merry christmas!

merry christmas to you and your loved ones!  

loyalty amaryllis (dark red), barbados amaryllis (red white variegated),
cambridge fringed tulips and japanese sweet peas

rose gold holiday

i feel like a terrible girlfriend.  i somehow managed to close a door on pete's pinky finger and give him food-poisoning...on the same day!  we watched a movie last night and a character said that accidents happen for a reason according to freud.  the poor guy thinks i have it out for him.  i don't.  seriously.

the holiday season is winding down.  i'm grateful that i finished my christmas shopping early this year.  now i just need a way of getting the presents to their recipients -- where's santa when you need him?  aside from presents, i have an arrangement to deliver and then my year will be wrapped up.  onto planning for 2014 weddings and travels abroad….

a friend gave me these lovely blush colored roses, haiku.  and i struggled a bit to make pink look festive (i also struggled with trying to get lady gaga and r.kelly out of my head, but that's a story for another day).  my local whole foods is running a special on poinsettias, something like $6.99 for a six inch pot.  and it seemed cheap enough to clip and add to my flower arrangement (just make sure to sear the cut ends of the poinsettias with a flame or boiling water before adding it to the arrangement).  who doesn't like a little gold for the holidays?

haiku roses, paperwhites, poinsettias, ranunculus and dusty miller

snow white

it snowed yesterday, some 4-6 inches supposedly but most of it melted with last night's rain.  it may have ruined santa con for the b&t santa-costumed crowed, but the snow and rain made for a peaceful night on the bowery.  with all the santa(s) and snow -- here's to christmas....

white fringed tulips 'cambridge', alabaster roses, japanese sweet peas and viburnum 

white fringed tulips 'cambridge', alabaster roses, japanese sweet peas, narcissus and viburnum 

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thanksgiving 2014

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and then everything goes downhill until new year's.  i'm not a big fan of christmas -- too much frenzied shopping and gift giving and seemingly less about family.  i suppose there are things that i do enjoy such as tree trimming, the smell of pine, poinsettias and amaryllis.

i'm recovering still after cooking my annual thanksgiving feast.  like other years, we prepared all dishes from scratch but unlike most years, we largely used ingredients found at farmer's market or locally grown.  our menu included:

roasted red bourbon turkey

cornbread stuffing

homemade gravy

cranberry sauce

orange cranberry sauce

steamed haricot vert

roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta and pomegranate

roasted lemon sage cauliflower

whipped butternut squash

apple pie

sweet potato pie

it would be a dream to be able to grow most things for our meal, then it would feel like a true harvest meal.  maybe someday....  

left:  low table centerpieces of white peonies, red tulips, 'titanic' pink roses, protea and seeded eucalyptus