Friday, July 31, 2015

We're Celebrating!


We're celebrating here at Dewena's Window!

Sweet Kris of Junk Chic Cottage is introducing us
in her Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger.

Today! Here!

That was enough for me to celebrate.

Arrange some pretty flowers…


Clean the vintage metal kitchen cabinet…


We've had it for over 30 years and still don't know
what it is, but I've always guessed that it might once
have been used in a diner or cafe.

I use it now to display pieces of the old Sesto Fior
fish pottery made in Colonnata, Italy, in the Apuan Alps.


Here's a more modern piece, 
pictured here with our wedding silver,
Wallace's La Reine.


It's rare that I can find a piece in my price range,
but this little pitcher stole my heart.
And a picture of my grandfather who was a butcher sits here.


Here's an old postcard I ordered, mislabeled Colonnata.
As you can see, it is not Colonnata at all but the Almifi Coast.


I promised blog friend Amy that I'd show this as she,
lucky girl, just came back from there,
the view from her balcony looking much like this.


Other treasures have found a home in this display,
such as a dear little mermaid from my sister Teresa.
The old green McCoy pitcher just pretends to be Italian.


This old kitchen cabinet holds all my baking sheets
and muffin tins inside it,
and a few Italian cookbooks.

Otis wants in the pictures too.


But what's a celebration without food?


I made Insalata Estiva, a recipe from Cucina Del Sole
by Nancy Harmon Jenkins.


I wish I were a better food stylist,
but basically there are Yukon potatoes in this,
sliced and tossed with Sicilian olive oil and sea salt,
green beans cooked a few minutes and chilled in cold water,
chopped tomatoes, chopped olives in Sicilian herbs,
rinsed and drained salted capers,
a red onion half, sliced thinly,
and the best brand of Italian anchovies you can find.
If you don't like anchovies, buy a can of really good
Italian tuna.
Season with fresh chopped or dried oregano,
and turn all gently, adding the juice from
several lemons.
Adjust the seasoning to taste and arrange on a bed
of lettuce and surround with sliced 
hard-cooked eggs,
hopefully more artistically than I did!


Dessert!

It has to be a cake and this one is from the same book,

Torta al Lemone!


The recipe only called for Confectioners' sugar for the top,
but I thought that sugar needed lemon juice 
and melted butter for a glaze.

Be sure and help yourself to the salad
and cut yourself a piece of cake before leaving.

Welcome to any guests visiting from Kris 
at Junk Chic Cottage,
and again a reminder for my beloved readers
to visit Kris here…
She is such a gracious lady and her talents
abound in the transformation of her cottage.



Y'all come back anytime,
and thank you so much for helping us celebrate!




39 comments:

  1. Thank you so much Dewena for being in the Spotlight. It was so much fun to run your feature and get to know you better. Love all your beautiful things on your post here especially the yummy dessert. Looks so good. Have a wonderful week end.
    Kris :)

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    1. Thank you, Kris! You were so patient to walk me through all this process and to answer my many questions. Thank you for this opportunity to appear on Junk Chic Cottage and to get to know you and your readers.

      It has been so much fun!

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  2. I enjoyed your post on Kris' blog. You sound like you have a wonderful family. I can't imagine having kids so far apart as I have an older daughter (from my first marriage) and then 3 younger ones. At one point I had 3 children under 14 months. They are teenagers now. I will stop by again! :)

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  3. Hi Dewena
    I just read your story at Kris's and enjoyed getting to know a little bit about you!
    You've had such an interesting life and your family is lovely.

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  4. Cake? I love cake and yours is so pretty! I had to pop over from Kris' to say hello. Lovely to read your story and meet! :)

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  5. Of course Otis got in on the picture taking.

    Still unpacking boxes, and have learned tooooooo well I have a china/ironstone/pottery 'issue'. Dining room now has walk in closet filled with colored pieces, built in china cabinet filled with blue/white, and the French buffet/china cabinet is stuffed with white.

    Now I must have a metal cabinet and at least 1 of your Italian pieces. Love a new hunt.

    Garden & Be Well, XO T

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  6. What a lovely celebration!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  7. I'm coming to your house to see all these wonderful things in person and stand googly-eyed in front of your cookbooks! I just finished reading the post on Kris's blog..absolutely amazing! I love you even more! Your house is gorgeous, as are your kids, and you are such a beautiful, lovely, interesting, fascinating person Dewena!!! I would love to read those books that were never published!! Hugs!!

