While we're all busy getting ready for the holidays, here's another encore blog I know you'll enjoy. It was originally posted on December 22, 2022.
The holiday season is one of my favorite times to entertain.
Earlier this week, I hosted a dinner gathering for 13. My Winter House was decorated with lots of beautiful trees, glistening in green, silver, and gold. Before dinner, we enjoyed a 30-minute program by professional magician, mentalist, and illusionist, Philip Deutsch, also known as Phil “The Magic Man.” Chef Pierre Schaedelin of PS Tailored Events and I planned a wonderful menu that included twice baked potatoes with golden Osetra caviar, dover sole meunière with carrots, sunchokes, and green beans, and Grand Marnier soufflé with raspberry coulis for dessert. It was a great evening with colleagues and a most delicious holiday feast.
Enjoy these photos.
Every year, I try to vary the holiday decorations in my home. Here is the tree in my Brown Room – it is one of the most beautiful trees we’ve ever done.
At the base of the tree, my Tinsel Penguins with glittered feet – all gathered beneath the branches.
I always fill the rooms with many trees during the holidays. On this game table, I placed a silver tinsel tree laden with icicle ornaments on every branch – simple, yet elegant.
My mantel is also adorned with bright silver balls and my Flameless Polar Bear candles.
This is my Nativity Set. We placed all the figures on the table under a bed of soft, snowy cotton and lights.
The table is set and looks so wonderful – just in time for my guests to arrive. Each dinner menu is placed on the plate with the sycamore tree on the menu card cover – the symbol of my Cantitoe Corners Farm.
As part of the table centerpieces – this bowl filled with colorful ornaments and lights. It stands out so stunningly.
And more flameless polar bear candles in the center of the table.
In my servery, just off my kitchen – more sparkling silver trees placed on white cake stands.
And silver wreaths in each window.
While dinner was being prepared, we all gathered in my sitting room for a magic show by Philip Deutsch, also known as Phil “The Magic Man.”
My beautiful Empress Tang graced us all with a brief visit – I think she also enjoyed the magic show.
In my kitchen, all the limoges dinner plates were set out on the counter ready for the first course.
My dear Empress Qin waited patiently underfoot for the smallest morsels to fall her way.
A gold plate with Mother-of-Pearl spoons for the caviar. Pearl is always recommended for caviar because it does not hold flavor, nor does it transfer it, so your caviar will hold exactly as much flavor as intended.
And here is a large container of golden Osetra caviar. Osetra caviar ranges from golden to brown and comes from the Osetra sturgeon, which weighs 50 to 400 pounds and can live up to 50 years.
And here are the twice baked potatoes fresh from the oven.
At dinner, the potatoes were served with crème fraîche and each of us spooned dollops of caviar on top.
Here is our entrée – beautifully plated dover sole Meunière with vegetables. Meunière is both a French sauce and a method of preparation, primarily for fish that is dredged in flour before being sautéd or pan-fried. The word itself means “miller’s wife” in French.
And of course… the dessert – the most perfect soufflés with a sweet, tangy, and delectable raspberry coulis sauce. It was a very delicious meal and a very enjoyable evening for all. Here’s wishing you a memorable and safe holiday with loved ones.
I hope you enjoy this encore blog from December 21, 2017.
Here are more photos from a holiday party at my Bedford, New farm.
My Winter House was where all our delicious savory dishes were served. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events, prepared a fabulous feast - cooked hams, homemade biscuits, an array of mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres, and of course, lots and lots of fresh shrimp and oysters. I made panettone, plum puddings, and a giant Buche de Noel. Every room of my Winter House was beautifully decorated in glistening shades of gold, silver, white and green. It was all so gorgeous and perfect for our holiday gathering.
Enjoy these photos.
Guests entered the Winter House through the large porch. We started a nice fire in my sugar pot. This is one of two huge cast iron sugar kettles I keep as fire pits. They add such a nice accent to the terraces and have always been fun conversation pieces during gatherings.
Another sign tells guests what they will find inside this building – it was by far the most crowded house during the party.
The giant bird in my entrance hall greeted everyone as they arrived.
My Green Room is just off the foyer. Laura decorated this sunken parlor in gorgeous gold and green. I love these two trees filled with ornaments – they just light up the room.
Here is a closer look at one of the trees – overflowing with balls in every shade of green.
I love how everything shimmers on the branches.
On one table is a collection of green bottle brush trees.
Another grouping of bottle brush trees sits on this high chest. Kevin’s reflection can be seen in the mirror.
My Bird Room is on the other side of the foyer. It is the smaller of two dining rooms. Here, Laura added touches of green and silver – in the back right corner is another gorgeous tree.
This is a 7.5 foot silver tinseled tree from my collection at The Home Depot. goo.gl/judpnB
On the table is another lovely napkin display – simply rolled and piled neatly together.
The napkins were set next to nuts and dried fruits from New York City’s famous Eataly Downtown. https://www.eataly.com/
This is my servery – a room from which meals are served. During parties, I often serve drinks from this area. This big silver bowl is for my special eggnog.
We filled this room with lots of white decorations dotted with copper and silver-colored accents.
More trees and woodland animals fill my mantel in the Brown Room.
In this corner, a green tree from my collection at The Home Depot – adorned with strings of lights. Beautiful decorations don’t always have to be elaborate. This tree was a big favorite.
A smaller tabletop tree with glass icicle ornaments – also very simple, but so elegant.
