sleeping, napping, unpacking, eating right, playing with Jack and Girl and getting organized, I’ve been trying to figure out what to wear.  So far it’s a ballet-length black taffeta full skirt, with short boots, a v-neck beaded velvet top and a separate  brown fur peter pan-type collar.  The goal is to look as good as possible, but even more than that, to be warm.  The secret is in the jewelry which is lots of shiny jet beads and gold earbobs in the manner of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.  This party gets so crowded no one sees you from the neck down anyway. I keep threatening to wear my jammie bottoms and shearling slippers with my velvet top and jewelry.  No one would notice. But that’s the outfit, unless I change my mind.  The earbobs are a for-sure.  Right now I’m typing with one dark reddish brown fingernail . . . trying out the color for the outfit.  Ladeedah, ladeedah.  The life of a person with a house, a bathroom and closets.  Today, we are going to the movies.  Buttered popcorn at 3:45 ~ a matinee, my favorite!  We’re going to see About Time.  I hear we’re going to love it, don’t tell me if you’ve seen it ~ not until tomorrow.
I had a really nice thing happen the other day.  I was asked to do an interview by Jennifer Carroll who has an online magazine called Celebrating Everyday Life
(what’s not to love about that title).  She asked the best questions, about A FINE ROMANCE, but she covered lots of other topics too, like “who would you have for dinner if you could have anyone?” I liked that question!  Had to think!  I answered them as best I could, and then I thought, this would make a nice post for the blog. I think she’s planning to run the interview in January or February, I’ll be sure to let you know… in the meantime here’s the preview for you, my Girlfriends . . . some of you will recognize these answers, but so many people are writing to say they just found my books or my blog … we have new Girlfriends, and this is especially for them . . .  here goes: 
Jennifer: When did your love of England begin?
me:  Little by little, mostly through reading, art and seeing old movies, clues of interest kept coming up.  
England is an “empire of imagination.”  I think we crossed this bridge in our car!
But those clues were like the lambs scattered on the sides of English hills, one here, one there, they did not come in a clump.  My mind was slowly cataloguing them.  Over time I became more and more curious about the culture, then about the history and learning about my English ancestors as I discovered them.
It was a very slow unfolding, but after seeing my first English garden and realizing there were hundreds of them all attached to ancient castles, cottages and manor houses; realizing I could visit and even stay at some of the homes of my literary and artistic heroes . . .
. . . seeing the countryside where all the history I’d read about came alive because it’s all still there, nothing has changed; learning more about the interesting lives of people I’ve known from their art and writings, and then the surprise and serendipity of learning about people and lives I’d never heard of before (but should have), I became more and more enthralled more and more inspired.  Each time we have gone over, we found ourselves deeper in love and always learning something new.
Jennifer: A Fine Romance – what was the creative process of writing and illustrating the book like?
me:  I wrote the whole book while we were traveling for the two months in England, as a diary, one day at a time as it unfolded, mostly while we sat in gardens and pubs.  
Sometimes I would paint at night.  When we came home to Martha’s Vineyard, I rewrote it in my good writing, and put in the photos of the Queen Mary 2, of Beatrix Potter’s House, of the gardens and pubs; I drew the maps, tested the recipes, and added more watercolors.  As always with all my books, I just work one page at a time and try to make each page as interesting, fun to read, and as informative and pretty as I can.
 
It’s a joy, I’ve been so lucky because I love to make things, and I love to share my passions with other like-minded people.  Beauty is the very best of life.  I love to try and make some to add to all there is.
Jennifer: A Fine Romance has been a runaway hit. Can you tell us your favorite part of being a bestselling author and what has been your biggest challenge in the journey?
me: When Joe and I decided to go to England and keep a diary of the trip, we decided to take all my “blog girlfriends” with us.  I told them in a blog posting to get their passports ready and lose some weight, because we were going to
Every one of these chaise lounges had a Girlfriend on it, but they were so careful — I got out the camera and turned around, boom, they were gone.  We did not get caught.
smuggle them aboard the Queen Mary 2 and take them along with us to England and they needed to be as tiny as possible.  We would hide them in a lifeboat.  It was the joke that ran through all the postings of the trip ~ that they were being so “good and quiet” and no one knew they were all smooshed into our stateroom with us.  They complained sometimes about being “packed so tightly” in our suitcases as we moved from place to place and about having mash lines on their faces, but they handled all the folding and unfolding very well, and were very quiet when room service came. They liked to dance, and one of them fell into a river on a walk to Ellen Terry’s house, but we all returned safe and sound with memories galore.  Whenever I took pictures for the blog (and the future book) I always thought, “What can I show them?  What would they like to see?”
