On today’s Weekend Meanderings, our library on tour, yummy holiday gift bread, Target finds, a great foundation and Wyeth, a new classic.
Happy weekend, friends!
It’s Saturday and I’m joining Kim and Elizabeth for Weekend Meanderings.
Our weekly roundup of inspiration and goings on.
We were finally forced to acknowledge that summer, and warm falls days that feel like summer, is over.
It’s time to get Snowberry ready for winter.
Jim put away all the outdoor cushions.
And did his least favorite annual chore.
Cleaned out the gutters.
Not a moment too soon, we had a big rain storm on Thursday.
And yesterday morning our water feature froze.
We need to get frost protectors over our lemon and lime trees.
Stat.
In the midst of winterizing we had an electrical issue.
But not to worry, our crack electrician got over here right away and all is well.
Enough of this riveting conversation.
Are you ready?
Let’s go …
HOLIDAY HOME TOUR – CHRISTMAS IN THE LIBRARY
On Wednesday I joined Jenny Williamson’s (Evolution of Home Blog) Holiday Home Tour for the very first time. I know you know … because I’ve been blabbing about it for a couple of weeks now. Well, it happened, and it was a lot of fun. You can see the full tour here.
These are a some of the most popular – and still available – holiday decor pieces from the post.
Kim joined the tour too with her colorful, nostalgic den/office tree! You don’t want to miss it.
Also on tour, the beautifully decorated homes of favorite bloggers Cindy Hattersley Design, Classic Casual Home, and Most Lovely Things.
There were 27 bloggers on tour and the beauty and creativity is inspiring.
Watch my quick library video tour here.
In honor of the Holiday Home Tour, Kim and I did an Instagram live! We talked about a lot of things from the tour to our favorite celebrity Christmas albums, real versus faux trees and a bunch of other stuff. You can watch our discussion here. It was our first time going live and we were figuring it out on the fly … I think we did ok. We had so much fun that we’re going to do it again … next week. Probably Thursday at 9am PDT … we’ll give advanced notice this time so stay tuned.
HOLIDAY BAKING GIFT IDEA: ORANGE CRANBERRY MINI LOAVES & AND A BOOK I MENTIONED BEFORE
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned Ruth McKeaney and her book, Hungry for Home. My copy arrived earlier this week and the other night I sat down in front of the fire and read it cover to cover. What a delight. Ruth’s life, with her husband and five children, on their family’s Pennsylvania farm. As part of a large, extended family there is a big emphasis on continuing passed-down family traditions while creating new ones of their own. And above all else, they value and prioritize time spent together as a family. Ruth shares many of her family favorite recipes including scrumptious looking cookies, cakes, and pies as well as glimpses inside their traditional farmhouse, party barn and glorious gardens.
Inspired by Ruth, I got up this morning and hauled out my recipe binder in search of holiday baking ideas. I landed on an old favorite, Cranberry Orange Bread made in mini-loaves … pretty, delicious, and ideal for holiday gifting. The recipe comes from my friend, and second mother, Ellen … and looking closely at the well-worn recipe, I see that Ellen received it from her friend Michelle. A recipe with history.
As I glanced through the ingredients before running to the store, mayonnaise caught my eye. Yuk. I hate mayonnaise and never have it in the house. I’ve made this recipe many times over the years and was able to overcome my mayo aversion. The good news is, once the loaves are baked, you won’t know it’s there. Still, I wondered what a reasonable substitute might be and settled on sour cream and Greek Yogurt.
I decided to split the recipe and make one batch with each. In order not to mix them up, I baked the sour cream version in traditional mini-loaf pans and the Greek yogurt version in disposable paper pans. The Greek yogurt loaves ended up with the sugared orange rind on top … I forgot to add it to the sour cream loaves.
Jim arrived home just in time to do a taste test. He liked them both but judged the Greek yogurt the best. He says it’s lighter and moister … I have to agree. The below recipe includes the original mayonnaise. Just know that Greek yogurt and sour cream are suitable substitutes.
I keep various sizes of cellophane bags on hand for food gifts and tie them with ribbon or twine. For a festive touch I added dried orange slices along with the tag.
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-purpose flour
- 1-1/4 cups Sugar
- 2-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Orange Juice About 4 oranges, if squeezed fresh
- 2/3 cup Mayonnaise Substitute Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tbsp Grated orange rind
- 2 cups Cranberries, halved
Topping
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 tbsp Grated orange rind
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350
- Grease and flour 4 mini-loaf baking pans or boxes.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, beat orange juice, mayonnaise, eggs and orange rind until well blended.
- Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Fold in cranberries.
- Pour batter into pans.
- In a small bowl, mix sugar and orange rind. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon over each loaf.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire racks.
But back to Ruth and her glorious book. It gets five stars from me … and it’s one of those books I’ll be reading and rereading again and again. The book is a great gift idea. You can order it here. You’re welcome!
Follow Ruth on Instagram here and don’t miss her Tip Tuesday’s.
WHAT THE FOUNDATION – JONES ROAD
A couple of months ago Kim wrote about the new makeup and skincare brand, Jones Road. And last month our friend the Contessa wrote about it as well. It’s a new vegan and clean beauty line by Bobbi Brown. I was intrigued and ordered the foundation called What the Foundation. This week I gave it a test run. It comes in a jar and has a light, whipped feel to it. I applied it with a foundation brush and it went on smoothly and evenly. It’s a very light coverage which I like. They say it’s a ‘foundation meets moisture tint.’ And that’s a really accurate description. More coverage than a tinted moisturizer but not as heavy as a traditional foundation. I’m a fan.
I’m also trying the Jones Road Light Moisture Cream. After my very costly Amore Pacific Time Response Skin Reserve Cream I want to try something new and less expensive. I swung the opposite direction price-wise with CeraVe’s Skin Renewing Night Cream which I like a lot. It’s not too heavy and glides on beautifully. There’s nothing worse than a thick cream that’s hard to apply. I’ve become interested – or more proactive – in seeking out cruelty-free make up and skincare (I’m not saying CeraVe is not … but its often difficult to decipher information in this regard). Anyway, that’s why I want to try the Jones Road and I’ll let you know what I think.
TARGET DENIM & MORE
Over the last year I’ve culled my denim collection considerably. We all have, when styles shift so dramatically what else can you do? Anyway, I went to Target with a few Christmas decor returns and so really my denim purchase was net net. Jim wants to know if I tossed two pairs of jeans when I got home and I explained, again, the earlier culling. He doesn’t get it.
Anyhoo … they had some cute cardigans too. And a utility jacket I couldn’t resist (even though I should have). It has a corduroy collar. I mean … that differentiates it from other utility jackets, right? It’s pretty roomy and I bought an XS.
And there it is … Target finds I couldn’t resist. Both pair of Levi’s are on sale.
Utility Jacket | Cardigan | Levi’s Low Rise Straight | Levi’s High Rise Flare
By the way, you can find all my Weekend Meandering outfit collages, with stoppable links, on my Shop My Style page. It’s on the blog’s navigation bar under the tab SHOP. In addition to that, about a month ago I created a dedicated Instagram page as a catchall for my style collages. You can follow here if you’re interested, or ignore it entirely.
WYETH
Wyeth is a new brand from Damsel in Dior creator, Jacey Duprie. I’ve become a big fan of Jacey over the past few years. She has amazing style, a great sense of humor and a fun Instagram. She released an autobiography over the summer, Liking Myself Back, that was both moving and inspiring … and I liked her all the more. This week she realized a new dream by launching the brand, Wyeth. Both the online and brick and mortar store (at the Platform shopping center near LA) offer a Jacey-curated collection of brands in addition to her own designs under the Wyeth label. From what I see online, Wyeth is classic and classy and I’m cheering for its success.
You know I love a stripe!
And what have we here … this barn jacket with cordoroy detail reminds me of something I just bought at Tar-jay.
Look at this cute, cropped cardi … it comes in several colors.
Jacey, her husband, Grant, and their two young children live in Southern California. And if you catch them on Instagram when they’re vacationing … it’s the best kind of online entertainment.
So there you have it, this weekend’s meanderings.
Let’s visit Kim and Elizabeth to see what’s they’re sharing.
Odds & Socks ~
This recipe looks like a delicious, crowd pleasing holiday treat … or gift!
This favorite holiday movie just had its 20th anniversary. The one-hour Diane Sawyer special can be seen streamed on Hulu.
Our favorite Contessa is on sale!
We watched this movie on Prime Video. It’s based on a book of the same name. It stars several good actors, but won’t win any awards. That said, it’s entertaining enough.
If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling for the holiday’s check out these charming destinations.
If you missed last weekend’s meanderings, you can catch up here.
And follow along for more fun on Instagram and Pinterest.
As always, I appreciate your visit and welcome your thoughts in the comments below.
Cheers from Snowberry!
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