There’s a snow storm heading up the east coast. In celebration, I just made myself a bowl of my favorite winter breakfast, steel cut Irish oats, blueberries, cinnamon, walnuts, and milk. My tummy is happy and warm, although I could use another pair of socks right now! We are getting ready for Halloween and all that it entails! Time, once again, to
Time for Practical Magic, homemade style.
Halloween is really big in our neighborhood! That’s because we have one of the very few actual neighborhoods around here! Most people on the island live out in the country, so at Halloween, they pack up their cars with their goblins, mummies, pirates, Harry Potters, Darth Vaders, Batmen, Spidermen, princesses, and vampires, and head toward the more densely-populated island towns, to go door-to-door where the houses aren’t three miles of dark dirt road apart.
So, our neighborhood is like the Candy Cane Lane of Halloween. And everybody, up and down the street, does their part; we decorate our porches, carve pumpkins, light candles, and play creepy music. And Mother Nature does her part by supplying the necessary outdoor ambience. ♥
In the cold dark night, woodsmoke blowing in the wind, sparks flying high into the black sky; our neighborhood of old houses with deep shadows that leap from tall hedges, huge overhanging trees, and leaves rustling ominously in every corner, is very scary — flashlight beams bounce off walkways and curbs, landing for a moment on something, omg, while mommies and daddies stand nearby as islands of safety for big-eyed babies in bunny suits. It’s pure childhood-imagination gone wild.
We’re the house with the ghost in the upstairs window. I found this guy years ago, and he’s there, lit up like a beacon at the end of our street, year after year, hopefully throwing a little tradition into the mix. He’s there now; upstairs in the bedroom over my head, shining out into the street, alerting all the children that pass by our house, “it’s almost time!” (Part of the “working-them-into-a-frenzy” promotion that I like to do to encourage the true spirit of Halloween. A frenzied child is a happy child.♥)
With so many children in our family, when I was little, Halloween was something we looked forward to all year. By the time it arrived, the anticipation was almost too much to bear; planning our costumes, digging through our closets and “the costume box” we could easily get ourselves worked into a dither . . . just thinking about being out after dark, anything could happen. Free Candy! The scavenger huntishness of the thing; oh booooyyyyy!!!! We swallowed our grilled cheese sandwiches almost whole so we could get our makeup on and get out there!
Halloween isn’t as simple as it once was, but the kids don’t know that, all they know is how much fun it is. It’s their time. Something universal that seems to have been invented just for them. ♥
We know so many of these people, it’s fun to see them on our porch!
We carve three pumpkins with stars, a really big one, a large one, and a medium one.
I draw the stars on with a pencil, then use a small sharp knife to do the cuts. I sprinkle cinnamon on the inside of the tops, and pop in a votive candle. They light our front porch and look pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.
Windfall in the yard, branches that come down during storms, get recycled!
Joe got the pumpkins up above the door yesterday.
We make up a crock of steaming hot cider, and serve it in hand-warming cups-to-go to all the good moms and dads going patiently door-to-door with their children. ♥ If we add spiced rum to it, it becomes an “Undertaker.”
It gets dark by 5 ish, but our littlest ones start coming at dusk, so by 7 pm on Halloween, it’s pretty much all over. And that’s when our friends come by for Texas Chili, Corn Pudding with Maple Syrup (in one of those darling leaf bottles), and homemade marshmallows we put on long forks and roast in the fireplace. We’re getting ready; this weekend we will cook up a storm.
And if that other storm, the one with the snow in it, should work it’s way over to us, we are ready for that too.
Because we are cozy here in the Heart of the Home and wishing you the very same. ♥
And because inquiring minds want to know . . . we HAVE a winner for our darling cut-glass banana dish!!! And suddenly, again, I’m wishing I had 1,740 of them!!! I sent the lucky person an email and will let you know when I hear back. What I really loved was all of your comments! Fabulous homemaking tips! I took notes! I already tried the one where you rub your onion-smelling hands on stainless steel and it takes away the smell — it works! Thank you so much girlfriends! Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend! ♥ xoxo
Receiving this dish in my early 20’s was probably the thing that alerted me to the possibilities with glass and started the obsession. It was a gift from my Aunt Maroline and Uncle Bob when I got married. When I first saw it, I didn’t know what it 
was or what I would DO with it; there were no bananas in it when I unwrapped it, so I wasn’t sure what its purpose was. I love things with a purpose, so when my aunt told me it was to hold bananas, I jumped for joy. It had a reason to exist! I could have it! The pure charm and whimsy of the thing took hold of my heart, and this banana dish has been on every kitchen table, island, or counter in every kitchen of my life. It is a mainstay. I would be bereft without it. We are never without bananas in our house. 
Inspiration is funny. You never know when it will hit or what form it will take. One summer afternoon, many years ago, we were sitting at the picnic table in the backyard belonging to a French man we know here on the island. He spread a white table cloth over the wood table, brought out beautiful cheeses on a board, and served us cold white wine in short, straight-sided thin glasses like these, while French cafe music drifted out the open French doors to his house.
I thought, oo, la, oui! How continental! How adorably foreign! How 
We have found ones that we can’t believe have survived so long!
Over time, we realized that others, with slightly different shapes, make wonderful water glasses. I know some of you understand this love of pretty glasses, because a couple of weeks ago we put three sets of these little glasses, colored and etched, in the Vintage section of our website, and they were snapped right up! Sets are really hard to find but Joe and I got them out shopping as we were crossing the country! So happy you (whoever you are) got them! I will keep looking, when I’m out and about, for more.
We have found them in all colors . . . and have broadened our definition of “what is acceptable” to include different shapes. We had to, there was no choice; do you look at these yellow jewels and say, oh dear, no, the ridges just won’t do? No, you do not. You don’t even 
Setting the table can be like putting together a puzzle, a little of this a little of that. But, for better or worse, however it turns out will be very unlike anyone else’s, because, as you know, you can’t walk into a store and just get this stuff any time, it takes a long time to gather this, a person has to be choosy and get just what she loves. 
Glass obsession knows no end. It graduates from wine glasses, and gets its wings with serving bowls, candle sticks, and cake plates. It was probably thirty years of antiquing before I found this at a price I was willing to pay for it. I’m just not paying $200 for a cake stand, but I will pay $56. Yes, I will. Here it is, home at last! Holding my mom’s famous Coconut Circus Cake with pink sugar frosting. 
Pitchers and ice bowls call my name too.
Early morning light comes in through the windows and falls across the dining table, and this is what we get, free of charge.
Glass star 
And here is my newest find. Something I almost never come across, do you recognize it? Yes! It’s a really beautiful cut-glass Banana Dish, about as perfect as it can be. But, you are saying, “She already has a banana dish . . . this isn’t fair!”
