Tranquil Tuesday: Dining with a view

Remember to slow down, eat your food at the dining table and have a great view and good company while eating. This is the view out of our dining room. Looks like the yard needed a detox too. We have been working non-stop on the garden but had to share the before photo.

Hope everyone has a restful, unplugged Tranquil Tuesday.

I missed book club this month but loved reading the Big Payback about the history of the business of Hip-Hop!

Easter Sunday on a detox

The first few days of my detox my nutritionist Kasia Kines suggested we start with breakfast to get us going. Read her recipe here for morning grain. I began by making favorite steel cut oatmeal. The package had the best trick to cook this fast. Cook four cups of water and one cup of oats on the stove until it boils. Once boiling cover and set off the heat overnight. The next morning remove the lid, cook for 10 minutes on medium heat, add cinnamon and cardamom and breakfast is ready. Whatever you don't eat you can put in a sealed container in the fridge and eat it every morning for the week! It is so fast, so easy and seriously so delicious.

Each morning I would add a new fruit, flax and either raw honey or maple syrup. It will keep longer if you don't mix it all for fridge storage.

The first day of the detox was Easter Sunday. We had a lovely lunch at Stone Hill with my new knowledge at hand. I learned so much about how rushed I was eating. I ate standing up, and didn't really enjoy my meals. Kasia taught us to take care about setting the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had a food log and even wrote what china I used for what meal to make each one feel special. I pulled out my salt cells and added Celtic sea salt to one and Herbamare in the other. I love using my salt cell spoons too that I found at the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show.

I love to set the table. My parents owned a gourmet kitchen store and had a fantastic window dresser who set up little dining vignettes all over the shop. It was my "chore" to set the table and it still pleases me to this day. I used Eric's grandmother dogwood linen. The dogwood story is one of my favorites at Easter. We gave my god daughter a dogwood for her baptism and Nette takes a photo of her every year standing near her tree. Here is the story: 

The 3-verse story goes like this: (via)

The Legend of the Dogwood

“When Christ was on earth, the dogwood grew
To a towering size with a lovely hue.
Its branches were strong and interwoven,
And for Christ's cross its timbers were chosen.
“Being distressed at the use of the wood,
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
'Never again shall the dogwood grow
To be large enough for a tree, and so,
Slender and twisted it shall always be,
With cross-shaped blossoms for all to see.
“'The petals shall have bloodstains marked brown,
And in the blossom's center a thorny crown.
All who see it will think of me,
Nailed to a cross from a dogwood tree.
Protected and cherished this tree shall be,
A reflection to all of my agony.'”

The dogwoods were in bloom up here this Easter Sunday. Such a cool miracle of spring. 

I also have a bunny fetish and have used these napkin rings for years at Easter.

My grandmother gave me her "hot chocolate" set that was her mothers. I love the demitasse cups and wonderful tea pot. I moved the cups to the "right" side of the plate before we sat down. BMW always helps me remember where everything goes when setting a table. Bread. Meal. Water. Bread plate on the left, meal in the middle, and water glasses, wine and tea cups on the right. Drinking tea is another new tradition that I've brought into each meal thanks to Kasia. It has helped me slow down to enjoy the meal too.

We started with a mango and avocado salad over butter lettuce. I made a yummy vinaigrette with honey, Braggs Apple Cider vinegar and used my ball jar to shake it all up. We took out black pepper as well for the detox but there are a ton of other spices to use to add flavor. The Celtic sea salt is delicious and has magnesium. A friend suggested I put a dash of salt in my water bottle for hydration.

I made simply roasted sweet potatoes, wild salmon with dill and steamed broccoli for our lunch. I'm practically vegan, or Veganish as Oprah calls it, but have salmon, chicken or shrimp twice a week and eat the heck out of raw honey. I have been want for nothing and now looking back on this meal I have to roast more sweet potatoes.

The Easter Bunny was so sweet and brought us a basket of fruit, ginger and avocados. He must have known I was on a detox. Isn't that the sweetest?

These lovely coral pillows were on the Breezeway sofa when we woke up. I swear, that Easter Bunny is a rock star!

