Switch Plate Covers

September 25th has come and gone, and for most of you, this is just a day on your calendar. But for me, when I saw that date on our newspaper, I sat up straight and thought – oh, my gosh! – we only have exactly 3 months until Santa slides down those chimneys!

Although we design and produce 12 months out of the year, our busiest time of year is between September 25th and December 25th. This is when things get really crazy. All year long we are gearing up to be ready. Some things we can get ahead on. But other things are made to order – like our Switch Plate Covers (pictured on the right) and our Stoneware.

Measuring Spoons and Cups are our biggest sellers so we work all through the year to get ahead on those, of course!  Here are the Measuring Spoon Posts that we make for Paula Deen.  They are available exclusively through Paula Deen outlets.

Best Dishes Measuring Spoon Posts

Fleur de Lys Measuring Spoons

I love how our Reindeer Candlestick Holders look, all lined up and ready to go.  And, of course, what could be more important than having a good stock of our Santa’s Keys?!

Santa's Key

Poem for Santa

Since Paula Deen uses our Measuring Spoons and Cups on her show, you can imagine that we are pretty big Paula Deen fans.

But even if she didn’t use them, we would be her fans. She is an awesome lady who is kind and generous and big-hearted. Further more, as many of you already know, she pulled herself up from a difficult start in life. She is a self-made woman!

Now most of you probably also know that she is a BIG fan of butter! Even she makes fun of herself and her love for BUTTER – as you can see in this Food Network picture…

Who doesn’t love butter? I know I do.

Earlier this month I became an “empty-nester” when we sent our youngest off to college. Everyone keeps asking me WHAT am I going to do with myself? Oddly enough, the new things that I keep trying are all food and drink-related! On the way home from dropping our baby girl off at college, I tried an In and Out Burger and Fries for the first time and then later that day, we stopped at Starbucks. I had my first Frappucino! Wow! Talk about a calorie-laden day!

Then, when we got home and I went grocery shopping, I decided to splurge on some French butter. You might ask – what in the world is different about FRENCH butter? Well, first of all – THE PRICE! which is why I said I “splurged” on some French butter. First of all, its unsalted and secondly, it is divine. I truly do not know what makes it taste so different but next time you want to splurge on something, I would suggest some French butter.

I might also point out that I was drawn to this particular French butter since it came from the region of Charentes-Poitou – where I spent my Junior Year Abroad in 1980!

Here is your basic $2.99 butter alongside your incredible $4.59 butter. Nothing against Umpqua Dairy butter. It, too, is a quality product. I’m just saying….

French Butter vs Regular Butter

Look how incredible it looks without the wrapper. Don’t you just want to go find yourself some French bread and jam?

Or, I guess you could just go ahead and make yourself some of Paula’s Deep-Fried Butter Balls. Frankly, I’m happy with just butter and jam on French bread! And, in fact, I actually don’t eat a lot of butter. Everything in moderation!  Thanks Paula for being such a supporter of butter!

We all know that: The early bird gets the worm!

Life seems to move a bit more smoothly when you plan ahead, so we are thinking that we should help out the Early Birds who want to get a jump start on their holiday shopping.

Between now and November 1, online shoppers can take 25% off of their order of $50 or more when they use The Crosby and Taylor Early Bird Holiday Shopping Coupon.

Here is an opportunity to make a dent in your gift list – AND save 25% Off of Crosby & Taylor Merchandise.

Better yet, if your order is still more than $50 after applying the discount, it will qualify for FREE SHIPPING>

So – here is how to redeem it:

Go to the Crosby & Taylor Facebook Page and click on “Claim Code”.

Not on Facebook?  Visit our Early Bird Holiday Shopping Coupon page and you can redeem it there!

Here is the fine print: Only applicable with a $50 minimum purchase on CrosbyandTaylor.com. Shopping cart must contain at least $50 in items before applying coupon code. Cannot be combined with other offers.

Our last baby bird, Rosella

Last Friday, at 6am, we headed onto the I-5 Interstate South to California to take our youngest daughter to college. We returned home last night to our “Empty Nest”.

Since all of our children have bird names, I feel that calling our home an “Empty Nest” is pretty accurate!

When Rosella, our last baby bird, was about 5 she claimed that she would run our company some day. The other three “birds” have all worked for us, but none of them had made a claim like that – particularly at that age.

So, when she was 7 and we moved into our current production facility, we gave her a desk and office supplies in one of the extra offices that we had here.

She thought that was pretty cool but, as the years passed, she got pretty tired of hearing about the business around the dinner table every night, in long car rides, waiting for our food in a restaurant, and on and on. She started to develop her own interests and the world of Pewter got kind of left behind.

This summer she hoped to find a job in an office or at our Fitness Center. Alas, like her siblings, she had to point her car towards our shop every day. Lucky for us that she did. She picked up our office work at lightning speed and has maintained our online Studio Sale. My unbiased opinion (ha!) is that she is a natural around here so I can’t believe she doesn’t want to run this place someday.

But, it looks like she may be drawn to nutrition or law. What can I say? I gave it my best try. Last baby bird flying out of the nest – and not a Pewter Smith among them. I must say, though, that it’s been a great summer  – having had my last baby right across the hall.

