Thanksgiving 2011 Menu

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Sometimes holidays sneak up on me unexpectedly, but I can proudly say that I am fully prepared for the Thanksgiving celebration!

For dinner, there won’t be a traditional turkey since my family is vegetarian, but there will be other delicious and festive dishes.


Here is the menu:

Mixed Greens Salad

Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells (the recipe is from Country Living Magazine)

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary (I use this recipe but I add two tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary)

Buttermilk Cornbread

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Apple Cider, Cranberry Juice

Caramel-Glazed Apple Cake with Ice-Cream

If you would like to learn about other Thanksgiving favorites, visit Stone Gable for On the Menu Monday link party.

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To those of you who celebrate it, I wish a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with warmth and love of your dear ones. And I want to thank you all for being my blog-world friends, for your support and encouragement!

Ukraine Independence Day Celebration

Today is a very special day! It’s the day when Ukraine celebrates its independence. And being of Ukrainian descent I have a tradition to make a special dinner on this day to celebrate my cultural heritage and pass it on to my children.

All month long, I was looking forward to setting a Ukraine inspired dining table. And now I want to share it with you!



I used one of my Ukrainian rushnyks as a table runner.
The center piece was a Ukraine countryside inspired bouquet. Two things here are of special importance.



In Ukraine there is a tradition that wheat ears must be present on the table during celebrations as they represent prosperity of the family. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any luck finding them at the craft stores I went to. But I did not despair! I substituted wheat ears with millet ones (they grew in my garden from the seeds that fell down from a bird feeder); they both are grains after all!

If you take a drive in the Ukrainian countryside during summer, one thing you are sure to see is endless fields of sunflowers. To remind me of that beautiful sight, I have a sunflower in my bouquet.

To hold my bouquet, I used a plain clay jug that I received as a present on my visit in Ukraine several years ago.



And here are a couple of details on my table: the clay ram and the straw pig bring country charm to my diner setting.





Blue and yellow are the colors of the Ukrainian flag. That is why I used the flowers of these colors for napkin rings.





The dinnerware is quite simple. All the plates are from different sources (the bowls are from a yard sale, the salad plates are from a thrift store, and the dinner plates are from Wal-Mart), but I think they matched nicely.



Setting this table and making dinner brought so many beautiful memories of Ukraine.

By the way, if you would like to see my Ukrainian outfit, you can check my post from the last year here. Sorry to say, I didn’t take a picture this year.

You might ask what we had for dinner. Well, I’ll tell you that in my next post.

Thank you for stopping by.

I am joining these link parties:

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch,
Home Sweet Home Friday @The Charm of Home,
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home,
Feathering Your Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage.

Happy 4th of July

I made a small bouquet for America on her birthday. The flowers are from my garden. The pink rose is called Bewitched Hybrid Tea (it will open up in a few days, right on time).

Tomorrow morning I’m leaving for Idaho. On my way, I will pass through Nevada and Oregon. So this 4th of July weekend, I’ll get to see a bit of America. I’m very excited!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and a great celebration of America’s birthday to those of you in the USA.

I'm linking to

Fresh Cut Friday @ Rose Vignettes,
Home Sweet Home Friday @The Charm of Home,
and Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Valentine's Evening at Home

Yes, this year my Valentine and I are staying at home again. But that doesn’t mean we won’t celebrate the most romantic day of the year. As soon as our precious son falls asleep, we will party!

And what do you need for a perfect Valentine’s Day celebration?



Red roses! I don’t know about you, but to me red roses scream “LOVE”, and that’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. A single red rose with a little bit of baby breath can send that affection message just as well as a dozen. Don’t you think?



Since it’s going to be a Valentine’s evening, candles would be nice. Even simple and inexpensive votives will work.



And what is a celebration without sweet treats? How about cream filled strawberries (yes, I made them again, this time with mascarpone cheese)...



... and a bit of chocolate assortment?



So far so good! But what about entertainment? My husband and I hardly ever have time for watching movies, so why not watch one tonight? Of course, it must be a romantic movie.



And for a bubbly drink, we’ll open a bottle of sparkling cider.

That’s all you need for a beautiful and romantic Valentine’s evening at home.

Happy Valentine’s Day, my dear blog-world friends! I wish you all lots of LOVE on this special day and always!

Today, I'm linking to Tabletop Tuesday.

Two Centerpieces for One Day

The 31st of December is a double holiday in our family. It’s our son’s birthday as well as New Year’s Eve. And, of course, we are going to celebrate both.

To honor the birth of my little one, we will have a birthday lunch. We are not going to have a big party, only the three of us plus grandpa. Nevertheless, I want to create a special festive mood. So I made this Winnie the Pooh centerpiece to decorate our lunch table.