It's very fun to look back on this month through my photos. We had such a nice evening with Eric's parents on Easter Sunday and loved the Easter Vigil at the cathedral on Holy Saturday. It was wonderful having a quiet morning to ourselves Easter morning having church out of the way. We are blessed beyond measure.

Shroom-noa

I've been on the best detox ever. For 30 days I stopped watching the news, checking Facebook status updates and took a little blog break too. Working with my nutritionist Kasia Kines has been such a joy and I've learned so much from her. I will share some of the wonderful recipes I've adapted from Kasia's detox manual, with her permission. Please check out her new and improved website Kasia Kines and if you are in the Baltimore area, I highly suggest making an appointment. I was referred to her by my wonderful massage therapist Jennifer Ayers. After my first two hour appointment her one I joined the detox group with two other brave souls Fredye and Terra. Check back to my spring cleaning post for more details. It was a thirty day Whole Foods detox. I'm practically vegan still not eating eggs, milk, cheese and am also trying to stay gluten free. It is a lot easier than I thought and I've lost 10 pounds so it is definitely a great way for me to be eating.

One of my favorite classes was with Kasia, Terra and Fredye at Whole Foods in Mt. Washington a few Wednesday evenings ago. We spent two hours walking through the grocery store learning about how to read labels. It was invaluable for this new way of eating. We are avoiding corn oil, sugar, flour, and those items are in everything. Here she is pointing out the mushroom section and talking about their benefits.

I love mushrooms. One of my favorite parts of the movie Julie and Julia was when I learned not to crowd the mushrooms when cooking them. Makes all the difference in the world. To make Shroom-noa start with very good olive oil and the onion of your choice. I've been cooking with leeks, spring onions and tons and tons of shallots during this detox. When they are slightly cooked add your mushrooms and make sure not to crowd them. 

Add any other vegetables you like. I added zucchini. When the vegetables start to caramelize deglaze the pan with Braggs Liquid Amino (aka Hippie Sauce) which is gluten free and a great alternative to soy sauce. Soy sauce is made with wheat. Who knew?

Quinoa is the quickest cooking grain and a life saver in a pinch. You can buy Quinoa in the bulk section. For cooking instructions always remember two parts water to one part Quinoa. For more flavor I added vegetable broth as my liquid and cooked the spring onions in a bit of olive oil to start. Let it come to a boil. When boiling turn on low and cover for 15 minutes. 

I added carrots and broccoli for a nice hearty stir fry. Just like in the Five Spiced Chicken stir fry, you want to push the cooked vegetables to the side when adding a new one. This again allows each to cook and not steam or sweat. I put the lid on the pan to steam the broccoli for the last few minutes. Since we are off of corn I didn't use any corn starch to thicken the sauce. 

Voila, Shroom-noa! Enjoy.

The biggest secret to my successful new eating habit is to eat mostly vegetables and grain for lunch. This sustains my energy all throughout the day. Thank you, thank you Kasia.

Baby Plum's Shower

A few weeks ago I helped host a baby shower in DC for my divine friend Mary Margaret. Marge and I met at Christ Church, Georgetown about ten years ago and were fast friends. We were in a Bible study that often finished with the two of us grabbing dinner at the Daily Grill talking for hours over a bottle of Clos du Bois Chardonnay! She is simply the BEST story teller of all time. She's a talented graphic artist from Birmingham and loves Auburn. She is funny, smart, beautiful and a light of the world. When she told us the news last year that she and Scott were expecting we were over the moon excited.

Mary Margaret's DC friend Kathryn organized all of the hostesses and sent great emails keeping us organized. I love how the invite turned out. I suggested we use Kristin at Sweet Spot create the cutest cookies ever from the invite design. I have used Sweet Spot three times now. 

I offered to order the flowers too since I had great vendors in Baltimore who could help. I went to Flowers and Fancies to pick up these beautiful arrangements. I showed Eddie Wingrat, one of the owners, the invite and cookies and he said, "Wait a minute, we have bunnies for you that match your invitation." 

He brought out these darling moss bunnies and they just made the arrangements perfect for the party! Amy at the shop also helped me wrap my gift in cellophane. I love to bring shower gifts wrapped in cello so you don't really have to open them.

