New Year

New Year

Circa: 2015

       It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone and 2015 is here! First of all I would like to thank all of you that have followed me since the beginning and embraced my style, voice and love of the past! What was intended to be a small personal blog that would probably only be seen by my family and friends now has nearly 400 followers! I am beyond honored and blessed and hope to continue to inspire you to add a little vintage touch to your own life. 

       I know that just like everyone else I  always make, and often break, my new years resolutions. We'll this year my resolution was simply to become healthier and happier in body, mind and soul. I feel like this can only aid me in my mission to inspire others in daily life and through my blog. One of the ways to do that is through meditation and reflection on a daily basis. Whether it's few minutes in the morning with my coffee or unwinding after a long day at work I want to take a moment for myself to find my inner peace, creativity and have a release from stress and negativity. Therefore, I thought that I would start this new year sharing my own personal haven and some of my favorites items in it.

      I created a peaceful and relaxing environment in the corner of my office/guest bedroom and invested in a few items I wanted to share with you today. Of course I had to add my own personal and vintage touches to the space to stay true to my authentic self!

  
    My first purchase was my Riverrock Essential Oil Diffuser by Deneve. I was introduced to the power of essentials oils by a close friend and I have been a believer ever since. I love this diffuser because it fills the room with soothing aromas and produces the calming sound of a babbling brook when in use.  My personal favorite oil blend to unwind after a long day is lavender and rosemary. For the mornings at home and at work I like to use grapefruit, lemon or peppermint.

      In this space I also wanted to incorporate elements of nature and chose flower petals from my garden and a beautiful miniature Orchid plant. Orchids have always been one of my favorite flowers and I love how this petite version perfectly fits on my table. I was curious as to the symbolism surrounding orchids and I discovered that different cultures throughout history have believed in the healing, disease-fighting and protective properties of this beautiful flower.

      
        For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a few of these wonderfully petite candles that are perfect for dinner parties, bubble baths and meditation and prayer. I love their light scent of Eucalyptus and Mint after a long day.

      

       To complete the space I added a few personal touches such as my angel statue, gilded heart ornament and very special mirror. The mirror is a beautiful wedding gift that Chris and I received from my Aunt/Godmother Melody. She created this beautiful piece of art with a heartfelt message on the back that I treasure to this day!

  
    Finally, for those that are interested in trying meditation for the first time I would suggest beginning with guided meditations. In the past when I have tried meditation it was very difficult to quiet my mind, focus on my breathing, relax and sit still for more than five minutes on my own. However, I have found that guided meditations allow me to relax and  and focus and find release after a long and stressful day or needed energy in the mornings. I have found several wonderful free meditation podcasts online including Meditation Oasis and My Meditation Station. 

  
    I hope that this helps inspire you to create your own meditation and prayer space in your home and more importantly take a few moments for yourself each day. As for the blog I have some wonderful plans in store for the new year including a way to bring my vintage life into your own home. At the beginning of January a dear friend told me that this is the year of positive change and growth and I am looking forward to every moment that of it and continuing to sharing my life with you in 2015.



D.I.Y.: Pomanders

Pomanders

Circa: 1500s

 

 

 

          Since I was a little girl one of my favorite things to make during the Christmas season were pomanders. One of my first memories I have is decorating oranges with cloves in elementary school with one of my closest friends and I have kept up the tradition ever since. Not only are they a beautiful and natural decoration for your home but the fragrant combination of cloves and citrus smells amazing!  This is a wonderful D.I.Y project to for adults and children alike during the holiday season.

 

 

All you need are:

• Oranges
• Whole Cloves 
• Ground Spice Mixture (Cinnamon, Nutmeg Cloves, Ginger)
• Plastic Bag 
• Rubber Band (optional)
• Ribbon (optional)  

 

 

Directions:

1.   Knead the orange gently in your hands to soften the skin.

2.   Poke cloves into the orange in your desired pattern. You can use a wooden skewer to pierce the skin of the fruit first before inserting the cloves. Rubber bands can be placed around the orange and serve as guides for your designs.

3.  Once you have finished your design place your orange in a plastic bag with a combination of spices of your choice and gently roll the orange in the bag until it is lightly dusted with the spices.

4.   If you would like to hang your pomanders you can add a ribbon at this time or simply place your pomanders together in a bowl with greenery.

