N is for Nantucket

is for

NANTUCKET

Nantucket, a wind-swept island off the coast of Cape Cod, stole my heart and imagination many years ago. Only fourteen miles long and three and a half miles wide, it is full of beauty, charm, and history.

With thoughts of one of my favorite destinations, I've set a lunch table for you today. Please come in and join me for a bowl of clam chowder.

I like to make New England clam chowder with fresh clams, potatoes, bacon, onions, and cream.

The tureen is Nantucket by Wedgwood. The details on this piece replicate the details found on many of the Nantucket lightship baskets.

A Nantucket lightship basket 
holds fresh rolls right out of the oven.

This young man holds a little salt and pepper should you desire more seasoning in your chowder. He's French and must have come ashore from one of the many sailing vessels moored in the harbor.

You'll dine with my new Gourmet Settings flatware, a gift from Michael Lee West. I was the lucky winner of this set of Treble Clef flatware as part of Michael's Boucoup Give-Aways. Michael hosts Designs by Gollum, a daily style magazine that features Cooking, Tablestyling, an Inspiration Gallery, Design, a Newsletter, and Give-Aways. An accomplished author of fiction, Michael lives on a farm in Tennessee. Designs by Gollum is a site not to be missed as Michael Lee shares the simple pleasures of her life: cooking, writing, collecting, tablescaping, and interior design.

Thank you, Michael Lee! 

 I feel honored to have 

won this beautiful set of flatware.

This service for four of five piece place settings is 18/10 stainless steel and handmade. I like the organic feel of both the design and the unpolished steel handles.

Our lunch table is set with the theme 

of sailing ships and Nantucket Lightship Baskets.

The chowder bowl features a jaunty sailor who sailed into port from France. Notice the French flag? This bowl is a limited edition issue of a design in the Musée des Faiences de Quimper's archives.

The concentric rings of yellow and blue of the Quimper bowl contrast with the woven pattern of the Nantucket dinner plate. Both sit atop a square red plate by Waechtersbach, Germany on a simple woven placemat.

The organic shape and feel of the 

Treble Clef flatware reminds me of seaweed.

It's such a beautiful spring day, 

I thought we'd dine on the sunporch.

I filled some of my Nantucket Lightship Baskets with cut flowers from a friend's garden ("Thank you, Ann!") and gathered them together with a scrimshaw box upon a large Courtly Check tray from MacKenzie-Childs.

These beautiful roses have filled the 

room with the most delicious fragrance.

The sweet snapdragons 
are some of the last of the season.

This basket still holds the 
bittersweet berries from the fall.

The distinctive shape and simplicity of Nantucket Lightship 

Baskets make them unique. You can read more about the 

fascinating history of this craft at: 

http://nantucketbaskets.com/history/history.htm

The oak or cane staves of these baskets 

are formed over a wooden mold 

and then woven with fine cane.

The photo above shows an incredible 

Nantucket Lightship Basket style bassinet.

It's said that mermaids 
live off the coast of Nantucket.

And the whaling industry was an 

important part of the history of Nantucket.

Scrimshaw is the American version of ivory carvings. It is the folk art of carving on whale teeth or bones and was an important part of the daily life aboard whaling ships. Antique scrimshaw pieces are highly collectable and expensive. The above collage is of three pieces that were purchased as souvenirs while visiting Nantucket. With the exception of the "woven" piece top right, these pieces are made of synthetic bone. They are not antique and were not expensive.

The detail is carved into the 
bone and then later inked in.

This piece is made of bone and 
carved to resemble a woven basket.

I hope you've enjoyed lunch 
and a little bit about the island of Nantucket.

New England Clam Chowder

1/4 cup finely cut bacon or salt port

1/4 cup minced onion

1pt. shucked fresh clams with liquor or

2 cans (7 oz. Each) minced or whole clams, lobster, or other seafood

2 cups finely diced raw potato

1/2 cup water

2 cups milk

1tsp. salt

1/8tsp. pepper

Sauté bacon and onions in large kettle. Drain seafood. Add Liquor, potatoes, and water to onion and bacon. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Just before serving, add seafood, milk, salt, and pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately.

Thank you for joining me!

"Help Feed the Birds"

In MARY POPPINS the little old bird lady stands on the steps of Saint Paul's selling her bags of crumbs.

She beckons the crowd to come buy her bags for a tuppence.

She gently pleads for help to feed the little creatures and thus show them that we care.

She tells us that the birds are hungry. They need our help to feed their young.

Her bags of feed are not expensive. She sells them for just a tuppence.

As the birds circle over head and fill the sky, she calls out to us.

Each time someone buys a bag to feed the little birds, the saints and apostles look down with gratitude.

Original Oil by Fatima Ronquillo

Though she speaks but a few words, she calls to each of us

"Help feed the birds."

Inspiration for this post was taken from one of my favorite songs: Mary Poppins' Feed the Birds.