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  8. OH!!! i feel like i've just been invited to a party at valley view! YUM!
    that italian fish pottery is so beautiful! and the old silver... and the little kitchen metal server... and the adorable cream pitcher. my mother LOVED little pitchers. and i do too.
    this was a treat. i shall go now and visit kris'es cottage. isn't it fun!!!
    XOXO♥
    and the little otis photo bomb! LOLOL! what is not to love! ♥
    and the cake... i love lemon. and that one is gorgeous.
    okay. now i'm gushing. but i enjoyed the party so much! bye!

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  9. Oh I so enjoyed your true story about your life getting married so young as many of us did
    Anyway you have built a wonderful life,you and your husband.
    Love the fur babies
    I am wanting a piece of that lemon cake and may have to make a lemon pound cake today LOL yum yum

    I will be checking back to read your blog so glad to find you

    Janice

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  10. Loved the "mood" and color in the last photo - loved seeing all your photos and I enjoyed a slice of that delicious cake!

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  11. Congrats, Dewena! And pretty items you have!

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  12. Oh my goodness, Dewena, you brought out all the stops for us as your company today! I'll skip the food (although it all looks good), and straight for that lemon drizzled dessert! Hello to you, congrats on your feature, and I'm adding you to my list of those I read - I can already see things in common - the vintage goodness being just one. Kris featured me in Feb 2013 and we've been great friends ever since. I just love her and her way of introducing new friends. Have a great weekend, and I look forward to reading more posts.
    Rita C at Panoply

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  13. Well, you definitely had a reason to celebrate. I told Kris that I am fell behind in blog reading over the last year due to illness, surgery and then working on my son's wedding. I am so glad that she featured you so I would get back to visit.

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  14. I just LOVE this Italian-inspired post, Dewena! Yes, the postcard looks exactly like the view I just returned from. I will have to look up the Hotel Cappuccini to see if it is still there, and if so, where. Every little Italian detail of yours has me swooning, not to mention the cabinet, itself. I would have purchased that little pitcher, too, if I had seen it. The salad looks fantastic, and the cake? It is an Amalfi specialty, that oddly, I did not get to try while there, although I kept looking for it. It is on my baking list to try, although I'd sure like a piece of yours right now! Heading over to Kris' to read all about you! Thank you for the mention!

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  15. Wow Dewena, this was wonderful. I loved everything about this post from the vintage shelf, the collection of special things in it, the photos, the flowers and I just realized how much your Otis's face looks like my Ellie! I have to say that the food looks absolutely amazing too Dewena! How nice to see you "in the spotlight!"
    Hugs!
    Linda

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  16. You've left no stone unturned today Dewena! Love your treasures, especially your silverware. Accumulating silverware is so rare these days. instead of registering for silver and China, couples are requesting trios and tools. Not very romantic, but practical;).

    The salad you made sounds fabulous, and that cake!! My oh my!

    Heading over to see the spotlight...

    xxx

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  17. I enjoyed reading about you at Kris Blog this morning. Love the new kitchen. Also, I absolutely adore seeing old photos of family members. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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  18. I love your cabinet Dewena, It is filled with all kinds of wonderful things. The fish dishes are beautifully unique. Your salad looks yummy, but my eyes popped at that cake. I could go for some of that please! Now I'm off to read Kris's blog. xo Deborah

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  19. I had to come back and say how much I enjoyed learning more about you and your family. I love your house, especially that kitchen. And I'm craving making some vintage recipes, too. What's with all this paleo, gluten-free stuff? haha! Love that you wrote books; I have one unfinished one, also a type of family history from the 30s and 40s, my favorite decades. Blogging is one way of getting published! I love to write as well.

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  20. Came over from Kris's Spotlight on you. So glad to meet you. You have a great writing style - so friendly and open. Love the kitchen cupboard and the treasures it holds. And food, too!

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  21. Hopping over from Kris' spotlight. Such a pleasure to get to visit your lovely blog. Hugs!

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  22. What a welcoming array of sweet and savoury specialties you have set out for us, my friend, to celebrate your feature today over at Kris'! Of course, I will start with the hearty Insalata Estiva; I actually like anchovies in salad, so no need for tuna, although Italian tuna (Rio Mare) is the only one touch. But, my sweet tooth is telling my taste buds to try the Torte al Lemone first, (your southern, enhanced version, drizzled with glaze makes it utterly irresistible!)