What will make them laugh, or cry or go ahhh, or go OH! ~ and that awareness of them made it even more fun for me.  Previously, I’d written all my books totally alone in my studio with kitties to keep me company.  This time I had a whole group of Girlfriends cheering me on.  That was my favorite part.  When the book was finished, it was “our book.”
 I can’t think of any real challenges except
. . .  of course, as I am reminding Joe in this photo, the phone never worked while we were there.
Jennifer: What is your favorite region of England? Why?
me: This question is kind of impossible because it’s shockingly beautiful almost every place you go.  But, I will say the Yorkshire Dales put a thrill from the tips of my toes to the top of my head . . . positively spiritual with a strong feeling of coming home, tears-in-eyes beauty, the history and sweep of it all.  As the wind blows fragrance of wildflower, rain and grass across the vastness of the Dales and the lambs are baaaaing high on a hill, you want to open your arms to the view and draw it all into your heart to keep it there forever.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Jennifer: You’ve also published several cookbooks. What first drew you to cooking?
me: I helped my mom by making desserts when I was very young, brownies and potato chip cookies for sack lunches for my brothers and sisters.  But, really, it was setting the table that truly got me going.
  I just loved to set the table, mixing and matching old china dishes, etched colored glasses, putting flowers from my garden in little vases, lace-edged napkins, or the ones I would embroider myself, mixing and matching bowls and silverware, lighting candles and making it pretty.  It was like playing house.  But then, it was difficult to get people to come look at my pretty table without food on it.  They simply did not care.  So I learned to cook.  And loved the art of it, combining recipes, flavors and trying new things.  
And when I walked into the room carrying a homemade banana cream pie with the flakiest crispiest crust, rolled out on my kitchen table with my wooden rolling pin, just like my Grandma made
with sugared whipped cream and bananas and toasted coconut, my friends would go, “OH MY, look at that, you are wonderful Susan, yum yum yum ~ and the table by the way, it looks so beautiful!”  They made me feel so good, I couldn’t wait to do it again. It was the first time I really felt like I had something I could give.  It was one of the ways I began to notice it was the little things that made life sweetest.
Later writing books, hoping I could help others experience that wonderful feeling when they brought a homemade banana cream pie into the room, became my passion.
Jennifer: What do you consider your “go-to” dish?
me: With all the cookbooks I’ve written, there are so many recipes that are go-to for me.  My Mom’s Spare-ribs and Juice with Onion Pudding (I’m the oldest of eight children so my books have lots of home type dishes) . . .
. . . always has them rolling in the aisles from happiness.  I also have the best Apple Crisp recipe alive in the modern world as we know it today.  I’ve tested them wherever I go (a rotten job but someone must do it), and this is a true thing if I do say so myself. ♥ Also, crisp-skinnedroasted chicken with my Grandma’s Bread Stuffing.  I really could go on all day.  A big one-dish casserole of Pork Chops, Apples, and Sweet Potatoes.  Cold White Rice Salad scattered with fresh flowers and herbs.  My roasted Cranberry Sauce mixed with Orange Marmalade for toast and tea.  In my new book, A FINE ROMANCE, there’s a recipe from my English girlfriend Siobhan.  It’s her Orange Lavender Polenta Cake, moist with the little crunchy bits, it’s gluten-free and it serves about 24 people so it’s perfect for a tea party.  You would like the recipe?  Oh yes!
