Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays

Homemade Potpourri

The warming spices of winter in an easy potpourri recipe for the holidays.


Aron seemed perfectly calm. He sat in the living room, looking at cartoons in old numbers of the Review of Reviews. From the kitchen the odor of the bursting juices of roasting turkey began to fill the house.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

We humans are makers, creators, hands busy creatures, dreamers. We know what motivates us, where we find our joy. All that talk about results oriented, achieving goals can cloud the joy in doing. I find it spilling over from my previous life in management. I track myself with lists, the daily, the goals. The, the, the. Attending the International Food Bloggers Conference really clarified my motivation to blog. I find joy in the making. When lost in the process, the doing is my bliss. I’d bet you’re a creative too, because we all are. This year’s IFBC experience was like having my vision checked and then realizing that my new glasses helped so much. I couldn’t believe I was making do with my old pair. Why did I wait so long to see clearly?

Essentials

Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays is a project that rewards the doing. The best way to start making potpourri is to take a brisk autumn walk. Gather fallen pine cones, seed pods or dried berries. All these autumn things are currently littering every path and sidewalk. The experience of gathering and choosing each item begins the creative process. I like an array of colors, shapes and textures but choosing just one item from outside and bringing inside is all you need. Once in the kitchen the aroma of warming spices, apple and tangerine are a pure jolt of winter bliss. I made a big batch so I would have extra for gifting. Even a small project of one bowl of Homemade Potpourri for the Holidays has its reward. This isn’t an exacting recipe for potpourri, it’s more of a nudge of inspiration to set you on a path of autumn discovery. Make your own joy. READ MORE . . .

Stroopwafels

Stroopwafels and Coffee

Always about the Caramel

“Then there was his education and reading, the books he bought and borrowed, his knowledge of things that could not be eaten or worn or cohabited with, his interest in poetry and his respect for good writing.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I arrived early for an appointment in Monterey. Traffic between Salinas and Monterey can be easy or horrendous, I got lucky and had time to spare. Instead of heading to the shopping mall, I made a stop at a Monterey thrift shop, Branches. There was a time I made the rounds of thrift stores every week, now I drop in every once in a while. I’m never looking for anything in particular, it’s more about finding something fabulous, especially vintage cookbooks. This trip, there was a Toastmaster, Pizzelle and International Cookie Maker. Although it wasn’t in its’ original box, it looked new. Along with the instruction manual, there was a Baking with Julia booklet, Program #112 with Nick Malieri, titled Italian Specialty Cookies. I certainly didn’t need another kitchen appliance and went to my appointment. READ MORE . . .

Salt Dough Trees

Salt Dough Trees

Good Bye, Zeus

“It’s one of life’s great fallacies, it seems to me, said Lee, that time gives much of anything but years and sadness to a man. And memory. Yes, memory. Without that, time would be unarmed against us. “

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

We said good bye to Zeus, our 13 year old chow-chow, the day after Thanksgiving. It’s been tough. We knew his time with us was coming to an end, but still. I’m a cat person who fell in love with a ten year old rescue dog. That says so much and yet so little. We knew he was old when he became a part of our lives. We adopted him anyway. We accepted him for who he was and he accepted us. We stayed with him every step of his journey. We navigated his challenges as he aged and loved him even more. We miss him. READ MORE . . .

The Ginger Snap Obsession

Ginger Snaps

All the cookies

“He cooked for Cathy, going through recipes used by his mother and his stepmother.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

When I met up with my friend and mentor, Andrea, she brought cookies! We had lost track of each other, it had been 20 years since we last connected. She lives in Sacramento, I live in Salinas. We decided to meet at the half way point, in Fremont. We had a lunch of Thai crepes stuffed with curry and a long wonderful chat. So much has happened! When I started driving home I couldn’t stop thinking about the pink pastry box filled with homemade cookies. Andy had said she labeled each kind of cookie. What kind of cookies were in the box? When I couldn’t stand the cookie suspense any longer I convinced myself that I needed to take a break from driving and stopped at Starbucks and took a peek inside the pink box. I was just going to look in the box to see what was inside but as I picked up each sweet package the temptation was too great. I sat in my car and greedily sampled one of each. I began with the rugelach, then I found the ginger snaps. There were coconut macaroons, amaretti, mandelbrot and schnecken. I had to try all the cookies. I drove home in a blissful cookie coma. READ MORE . . .

Little Biscoff Cheesecakes

Biscoff Cheesecake

Performance Art

“You know, Lee I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Cooking and baking is live performance art. If you never thought you were an artist, I’m taking this opportunity to say that yes you are! We create and share and then it all disappears. Each individual act of cooking and baking is never repeated. Like a long running Broadway show, the more practice, the more consistent the performance. There are so many variables—timing, ingredients, attention to detail, experience, technique, equipment. Some performances are better than others, its real theatre. There are days when my performance is dismal. Even when I’m totally submerged in the process, it can fail. It’s a smooth performance in my kitchen theatre when a new recipe comes together easily. Little Biscoff Cheesecakes are from one such performance. READ MORE . . .