I start ripping out holiday recipes from newspapers and magazines on or about October 14. Their covers and photos deposit my first layer of guilt: I should attempt a galantine**, a splashy caramelized squash with lemon, mashed potatoes with smoked breadcrumbs (using German potatoes! What the hell are German potatoes?). I have to gather flowers, branches, spray leaves with gold paint! By November 4, I am burdened under five additional guilt layers (as many as compose the apple chocolate almond cake I must, must bake). I am grateful for my dozen followers (honestly, thank you all!) and if you have spent any time with my writing, you know Im nothing if not lazy and low-rent. So you will not find...
The holiday season is upon us! Somewhere in the midst of the feasts, festivals and family get-togethers, we all have to find some time to think up the perfect gifts for family and friends. If your circle of gift recipients includes busy parents, then weve got some handpicked recommendations for you! We polled the Nurture Life team to find out their favorite gift ideas for parents and then rounded up the top picks below. From eminently practical to purely fun, weve got something thoughtful for everyone. Time-Saving Gifts for Parents Even without little ones in the house, there are never enough hours in the day. So instead of neatly wrapping up a package and putting it under the tree, give...
The holiday season is upon us! Somewhere in the midst of the feasts, festivals and family get-togethers, we all have to find some time to think up the perfect gifts for family and friends. If your circle of gift recipients includes busy parents, then weve got some handpicked recommendations for you! We polled the Nurture Life team to find out their favorite gift ideas for parents and then rounded up the top picks below. From eminently practical to purely fun, weve got something thoughtful for everyone. Time-Saving Gifts for Parents Even without little ones in the house, there are never enough hours in the day. So instead of neatly wrapping up a package and putting it under the tree, give...
The sight of an elaborately-set table signaled special occasions in our family. My mother, a practical woman who was often too consumed with managing our bakery to sit down for meals or bake a cake, marked special days by bringing out her heirloom Noritake 50-piece dining set. For my brothers breakfast birthday one time, I helped her assemble what seemed like a comical array of nested plates, bowls, saucers, platters, cups, crystal, silverware anddont forgetswan-folded napkins. With my grandmothers brown and gold rimmed china, she could make even a simple meal of instant porridge or cereal feel like a party at 7:00 am. It wasnt until I moved to the US, a land of Solo cups and beautiful plasticwarethat I...
[Advertisement this is a paid partnership with Georg Jensen, but all words and opinions are my own] I always enjoy getting creative and dressing my house in a different way each Christmas, but no matter what I do, a few much-loved decorations always take pride of place. They were gifts from my late grandmother, and we picked them out together after I told her how excited I was about putting up a Christmas tree in my first flat back in 2004. Over the years theyve moved with me from home to home, and every December I look forward to getting the box down from the loft and unwrapping them from their tissue-paper nests. They instantly bring back memories of a...
