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Trade Secrets Garden Show 2025, Connecticut

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Martha Stewart has been quoted as saying “There are a few events that go on my calendar each year that I consider sacrosanct: my family’s birthdays, my summer vacation in Maine, my Christmas party, my Easter egg hunt and Trade Secrets.”

Having attended the the Trade Secrets Rare Plants and Garden Antique Sale this year, on May 18, 2025, in Salisbury, Connecticut, I can confirm that Martha did make an appearance, although she was just leaving as we arrived. But we did have a nice chat with famed interior designer Bunny Williams, who had taken Martha’s spot in the book sale and signing tent.

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Early spring visit to P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm; stayed in his “Garden Home”

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by Sandra Hutchinson

I’ve long been a fan of native Arkansan P. Allen Smith, who first achieved widespread fame with his PBS television shows P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home and P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table. He’s a garden designer, horticulturalist, conservationist, lifestyle influencer and book author, and as I recently discovered, a really down-to-earth and friendly guy. (Full credit: this photo is from P. Allen Smith’s website.) By the way, he goes simply by “Allen.”

This March, I met up with my midwest-based sister, niece and grand-niece, for a mini-family reunion in Little Rock. The centerpiece event of the long weekend was visiting Allen’s Moss Mountain Farm, about 45 minutes outside of Little Rock, where we helped celebrate Allen’s 65th birthday (along with many other people who had bought tickets) with a lunch, and a tour of Allen’s home and the farm. As if visiting the farm and meeting Allen wasn’t enough, we actually stayed in his former home in Little Rock where he filmed his Garden Home TV show, which is now rented out by its current owners as an Airbnb.

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Overnight at Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck with Mirbeau spa visit

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Periodically, my longtime friend Miss E and I (friends since seventh grade at Robert E. Bell Middle School) get together, stay a night or two at a nice inn, and if available, pair it with a spa visit. We’ve had wonderful stays at the Inns at Aurora (New York’s Finger Lakes region), the Woodstock Inn (Vt.), the Red Lion Inn (Stockbridge, Mass.), and as of this week, the Beekman Arms, in Rhinebeck, NY.

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My favorite holiday cocktail—Orange, Pomegranate & Prosecco

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Some years ago, I found a recipe for this cocktail on the Internet and I’ve been making it every year on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day. The one copy of the recipe that I printed out attributes the recipe to Cheyanne Holzworth-Bany. So, Cheyanne, wherever you are — Merry Christmas and thank you!

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Four days in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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We made a four-day visit to Amsterdam in late May, prompted by my snagging two tickets to the once-in-a-lifetime Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum. (See my post about the exhibit here.)

Public garden outside Rijksmuseum
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Thanksgiving dinner, again!

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by Sandra Hutchinson

It’s that time of year when I feel compelled to repost my article about our family’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu. So with your forbearance, dear readers, I post it below, complete with my mother’s recipe for her beloved cranberry/pineapple/jello “salad.”

Thanksgiving dinner: the mother of all menus

I’d bet that nearly everyone reading this can recite, item by item, every single dish served at their family’s Thanksgiving table while growing up. The Thanksgiving menu is pretty much inviolate. Even the slightest change is noticed by all. I think I still remember the year my mother started adding apples to her stuffing.

Getting the place cards ready—Pilgrims ready to be labeled, along with their flock! The turkey cards are from Caspari. (See my post from 8/16/16 about Caspari.)
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Chelsea Flower Show, London, 2022; lunch at Colbert

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by Sandra Hutchinson

This May I knocked one big goal off my bucket list — to attend the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show, held annually in May, on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in the Chelsea neighborhood of London. The Chelsea Show was cancelled in 2020 for only the second time since it began in 1912 (the first was during the Second World War), although some form of an online virtual show took place. The 2021 show was postponed and moved to September.

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Stopping by London’s Borough Market; hopping on an Uber Boat to Greenwich

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by Sandra Hutchinson

One of the oldest and most famous of London’s food markets, Borough Market, is located on the south side of the Thames, the South Bank, adjacent to Southwark Cathedral. (Note: We were surprised to learn that Southwark is pronounced “suh-thrk”!) William Shakespeare lived and worked in the neighborhood, (the reconstructed Globe Theater is nearby) and it is believed he shopped for food here, since there has been a market on the site since at least the 12th century. It is a lot of fun to wander through the stalls and passageways, and some vendors offer tastings.

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Dining at Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria, UK

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by Sandra Hutchinson

We had the distinct pleasure of enjoying a tasting menu lunch in May, at L’Enclume, Simon Rogan’s signature restaurant in Cartmel, in southwestern Cumbria, in what is called the South Lakeland region. L’Enclume was awarded its third Michelin star earlier this spring, making it the first UK restaurant outside London and southeast England to earn three stars.

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