Holiday place setting

I wish that when you order food at a restaurant, you could order the place setting along with it.

(Sunset Magazine)

I would order one veggie omelette, served on this plate. Bloody Mary on the side, please. And that's perfection in the form of a New Year's Day brunch.

Christmas in Vermont

Christmas in Vermont? Hanukkah in Colorado or Massachusetts is more how I roll. But a good winter scene is truly non-dominational, wouldn't you agree?

Fireplace? Check. Rustic wood floors? Check. Comfortable couch? Check minus. It photographs nicely, but I can't decide if I'd actually want to sit on it. Maybe for a couple of minutes ... long enough to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.

I'd probably reserve my more long-term lounging for the bed. It looks slightly more welcoming.

Country Living, via Apartment Therapy

Tasteful decor: Peppermint candy

A pink bedroom is sweet enough as it is, without anyone pointing out that if it needed a candy comparison,

it would be peppermint ribbon candy. See the red trim on the pillows? It's there on the candy, too. You see where this is going ...

(ribbon candy)

You can practically taste the hand-blocked red and white striped wallpaper in a Cote d'Azur beach house designed by Nicholas Haslam.

It tastes like peppermint sticks, of course.

(peppermint stick)

A sweet settee with pink bolster pillows ...

... is, in candy form, a round peppermint lollipop. If you squint, the ends of the pillows look like the classic peppermint spiral design.

(peppermint lollipop)

And fluffy pink pillows combined with a red blanket

( Decor Pad )

or a crisp wintergreen trim

(Sharyn Blond linens)

couldn't be anything else but pink peppermint marshmallows.

(peppermint marshmallows )

A creamy bed with the vaguest hints of stripes and red (see the tie on the pillow in the back?) and a tufted bench ...

... is a bowl of peppermint ice cream.

And finally, a sparkly white mantel with wintergreen accents and icy, glittery snowflakes

(holiday mantel)

is, in foodie form, an icy, minty drink, appropriately called "Peppermint Cheer."

(Peppermint Cheer)

Lucky for us, Peppermint Cheer has a recipe.

Peppermint Cheer
Ingredients:
1 1/2 parts Vanille Royale
1/2 part peppermint schnapps
1/2 Grey Goose vodka
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass, or serve on the rocks. Garnish with a peppermint stick or sprig of mint.

And lucky for me, Peppermint Cheer sounds like it will be a delicious pairing with potato latkes!