My 2nd resolution is to treat my body as a temple. I started on Jan. 2nd with a 28 day detox and clense. I got it off the Martha Stewart web site and it made a lot of sense to me. I'm an all or nothing kind of gal, so I cant gradually cut down to eliminate the bad for me stuff. I'm Italian and French so I love my wine and food. I have a terrible sweet tooth on top of all that. I do exercise most everyday(hiking Kennesaw Mtn.,Pilates class twice/week, doing a (4)mile loop around the neighborhood with my buddy and gardening) You would think I'd be a stick. I'm not. My husband loves curves but it's gotten a little out of control.

  So I'm on day (5) of my detox diet and so far so good. Basically I've given up dairy, gluten, caffeine, alcahol,sugar and all processed foods. My goal is to look good for my 25th anniversary coming up this Feb. 14th and beyond. Wish me luck.

Boy did Christmas get away with me. I'm not suprised, it always does. O.K. here it is ...My new years resolution. To spend 1/2 to 1 hour everyday on the web site and to start treating my body as a temple. I thought I would start at the beginning with the Oakton blog.

Oakton has been in my husbands family since 1938. It was purchased by his Grandparents and passed on to his parents in the late 70's. We purchased the house from the estate after his parents passed in 2002. This will be our 10th year.

When we moved into the house our (3) children lived at home. They are now 24, 20 and 19. I started working on the childrens bedrooms and bath upstaires in Oct.2001 and we moved in Feb 2002. I wanted their rooms finished before we moved in so the house wouldnt seem so scairy.
We also remodeled the kitchen to incorporate a big family room and eat-in.
The kitchen took about (6) months with construction workers here most every day. I used the laundry room to fix meals in the microwave or toster oven. What a mess.

After the kitchen was complete we started on the rest of the house. Room by room till it was complete. All the while restoring the historic gardens on the property. My husband is a fabulous Landscape Architect and his office is run out of our barn(a dream come true for him).

As the gardens were restored we started planting. First the apple trees. (2) of the (6) origional boxwood kitchen gardens were planted with (26) heirloom apple trees producing starting in June and ending in Nov.Than came the pears, muscadines, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, figs, veggies and herbs. This became a tremendous amount of work ontop of our paying jobs, so we started selling Oakton produce at the Marietta Square farmers market on Saturdays.

The house and gardens have become an entity on there own. We have developed a simple lifestyle that revolves around the seasons and what is freshest for supper and what is blooming for the table. Times are tough but when they are, people come back to their roots and what worked in the past. This is a grand adventure and I cant wait to share it with you.

So for the last few days i've been putting away all the fall decorations and getting ready for all the Christmas. I'm sure i'm not alone in this endevor.

I put the last of the Thanksgiving/fall stuff back up in the attic and had my Son help me get out all (30) boxes of Christmas. I've edited over the years but keep finding stuff at garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores and the Atlanta mart that I cant live without.
This Christmas my chalange to you is.... Keep it real, or at least try and incorporate some real things into your decore. Dont buy all your greenery, go out in your yard and clip some of your own. I'll show you how. Thats it for now, I'm off to Home Depot for lightbulbs.

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WE END UP WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL MOUND OF ORIGIONAL WORKS OF ART. HERES THE RECEIPE.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL.

1 CUP SHORTENING
1 CUP SUGAR
1/2 TSP SALT
1 CUP MOLASSES
2 TBLES WHITE VINEGAR
1 EGG BEATEN
5 CUPS FLOUR
11/2 TSP BAKING SODA
1 TBLES GROUND GINGER
1 TSP GROUND CINNAMON
1 TSP GROUND CLOVES

*CREAM SHORTENING, SUGAR AND SALT. STIR IN MOLASSES, VINEGAR AND EGG. SIFT TOGETHER AND ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS. CHILL MIX OVERNIGHT. DIVIDE INTO 1/4THS. ROLL 1 PART AT A TIME ON A FLOWERED BOARD 1/8 " THICK. REFRIGERATE REMAINDER. CUT OUT WITH A SHARP COOKIE CUTTER. PLACE ON A GREASED COOKIE SHEET AND BAKE AT 375 APROX 6 MIN. COOL SLIGHTLY AND REMOVE. DECORATE AS DESIRED(I USE ROYAL ICING) MAKES APROX 50 COOKIES.

ITS VERY MESSY, BUT WORTH EVERYBIT OF THE MESS TO GET THESE FABULOUS RESULTS.

EVERY YEAR FOR AS LONG AS i CAN REMEMBER, WE HAVE BEEN MAKING GINGERBREAD TURKEY AND ACORN COOKIES FOR THANKSGIVING. MY KIDS ARE ALL GROWN NOW SO I RECRUTE NEICES, NEPHEWS AND LITTLE NEIGHBORS TO HELP DECORATE.

I love Thanksgiving. Everything about it is wonderful. My (3) adult children will be home. We start the day with the Gobble Jog, a 5k road race through the square in historic Marietta. All procedes go to a local Must ministries food bank. After the race I feel no guilt for the consumption to follow. When we get back from the race, it's just in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I'm a traditionalist and believe that the Christmas season should not start till after the parade. After that... it's on.

Many years ago, My beloved Grandmother in Connecticut(my birth state) passed on her "Wild Turkey" plates, cups and saucers and serving pieces. 12 place settings in all. I have collected all sorts of Thanksgiving things to decorate with over the years. It's becoming harder and harder to find over the years with the retailers going from Halloween to Christmas in one fell swoop. I have figured out the reason... They cant capitalize on Thanksgiving. Simply no money to be made. Rest ashured, you will never see any signs of Christmas at Oakton till the day after Thanksgiving.

It was a beautiful fall day to carve pumpkins and goards. All the flowers and greenery are from the yard. The ladies were ametures(cant figure spell check yet) I think they did a great job. I served roasted eggplant, cheeses with figs and grapes, roasted pepper hummus with pita chips, baked brie with brown sugar and pecans. I'm going to start having a variety of classes in the near future.

Welcome to the first Oakton blog!  This is the first of many blog entries to come. 

We invite you to drop in and enjoy the bounty provided by Oakton House and Gardens