 

While pomanders have been popular throughout the ages, their form and purpose have changed significantly over the years.  The word pomander originates from the French pomme d’amber or apple of amber. Pomanders became popular during the Middle Ages when the Black Death and other ailments ran rampant in Europe. As you can imagine sanitation during this time was greatly lacking and unfortunately there was no real concept of germs or how they spread. During that time many attributed their health problems to the stench lingering about the city and therefore believed that the pleasant scent of a pomander could repel disease.

     Pomanders were worn regularly around the neck in the Middle Ages by men and women, and was a perfumed ball, containing scented herbs that were set in waxy substances and could include ambergris, musk, spices, and rose water. They were typically made from gold or silver and hung from the neck or belt.

Queen Elizabeth I rarely went out without her pomander.

     Fast forward a few centuries and the pomander evolved from a piece of jewelry worn to repeal disease to an orange with cloves dusted in spices and placed around homes at Christmas.  Pomanders enjoyed a revival during the 18th and 19th century with the greater availability of citrus fruits and Victorians expanded the use of pomanders to include household decorations, natural air fresheners and Christmas ornaments. While the cloves help to preserve the fruit from spoiling the spices and citrus would add a wonderful fragrance to the home. Pomanders are traditionally hung in bunches from ceiling beams. At times cloves were even inserted in symbolic shapes and as the fruit dried the pomander became a good luck charm.

 

I hope that you will continue this Victorian Christmas tradition and  add this fragrant, fun and festive decoration to your own home this year.

 

 



Personal Post: Life at the Museum

Life at the Museum 

Circa: 2014



Historic 1883 John and Lottie Moore Home

It's been a busy few weeks at the museum to say the least! Between a Murder Mystery Event, Thanksgiving and Christmas Candlelight Tours I have hardly had time to sleep, let alone blog. However with Christmas quickly approaching things are beginning to slow down  and  I will be able to bring you some fabulous holiday posts starting today!  While I love sharing my favorite recipes, D.I.Y. projects, decorating ideas and more, I thought that it would be fun to share something a little more personal and give you a  glimpse into my life at the museum.  

 

This fall we had the opportunity to create new and wonderful events for the museum, many of which we have been dreaming about for a year or two! In November we hosted our first Murder Mystery Event at the Historic Moore Mansion. Following the untimely death of our speaker, guests searched the home high and low for clues in an attempt to solve the mystery and bring the killer to justice. Now, when I say search the home high and low I meant it.  One of my first tasks was to clean a 131 year old attic. To most it would be a daunting and possibly depressing job, however I jumped at the chance and dragged/recruited one of our amazing interns to help! I discovered that all you need is a great attitude, plenty of brooms and a fabulous soundtrack! "Shake It Off" was a favorite for the day and very appropriate due to the large amounts of dust on everything.  

Katie and I cleaning up the attic

The Murder Mystery event was amazing and we already have plans to host another one this spring! My husband was a great sport and provided the "dead body" for our evening. Sadly to his dismay he was murdered before the hors d'oeuvres and champagne were served. He is truly the best and I don't know what I would do without him.

Chris and I before he was murdered on the stairs...

Following the Murder Mystery I turned my attention to my next project, preparing the Cottage for our annual Candlelight Tours. Every year during the first week of December  our museum offers special evening tours of our beautiful historic homes that are decorated for Christmas and lit by candles. This year I had the pleasure of decorating our historic 1850's cottage for this holiday season with the assistance of our wonderful docents and staff. Our cottage is a wonderful home that was built in Richmond, Texas in 1855 by the grandson of the Jane Long "The Mother of Texas."

The theme was Christmas during the Civil War in Texas and we led guests on a guided tour of this home sharing a glimpse of how the family would have celebrated Christmas Eve in 1861. It was a magical evening and sitting in the home filled with candlelight and Christmas carols echoing in the background, for a moment you felt as is you had been transported back in time. 

Oh and did I mention that I had to dress in costume to lead our tours? It is a tough job but someone has to do it!

While the museum may keep me busy, it also offers wonderful opportunities and memories that I will cherish for a lifetime.  If you would like to see a little more of my everyday vintage life you can  follow me on Instagram at Jessn012!