I headed down to DC with flowers and bunnies in tow and arrived on Capital Hill to find this charming garden oasis. Kathryn's beau grew up here and his mother let us borrow the home for the party. How absolutely wonderful is that?

The garden was in full spring glory. Bleeding hearts just thrill me every time I see them.

The bunnies fit in perfectly.

The bar was set with raspberry iced tea and mimosas.

The guest of honor arrived and the party began. The weather was simply gorgeous.

Jess, Sophie and Tina enjoyed the garden.

I was so excited to see my heart friend Juliana. We always joke that we fell in love at first sight. Her daughter Fleming was our flower girl. We had so much to catch up on and were both doing a detox! Please read her inspiring and fabulous website Smarter Tables.

The front door welcomed us with childhood photos of Marge and Scott.

I love the photo of Scott's happy mother Kim. She is one of my most favorite people on the planet. At their wedding E. and I were overwhelmed but how thoughtful she was and gave us "N" and "E" letter Christmas ornaments for our first married Christmas together. Scott doesn't fall far from the tree and is such a great match for Mary Margaret.

Hostesses Gin, Tina and Kathryn made sure everything was perfectly set for the tea inside.

The buffet was light and simple and I couldn't get over how beautiful the blue and white china looked throughout this home.

Even the water closet was beautifully designed.

I could simply die for this sink basin.

We served Kathryn's famous sausage balls, Robin brought "P" petit fours, tea sandwiches were made and Whitney brought the scones.

Sweet Marge and her baby bump welcomed everyone inside.

You can barely even tell she is preggers from the front. 

Other hostesses Whitney, sweet Kathryn and Robin were ready for fun and only one game.

The tea was delicious.

It was a lovely party.

I also got to clap eyes on my soul friend Amanda who I haven't seen in ages. She's in Sudan doing amazing work. Mander was also in our wedding and is another Christ Church pal. I made the best friends from that church.

I loved meeting so many new people and seeing old friends. Liz, on the right, has a wonderful event planning firm called Elizabeth Duncan Events and has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. She is so talented.

Everyone gathered and we began opening gifts.

One of my favorite gifts of all time is the stack of children's books. Marge's sister-in-law Jess put together this fun gift.

Whitney read the card for Jess's gift. We passed all the presents out to each guest so that it would go quickly. 

I went a little camera crazy because at the last minute Marge's beautiful mother Lynda couldn't attend. I had to document everything so she felt like she was at the party too. We missed you so much Ms. Lynda! Give Daddy George my love.

Scott's mother Kim is watching over their niece Sophie, who was their flower girl. Jess is the great SIL in the blue.

This precious little child speaks three languages and looks so much like Marge when she was little. 

My go-to shower gift always has my hand stamped Crane's stationery, a Le Pen and a children's book. I found the Chewbeads from my JLW pal Kristen's blog and on-line shop Pineapple Grove Gifts. I went a little nuts for Marge and also found a few silver baby spoons at Antiques Exchange in Hampden. I found her a Lamb lovey for the Lamb of Christ who takes away the sins of the world at Linens and Lingerie....AND I had to throw in the Noah's Ark smocked pillow/music box that hangs on the doorknob too. I went a little nutzo but it's Baby Plum. Please.

Loved seeing her so excited.

All the Plumridge girls and baby Plum hiding behind Sophie.

Marge and Tina are due days apart. 

Marge is a graphic designer/marketing genius. She printed these sweet cards for all of the hostesses.

We were given these cheerful begonias as hostess gifts.

The hostess shot is missing our babes from Alabama and other fun bridesmaids, Laura and Liz. 

Thank you again Kathryn for your hospitality and to Geoff's family. It was simply the prettiest tea ever. Marge, I love that we laugh so much together. You truly are a light in my world and I can't thank God enough for you. Sending you prayers for a safe and healthy delivery. Baby Plum, you don't even know how much we love you already. Uncle E. and I have been praying for you and can't wait to meet you in a few weeks. Be sweet to your Momma and Daddy and enjoy your entry into the world you precious child.