our thanksgiving

The one brilliant part of having Canadian Thanksgiving a month and a half early, is that by the time I actually get around to posting about ours, all of my American readers are just getting ready to celebrate. We'll just pretend like I plan it that way. Our Thanksgiving this year was, as so many of yours will be, a quiet and intimate one. And while this was our first Thanksgiving away from family, my cousin and her husband recently moved not too far from us, and it meant that we were able to have some family over! I know that so many of our celebrations will look differently, but I've come to find that, for myself at least, keeping things feeling normal helps. I didn't need to set the table, or roast a turkey, or even bake a pumpkin pie, but I did. And in doing so, Thanksgiving felt as it should. I puttered around the days before, working on the table, arranging flowers, planning a menu. Then the day of was slow and lovely. The kitchen filled with all of the scents of onions softening and the turkey roasting and a pie cooling. It really was just a slow, lovely day. There was no rush to do anything. The guys watched football, and at one point, everyone but a couple of the boys had nodded off while I laid cutlery and ironed napkins. At the end of the day, as the sun was setting, we all sat down for a small dinner. We lingered until the last of the wine had been poured, the tapers low and dripping, and afterwards, since we weren't quite ready to be finished, we settled in to watch a movie with our pie. Save being able to enjoy the company of our family, it was the perfect day,

When it comes to decorating our house for Thanksgiving, I keep things quite minimal. I do always love my pair of pheasants, particularly during the fall. I also tend to add a few pumpkins here and there, as well as some potted cabbages and kale, but that's about it.

My parents sent me a beautiful bouquet (they know my tastes so well!), and I used that for my centerpiece. I hollowed out a squash and then rearranged the flowers in it. I added a few extra roses that I had picked up from the store, as well as a few foraged bits from down by the river. 

I stocked the bar in the Butler's pantry - a bottle of wine to sip on in the afternoon while I cooked, a couple ingredients for some simple autumn cocktails... It's just nice to have a couple options on hand.

Because the day was so slow, I really enjoyed being in the kitchen. There wasn't any need to rush. I put some music on, poured my glass of wine and settled in.

A pumpkin pie was a non-negotiable. I really didn't need to make it. It probably would have only been missed by only me, but it would have been sorely missed. I even took a little bit of extra time and did a decorative edge of little acorns.

To keep things easy, lunch was simply butternut squash soup (I kept it warming on the stove) and some cheese to nibble on. Everyone could help themselves as they were hungry, and I could continue doing what I was doing.

Then for the table. We sat at the round table in the family room because we don't often sit in there.

I kept the place settings fairly simple.

 I loved this mustard yellow fish set I had recently found, and I played off it a little with some golden velvet ribbon and matching tapers. I always love a little brown and white transferware this time of year, so I tucked one of my platters under the centerpiece.

As for dinner, a simple roast turkey with herbs from the garden, apple and sausage stuffing, buttery mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans with garlic and cranberry sauce (with cranberries from the bog down the road!). 

The next day, in true day after Thanksgiving fashion, it was pie for breakfast. We slept late and then wandered about the countryside on an afternoon drive. 

We discovered a beautiful new beach.

I still find it so interesting seeing the pine trees on the beach.

We drove through the village of Chester.

We even stopped for a hike to admire the foliage and stretch our legs for a bit. The boys ran wildly down the paths, stepped across stones in the very small waterfall, and climbed trees.

However you will be celebrating Thanksgiving, if you are, I hope you have a lovely weekend. It may be different, but it can still be special, because there's so much to be grateful for.

Wishing you all a Thanksgiving that's rich in gratitude and full of contentment, from our family to yours.

table setting - easter brunch

This post (which is now a combination of three) has been sitting in my folder for weeks now, so long it seemed ridiculous to even consider posting it. I feel like it's taken us that long to really settle into a routine. At least enough of one for me to have a few minutes to sit and actually publish it. So despite being way too late, I'm posting it anyway. At least it'll be here to look back on next year. This year was a very different kind of Easter. being home in isolation and away from family, but we made the most of it, and I tried my best to keep things familiar.

 I don't make Easter baskets for all of the boys, but I do put something small together for the littlest ones. This year I had a few things put away in my gift trunk which came in very handy! I had a few little Beatrix Potter books I had picked up at an antique shop this past summer, a local-made (back in Ontario) whale lacing toy that hadn't arrived in time for Christmas and a couple little animals for the boys' farm set that were on clearance. I tucked them all in a basket I had found at the dollar store last summer and painted, and tied it together with reused ribbon from Christmas.

(The real reason I put an Easter basket together for them is actually for the enjoyment of gathering items and the putting them all together in the way I find most beautiful. Even if it means hand cutting kraft paper because I'm out of crinkle filler.)

The older boys had to make due with cash in a pretty box thanks to delayed shipping times and not being able to leave the house. They really didn't mind one bit.

 Coming up with a table setting was a challenge this year. I didn't have flowers available, or anything to prune in the garden even remotely close to blooming. But after browsing all the back Easter issues of Living magazine, I was confident I could make the most of what I had. I was inspired to Kim of @ingleepartyof5, who made these charming little crackers for her table. I had some of Jenny's wrapping paper left, from Everyday Occasions, so I decide instead of wrapping little trinkets, which I didn't have, I would make them into my own version of resurrection eggs. Each one had a few little bits of the Easter story inside, which we used as we talked about it later at dinner.

As for the actual setting, the blue hydrangea prints paired well with the rest of the table, which was quite simple.

For the centerpiece, I decided to weave together some branches we gathered by the river. They became a sort of nest and I then wove bits of pussy willow throughout it.

I made my usual hot cross bun recipe, which is a favourite of mine. The recipe is Martha Stewart's which you can find here.

*  baking notes  *

I use significantly less nutmeg, roughly 1/4 tsp instead of the 3/4 tsp called for. I also substitute the currents for chocolate chips. I enjoy making them in square cake pans so they are much more densely packed together and rise really high. For the crosses, I make a small batch of buttercream icing and pipe crosses on top for a bit of added sweetness.

For the place settings, I added a little tiny chocolate rabbit to the cracker. They stood in antique tins with a little crinkled paper. The boys loved them.

The eggs that we had tried to dye naturally worked perfectly in the centerpiece. I especially loved how the colour of the eggs matched the pussy willow buds perfectly.

The boys requested a big buffet breakfast. So we had little wafflles with cream and mini stacks of pancakes (both of these had been made earlier in the week, and then put aside to warm the morning of, which kept things a lot easier for me!). I also made sugared bacon and breakfast sausage and a frittata.

We had an egg hunt, a tradition for us after listening to our service, and then enjoyed tea in the afternoon.

The boys loved having tea. I made little tea sandwiches that they would enjoy - PB and J roll ups and honey triangles, as well as tuna and egg salad. We also had warm scones with cream and strawberry jam, and a few simple little cakes. They really do enjoy the whole ordeal, which you may not expect from boys. But their appreciation of it makes the extra fuss of putting it together worth it.

I had planned to finish the day with a glazed ham - also another tradition - but we had eaten enough and I didn't feel like making a whole meal. So I didn't.

And that I think was the beauty of the weekend. There weren't any real set plans, we just enjoyed things as we felt up to them.

In the end, I made the ham the next night, which was so much more enjoyable. I could take my time preparing it, and we even ate virtually with my in-laws!

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Easter despite the very different circumstances.