Yankee Magazine

...While the kids were sledding this afternoon, and after I spent a good part of the day "deep cleaning" from the sparce remains of a wonderful holiday season...I took "time out" for myself. I did this exactly at the moment when the sun was at it's peak, shining so brightly between the shutters in my living room. With a cup of tea and my legs propped on the ottoman, I escaped into the wintery fest of true New England.

It was bitter cold today, and I had every intention of walking...(Honest!) but I just couldn't resist "my time", my sunny living room, my "clean" living room, and catching up with one of my favorite preppy magazines; Yankee Magazine.

Tell me what's your favorite preppy magazine?

"Wrapped up" in New England!

Get "wrapped up" in New England......with http://www.talbots.com of course!

Check out these gorgeous scarves in both a New England and Cape Cod map design! Love it! And so many fun ways to wear the scarf; around the neck, as a waist wrap, headband or tied to your favorite totebag. Even better, view the Talbots tutorial on how to tie the scarves!

U-Pick Strawberries at oldest farm

In honor of the beginning of strawberry season in New England, I thought I would share a little about one of the oldest working farms in the United States; Lookout Farm in Natick, Massachusetts.

Located west of Boston, Minister John Eliot and a group of settlers paddled down the famous Charles River in canoes and made their home along the shores of the river. This group later established the farm in 1650.

Eliot and his community were friendly with the Native Americans who inhabited the area, which was known to them as “the place of the hills.” Today, this “place” is Lookout Farm.

And what a place it is! From strawberries, peaches, pears, to an abundance of apples and pumpkins in the Fall, this is the place for family fun. They have a fabulous garden center, animals for the kids, a burlap maze, and this adorable little train that takes you around the acres and acres of farm land on a hill.

If you live in the area, it's a fabulous day trip for the family. And if you are visiting, be sure to check it out!
U-pick strawberry season is open!
- A New England find.

Strawberry Stem Gem!

Well after a great weekend kick-off to the start of summer,
New England is also celebrating the beginning of Strawberry season!
Before you start slicing and dicing your strawberries for your fav dish today, take a look at this adorable little strawberry tool; the Stem Gem!

Such a cute little tool to remove the strawberry stems easily AND neatly so that the strawberries look whole in your selected dish! I know when I cut mine, I always feel that half of the berry is wasted because I cut too much off from the stem.

Just $7.95 from Stonewall Kitchen - A New England Find

"Wrapping" ahead for Spring!

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Spring is, well, almost here and TOP IT OFF is excited to announce their NEW preppy cotton cable knit wrap that can be worn 8 ways for 1 great price!
These wraps are just adorable to throw over a pair of jeans, casual pant or skirt. Perfect for a day shopping or lunching with the ladies! I like how it is offered in sizes for little girls and tweens as well. They come in such pretty colors and can be monogrammed too!

topitoffaccessories - A New England Find

Lounging...in Preppy Style

Well here is a great boutique in Connecticut featuring the most preppiest of styles in pajama and casual lounge wear.

The colors and trellis pattern designs are vibrant and so, so pretty. The pant set is adorable and looks so comfy to wear after a long day when you want to settle with a good book and glass of wine in front of the fireplace.

But, what really caught my eye was the good old fashioned "housecoat"!
Yes, remember the ones our grandmothers wore and perhaps our mom's did as well in the
stylish sixties era? These, however, are not your average housecoats! They are fun, preppy, and perfect to wear over the short gown or perhaps with a pair of yoga or lounge pants. I just love that you can throw it on and look so fab in the early morning hours while seeing husband off to work, making lunches and sending kids to school all while looking so preppy in that kitchen! What a way to start the day!

Check out the site; http://www.kmadisondesigns.com/

-A New England Find

Organizing...in Madras!

Well isn't January and our New Year resolutions always about cleaning and organizing? After looking at my little guy's bedroom this morning, I deeply sighed. Boys and clean rooms just don't mix. Time to clean out and make room.

So, I just discovered these adorable storage bags in LL Bean's spring introduction. Aren't these great looking storage bins for a mudroom or family room?

These would look perfect in his bedroom next to his bookcase to store the millions of Lego pieces, Lincoln Logs, Matchbox cars etc. Boyish and practical. I'm buyin' them!

Wrapping Tape

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Hello my blogger friends. Back Sunday night from visiting New Hampshire for Thanksgiving with family. It was a wonderful time being together. Jumped into the week and just starting to catch up on blogging. Such a busy time this is for all!

....and it's also that time where a corner of my dining room is beginning to transition

into"WRAPPING CENTRAL STATION!"

....dedicated to wrapping paper, boxes, baskets, tissue paper, bags, tags, bows, ribbon, colored pens, scissors and ..........tape! Not just regular "scotch" tape, but "A New England" tape! Yes, it's true, tape from New England!

