Tuna goodness!

Anyone ever go to Whole Foods and think, "Hmm I want to make something different and tasty?" and just throw something together on a whim?

That happens to M and I everytime our friend K comes into town. He is a former chef (and fellow Army dude with M) and cooks up some great stuff. We consider it a private cooking lesson because we always learn something new.

Consider this tuna steak, with a steamed leek slaw, rice pilaf, all topped with a tomato buerre blanc. Parfait!
M got chicken because he is boring. Just kidding! He doesn't like seafood but I eat enough of it for the two of us!

Do you ever experiment with new foods? Or maybe even mix up some favorites?

Christmas faves

This clock came with my family from Germany and has a written and typed note from Ernst Hamilton Brandt on the inside door where the parts are. All external pieces are original and has survived dozens of moves over the 150+ years it has been in my family. I cherish this clock more than many other things.To bring some added holiday spirit I took some wrapped wire and some magnolia leaves, which I wrapped around the back two corners. My Dad joined in on the creative fun and put Mom's favorite angel on top. Cute but not tacky, right?We had to do a lot of randoms around the house this year as right before Mom hosted the holiday Garden Club meeting she sprained her ankle and we feared it was another dancer's fracture! So decoration, lights and ornaments on the tree were mostly orchestrated by me. It was fun!


This Weihnachtspyramide (sure it isn't tiered but they all come from the Ore Mountains if they are legit) is one of several in my family and we love to use it throughout the holiday season.


A running joke in my family is LEON. This wooden toy train was something I can remember us getting when I was small, and it used to be up to me to choose where it was displayed in the old Maple Downs Farmhouse. One year, when I was still in college, maybe boarding school, my Dad unpacked and displayed this NOEL decoration. Neither he nor my mother realized in his post-work tiredness that he had laid it out as LEON. It wasn't until I came home that it was noticed! Simce then, my Dad displayed it prominently, mispelled, as a family joke :)


Our tree this year.


Lots of presents, such a blessing!


All is calm, all is bright.


Christmas Eve, everyone is home, all is wrapped and under the tree!

Downton Abbey, series two

Downton Abbey series two is quickly approaching it's return to our PBS stations in the U.S. Friends in the U.K. have been bugging me as they have not just seen series two but they have also seen the Christmas Special thanks to ITV1. I am going crazy over here! Love this show so much and even M is super into the storyline.

Who else just aches over poor Mister Bates? And who else wishes Mary and Edith would stop screwing each other over? YOU ARE SISTERS, PEOPLE! Chill out.

Anyway, here are some videos from YouTube, some are official promos for the U.S. and others are from U.K. Enjoy and please support and donate to your local PBS stations - not just for Downton Abbey, but also for local programming, Sesame Street, music (Andrea Bocelli in Central Park, anyone?) among so many other wonderful programs!

Downton Abbey returns on January 8, 2012!
[Ed. Note: for those who don't know, in the U.K. it is 'series' NOT 'season'; the song on the ITV1 and PBS promo for series 2 is a cover of U2's "With or Without You" as performed by Scala & Kolacny Brothers]

Christmas decor

Do you love the holidays?


I am a big fan, and I treasure pulling out the things that I have inherited from family, as well as new things that M and I have acquired together. Above is a beautiful bird from Caspari, which M gave me as an early gift this year - the tag said - "Enjoy your tree twitter."


My Mom has a ton of baskets and gave me one. To fill it, I found some pinecones in the woods on our property and lightly applied some glitter to the tips. The broom is a cinnamon-scented broom I got at a local country store. It makes the whole first floor smell of cinnamon, I love it!



M's aunt knit him this enormous stocking. It is endlessly hilarious to me so I call it the 'Club foot' stocking. It stretches as you put stocking loot in it. Very retro-chic.... ahem. Anyway, so we have it on our mantel, then when we go to my family's home we put it up on their mantel to be filled!



This is dim, but shows the craftsmanship. M was raised Lutheran, and his German family has attended this one church for years. When M was little, he and his grandfather made this church together. Stained glass and all. It actually is a music box. You can take off the top and look inside and the built-to-scale church. It is very sweet and one of few things that links M to his grandfather who died when he was in middle school. It is on a table in our hallway. The other lights are from a garland I wind up our stairs, and some figures that I have been given from my side of the family.

I will do another post of the 'really old stuff' later this week! Do you have any special Christmas artifacts from your family?

Oxfords and Oysters 2011

Tonight is the second-annual Oxfords & Oysters event, hosted by Sky Blue Events at the newly-opened Four Seasons Baltimore! I am thrilled to be going this year as last year M and I had VIP tickets but had to miss the actual event at the last minute. Regardless, I am so happy that my friend Jennifer Grove was able to pull off such an event coup, scoring one of the best venues in town for a charitable event, before anyone else.

She has really done it this time and I am so excited for her- she hinted to me months ago that this year's O&O would be a big deal but she couldn't give me any deets until after it was all finalized. Plus, she was probably also waiting to make sure the hotel finished in enough time, as it just opened in October!

Again this year the O&O is fundraising for the Oyster Recovery Project, which helps bring oyster shells back to the Chesapeake Bay where they can keep doing their job, being reclaimed and also cleaning the Bays waters (not sitting in a dump). It is a massive operation with restauranteurs that participate and help the University of Maryland with this work. Clearly, this event means I get to eat oysters which I adore and cannot wait to imbibe in, so delicious...

There will also be an incredible DJ, who made it hard (impossible) to leave in a timely fashion at Sky Blue's last event, Pints & Pinstripes at Silo Point... As well as an open bar. It may be (Thirsty) Thursday but most of us likely are not going to work on Friday and are staying at the Four Seasons... Woohoo! One of my bridesmaids and best friend is joining me as my date so she and I really look forward to a fun night on the town after P&P closes up. I got a new cocktail dress for the occasion and am thrilled this event will be the kickoff of my Christmas party calendar!

Jennifer took the attached photos which include the heated infinity pool looking onto the Harbor, the infinity pool at night looking towards the Inner Harbor and Federal Hill, and from the balcony looking across to the Domino Sugar plant. It is such a beautiful location at Harbor East - Chiu's Sushi, Ra Sushi, Whole Foods, James Joyce, Little Italy and Fells Point all within easy walking distance of the Four Seasons hotel!!

Are you doing anything fun this weekend?