A bit later, the Winnie the Pooh centerpiece will be replaced with the New Year’s Eve one. I used real fir branches for it, and I just love the way it smells.

I am linking to Show and Tell Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday.



Please, don’t forget to join or just visit me on January 3rd for Handmade Monday.

Happy New Year!

Happy 4th of July!

I was not born in America, and I will never be a real American. But I was privileged to choose this country to be my home. Happy Birthday, America!

And Happy 4th of July to all of you, my dear blog world friends!

Kringla Cookies for Norwegian National Day

The seventeenth of May is the national day of Norway. My husband is Norwegian, so it is a very important day for him.
I wanted to do something special for my husband on the occasion, so I searched the web for different Norwegian recipes. On allrecipes.com I found a recipe for Norwegian cookies called Kringla. The recipe had good reviews, so I decided to give it a try.
I followed the recipe precisely, yet I had a bit of trouble. The dough turned out very sticky, so it was impossible to roll it and make shapes. I had to put the dough in a ziplock bag and press it out on the cookie sheet. My Kringla cookies came out imperfect in shape, yet soft and fluffy, a bit too sweet for me, but definitely delicious. But most importantly, they brought homeland memories to my husband making his National day special.

No Spending Valentine’s Day

This year, my husband and I decided to have a no spending Valentine’s Day. That means no flowers, cards, or presents (at least no store-bought ones). We decided to go for it not so much because of the money reasons, but mostly because the over-commercialized holiday celebrations are starting to get on our nerves.
We have a bottle of champagne and an unopened box of chocolates left from the New Year’s Celebration as well as several romantic movies on DVDs to choose from. That should be enough for a nice Valentine’s evening.
Moreover, I searched other blogs for creative decoration ideas. I found plenty of them, but the one I particularly liked was the idea of a Valentine’s tree.
I cut off a few branches in my backyard and gathered little items from around the house. For instance, the heart-shaped cookie cutter came from my kitchen. In the box with Christmas ornaments, I found the bow and the bird. I was especially delighted to find this little red cupid as it fits the theme perfectly. The tree branches have little new leaves, which at first I wanted to remove. However, I thought a little touch of green would be nice since it sends the message that spring is close.

Norwegian Advent

My husband comes from Norway, I come from Ukraine, and we live in the United States. Therefore, in our family we have wonderful traditions from all three cultures. One such tradition is the advent season.
It starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25. This year, for instance, it started on November 29.
Each Sunday of Advent is marked by lighting one of the four candles, which are arranged on a wreath or special plate. On Christmas day, all four candles must be lit up.
In our family, each year I make the Advent wreath. I simply use the material from my backyard and the neighborhood, such as small branches of fur tree and holly, little pinecones, and/or scarlet-red branches of berries (whose name I don’t know); I also use small ornaments and decorations. Traditionally, the candles in a Norwegian Advent wreath would be purple, but I use red ones.
Our Advent wreath is placed on the dining table and a candle (or candles) is lit up during every Sunday meal.

Christmas Cards Etiquette

If someone asks me to name three things that Christmas is impossible without, I would name the Christmas tree, the presents, and the greeting cards. Well, actually I would name the holiday cards first because for me, the holiday season starts with signing Christmas cards. It’s a perfect way to get into the holiday spirit. However, when sending greeting cards, there are several things to be considered.

When choosing holiday cards, keep in mind that not all people celebrate Christmas though it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t wish them happy holidays. Simply choose a card that has a non-religious message such as “Holiday Greetings”, “Happy Holiday Season” or “Peace on Earth”.
For a business colleague or partner, a good quality store-bought holiday card would be the best choice. With the cards for the family members or close friends, however, you can get a little bit more creative. You can add a photograph of you and your family or even make a card yourself. Recycling old Christmas cards by making new ones out of them is a great paper-crafting project; if you have children, they will love it. Other possibilities are stitching, cross-stitching, or crocheting. A few years ago, I made several cross-stitched Christmas cards; they were very cute but it took some time and patience to make them.

Once you’ve bought, printed or handmade your cards, consider a few things before signing them.
Always sign each card personally. When the card is from more than one person, the person who signs it should write her or his name last. Many cards have printed messages, but adding a couple of lines is always nice. Another thing that must be handwritten is the address on the envelope. However, it is okay to use printed return address labels, which brings me to the point that the return address should always be included.

The only thing left to mention is when to send Christmas cards. In the US, the holiday season begins right after Thanksgiving. So sending holiday cards any time after that is all right, but the first two weeks of December are preferred because that way your cards will definitely arrive on time.