Click here to see Birds of a Feather, a previous post and tablescape.

Information on the artist Fatima Ronquillo is available at http://www.wallyworkmangallery.com/fatima_ronquillo.lasso

Today I'm sharing

A little pink for

Beverly's "Pink Saturday"

A few pieces of French faience for

Laurie's A Few of My Favorite Things

Blue birds and other accents for

Smiling Sally's Blue Monday

And

A flock of birds for

Tam's Three or More Tuesday

Be sure to fly over to each of these lovely blogs for lists of others participating in these fun memes.

M is for Monkeying Around the House

is for

Monkeying Around the House

Today's letter assignment in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday Class is the Letter M. So the monkeys here at HFTS have been doing some monkeying around this week for Tablescape Thursday, Vintage Thingie Thursday, and Foodie Friday.

Those silly monkeys reached into the "vintage" section of the recipe folder and pulled out a recipe I haven't made in over 30 years.

I was a child of the 50s and 60s, and it seems monkey bread was a phenomena born during those decades. There's not much documentation that I could find on the history of monkey bread, but I do have fond memories of summers during those years when my cousin, Ilene, would come to town to visit for weeks at a time. She was my only cousin who was exactly my age, and we were the best of friends. Like most young girls we spent a lot of time at the swimming pool or just hung out with friends. Nights we would have sleepovers either at my home or at the home of Ilene's grandparents. If we were at her grandparents (my aunt and uncle), we would often wake to the aroma of fresh baked bread . . . monkey bread.

Monkey bread is made from sweet yeast dough that is formed into balls or odd shaped pieces, dipped into melted butter, and then layered in a tube pan for baking. For a sweeter version, many would dip the pieces of dough into melted butter and then a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. A savory version would be dipped into the butter and then parmesan cheese.

Also known as bubble bread or pull-apart bread, monkey bread is basically yeast rolls that combine during baking. The name may come from the fact that the connected rolls resemble the branches of a monkey puzzle tree. But I like to think the name comes from the fun of gleefully pulling apart the loaf right at the table. Kids find it to be great fun!

Recipes for this type of bread were found in women's magazines and cookbooks of the 1950s, so I used a vintage pan that would likely have been in a kitchen during that era. This tube pan has a patent date of December 18, 1923, and most likely was an advertising give away for Swan's Down Cake Flour.

Come on in and have 

a seat on the chaise.

We've a fresh 

brewed pot of coffee.

I'm using the set of Macassar spoons from Singapore that were a gift from Mary @ Across the Pond. You can now find Mary at her new blog, A Breath of Fresh Air.

Coffee mugs are by 

American Atelier in the Monkey pattern.

The monkey cachepot 

is by Kaldun and Bogle.

The small plates are 

Limoges by Philippe Deshoulieres.

The service plate holding the bread is English Floral by Spode. I like the woven motif on the rim that matches that of the cups.

So go ahead and 

pull off a piece for yourself.

Can you smell the aroma of fresh baked yeast bread? It's right out of the oven. I didn't make mine with cinnamon and sugar, so have a little orange marmalade to sweeten it a bit more.

Oh no, what's this? 

 It looks like the monkeys 

have started the party without us.

I told you there was a lot of 

monkeying around going on here at HFTS!

Those rascals have 

tossed the cups about . . .

and knocked over the 

Barrel Full of Monkeys.

If any of you remember this 

game of skill from the late 60s, 

you probably know it isn't easy to win.

Looks like Izzy has 

even popped in for the party.

And this guy is forever climbing 

about the house causing all kinds of mischief.

He's pulled himself 

right up to the top.

You ask about this friendly monkey with his parrots? 

 He's the latest needlepoint project I've recently completed.

His banjo playing friend is patiently waiting 

for me to stop monkeying around and to get stitching!

Oh, I almost forgot. 

 These guys want you to have this recipe so you 

can have some Monkeying Around at your house.

Monkey Bread

Mix 1 cake of yeast into 1 cup of warm milk (120-130 degrees) with 1/3 cup sugar. Add 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of salt, and 2 well beaten eggs. Mix well and then work in 3 and 1/2 cups flour. Cover and let rest until the dough doubles in size. Then knead and roll out into 1 and 1/2 to 2 inch balls. Dip dough ball into melted butter (and sugar & cinnamon mixture or parmesan cheese) and layer into greased pan. Cover and let rise till double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Hope you've had a little "monkey fun" today. 

I leave you with the three wise monkeys and the proverbial 

principle "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."

Now quit monkeying around and get yourself over to the marvelous blogs listed below.

Jenny Matlock @ Off On My Tangent - Alphabe-Thursday

Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch - Tablescape Thursday

Suzanne @ Colorado Lady - Vintage Thingie Thursdays

Designs by Gollum - Foodie Friday

My Romantic Home - Show & Tell Friday

www.foodtimeline.org used as a reference.