Thanksgiving Preparations at My Farm
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a very safe and enjoyable holiday!
This morning I am busy cooking in my kitchen like all of you - preparing all the delicious dishes for today's feast. Yesterday I was busy baking pies - one for every member of my staff here at the farm to thank them for all their hard work during the year. And all this week, we have all been scurrying around cleaning and decorating, pulling out all the necessary plates and platters, setting the table, grooming the terrace gardens, and more.
Enjoy these photos of my holiday preparations.
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- I love spending Thanksgiving here at my farm, where I can host an enjoyable holiday gathering for family and close friends. Today is expected to be sunny to partly cloudy with temperatures in the 50s – a nice autumn day for a delicious Thanksgiving feast.
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- Around my home, the boxwood hedges are all freshly groomed on my terrace parterre – all ready for my holiday guests.
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- Inside, I always display beautiful houseplants whenever I entertain. This is a potted rhipsalis – I have many types of rhipsalis growing in my greenhouse. Rhipsalis specimens have long, trailing stems making them perfect choices as indoor plants on pedestals or tall tables. Also known as chain cactus or mistletoe cactus, the thread-like succulent stems are narrow, green and can grow several feet long.
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- Guests always admire my Chinese money plants, Pilea peperomioides. The Pilea peperomioides has attractive coin-shaped foliage. This perennial is native to southern China, growing naturally along the base of the Himalayan mountains. It is also known as coin plant, pancake plant, and UFO plant.
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- This stunning Thanksgiving Cactus originally belonged to my mother, Big Martha. My late sister, Laura Plimpton, found two small stem segments, called cladodes, in the back of a drawer several years after our mother died. We took a chance and planted them, and they thrived. This is the plant now. Laura would have loved it.
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- Here is another holiday cactus in yellow. Thanksgiving cacti are the earliest and longest bloomers, typically producing flowers from late fall through mid-winter. Christmas cacti tend to bloom from early winter to mid-winter. There is also Easter cacti that blooms from late winter to mid-spring.
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- For Thanksgiving, I display lots of beautiful turkey figures. I made these turkeys years back for a shoot. We casted numerous turkeys from a material called PermaStone, a lightweight, durable cement and then gently tinted them in various earth tones.
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- Here are more turkeys. I have a large collection of turkeys – I love taking them out for the holiday. After all, I once lived on “Turkey Hill Road”.
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- Here is another turkey standing next to another potted rhipsalis. Recently, during a visit with my niece, Sophie, and her young son, I asked him to count all the turkeys he could find. He counted up more than 80.
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- And here’s yet another turkey figure. Succulents grow in so many different and interesting formations and colors. They are best planted in clay or terra cotta pots with proper drainage holes because the vessels dry quickly, and prevent water from building up. Echeverias are some of the most attractive of all succulents and they are highly valued by plant enthusiasts for their gorgeous colors and beautiful shapes.
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- This is Euphorbia lactea, also known as a “Coral Cactus.” It is a species native to tropical Asia, mainly in India. The showy part of the plant, the section that resembles coral, is called the crest. The ridges are spiny, with short spines.
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- There are also pumpkins displayed around my home this time of year.
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- More turkeys on my servery counter. I originally purchased the gold colored turkey in papier mache, and then gilded it with faux gold leaf.
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- In the kitchen, we’re preparing the “mis en place” – a French term meaning “set in place”. It refers to having all the ingredients prepped and ready to go before cooking. Look at these gorgeous carrots that we harvested from my vegetable greenhouse.
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- The leeks are all rinsed and peeled.
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- And on the stove, the cranberries are cooked with citrus until they pop.
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- Here – roasted butternut squash. It will be used in my butternut squash and leek soup.
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- And did you see my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48? I made 22 pies for my hardworking staff here at the farm. Each chose from chocolate pecan, pecan, butternut squash, or lemon curd. All the pies were wrapped carefully in cellophane and labeled for each recipient. I handed them out before they left for the Thanksgiving holiday.
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- These dark amethyst turkey dishes are on a side table in my Brown Room.
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- Nearby, another amethyst turkey at the dining table. I try to set the table so it is a little different every time. I work with my housekeeper, Enma, on choosing just the perfect combination of plates and linens.
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- The entire table seats 18. One tip is to always be prepared for extra guests just in case someone decides to bring another along – it does happen. Soon, this table will be filled with close friends. I hope you all have a joyous Thanksgiving with those near and dear. I’ll be sure to share more photos of my day in another blog. Happy Thanksgiving.
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