Everyone asks me what I will do after she leaves. I have absolutely no idea. After 30 years of parenting, I truly have no idea….I just can’t even imagine. Hold your babies tight – you blink and they are ready to leave the nest!

All grown up and off to college!

Although there are a lot of creative parts to my job, one of the best aspects is designing custom products for people. We were approached last year by the gift shop buyer, Pam, at The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove which is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, NC.

Pam had come across our products and thought it would be awesome if we could make some products just for them. After many e-mails and phone calls back and forth, Pam and I finally settled on a Spoon Rest & Coffee Canister (pictured below), and a Coffee Scoop.

Their first order for these three products should have just arrived in their Gift Shop last Friday. I think they are lovely and I hope that the visitors to the Cove will think so, as well! It’s been wonderful to work with Pam to develop these pieces.

Our Coffee Canister for The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove

Crosby & Taylor Spoon Rest Designed for The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove

School is now open again and summer is officially over. Most of us here were able to take some vacation time. Nancy headed back east to visit friends and family. While there, she made a stop at Boston Pewter Company. We have been selling to Jeff for years but this is the first time that one of us had met him in person – and gotten a chance to see around his shop!

From her descriptions and photos this really sounds like a fun place – especially if you are a pewter collector. Jeff’s website says that he has the “largest selection of American pewter”. Wow! Next time I am in Boston, I will definitely have to pay him a visit, as well.

It looks like little Evelyn was pretty fascinated by Jeff but a little bored at the Measuring Cup display! I guess she has seen enough Cups around our shop!

Nancy and Evelyn Visit Boston Pewter Company

Meeting with Jeff!

Great Crosby & Taylor Display!

Ciambella {Chocolate Ring Cake} on bella alimento

Italian cuisine, known for its use of simple, quality ingredients combined with love, is meant to be shared with family & friends! -bell’alimento

I am proud to say that our Vineyard Measuring Spoons with Pewter Display Post were featured in the very lovely food site: bella’limento.  Its author, Paula (who happens to be a freelance writer for that other famous Paula!), fell in love with Italy in her youth and now shares her passion for Italian culture and food with her readers. The site features simple, seasonal and satisfying Italian dishes.

Paula’s philosophy is “beautiful food doesn’t have to be complicated”. Lucky for us, Paula has a “THING” for pewter (we had no idea) and took us up on our offer to do a Vineyard Measuring Spoons giveaway on her blog. Sadly, the deadline has passed to enter….but there is a silver lining:

She leaves us the gift of Ciambella (Chocolate Ring Cake) that you simply must try (pictured on the right). Visit her site for this recipe and enjoy her many other lovely Italian dishes featured throughout this gorgeous site.

Thank you, Paula, for featuring us and we are glad you enjoy your spoons!

Follow her on Twitter @bellalimento and Facebook

On this 10th anniversary of the day that changed our world, we send out loving thoughts to all who lost friends and family on 9/11/01. We also hope that our children and grandchildren will grow up in a more peaceful world, where people of all faiths and beliefs can live as friends.

To keep things interesting, we like to occasionally contact our foodie friends out there in the blogosphere and offer them a set of our measuring spoons to give away to their readers.

We were so happy to connect with Jaden Hair, television chef, food columnist and award-winning food blogger at Steamy Kitchen, who will be giving away a set of Crosby & Taylor Fleur De Lys Measuring Spoons to one of her readers!

Jaden works with her team to develop, test and photograph recipes that are fast, fresh, and easy. As a mother of two herself, she understands first hand the importance of meal time and making every minute count! Frankly, I have NO idea how she gets so much done in a day!

You should check out the Steamy Kitchen recipe page to see her amazing recipes (beautifully photographed – I might add!) ranging from appetizers to gluten free goodies.  You can also watch Jaden cook twice a month on Daytime Show, syndicated in 120 markets.

Jaden is a food columnist for Discovery Health, TLC and for Tampa Tribune and author of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. She has been featured on the Today Show, CBS Early Show, Martha Stewart Living Radio, Oprah.com, and Parents Magazine. Jaden was recently named one of the “hottest women in food” and also one of the best food bloggers on Forbes.com!   See some of her food show highlights in this video:

Jaden Hair Demo Reel from Jaden Hair on Vimeo.

The last week-end of summer….one last picnic…a family barbecue…the last fashionable day to wear white…back-to-school sales at the mall..Labor Day is some or all of this.

But, mostly, I do believe it is a day to honor those who labor to keep the American economy going. It’s another one of those “proud to be an American company” days for Crosby & Taylor.

I have some of the best workers in the country. They are not just dedicated artisans but they are also guys who are willing to pitch in and get the job done.

In fact, earlier this summer, our neighbors asked us to get our tree limbs trimmed back – since they had started to creep onto their property. Derrik, usually known for his expertise in the shipping department….donned his All-American hard-hat and got to it.

I about had a heart attack as he jumped from branch to branch, like a monkey. But he survived the episode and it was one more day for me to be proud of my guys at Crosby & Taylor – always willing to do what it takes.

Derrik is on vacation this week and I swear it feels like it takes about 3 of us to get his job done.

He is at the Burning Man Festival in Calfornia – hot and dusty and a bit crazy. But that’s what he chooses to do with his time off. We hope he is having a great time!