    In addition to the fabulous fare, your wedding silver, beautiful bouquet, and treasured family photos, are all making it very difficult to say goodbye, but I must pop over to Kris' and dive right into your much awaited Spotlight - which I have a hunch, will be the icing on the cake!

    Bon Appetit, and Happy Weekend!

    xoxo
    Poppy

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  23. Hi Dewena I am so glad I popped by- what a lovely surprise! Of course I will have a slice of that yummy cake. I like your fresh flowers - they are pink on my screen and that is so engaging. Now I'm off to read more about you. Congratulations!

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  24. It's nice to know you're blogging again, Dewena. I always enjoyed your posts at Across the Way. So glad Kris featured you so I could find your blog again. All the best to you ~ Nancy

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  25. Wow, Dewena...what a layout!!! Glad I could come and enjoy. It made me recall the veggie burgers I made yesterday after following Lidia, an Italian cook on PBS-TV....Hubby and I went to the local Farmer's Market on Saturday morning where I bought the ingredients (including Yukon Golds and a zucchini), came home and cooked them :)

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  26. Dearest Dewena! HELLO! Happy Sunday!

    I just happened to look at my blog (I am planning a new post to get up hopefully by today) and I saw your comment. Thank you my dear for taking the time to comment. What a lovely summer we've had, no? We drove up over to Hudson Wisconsin yesterday, a mere 45 minutes from our house...we started a vintage shop tour there and went to participating Minnesota shops and had a ball, driving through Norman Rockwellesque towns with Victorian homes....what a pleasure.

    Enjoy your day, and have fun writing, baking, doing what YOU LOVE. Anita

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  27. Sunday morning... And I just read the interview...

    Lovely, lovely, lovely to learn more about you. Long time readers probably know many of these things. But since I am a new reader, I did not.

    "This is a house surrounded on four sides by tall ridges with a waterfall and creek to wade in." Oh how wonderful!!! A waterfall and a creek! Oh lucky, lucky you!

    And one of your children, lives next door. Also lovely. We have two of ours, next door. As you know.

    How wonderful to have learned so much more about you, Dear Storyteller.

    Hugs,
    Tessa

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  28. That salad looks AMAZING! Perhaps I can make it on a smaller scale. Dewena, do you think that cabinet was part of a set? I've got 3 pieces of Hoosier - cabinet, table and tall dish cupboard; perhaps yours is likewise.

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  29. I loved reading more about you through Kris's blog feature...how you met your husband, about your children, where you live (lucky to live on so much land!), how you love writing. The salad and cake you made both look so delicious. Hope you have a beautiful day!

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  30. Dewena, you like mermaids too? I really enjoyed looking at all your goodies here. That green pitcher DOES look Italian, doesn't it? Your grandfather was a butcher, how wonderful! There is a butcher shop in my town that's been there for years, and they have the best sausages around. These shops are few and far between now, and we don't get the same personal touch that we find at the butcher's. I wish there were more of them. The flowers are lovely, and that lemon dessert looks amazing.

    I loved your comment on my personalities post. Rose is my favorite on The Golden Girls hahaha.

    Have a great week, Dewena.

    love, ~Sheri

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  31. Congratulations on your feature, Dewena! Very much deserved :)

    I love all your treasures, especially the metal kitchen cabinet, but I have to say that the picture of your grandfather is truly wonderful. And Otis is adorable watching his mama.

    Thank you for the delicious lunch and cake, my friend ;)

    xoxo,
    rue

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  32. Dewena,
    What a lovely feature you had, congratulations! You certainly deserved this recognition as your are one lovely Lady who exudes class, dignity, wit, charm and style. You are a true blue friend and have been from the very beginning and it is my joy to know you!
    xo
    Jemma

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  33. Hello,
    I read your feature Saturday. Well done. I enjoyed it.
    I will take a slice of cake please, looks wonderful.

    I love the mermaid.
    Carla

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  34. You are just amazing, dear Dewena! Just amazing! I'm in awe!

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  35. I've just popped in for a first-time visit from Junk Chic Cottage. I love the name of your blog and adore the graphic you use - it just draws you in. So glad to meet you and look forward to following you.

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  36. That lemon cake is making my mouth water! My favorite kind of cake! And I have almost that identical green pitcher! Mine is the shorter version, and was a gift from my daughter who knew I love to collect McCoy and Roseville, etc. I am way behind visiting everyone and may never get caught up but I am trying! Hope you are having an awesome summer!

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