TapeSwell Check out this festive and decorative tape to dress up a holiday bag, handmade card, solid color wrapping paper or even an envelope! TapeSwell has many other patterns available and will even create custom tapes for you!

Now, that's a wrap!

TapeSwell-A New England find.

Adorable Preppy Earrings!

I've been meaning to post about this Rhode Island company, but when I recently received an email announcing their new earrings, I couldn't resist.

This is a young New England company with a really fun line of small accessories in vintage preppy fabrics. They really do capture the fun, casual, laid back feel of New England preppy. You must browse kieljamespatrick for uniqe fabric knot rope bracelets for your tween or college bound hipster. The headbands are so adorable; a mix of vintage, preppy and Ralph Lauren looking fabrics. My tween has her eye on several.

But what stole my heart were the adorable earrings. How cute are these silk woven earrings with classic preppy New England motifs?

Kiel James Patrick - a New England find

'Tis the Baking Season-Part 1:Baker's Chocolate!

In the spirit of the "baking" season...and knowing how many of us work so hard to bake the most perfect "Martha Stewart" looking holiday treats, I thought I would dedicate each Friday to a "holiday baking" theme. Perhaps I'll post about a special New England bakery, or traditional New England holiday baked good, a history piece, or perhaps stoneware or baking utensil offered from one of New England's finest...the possibilities are endless so I hope you will enjoy and follow along.

I would like to start with Baker's Chocolate. You know, the cute little box of chocolate squares in sweetened, unsweetened, german and white chocolate that we love to break up for cake or pie recipes, etc. not to mention drizzling over sliced fruit!

Originating from Dorchester, Massachusetts, this is a suburb south of Boston that was very, very rich in Irish working class history as well as the home of many factory mills along the historical Neponset River.

Let's go back to 1760, introducing an Irish immigrant and chocolate maker named John Hannan, who was a sketchy little fellow but a popular whiz at understanding the process of melting cocoa beans in hot water and setting up a "proper mill" thus making sweetened chocolate drinks. Now, these drinks were much like our coffee fix of today!
Impressing many and opening doors for others to venture into the cocoa (chocolate) business became a popular trade and a much needed job during those tumultuous times in Boston. (We can relate to that)! Well, during this time, someone else was paying close attention to Hannan. Realizing his great skill, a wealthy and smart Dr. James Baker, teamed up with Hannan and together they started the first chocolate factory; Baker's Chocolate, outside of Boston, Massachusetts in 1780. Business was great! Baker was the "financial backer" as Hannon was the "creative hand" behind the mill and sales grew forcing them to a larger mill along the Neponset River.

This is where Baker's brother-in-law, Edward Preston, comes into the picture and shakes things up as he is the larger mill's landlord. Plus, he wanted "in" on what he could see was a lucrative chocolate business. He kept quiet and learned alot! As sales continued to grow favorably, they decided to buy an additional mill. Baker and Hannon started quarrelling. Hannon now ran the other chocolate mill which suffered a massive fire. That's enough to make one stressed, and he was very unhappily married. So, one day he up and left telling all he was venturing to the West Indies to buy more cocoa beans. Hannon was never heard from again. Well, surprise surprise, quiet Mr. Preston raked Hannan's share and produced Preston's Chocolate as a major competitor for years to Baker's Chocolate. (Hmph!)

Years later, James Baker, known as "the king of cocoa" stepped down leaving all to his son. It's always the younger generation that takes the family business to new heights! And that's just what Edmund Baker did by purchasing a larger and fancier mill offering more features available during that time!

War of 1812-Not a good time and Edmund Baker's chocolate business was doing very poorly. Luckily, Edmund was another smart one and ventured into other industries to keep that money coming in, because he knew once again, those cocoa beans would be flying off those ships and Boston's finest river would be spilling with chocolate! Soon after the war, Baker's chocolate was in the general stores once again!

Welcome Walter Baker, Edmund's son. Another smart one that successfully ran the business in one of Boston's largest mills at the time and the first to hire two women! But the climate in Boston was harsh in the winter and steamy hot in the summer. So imagine this town full of hard working immigrants working in not the best of conditions in such weather. But business prevailed over time and Baker's Chocolate from Boston, Massachusetts succeeded as the pioneer of chocolate, even with stiff competition from Preston Chocolates!

Baker's Chocolate was eventually purchased By General Foods and after 1965 was manufactured elsewhere outside of New England. The Walter Baker Mill remains as do many of the mills in the Dorchester area and have been refurbished into beautiful town lofts. If you ever happen to be visiting Boston, check out the Lower Mills historic section of Dorchester, Massachusetts. It's a great walking tour.

Interesting fact: an employee named Sam German, developed German's sweet baking chocolate for the Baker Company in 1852. It wasn't until 1957, when a Texas homemaker (a SAHM) sent a cake recipe using Baker's German chocolate to a Dallas newspaper thus resulting in a huge increase in Baker chocolate sales. Today, that most famous cake recipe is German Chocolate Cake!