Recipe: Compound Butters

Compound Butters

Circa: 2014

 With Thanksgiving approaching I thought I would share one more recipe with you before Thursday!  I love making compound butters for special dinners or  during the holidays. Not only are they delicious and add so much flavor to a dish but they are very simple to make! Today I am providing you with some of my favorite flavor combinations to share with your friends and family this holiday season.

 

When I became Education Coordinator at the museum one of the first things I learned to do was make homemade butter. During our busy season we can make up to six batches in one day! At the museum we use a wonderful vintage Daisy Churn similar to the one pictured in the ad below. While it still gets the job done after all these years it tends to take a lot of time and elbow grease. It's a wonderful teaching tool for our younger visitors and helps them appreciate how hard people had to work in the past even for simple things, however,  at home I like to take advantage of our modern technology and let my mixer do the hard work!  While you can certainly add any of these flavorful ingredients to pre-made butter, homemade butter is so easy to make and adds a delicious and special touch to your holiday meal.

 

 

How to Make Homemade Butter

 

To make homemade butter all you need is heavy whipping cream and a stand or hand held mixer. You will typically get half as much butter as the amount of cream used.

 

1.  Place the heavy whipping cream in a bowl and begin mixing on a low speed. You can increase to a medium speed as the cream begins to thicken. However, be careful not to increase the speed too soon or you will have cream flying everywhere! (I learned this the hard way)

 

2. The cream will transform into fluffy whipped cream; this is what I consider the half way point. Keep whipping the cream until it breaks down into soft cottage-cheese like curds.

 

3. The butter will then begin to stiffen as the butter fat separate s from the milk, clump together and turn yellow.

 

4. Once the butter separates turn off your mixer and pour off the milk. You can press the butter with a spatula to squeeze out any remaining milk.

 

5. As a bonus you can keep the buttermilk to drink!

 

It is that simple! I often get asked "How do you know when you have butter?" Trust me you will know by the consistency and color of the butter.  At this point in time I return the drained butter to my mixer and begin to add my ingredients. Rather than provide measurements for my butter combinations I have found that it is all about personal taste. For example, I love a lot of fresh basil with my lemon zest, however my husband prefers just a touch. Also if you are making small batches you may need a teaspoon of an ingredient rather than a tablespoon. I suggest adding a little bit at a time until you reach the perfect combination! For my savory butters I also added a touch a kosher salt.

 

I hope that these combinations inspire you to create your own delicious compound butters!

 

Here are my favorite combinations below!

 

 

I love the combination of lemon zest and fresh basil from my garden. They create a delicious and fresh flavor combination that works well on everything from a baguette to a roasted chicken!

 

 

 Roasted Garlic and Rosemary is my husband's favorite! I roast a head of garlic in the oven, extract the garlic and let it cool in a dish before I add it to my butter.

 

 

My favorite way to serve my cinnamon and honey butter is on my husband's homemade cornbread while it is still warm from the oven.  

 

 

Once you have created your compound butters I suggest rolling them in plastic wrap or parchment paper and placing them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour before serving. They make a wonderful addition to any holiday table! 

 

 I hope that you have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends! Peace and Love always!

Recipe: Grandma's Cornbread

Grandma's Cornbread

Circa 1950's

           Today I am bringing you a recipe that is very near and dear to our hearts and has been passed down on my husband’s side of the family for generations. I always look forward to the fall and winter months and it is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. When the temperatures start dropping and the nights grow longer I turn to my favorite comfort foods for dinner. I am a very lucky girl and was blessed to not only marry a wonderful man, but one that loves to cook! He makes a killer pot roast, delicious stew, amazing chili and the dish that goes with them all…cornbread. It seems like we are making a batch every week when the temperatures start dropping. With Thanksgiving approaching I thought that there wouldn’t be a better time than to share this wonderful recipe!  It is delicious on its own and makes an amazing stuffing for Thanksgiving…at least in our family stuffing has always included good ole’ Texas cornbread.

          This recipe was passed down from Chris’s mom from his wonderful grandmother.  She grew up in Depression-era Oklahoma and it was always on the table at family gatherings.  Chris borrowed his recipe from his Grandma’s, although he does admit that the honey and sugar were later additions because “Grandma would never have made ‘sweet’ cornbread.”  I must confess that I love the sweet additions! Please enjoy this wonderful family heirloom recipe with you own loved ones this Thanksgiving!


