Tag Archives: Mrs. B at Home

Christmas Vacation

December 23, 2009UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

Vacation for whom exactly? OK, it is getting easier as the boys get older. Sunday the youngest Blandings and I baked Peppermint Meringues. Meringues, if you like them (and I am not sure that I do though I am giving them a rather good go) are a piece of cake. Um, a breeze. My youngest is a “picky eater” though we lovingly refer to it as Sensory Integration Disorder around here. Cooking helps with tasting and he is certainly developing an interest.

Getting to smash candy canes didn’t hurt. Besides, we have now added the separation of eggs and identification of soft and stiff peaks to his repertoire. Not bad for a six-year-old. It’s not a recipe for those with short attention spans, though it allows for plenty of activities in between steps. It is as follows:

Peppermint Meringues

2 egg whites

1/8 t salt

1/8 t cream of tartar

1/2 c white sugar

2 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with foil.

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. Drop by spoonfuls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over cookies.

Bake for 1.5 hours in preheated oven. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside. Do not allow to brown. Turn off oven. Keep oven door ajar and let meringues sit in oven until completely cool. Loosen from foil with metal spatula. Store loosely covered in cool dry place for up to 2 months.

I neither allowed them to cool completely, nor lifted them from the foil with a spatula and all seems well. It is likely that if I continue to eat two meringues every day to determine if I like them or not, I will eat all four dozen before the two months are up. They are particularly pretty.

Recipe courtesy of the Kansas City Star.

Shaken Not Stirred

December 1, 2009UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, Musings from the Dream HouseMrs. Blandings

Friday, when I was leaving to take the middle Blandings boy to basketball practice, Mr. B asked me if I could stop at the hardware store and pick up more Christmas lights. Of course. Be right back.

Two hours later I arrived, lights in hand. “I got side tracked.” I had made a quick stop at Mission Road Antique Mall. There had been some vintage seltzer bottles at Suzanne Cooper’s booth at the amazingly low low price of $38. I’d seen them last week and could not get them out of my head.

I ran like a crazy reality show contestant to her space at the back of the mall. Still there. Hooray. As I meandered back to the front I saw two vintage shakers, both at great prices, and I thought they might all be a happy trio, a merry menage. Arms full (the seltzer bottle is heavy) I made my way back to the desk. “Are you finished shopping?” Well, come to think of it, maybe not.

While browsing, I happened upon a charming ruby glass shaker and matching glasses. As I lifted the shaker from the shelf it slipped from my grasp and crashed to a million pieces at my feet. The base remained, presenting a scary and jagged edge. I gathered as many shards as I could and carried the corpse to the desk. I had a brief image of tripping on the stairs and impaling myself on the shaker, a flash of an unfortunate antique dealer having to tell my husband of my death by ruby glass. I can’t help it; I’m wired that way.

Fortunately, my fate was nothing worse than having to stand at the desk and confess my clumsiness. The men behind the counter blanched when I explained that six glasses remained, orphaned, no longer a “set” but just six small glasses desperate for a home. I made amends, but we all felt the despair of the tragic situation.

There was nothing left to do but go home and mix myself a good strong drink.

I hate to talk money, but there was one more seltzer bottle at Suzanne’s booth when I was there; it may be there still if you are interested. Images of London-based architect and designer Philip Wagner’s Sussex cottage from the Perfect English Cottage by Ros Byam Shaw; photography by Jan Baldwin. Look closely and you will see that Wagner has quite a collection of shakers and seltzer bottles.

I’m Such a Nerd

November 12, 2009UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, ProductMrs. Blandings

Is it possible that the installation of a carpet runner would offer such joy? Can you imagine your heart skipping, not a beat, but just skipping?

That is how I felt this week. I snapped the pictures right away before some boy tramples it with muddy shoes or throws up on it or whatever is eventually going to happen that will make it look like the rest of our stuff. Rosie was skittish at first, but now I think appreciates the cushy tread.

Oh, happy day.

Arts and Crafts

October 27, 2009UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, Mrs. B DIY, ProductMrs. Blandings

“Mom, are you an artist?”

“No. That’s not art. Art is harder than that.”

My eldest is right. Art is harder than this. This is craft, and my apologies to Gunther Forg.

The hallway needed….something. Even though it’s yellow, it seemed achingly bland. I had picked these frames up at a garage sale a while back. I bought eight canvases for nearly nothing and carted up various paints from the basement. Paint samples for rooms that didn’t work out, craft paint and kids’ paint. It’s an equal opportunity supply closet. Some were used in their original form; a few got to mix it up.

I used the image, top, for color inspiration, measured and drew lines across the middle of the canvases and painted. All eight canvases were completed in an evening.

The canvases did not quite fill the frame openings so I had the framer put in a white fillet. The framer, Frame Works, deserves the “Patience of Job Award.” I took in eight frames and eight canvases, but the direction and order of the canvases mattered and the direction and order of the frames mattered (they are chipped and worn which I liked, but they needed to be arranged specifically.) So I had labeled each frame and each corresponding canvas with a number and an arrow pointing which way was up. And, “Well,” I said, shifting my weight but not averting my gaze, “I need them in a week.” Unflappable, Betsy never blinked.

I’ve ordered this Dash & Albert runner for the stairs from Stuff and that will be the last of the spitting and polishing before the holidays. I’m still aching for dining room curtains, but fear they remain in perpetual simmer on the back burner. There is a great wool at Off the Floor Now at a terrific price, but I’m worried it is too pale. When I mentioned it to one of our guests he said,”You’d better wait; I get the feeling you’re picky.”

I have no idea where he got that impression.

Image, top, Elle Decor, December, 2006. Photography by William Waldron. Design by Shelton, Mindel & Associates. The image also appears in Style & Substance, The Best of Elle Decor.

Gifted

August 25, 2009UncategorizedArtists, Mrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

There are a few additions to the dream house. Mr. Blandings’s Father’s Day present came back from the finisher. I’d completed it in plenty of time but drove around with the canvas, pillow and fabric for weeks before I made it to the shop. Mr. B is the fourth Blandings with the same name, not my fourth in any way.

The dusty tarnished jumble in the office continues to acquire some stuff.

The spider, which will occasionally be jewelry, but mostly decoration.

And the malachite box. Both pieces from the Rock Shop. I’d really like the boys’ quartz pieces here, too, but 1, 2 and 3 are quite firm that their treasures remain in their own rooms. A little stingy considering I gave them life and all, but I let it go.

And, Mr. Blandings surprised me with Girl with Purse by Tom Corbin for my birthday. I’ve wanted her for a long time. My youngest said, “I think she’s waiting for the bus.” She’s wearing a strapless dress, so I don’t think she is waiting for the bus. But I agree that she is waiting for something.