Jennifer: Tell me a little about your ideal day at home?
me: I go into my studio very early before it gets light. I close my eyes and meditate and count my blessings which is a good way to start because it usually brings on a bout of ecstaticness. I have my tea and maybe it’s snowing outside and all I can hear is the furnace humming and the patter of snowflakes on the window.  I swirl my watercolor brush in water then load it with paint, put it on paper, and watch the color spread.  I write in my diary, make a list or work on a new book.  Later, I take Joe his tea, the snow melts and we put on our big jackets, mittens and hats and walk out to the water through the woods (we live on an island so there’s lots of woods and lots of water) . . .
We come home and eat a healthy breakfast. I shoot ponytail bands across the room for my kitty Jack and he retrieves them; we do this about a hundred times.  I take my book to lunch, sit at a corner table next to a fire, eat and read.  Then a nap.  Then a bubble bath.  Then Joe and I make dinner together and friends come over and we laugh and drink wine.  
I normally don’t get all those things in one day, a nap and a bubble bath and lunch with my book?  Not all on the same day.  But those are the things I love best and you said ideal.  I have red letter days, red letter weeks, etc. Where I get to do the things I love in moderation.
Jennifer: What’s your favorite way to make ‘an everyday’ feel special?
me:  Everyday ~ perfect for your magazine!  I would say the Bubble Bath.  With the book.  Then the diary, and of course the kitties and Joe make every day special.
♥
Jennifer: Describe your favorite celebration…
me: I love Valentine’s Day.  I do think it was invented for women, so I like to make sure all my Girlfriends feel loved on that day.  I also love to give Tea Parties.  There are so many creative things you can do with decorating the table! I’m a Christmas person too… I don’t think there is a holiday I don’t like!  I like non-holidays too, which all seem to revolve around winter and breakfast.  Sunday breakfast in bed.  Winter breakfast parties with friends.
Jennifer: Can you share your philosophy when it comes to entertaining?
me: I go by the six senses.  Does it smell good, look good, sound good, feel good and taste delicious?  (The sixth sense is Imagination.)  If all those bases are covered, you can’t ask for any more.  Hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows in front of a crackling fire, dinner under the arbor draped with twinkle lights in the garden, cinnamon spice wafting from the oven, old music playing, if the church bells ring across the street, then it’s perfect. Most important to remember: It’s not what’s on the plate that counts, it’s what’s on the chairs.  Your friends and family.  A party is a gift you give the ones you love.
Jennifer: If you could have anyone in the world over for dinner, who would it be?
me: What a wonderful question.  I would like Albert Einstein to talk about the spiritual side of his life ~ put his elbows on the table, start talking and not stop until he told it all. I know a little but not enough.  I’d love a dinner with Elizabeth von Arnim to hear how she was inspired to write her first book (Elizabeth and Her German Garden).  I would like Beatrix Potter to talk to me about her childhood.  I would love to get caught in a big nor’easter storm with Gladys Taber where the electricity goes off and we light candles and make baked apples in the embers of the fireplace while shadows dance on the wall from the flames.  I would love a fashion-show tea party where Diane Keaton models everything she’s ever worn — at the end Greta Garbo would come out wearing the dress she wore in Ninotchka (the white off-the-shoulder sparkly one, the prettiest in all movie history) ~ while Frank Sinatra (preferably with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra) sings It’s Always You. 
One date with Mark Twain, lunch on a rainy afternoon, just the two of us, elbow to elbow, at the Plaza Hotel in New York. That’s the young Sam → in that photo.  (I would probably come home and write “Susan Clemens, Mrs. Sam Clemens” a hundred times in my notebook, wondering will he call?  Which he won’t because there are no phones, maybe he will write!).  After the Plaza, I’d jump through time to pass a tray of orangey-cherryish Old Fashioned’s to everyone at the Algonquin Round Table in the 1920’s (the way to be popular with this crowd, but never saying a word, only listening and praying not to be disillusioned.  It’s always dangerous for dreams to truly come true, you take your chances, imagination is a wonderful thing and perhaps all is best left there; in some cases the dream itself might be enough).  And that’s all.  I’ll just leave you with a few words of wisdom from the genius who should know all about it . . .
Well, I hope there was something of interest for you in this interview.  I may have gotten slightly carried away with the dinner parties!  Oh well, must get ready to go to the movies . . . bubble bath first, on quest for a red letter day and “being home.” Hope your day is going wonderfully. ♥  Love you all! xoxo
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