Here at the Gardening Cook , we love to celebrate with holiday decor and food! Each of the holidays is special here on the blog.
Our site has loads of decor ideas, recipes and gardening tips for each season and holiday of the year.
From special cocktails for New Year’s Eve, through to patriotic recipes, spooky Halloween projects and pretty Christmas decor projects, every holiday is so much fun.
These easy projects will dress up your home for the holidays and give your friends some special food treats in no time flat!
If you are looking for some ideas for food and decorations for the holidays, one of these ideas may interest you.
A holiday cactus is a short day plant which produces flower buds when daylight hours decrease. Fortunately for gardeners, this happens when much of the garden is not blooming, just in time for the major holidays – Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. There are three different types of holiday cactus plants, Christmas cactus – schlumbergera bridgesii …
These Christmas plants will have your home full of color, beauty and good cheer this year. Even though the outdoor garden season has ended for many of us, that doesn’t mean that holiday plants can’t be front and center right now. December 12 is National Poinsettia Day. It is fitting that the most popular Christmas …
Would you like to know the best herbs for roasting turkey? Thanksgiving is coming soon and a roasted turkey is on many menus. If you are cooking turkey for the first time, you may find yourself asking “what herbs and spices go with turkey?” You can just place a turkey in your oven and roast …
How to preserve carved pumpkins is a problem unique to fall. Autumn is the time of the year when temperatures drop, pumpkin harvest is here, and leaves start to change color. It’s also the time for homes to start decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving and this includes carving pumpkins. It’s not unusual to see hay …
With October comes the cooler temperatures, falling of leaves, and of course pumpkin carving time. For the perfect carved Jack O Lantern, be sure to familiarize yourself with this list of the best pumpkins for carving. When it comes to choosing pumpkins for carving projects, not all pumpkins are equal. As a matter of fact, …
It’s time to get your spook on – with creepy flowers, Halloween plants and all sorts of growing things that are sure to make you feel a Halloween mood. Traditional Halloween decorating is done with just a few plants and colors. This time of the year is cold and plants in most areas of the …
One of my mother’s time honored traditions was to serve a pumpkin cake each year, for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, with her special toasted coconut frosting. She is not with us now, but that does not mean the cake will be missing! My whole family takes turns at making the cake for our Thanksgiving celebration. …
This recipe for steaks with a Cuban mojo marinade combines spices with orange juice, olive oil and grill mates seasoning for an easy and spicy main course dish. I love the sweet, tangy and savory flavors. It makes grill night something special. We grill every Saturday’s night at our house. My husband is the grill master …
These Easter egg hunt clues for an older child will help your teenager enjoy a more challenging Easter hunt than a typical one where you just hide Easter eggs. A fun thing to do at Easter is to have your child build an Easter basket with clues. It turns an ordinary holiday egg hunt into …
This Leprechaun Hat Centerpiece gives me a chance to celebrate both St. Patrick’s Day and spring in one pretty project. The centerpiece can be made with either silk flowers or fresh flowers for two different looks. I love to make craft projects out common household items. In this case, my project started with something that …
These best of luck wishes and good luck quotes are fun to share with friend or on social media to send good luck wishes to all. St. Patrick’s Day will soon be here and that brings with it thoughts of luck. Motivational quotations on photos of nature are a favorite with the readers of The …
A Mudslide cocktail recipe is a decadent mixture of vodka, coffee flavored Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish Cream. This delicious Baileys Irish cream mudslide recipe is both a drink and a dessert. It is one of my favorite cocktail recipes for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, or any special holiday. Making Baileys drinks will guarantee one thing …
These Gingerbread House tips will make sure that your next project will be a stunner. From using muffin tins for supplies to choosing the right icing, these steps will make the task of making gingerbread houses quick and easy. The taste of gingerbread desserts just seem to go along with Christmas in my mind. Check …
One of the prettiest Christmas plants is a cyclamen – cyclamen persicum, also known as the florist cyclamen. Like some other holiday plants, getting a cyclamen to rebloom after the first year can a tricky task. For this reason, many gardeners simply discard the plant after it is done flowering and purchase a new one …
How are your fudge making skills? Do you end up with foolproof fudge that forms nice little parcels, or do you find it a challenge? These cooking tips for making perfect fudge,F will give you wonderful results every time from now on. It’s hard to believe, after a summer of gardening, that the beginning of …
This no carve sunflower pumpkin uses the heads of silk sunflowers or any other colorful daisy like flower to cover the outside of a faux pumpkin. This is a great idea for those of you who do not like the mess of a carved pumpkin. It’s also one that gardeners will love! Fall is my …
These Halloween Pumpkin Cookies are the perfect treat for your family or neighborhood friends. They have a cute pumpkin face and are filled with rich chocolate frosting. I love this time of the year. Our neighborhood kids are out playing most of the time, and it is a lot of fun to treat them to …
Are you looking for a drink that takes the flavors of a favorite Halloween candy and puts them into an adult beverage? Try this candy corn martini. This fun Halloween cocktail uses candy corn to make and infused vodka and then pairs it up with pineapple juice and cream for one delicious drink. Candy corn …
These Halloween cross-stitch patterns are a great way for those who love to embroider to celebrate the holidays with their craft. Halloween will soon be here and that means it’s time for decorating for the holiday. One of the most creative was to decorate is by making a cross stich design. If this is something …
Fall is the time for decorating with Indian corn. These rustic ears of ornamental corn are the perfect addition to any Autumn decorating project. Rustic and colorful, this variety of corn has been around for centuries. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links below are affiliate links. I earn …
These pumpkin carving tips will bring out the artist in any budding Halloween decorator and give you a fun decor item to share in your home. If you have tried your hand at pumpkin carving, you will know that an easy Jack o Lantern design is not too difficult. But attempting more elaborate designs may …
Knucklehead pumpkins, as the name suggests, are covered with warts that are reminiscent of the knuckles on your hand. This type of pumpkin, along with heirloom pumpkins of various colors and shapes, are all the trend right now for decorating. Have you ever headed to to pumpkin patch to get your pumpkin to carve only …
Halloween is right around the corner. Are you looking for some boozy cocktails for Halloween to make for your next Halloween party? These cocktails named after witches are just what you need! For some people, Halloween is all about the candy. I’m much more in favor of a glass of witches brew to get me in the …
It’s time to pick your poison! This Crow’s Blood Halloween Drink is a champagne cocktail that is made even more gruesome with the addition of the lychee eyeballs that garnish the bloody looking brew. Halloween is the beginning of three months of non stop cooking, decorating and entertaining for me. My garden is being put …
From weird and wonderful Halloween cocktail garnishes to fall-inspired layers, to the use of special effects and color changes, learn how to create show-stopping drinks that will both charm and frighten your guests. The best cocktails for Halloween are those that are made by invoking an eerie mood with special effects. There are lots of …
Fall greenery is perfect to use when decorating with natural elements. It’s both bold in color and rustic in texture and gives a calming look to any home decor project. I love the feel and look of fall. There is nothing like cool days when the garden starts to die down for winter. It may …