Chris's grandmother is located on the 1st row 3rd from right with the doll

     Here is a little food for thought on this traditional southern dish to share with your friends and family this holiday season. Corn was in America long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue and was a staple for many Native Americans. When new settlers arrived in America they had to “make do” with food sources that were available to them and corn happened to be one of the most prominent. While European settlers had traditionally used finely ground wheat for their breads, anything “fine” was in short supply. Therefore they turned to corn or as it was sometimes known, maize.  John F Mariani wrote “Native Americans roasted their corn and ground it into meal to make cakes, bread, and porridges…The new cereal was precious and helped early settlers to survive those first harsh years…Before long uniquely American dishes were being developed,” It would later go on to be called cornbread and become everyday fare. However, many colonists were not thrilled with the wheat substitute, and viewed any form of bread made with corn instead of wheat a sad paste of despair.

          When settlers arrived in Texas in the early 1800’s (including Grandma’s great-great grandparents) corn was one of the first crops they planted and used it to feed their families and their animals. Over the years it has gone by many names including corn pone, johhny cakes, hoe cakes, and spoon bread. Today is no longer considered a sad day when you have fresh and warm cornbread with your meal! Please enjoy!  

Recipe: Amas Veritas

Amas Veritas

Circa: 2014

 

 

 

       For my final Halloween cocktail recipe I thought I would just do something fun! It's a delicious and refreshing recipe that is perfect for All Hallow's Eve bewitching theme but could go great in spring, as well! Since the Voodoo Queen represented the more mysterious side of witchcraft, this cocktail represents the lighter, romantic and feminine, side found in Practical Magic. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when a young Sally Owens conjures up a  true-love spell known as Amas Veritas to protect her from falling in love. I was so inspired that I wanted to create my own magical cocktail.

 

 

 

         I began by researching herbs and ingredients that would not only be delicious but could bring one luck in love. Luckily, all I had to do was turn to my own garden and neighborhood. I adore rosemary and always have it growing in our garden since it is one one of my favorites and I have plenty on hand.  My next inspiration is from my own neighborhood in the form of locally grown honey. 

 

        Together, rosemary  and honey have traditionally been considered to have magical properties. They are both sacred elements to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. They symbolize femininity, and an old saying says ,"where rosemary flourishes, the woman rules." Although my husband questions that saying, rosemary is also supposed to only grow in a home garden if a women is present.  And on a more practical level, rosemary's fragrance is said to enhance memory and help retain youth.  Of course, I had to work it into a cocktail.

 

       Honey also has magical qualities of it's own and can be used to sweeten someone's feelings for you. It is believed that if you pour honey into a jar or saucer on top of a piece of paper containing someone's name and then light a candle, that person's relationship with you will grow and possible evolve into love. Honey is also used in spells to bind items together, even friends and couples.

 

 

Due to their magical properties Rosemary and Honey are a perfect combination! While honey will sweeten someone's thoughts of you, rosemary will make you unforgettable. This spellbounding cocktail is designed to do both. It's blend of herbs, sweetness, and citrus make for a delicious and refreshing concoction.

 

     I hope that you had a wonderfully bewitching Halloween this year and remember...



Always,

throw spilled salt over your left shoulder

keep rosemary by your garden gate

plant lavender for luck

and fall in love whenever you can

 





Holiday Decorating: Halloween

Season of the Witch

Circa: 2014

 I am so excited to finally unveil my Halloween tablescape this week! I was inspired by one of my favorite movies Practical Magic and American Horror Story: Coven. I love the juxtaposition of the light, romantic and magical feel in Practical Magic with the darker and more mysterious aspects of AHS Coven. I began with an inspiration board that is pictured below!

Inspiration boards are a wonderful starting place when you are planning an event, decorating your home or for the holidays. They allow you to bring all your ideas together in a visual that you can use as a reference when shopping and decorating. For this project I knew I wanted to pull together many items that I already had in my home and even my yard. To create a more unique and personalized holiday table find and repurpose items you already have...especially those antiques hiding in the attic or on your shelves collecting dust. For this project the only items I purchased were the pumpkins and fake worms. Everything else was from previous Halloweens scattered throughout our home.

I hope you enjoy my Halloween tablescape as much as we have this season and it inspires you to create your very own wonderful and bewitching table this Halloween!

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