simplequietmodern

create it. It’s a simplequietmodern statement that will be fondly remembered year after year by your friends and family. It also simplifies the task of readying your home for the onslaught of revelers each Christmas in the midst of a carrying on with the rest of your busy life. It could be a signature menu for a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day supper that folks look forward to every year … vases of assorted Winter greenery and white tulips, narcissus or Amaryllis to usher in Midwinter…the offering of a signature cocktail like a smart  Christmas Manhattan with a splash of Marachino juice…illuminating your Christmas Eve with candle light and a roaring fire exclusively or, simply keeping a bowl full of seasonal Clementines within easy reach. No matter the direction, when repeated every year it will not only become second nature, easily the first thing on and then checked off your holiday to-do list, it will signal the arrival of your Christmas and another season of memories you created simply…seemingly effortlessly.

starting at the top:

White Mink Protea with cut white Pine and Magnolia branches will last for weeks.

Clementines,traditionally the original stocking stuffer, for that blast of vitamin C and natural sweetness.

Nature provided Cardinal’s nest and a scattering of vintage glass ornaments.

“No Brainer” Gingerbread Brownies will kick off the season perfectly. You can find the recipe here:http://www.ohbiteit.com/2012/11/gingerbread-brownies.html

There is nothing like roast pork to anchor your holiday dinner. This lesson from Martha can be found here:http://www.marthastewart.com/920465/bone-pork-loin# My preference is to have the butcher tie two boneless loins together and simply season with garlic and caraway seed.

If you’re not able to secure white tulips you should have no difficulty finding white Phalanopsis orchids in plant form that will last well into the New Year.

Sorting through your collection of mid-century vintage ornaments and separating them in groups of like color can make a modern statement as you revisit and display them each year.

*photo of the roast from Martha Stewart Living