Baker's Chocolate- A New England piece of history!

Ame and Lulu November Special!

Another great discount coming from New England!

A. Tierney

And the Bracelet winner is....

Biscuits are NEVER Boring!

Congratulations on winning the adorable Halloween Angela Moore Bracelet!
Have fun wearing this trick-or-treating!

Miss Preppy/Sporty Tween sure enjoyed picking the name out of a hat! I explained to her how the contest worked and went through the number of entries for each response. She was delighted to be a part of it! Thanks everyone!

THANK YOU to Angela Moore for graciously offering this fun treat! Thank you to everyone that participated in this give-away! Loved reading your comments about your favorite AM jewelry!

25% off Eliza B on Saturday online only!

Angela Moore Halloween bracelet giveaway!

Happy Friday!
Don't forget to enter my Halloween bracelet giveaway.
Spread the word!

A Halloween Giveaway with Angela Moore!

"Halloween Magic"
Ghosts and goblins, gather 'round! It's Angela Moore's favorite time of year for ghoulish celebrations, so bring on the black cats and break out the candy corn...we witches can't wait.
So how "hauntingly" preppy is this little treat? I just love Angela Moore and know many of you do too! I think this would be so fun to wear trick or treating with the family or when celebrating the spooky holiday with friends!

So, I thought it would be fun to host a Halloween giveaway! The folks at Rhode Island based, Angela Moore, were so gracious to offer this handpainted bracelet retailing at $50!

1 entry = you are a follower
2 entries = you are a follower and you posted the Halloween giveaway on your blog (I'll be checking!)
3 entries = follower, posted and tell us about your favorite AM bracelet

Deadline to enter: Sunday, October 18th at 5:00 pm!

Now, my Miss Preppy/Sporty Tween is very excited about this and was hoping to draw a name out of a hat? pumpkin?....If that's ok with you, I will triple check the names and # of entries.

Good luck everyone!

Halloween Giveaway Coming Up!

I had so much fun doing my first giveaway last month, I decided to do
a festive Halloween treat for my fellow bloggers!
Of course...it's a treat from a New England find!

Stay tuned this week!

Checking the time at Orvis!

Founded in 1856 in Manchester, Vermont, this is a New England icon
if you prefer the great outdoors and distinctive sporting tradition. I was browsing for some gift ideas when I came across this adorable Ladies watch. I just love the tartan ribbon band. How cute for fall tailgates or other casual weekend outings?
Makes a great gift. Monogramming is available on the back.

...a true New England find!

A Favorite Cookbook!

I thought I would share with you one of my favorite cookbooks.


This was given to me many years ago by a very close friend when I moved from Boston to Dallas, Texas. That was a very exciting time for me as I accepted a job post with a large advertising agency. Moving to the South, starting a new job in my career path, meeting new people and making new friends was just something I could not say, "no" to! It meant leaving my family and friends here for a while. I also left a good job here that was working out very well for me. So, it was a most trying time to make sure I was making the right decision for myself, and thankfully, that proved to be true! I always knew I would come back to Boston!

The picture posted is in far better condition than my book, as the cover has faded in color, edges are ragged, and torn in one place! Truly the sign of a well-loved and often used cookbook! I don't think it is in circulation any more but check amazon.com


This cookbook is a wonderful collection of recipes from various inns throughout New England, compiled by Sandra J. Taylor. I do use the book frequently as many dishes are a favorite and fairly easy to make. I really enjoyed cooking traditional New England fare for my southern friends!


The recipe that I just made the other day was a true autumn favorite;

Yankee Pot Roast

Longfellow's Wayside Inn

Concord, Massachusetts

1 bottom round roast (4-6 lbs.)

1/2 cup oil

2 celery stalks

2 carrots

1 onion

1 can tomatoes (1 lb.)

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 cups of water

1/4 cup of flour

1/3 cup of each- cooked peas, cubed carrots, cut string beans

1/2 cooked, chopped celery

In Dutch oven, brown roast in oil with celery stalks, carrots and large slices of onion around meat. Add tomoatoes, salt and pepper and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer over low heat or in oven at 350 for 2 1/2 hours.


Lift out roast, and keep warm. Strain vegetable stock, discarding the vegetables. Skim fat off stock, returning just a 1/4 cup of fat to Dutch oven. Stir the flour into fat in Dutch oven, stirring regulary. Add (what you should now have as 4 cups) of vegetable stock. Cook and stir until thickened. Add the cooked peas, carrots, celery and string beans.


Serve a gravy with the sliced beef.





I served this with a french bread and herb butter.





I hope you try this and do enjoy.


I plan to feature more recipes from this cookbook in my blog periodically.