Dream Christmas inspiration!

If you are looking for ideas for stylish entertaining and home decor this Christmas look no further than this special issue from the editors of Homes and Gardens. Dream Christmas (£4.50) has some wonderful festive decorating schemes, 70 pages of recipes (although nothing especially unusual) and real inspiration for your table settings.

I was delighted to see a 'Christmas at home' article featuring one of my favourite designers, William Yeoward, as well as a beautiful seasonal table setting using my very own Jasper Conran dinner service from the man himself! I shall certainly be taking his lead this year when I serve Christmas dinner at home to my family. 

This is the best of the bunch of Christmas specials in my opinion and well worth the price. I shall be keeping mine for future reference without a doubt.  Festive entertaining will become a prominent feature of this blog as we head deeper into winter. Curl up and enjoy this magazine in the meantime. 

The new Waterford crystal mixology collection

I was very taken with the new Waterford crystal 'mixology' collection following a visit to the Wedgwood shop in Barlaston today. It is beautifully displayed under a £6,000 chandelier so you really can't miss it! The collection includes a stunning range of barware suitable for those of us who like a cocktail, and to be honest who doesn't?

The collection really catches the light by the window and this shows off the colours to good effect. I covet the argon blue tumblers which are £115 per pair. The other colours are talon red, neon lime and circon amethyst.

 

The cocktail glasses are very art deco. A coloured set of 4 matching glasses is £225. Beautiful matching decanters are £240.

The collection is the perfect marriage of traditional and modern - the ideal Christmas present or a decadent treat for yourself!

For stockists and more information visit uk.wwrd.com

Julie Reiner, the owner and Beverage Director of Manhattan's Flatiron Lounge and Brooklyn's Cover Club has designed some exclusive cocktails to go with the range of glasses. Look out for the ingredients and preparation instructions in-store and online.

Happy Halloween!

I hope your preparations for Halloween are going well. I just wanted to share this beautiful picture of a selection of gourds and pumpkins I saw in a local shop. Nothing says Autumn quite like this kind of image and not only do they make excellent decorations for the creepiest night of the year but they are then delicious to eat too. Roast them and put them in a soup or add to a basic risotto recipe - irresistible!

For the best Halloween ideas visit www.marthastewart.com or try to track down her special 2013 Halloween issue of Living.

A visit to Biddulph Grange gardens resulted in some suitably ghostly discoveries as we explored the grounds...

This skeleton was trying to crawl out of his grave! 

This warning adorned the entrance to one of the buildings in the grounds.

Inside, this horrific scene greeted us with a soundtrack of screaming and ghostly moaning.

This giant urn supported a huge evil pumpkin head!

Ornamental Grasses in Autumn

Since a traditional lawn is simply not an option in my garden, I have planted many different varieties of ornamental grass all around it, taking care to check whether they can cope with heavy alkaline clay and partial shade.  Thankfully a number of beautiful forms can, and I haven't shied away from the larger types amongst these, as big and bold statement plants in a small garden can create dramatic space illusions.  Grasses are particularly good for this, as most have soft, trembling leaves that simply caress you as you walk by them, and most die back each winter so shouldn't take over the garden (pampas grass, of course, is an exception on both fronts!).    I love the waving leaves of ornamental grasses through the summer but for me their best feature is the stunning plumes they throw up each autumn.  These can be left on the plant as it fades to brown over the winter, providing fluffy structural interest in the bleaker months.  I cut back all of the ornamental grasses pictured below to a few inches each March.  They sprout anew shortly afterwards.       



Cortaderia selloana pumila, dwarf pampas grass, without a doubt my favourite large grass in the garden.  I simply adore the huge, soft, plentiful plumes that shine and sparkle when the sunlight glows through them.  Though dwarf, this variety reaches 5-6 feet easily with a wide radius of sharp, tough, evergreen leaves which make for a challenging March cut-back, so it's not for every small garden.  But I would not be without it.      

This miscanthus is a much more delicate grass than the pumila in every way but is equally resilient, reliable and beautiful. Again the sunlight catches the plumes which creates a striking contrast in this largely shady green border.

In the foreground another miscanthus, a dwarf form called 'Nippon', throws up beautiful reddish plumes against the fountain of soft panicles emerging from the floppy foliage of anemanthele lessoniana. 

Italian Feast Part 2

It never feels like a party until the table is laid. I've gone for a slightly more formal table this time with a crisp white table cloth and the platinum chargers from our Wedgwood dinner service.

The vintage-style blue candle holders pick up the predominant colour of the rest of the room. Lay the table early in the day so there is one less thing to worry about.

 

Below is my favourite napkin fold and I have put a small menu card on each place with a fragrant sprig of rosemary cut from the garden to add colour and interest. This gives a slightly rustic feel and stops the whole table looking too clinical.
 

With a napkin folded into quarters to make a neat square, lay it down with a point facing you. Fold the top corner down about half way towards the centre. Turn everything over and fold the two side corners in to just overlap at the centre. Turn back over and you're done!

The menu for tonight features some recipes I have shared with you before on this blog such as tuscan mashed chickpea crostini as a canape, tagliarelle with white truffle butter as the starter and a chocolate and amaretti torte for dessert. The main course is a herb-baked loin of cod with creamy Parmesan polenta and green beans with garlic and all of this is followed by a hearty cheese board with rosemary crackers, dried figs and chutney.
 

Post party note: I think the food was enjoyed by all and whilst it may not have been 100% authentically Italian it vanished very quickly! Much lively conversation and laughter were the highlights of the evening - along with a lot of Prosecco! I hope you'll feel encouraged to give some of these dishes a try yourself. Buon appetitio! 

Italian Feast Part 1

Work has been very busy hence the lack of posts here but I can only go so long without a party so this Saturday I am hosting an Italian feast for friends and neighbours, two of which are our fairly new Italian neighbours. Am I mad cooking Italian for Italians? We shall have to wait and see on that one but I thought it would be fun to share my preparations for the big event in the next few posts. I wanted to start by mentioning white truffle butter.

Here's the packet of truffle butter - I buy two at a time and keep them in the freezer so I always have some for the recipe that follows.

Have you come across this amazing ingredient? It's butter laced with real white truffles and it has the most divine flavour. I haven't found it in any shops outside of London yet but it is available from Truffle Hunter in the UK. Click here for a link to their website. They also have a shop on Amazon. 100g is just over £6 but a little goes a long way and it is the star ingredient of my first course for this weekend's dinner party. 

I love the picture on the box from Truffle Hunter. All their products look scrumptious. When my current white truffle oil that I bought in Italy runs out I will be trying theirs for sure.

I'm making Tagliarelle with White Truffle Butter as the starter. It's an Ina Garten recipe and you have to taste it to believe how something so simple can be so delicious. Prepare the ingredients and it comes together in a few minutes whilst your guests are seated. 



If you can find Cipriani tagliarelle there is nothing like it! Waitrose used to stock it but you can find it on line.



The pasta comes wrapped in tissue and only takes 3 minutes to cook. It is like eating silk!

The recipe will work with other pastas but because this pasta is so light it compliments the rich sauce with Parmesan and chives so well. What else can you do with truffle butter?

1. Rub truffle butter under the skin of a chicken or turkey before roasting.
2. Melt it in a pan before cooking scrambled eggs. Yummy!
3. Use as a base for a bechamel sauce which you can use for mac and cheese or cauliflower cheese.
4. Melt it into mashed potatoes.

To be honest it's brilliant in most dishes that use regular butter so give it a go. Just remember that black and white truffles are very different and often not interchangeable. I do prefer white truffles but then I love anything Italian!