Skye McAlpine, Curtain Call, Christmas at the Biltmore Estate and more on Weekend Meanderings. 

Skye McAlpine, Curtain Call, Christmas at the Biltmore and more on Weekend Meanderings. 

Weekend Meanderings

Good Saturday morning friends. It’s time for Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet. Join us as we share all of the things that piqued our interests and caught our eye this week.

I hope that you had a lovely week. The weather has been spectacular this week and the fall colors stunning. Each time I go outside I am mesmerized by the bright orange, yellow and red leaves wafting on the breeze and lit from within when the sun hits them just right. It really is the little things that bring the most joy.

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just a couple of weeks away? And that Christmas is 48 days away! Blink and we are going to miss all of the fun.

We have a relaxing weekend ahead, my husband arrived home late yesterday after being gone for 9 days, thankfully no travel delays. I am sorry if you are someone who was not that lucky. Fingers crossed it will be over before the holidays.

What are your plans for the weekend? Have you started decorating for the holidays? When do you decorate?

I have lots to share so let’s meander.

Christmas Inspiration

Christmas at the Biltmore

Have you visited the Biltmore in Asheville, NC? If not put it on your list of places to visit, it is so beautiful and steeped in history. This year the Biltmore is celebrating its 130th Christmas celebration and in this video 4 and 5th generation family members along with longtime staff share their memories of this storied home.

Christmas Tablescaping with Skye McAlpine

Skye McAlpine creates a simple and elegant tablescape for the holidays.

Movies

Lonely

From writer and director Ty Sheetz and starring Sandra Flagstad in her debut leading role. 80 year old Ruth Wilson has spent decades alone. Motivated to end her loneliness, she makes one last effort to find love & repair past relationships. Available in theaters Nov. 17th.

Curtain Call

Curtain Call looks like a fabulous movie! Jessica Lang, Pierce Brosnan and Kathy Bates, count me in.

Lillian Hall, a Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in rehearsals for a new play her confidence is challenged. People and events conspire to take away her ability to do what she loves most.

Release date November 17th.

Aging~Running, Aging, and the Power of Perseverance

Meet Bob Hayes, an 89-year-old runner who proves that age is just a number. Running 30 races a year, cutting firewood by hand, and training for the Bighorn 50k ultramarathon, Bob chooses to do things the hard way—staying active, alive, and full of purpose. As he nears 90, the toll of long-distance races grows, but Bob’s determination never wavers.

Note: Bob passed away about 2 years after this documentary.

Books to Give for Christmas

A Thousand Feasts

For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned while at his kitchen table, soaked in a fisherman’s hut in Reykjavik, sitting calmly in a moss garden in Japan or sheltering from a blizzard in a Vienna Konditorei.

These are the small moments, events and happenings that gave pleasure before they disappeared. Miso soup for breakfast, packing a suitcase for a trip and watching a butterfly settle on a carpet, hiding in plain sight. He gives short stories of feasts such as a mango eaten in monsoon rain or a dish of restorative macaroni cheese and homes in on the scent of freshly picked sweet peas and the sound of water breathing at night in Japan.

This funny and sharply observed collection of the good bits of life, often things that pass many of us by, is utter joy from beginning to end.

The Christmas Chronicles

The Christmas Chronicles is the story of Nigel Slater’s love for winter, the scent of fir and spruce, ghost stories read with a glass of sloe gin, and beeswax candles with shadows dancing on the ceiling. With recipes, decorations, fables and quick fireside suppers, Nigel guides you through the essential preparations for Christmas and the New Year, with everything you need to enjoy the winter months.

Taking you from 1 November all the way to the end of January, The Christmas Chronicles covers everything from Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year to Epiphany. Throughout the season, Nigel offers over 100 recipes to see you through the build-up, the celebrations and the aftermath. Here are much-loved classics such as goose and turkey (and making the most of the leftovers), mincemeat and the cake; recipes to make the cold months bearable, like ribsticker bread pudding with Comté and Taleggio, salt crust potatoes with blue cheese and goat’s curd, and hot-smoked salmon, potatoes and dill; as well as bright flavours to welcome the new year, including pink grapefruit marmalade, pear and pickled radish salad and rye, linseed and treacle bread.

Packed with feasts, folktales, myths and memoir and all told in Nigel’s warm and intimate signature style, The Christmas Chronicles is the only book you’ll ever need for winter.

Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas

Advent celebrates the magical run-up to Christmas with over 100 classic German baking recipes.

The Advent season is one of the most special times of the year, when candles twinkle, the Christmas tree is decorated, and the smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove fill the kitchen. 

In her new cookbook Advent, Anja Dunk shares her recipes for the very best of traditional German festive bakes. From lightly spiced Lebkuchen, frosted cinnamon stars, jam-filled ginger hearts, snow-capped coconut macaroons, to marzipan-filled Stollen, edible tree decorations, lucky meringue mushrooms and a gingerbread house dripping with candies and sugar icicles, you will find delectable spiced treats to fill your Bunter Teller and share with friends and family. 

Featuring Anja’s own linocut illustrations and evocative photography, this is a stunning, comforting clothbound volume that will be a family favourite for many years to come. The weeks of Advent hold all the sweet, almost unbearable anticipation of Christmas for days on end and this gorgeous book embraces that fairy-tale feeling within its pages.

LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN

The last von Trapp child is 86 – and is still running their US lodge

In Botswana, Tracking Lions and Elephants—By Bike

30 Shows to Watch This Fall

Meet the Austrian nuns who fled a care home to break into their old convent

No, Women Aren’t the Problem

‘It transforms a person into a thing’: Why there’s more to Man Ray’s iconic nude Le Violon d’Ingres than it seems

6 Things You Do That Keep Plumbers in Business—While Causing Damage and Costing You Money

The Mystery of Why Leaves Change Color in the Autumn

Why Baby Spinach Took Over—and What We Lost When It Did

In Case You Missed It~On the Blog This Week

On Monday I shared Rosie Farey, Karin Tanabe, Holiday Fashion and More. 

Next up, Sugared cranberries, an easy three step recipe that will add sparkle and cheer to all of your holiday dishes. 

Want a dessert that’s easier than pie but just as good? Learn how to make the ultimate cranberry apple crisp with a buttery oat topping.

Tis the season for parties, dinners, and the holidays. Here are some of my favorite holiday hostess gifts to say thank you for the hospitality.

Last but not least, Friday Favorites, books, recipes, fashion, decor and more, including this classic outfit and this scrumptious recipe for one pot meatballs and mushroom orzo. 

UNTIL NEXT TIME

I hope that you enjoyed weekend meanderings. If you did please share the post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or Pinterest.

Before you go, tell me your favorite cold weather drink? Coffee, tea, latte, espresso, hot chocolate?

Have a wonderful day friends, enjoy your weekend. If you missed any of the previous Weekend Meandering posts you can find them all here.

Don’t forget to pop over and visit Kim and Juliet!

Northern California Style

Make Mine A Spritzer

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On My Radar~The Holidays