Freshened Up Kitchen Shelves and A Healthy Chocolate Tart

One of the parts of un-decorating for Christmas that I anticipate most is putting back my kitchen shelves. Of course they never go back to the way they were before the red transferware is displayed. Something is always being added or taken away. But that's what makes things interesting in the kitchen.

Recently, I switched out the glass canisters and put back an older nesting set I had stored away. I'm enjoying the but of colour. I also hung this pastoral watercolour painting I had picked up over a year ago. It helped fill out the space.

My little Gold Crest tree fits perfectly in this old urn, and it doesn't feel too much like Christmas.

And since I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen, I made a dessert to bring on New Year's Day. It seems that with the stroke of midnight, Pinterest has become an endless list of healthy recipes, all to aid in recently made resolutions.

My sister in law and I are trying to be more conscious of what we are eating, and since that meant I shouldn't be indulging in any more deserts, I decided to be proactive and make something healthier to bring. I came across this recipe for what was supposed to be a chocolate cheese cake, and while I can't really get my head around the whole cheesecake aspect, it was a surprisingly yummy chocolate mousse sort of tart.

So what's so healthy about this decadent looking tart, you ask?

It's made from avocados!

The bottom is a mixture of pecans, hazelnuts, raw cacao powder, coconut oil and maple syrup. The filling, a couple of ripe avocados, more raw cacao powder and maple syrup to sweeten it. It's not exactly as the recipe called for, but it's quite close. It turned out well anyway.

If you can get past the thought of avocados, and a definite healthier taste, it's quite good. It's definitely a decent chocolate taste, but refreshing and light, not decadent.

You can find the original recipe here.

A Refreshed Kitchen and Dining Area

This week I spent some time freshening up the kitchen and the dining room.

I put away my red transferware, which still felt a little Christmas-like. I also took down some potted trees that were on my dining room shelves.

It's refreshing having everything back to normal.

Though I use my brown transferware in the Fall, I quite like it back up on my shelves. It still feels neutral, though I'm sure in the next while they will change again.

I don't think I've shown you where we moved our dining area. This room in our house has been many things: an entrance, a sitting room, a playroom, an office, and now our dining room.

For practical reasons, having the table in here is nice because it's just off the kitchen. The floor is also tiled, which is more ideal for cleaning up after the boys. Aesthetically, it's also full of windows that look out into the back yard which makes for a lovely view. However, one of the greatest benefits is that it frees up some space in our living room, which used to be a living room and dining room together. Now it has the feeling of a more open, airy space.

Eventually, when we do the kitchen, I would like to install banquet seating with an old square table. It would allow for more seating, and I think it would be a more efficient use of the space.

Because of the room's windows, I don't have much in the way of decor. I do have two small shelves to display a few pieces of my ironstone collection.

The doors go out onto our back deck, and the big window looks out back over our patio area. 

Here was our beautiful view while enjoying breakfast this morning. The best part of this space.

This is the view off our back deck, out the french doors, towards our neighbors immediate back yard.

Looking out back towards our side property line. You can see the ravine all behind our homes.

And straight out back into our back yard. We have narrow yards, but they are quite long. The tree line for the ravine in the back of this photo is about halfway back. The rest is all open woods.

It's why we bought our home.

Thanksgiving Dinner Preparations

In the midst of preparations for my sale, my house suffers. Laundry piles up, boxes are stacked all around, dishes remain in the sink and nothing really gets more than a quick clean.

With Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday, I've been spending my time trying to bring order back to our home.

Along with cleaning, there are some other preparations I'm very much looking forward to:

Baking my pies, setting the table, arranging a centerpiece, and of course preparing dinner itself.

Tomorrow I will be doing a deep clean of the house. Sickness didn't effect me enough to believe that my house will remain in such order until the weekend, but at least the morning of I know I will simply need to do a light clean.

I've also taken out my silverware to give it a quick polish, brought down my table linens to be washed, planned my menu and written my list for the market.

I know that a lot of people can't be bothered with such details. After all, they aren't necessary for a wonderful time together. But I personally enjoy the preparations nearly as much as I enjoy the dinner itself.

I feel much more relaxed as things start to declutter and return to normal.

I think this year I might include some of my brown transferware and use them as serving pieces.

My mom and I have been collecting silver-plated tea and coffee pots, as well as cream and sugar sets. They are planning on including a small tea room area in their shop and so we've been putting a collection of serving pieces together. These are my particular favorite.

On another note, last weekend I went to sale by Oliver and Rust. Meg, the proprietor, did a wonderful job! It's always so nice to find someone who chooses pieces that you yourself are drawn to. I found this antler and this beautiful framed watercolor painting. It's a cozy rural scene and it matches my other frames in my living room perfectly.

I also picked up another pair of beautiful brass candlesticks. These will be used in my table setting as well.

Autumn Shelves

Autumn... It's finally here!

Oh, how I have been waiting for this wonderful season to arrive.

In celebration, I added a few pieces of brown transferware to my kitchen shelves, as well as our first pumpkin and some quince.

What are some things you look forward to in the Fall?