♥love♥ = susan branch cookie jar

December 13, 2011January 16, 2014 ~ jama ~ 8 Comments

I’ve been a longtime Susan Branch fan, and have a pile of her books and calendars to prove it. Her drawings and watercolors are every bit as gorgeous as her handwritten quotes, musings and commentaries, and her illustrated recipes are the best, so lovingly infused with her special brand of cozy charm.

Recently she included this wonderful Cookie Jar in her Willard Email Newsletter, decorated with the names of some of her favorite holiday recipes. Clicking on the words gets you the recipe –don’t you just love it? Click here to access Susan’s Cookie Jar; you’ll probably want to make something right away!

♥ If you’re not already reading her blog, you really should. Like me, you’ll probably want her to adopt you, so you can live in her beautiful home on Martha’s Vineyard, play with her adorable cats, sip tea and warm cider in front of the fireplace, and cook delicious foods in her vintage kitchen.

♥ For some last minute gift ideas, check out her Shop!

For the month of May in her 2012 Heart of the Home Calendar, there is this quote from Margaret Fuller: “The special genius of women I believe to be electrical in movement, intuitive in function, spiritual in tendency.”

She’s also laid out a Mother’s Day Tea Party! On the menu: Lavendar Tea Cookies, Orange Cake, Cream Scones with Clotted Cream and Coconut Layer Cake with Lemon Filling, among other treats. Yum yum yum! Her calendars are such wonderful keepsakes.

♥ Special thanks to Susan for permission to post the Cookie Jar here ☺!

Sigh. There’s nothing like “homemade.” Have a lovely day, Everyone!

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foodie field trip: hawai’i doggie bakery

December 7, 2011December 6, 2011 ~ jama ~ 6 Comments

Ruff ruff, woof woof!

When we were in Hawai’i recently, Len and I discovered a fun shop where every doggie can have his day.

The Hawai’i Doggie Bakery at the Ward Warehouse Shopping Center was one of our favorite stops on Small Business Saturday. Featuring healthy, handmade, vet-approved doggie treats made from locally grown ingredients, this charming bakery/boutique made us wish we could turn into dogs right on the spot (Len = Dalmation, me = Airedale). Yip!

I’d probably go for a Doggie Bento, cause if I were a cool canine living the good life in Hawai’i, I’d want my treats to be made from the best local foods (homegrown bananas, taro, breadfruit, Okinawan sweet potato, lean chicken) without any salt, sugar, butter or preservatives. I’d have the shiniest coat, the cleanest teeth, and believe it or not, be even spunkier and more lovable than any living person could ever imagine.

*rolls over*

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moose, moose, bear

December 1, 2011November 30, 2011 ~ jama ~ 6 Comments

When I received Hatley the Moose as a birthday gift two weeks ago, little did I realize what mischief would ensue.

He began leaving me little notes expressing his displeasure:

Seems Hatley has an identical twin brother named Butler, who is a tad slimmer. Both were adopted by my 12-year-old niece Julia on a summer trip to Epcot Center. The Moose Brothers are decidedly Canadian, but with Indonesian flair.

hatley and butler — Hatley (left), Butler (right)

Despite the lavish attention bestowed upon Cornelius the entire time he was in Hawai’i, he was jealous of Hatley from the start — doubly jealous when he realized there was not one, but TWO meddling mooses. So he decided to spy on them Thanksgiving Day. The rascal.

hatley and butler oranges — Beware meddling mooses!

If you’d like to see Cornelius the Villain (naughty, naughty boy) in action, please read, “The Missing Meal” at Julia’s brand new blog, Julia Talk. Herbivores will likely enjoy this tasty tale of stealth and surreptitious salad lightly seasoned with ursine silliness. Cornelius moonlighting? Boy, has he got a lot of explaining to do!

My only solace is that now the Moose Brothers are separated — one in Virginia, one in Hawai’i. That should keep Cornelius out of trouble, right? Right?

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good times in hawai’i

November 29, 2011September 23, 2017 ~ jama ~ 24 Comments

Hello there!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Thanks SO much for all your birthday and Happy Thanksgiving wishes! Len, Cornelius and I just returned from 10 days in Hawai’i, where we ~~gorged ourselves~~ feasted amicably with ever-charming friends and relatives.

Every day was a delicious new adventure of visiting favorite restaurants and savoring a nice variety of multi-ethnic flavors — everything from teriyaki butterfish to Italian pasta to kalua pig. Of course my mom served mandu (dumpling soup) our first night there, and each morning began with half a sweet, juicy papaya.

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jelly jelly jelly beans!

November 6, 2011 ~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Here’s something that’s guaranteed to make you smile: an amazing stop motion video for Kina Grannis’s “In Your Arms.” About 30 people worked on it over a period of 22 months, and they used 288,000 jelly beans! So, so cool.