Sweet Tooth

I'm a huge fan of Ina Garten, aka Barefoot Contessa.  I own all 7 of her cookbooks and even got to meet her at a local book signing a few years ago.  She is just as fabulous in person as she appears on her show.  Not only is this dessert featured on the cover of her new book, it was also in the most recent issue of House Beautiful.  It's so perfect for the holidays and I'm going to make it for my dinner party tomorrow night.  It's made with raspberries, whipped cream and broken meringue shells.  Yum!!!

So, without further ado, here's the recipe...

Eton Mess
{it's named after Eton, the English boarding school}

Ingredients:

4 (6-ounce) packages fresh raspberries
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon framboise liqueur
1 2/3 cups cold heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 (3-inch) bakery meringue shells, broken in pieces

Directions
1. Pour two packages of the raspberries, 1 cup of sugar, and the lemon juice into a 10-inch sauté pan. Crush the berries lightly with a fork and bring the mixture to a full boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is syrupy. Fold the remaining two packages of raspberries and the framboise into the hot mixture and refrigerate until very cold.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream, the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, and the vanilla together on medium-high speed until it forms firm peaks.

2. In decorative glasses, layer a spoonful of the whipped cream, a spoonful of the raspberry mixture, and then a few meringue pieces.

3. Repeat once or twice, depending on the size of the glasses, until the glasses are full, ending with berries and a dollop of cream.


Bon Appetit!

Feeling Blue

Love the touches of Tiffany blue to make a white space pop!

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Charming

Hello, charming snowman!  I love this little guy.

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Deck The Halls

As I mentioned, I'm done decking the halls for the holidays.  I finally had a few minutes to take some photos to share with you. 

Here's my front porch in all its glory.  I just adore fresh greenery this time of year.  The smell is so captivating. I have a high gloss black door and the lights really reflect off from it.  I also have boxwood hedges that line my walk leading up to the front door, but couldn't get a good shot of it all together.  The hedges are filled with lights too.  It's magical!

I decorate my tree every year in silver and glass ornaments.  I've been collecting them for over 20 years.  I have so many ornaments that I can't even fit them all on my tree!  Usually, only about half of them make it on the tree.  I couldn't get a good shot of the full tree {not enough light} so here are a few close ups.

One of my favorites are these little birds.  I have 3 of them and think they are so charming...

An array of ornaments.  Like I said, my tree is loaded!

As I was taking pictures, the girls wanted to get in on the action too!  They completely melt my heart.

Here's Charlotte by the tree.

And don't forget Lily Cler.  She's always freezing this time of year and she's not happy unless she has a fleece hoodie on.  Not spoiled, just loved a lot!

Don't you just love this time of year!

Yes, Please!

I'd could really use some quiet time on a porch like this.  A hot cup of cocoa, a good book and a cashmere throw to curl up in sounds divine!  Too bad, in reality, it's not going to happen any time soon! 

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