We moved my long dining table closer to one side, so we could serve the foods buffet-style – it’s a wonderful solution for large gatherings.
Meringues, cakes, and cookies filled the table.
Whenever possible, always try to use real china. Here, we stacked a combination of white and white with gold plates for all the guests.
Nearby, a tray of forks – even the flatware looked so decorative on the table.
Laura folded these napkins in rectangles and then arranged them in a crisscross pattern.
This is one of the plum pudding cakes I made for the party – it was so deliciously moist and flavorful. Next to it is a hard sauce I made with cognac.
My daughter, Alexis, is an excellent baker and cook. She brought this gorgeous cake topped with berries.
Here is a platter of beautifully sculpted meringues.
On this plate, stollen with marzipan from Balthazar New York. It is surrounded by Noel Nut Balls, the tasty cookie made from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box. http://balthazarny.com
Our shrimp came from True North – 40 pounds of the freshest shrimp. We served it on cake stands garnished with lettuces from my garden – they look like flowers. http://www.truenorthseafood.com
Jason Schreiber and I created this giant Buche de Noel – I added these whimsical mice right before the party – they were perfect.
My kitchen is where we served our hams – it is quite a spread.
This ham in the center is from my friend, Pat LaFrieda. It is a 20-pound smoked ham. http://www.lafrieda.com
This one is a whole country ham from Loveless Cafe – so flavorful. https://www.lovelesscafe.com
And the ham in the foreground at the bottom of the photo is from La Quercia – a spectacular acorn-fed prosciutto style ham. http://laquercia.us
The hams were served with homemade biscuits and mustard sauces.
We made a delicious pomegranate punch using concentrate from my friends at POM Wonderful mixed with citrus slices. It was very popular with all our guests. https://www.pomwonderful.com
And look how beautiful it is in this giant bowl.
Everything looks so stunning all prepared on my kitchen counter.
Tomorrow, I will share more of the food, photos of friends and family who attended, and of the special visit from the jolliest of them all – Santa Claus. I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.
Here's another holiday memory. This blog was originally posted on December 20, 2017. Enjoy!
I love how my home looks when it is filled with holiday decorations.
I opened three buildings for my recent holiday gathering here at my Bedford, New York farm. My Summer House, which I use as a library for my vast collection of books, was dedicated to "Caroling & Champagne". My longtime housekeeper, Laura, filled nearly every room with gold and silver - trees in every corner and on every table, with gleaming ornaments and garlands I've collected through the years. It looked simply magical.
Enjoy these photos.
My Summer House was the original house on the property. It was first built in 1770. It has been rebuilt and restored, but it remains on its original footprint.
Many of you have seen the back of the Summer House, where I created this tranquil sunken garden, now covered in burlap for the winter.
For my party, the Summer House was dedicated to singing joyful Christmas carols and sipping delicious champagne. It was also where guests could enjoy my eggnog, plum pudding, and fruit cake, and sit and share holiday stories and plans.
Guests entered the home to see the grand center stairway and handrail bedecked with a long garland of silver balls.
I love how it wraps around the dark wood railing.
Behind the front door is a wreath. I also have a wreath on the front of this door.
This room is filled with gold and silver trees and ornaments – I love how everything glistens.
We also used white and cream-colored ornaments, and ornaments in shades of copper and brass – all these metallic colors blend together beautifully.
I love this tabletop tree, flanked by candles in front of this bookcase. It’s decorated with gold balls and ornaments shaped like pinecones.
Atop the mantel, cardboard trees lined up in a row.
The room looks elegant yet festive, with lots of seating for my guests.
In the center, another tabletop tree with more shining gold ornaments. This one is set inside an urn, painted in gold. Trees don’t always have to be propped up in traditional stands – look for interesting vessels that can be used instead.
Laura hung these pinecone ornaments on the fireplace screen – such a pretty touch.
In another corner is this tall sterling tinsel silver champagne artificial tree – it’s from my Christmas collection at The Home Depot. goo.gl/judpnB
More pinecone ornaments and traditional balls cover the branches. When hanging ornaments, I like to use wire that is close in color to the tree.
Metallic wreaths are hung in every window.
This tree sits on one end of the center hallway. It is a skinnier tree, but I love how it is dressed – overflowing with ornaments. If you look closely, we used tinsel at the bottom of the tree to surround the wicker tree skirt.
This mantel is decorated with silver balls in a variety of sizes – so simple, yet so elegant.
Here is another silver tinsel tree with silver pinecones and a silver tinsel garland draped on its branches.
For the stand, we spray painted a section of a log in silver. These tree stands were made from felled trees and cut right here at the farm. I always try to repurpose whenever I can.
And in this room, we decorated the long counters with pink and green trees.
Glass globes sit in simple Jadeite bowls. These trees are in natural wood tree stands, also cut right here at the farm.
And each tree is decorated with only a single ornament at the bottom – this one is a green pinecone.
And this one is a natural colored pinecone with a pink ribbon to match the tree.
Here is a view from one end of the room – it is simply gorgeous.
Champagne glasses sat in a silver tray nearby.
I love this view of the napkins folded and positioned in a circular pattern on top of a Jadeite cake stand.
Window seats are decorated with little houses and more trees.
Here are a snow-covered house and church sitting on another table.
I love this photo of the wreath, chair and the beautiful tree outside – everything is so pretty. Tomorrow, I will share photos from my Winter House, where Chef Pierre Schaedelin prepared and served all our glorious savory foods. What do you think about the decorations in my Summer House? I am interested and eager to read your comments.
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