Tea for two
So much depends upon
A tea kettle.
parties
High heeled shoe cupcakes
My little girl just turned four years old. This sends cold shivers through me. I wonder if it’s the beginning of the end, and if we will ever again be as close as we are now, and what I should be teaching her about femininity that I haven’t learned yet myself. So because I do
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How to work with phyllo
Confession: When it comes to desserts, I love the impractical. My favorite impractical ingredient right now is phyllo dough (pronounced fee’-lo or fie’-lo). It really looks like it shouldn’t be edible—it’s papery thin, crackly, and dry. It’s probably made of tree bark, I don’t know. It has no nutritional value at all,* and it has
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Remembering Grandpa
When I was a child, I had more grandmothers than I could count—grandmothers and step-grandmothers and great-grandmothers, all beloved— but only one Grandpa. Grandpa was from Minnesota—a tough cookie, hardly sick a day in his life. He loved snow and popcorn and apple cider and northern lakes. He could tell stories that left us in
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Spring impromptu
Confession: Though I am quixotic enough to dream of intimate tea parties on the lawn, complete with parasols and petit fours, in the meantime this is how I do time with friends— Hey. Any chance you wanna stay for lunch when we do that photoshoot? I’ll make egg sandwiches and iced coffee. Yes! you can
The cake
When my friend Amy walked into The Sweet Shop* that day, she stepped with the confident mien of one who knew from experience how great these gals’ cakes were. She’d ordered two before. The little mom-and-pop operation in downtown Meadville produces made-from-scratch, delectable chunks of sweetness, prettily custom-decorated. What could be better? The Sweet Shop
Glorious honesty
The other day, looking for some Valentine treats, I stumbled across the prettiest website! I have been there on occasion before, but never explored much. Glorious Treats is one of the loveliest food blogs I have found: beautiful, accessible, and tasteful. Her pictures are breathtaking. Her ideas are creative. Her treats are fashionably seasonal, yet usually
Receiving a child
Confession: I find ladies’ parties irresistible, especially when they celebrate life. This week I hosted one to celebrate the coming of an unborn baby, first child of my friend Kayla. Here are some things I am (slowly) learning about the hosting bit: Ask for help! * My