Gifts for Foodies

We love it when some is looking for a gift for a foodie. Eh, that's easy. A cookbook. French salt with a cool salt pig. Our addictive sea salt chocolate caramels. Jams from our new little find: The Wild Pear. Or fabulous olive oils and vinegars from B.R. Cohn in Sonoma. Our four-salt collection in a nice tin box (for just $12) is as easy as it gets. Or, serving trays (love the olive wood cheese boards), French cheese knives or appetizer forks from Laguiole, wine glasses in school of fish, icy pine, or simple bistro designs. All available at Pomegranate Home & Garden.

Gorgeous scents and soaps from Gianna Rose

Just got in our latest shipment from Gianna Rose, and we're loving all her beautiful soaps. No one designs packaging as lovely as this: no gift wrap needed (maybe just a little ribbon).

Mannequin soaps for the fashionista in your life.

Tiny pillow soaps for guests (or someone really sweet): one side says "Bonjour;" the other, "Bonne Nuit."

Robin's eggs soaps in a nesty box.

Luscious royal jelly honey soap and bath bees for a luxury bath.

Snowflake soaps in a gorgeous box... love the scent!

New arrivals, every single day (keeping UPS/FedEx hopping).

This is the time when most sane retailers start to cut short their orders, take a deep breath, and just work on selling what's already in the store. Not us! {Operative word: sane.}

We are happy to report that we are still getting shipments, still putting out some of our lovely vintage items (culled from several trips in the last few months), still restocking and racing around with more of everything.

This week alone, we're expecting nice big shipments of Lollia and Tokyo Milk, Gianna Rose soaps, chocolates (including the so adorable Lumps of Coal, which are actually delicious marshmallow and dark chocolate... should be in everyone's stocking), more Frasier Fir and Mixture candles, our favorite olive oils and vinegars from B.R. Cohn in Sonoma, plus some exquisite jams from a small company we found in Petaluma, CA.

Here are some pictures (maybe somewhat random) of some of our new picks, just in. We're open every day this season, and we'd love to see you. Hot cider and good cheer awaits for your little shopping adventure!

Gorgeous trays in several sizes (these look great on the mantel when you're not using them).

Woodland deer tray in the square size. Love this one!

Felt snowbirds dressed for the season.

Red Amaryllis soy candle from Archipelago: just fabulous.

Lots of new pewter spreaders and salt jars, made in Canada.

French olivewood cheese board (absolutely gorgeous).

Vintage cocktail shakers (one in front is a golf trophy) and some of our swanky martini glasses.

Love love love these birch champagne flutes (wine glasses, too).

Beautiful Wendell August serving pieces, made in the US.

Cute felt toadstool for your tree (or package topper).

Lots and lots of great napkins for your holiday soirées.

Cozy throws in delicious colors.

Tiramani is all back in stock (including the foaming bath gel).

Sweet mushroom ornament.

Succulents, books, airplants for the gardener in the family.

Snowy cottages for your table or mantel.

Tin shrine for your collections.

Hand painted, hand carved Peruvian retablos with your favorite saints.

Snowy owl ornaments; so sweet.

Soirée/fundraising results... and a really good pometini recipe

Last Saturday (December 1) we held our annual Pomegranate Soirée/Open House/Day of Giving Back, and wow, was it fun! Probably our busiest day of the year, and it never stopped for a second. We wrapped, we dashed, we served food and champagne and some of the best Pometinis ever. And we raised $800 for the Humane Society, too! Our pledge is to give 10% of the day's sales to our charity, which ended up being $750. Then there was an extra $50 from some of our dear customers who chipped in extra (or couldn't come to the event, but donated earlier anyway) – we so appreciate your thoughtfulness. Yep, a great day all around. We plowed through half a dozen bottles of champagne, Robert served up something like 120+ Pometinis (recipe below) from his gorgeous ice bar, and a good time was had by all.

It's taken a few days to restock and regroup, but we're getting there. Lots of fun new items, and many more arriving daily, from ornaments to great gifts and stocking stuffers.

Here's Robert's recipe for a good Pometini. For our Soirée drinks, he used a dash of Wild Turkey, and that really added some depth to it, without overpowering the flavor.

For each person, you’ll need:
2 oz good quality gin or vodka
1/2 oz good triple sec
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 to 3/4 oz “pom wonderful” pomegranate juice

Chill your nice martini glasses in the freezer. Shake all ingredients above with ice; strain into the frosty glasses and garnish with lime slice. Option: add a thimble of Glenlivet or Wild Turkey (before shaking) or a dash of champagne (after pouring, as a little “float”). If desired, you could substitute 1/4 oz agave syrup for the triple sec.

You can also find this (and other recipes) on our website at www.pomegranate-home.com.

Cheers!

End of the evening at the ice bar: one Pometini left (which I happily consumed).

The ice (lighted from below) was silky smooth: good enough to slide a full glass across it. No spills reported.

Lots of treats to eat (including our homemade spicy nuts).

Open House & Soirée today at Pomegranate

Today is our annual Open House/Soirée/Day of Giving Back at Pomegranate. In which we bring in goodies, treats, libations, and lots of good cheer. There's new merchandise we saved for the occasion, prizes, champagne, hot cider... and Robert's special Pometinis from 4-7. Does it get better than that? Yes: today we're donating ten percent of all sales to The Humane Society of Central Oregon, so we hope to make it a really big day! Shop is open 10-7, and (phew!) the weather looks fairly promising... but we'll have two canopies (and a fire pit) set up outdoors just in case. Shop local, friends. And enjoy some libations and treats while you're at it!

Here are some last minute pictures of things we just brought in last night:

Snowgirl...so sweet.

Dammit Dolls: everyone needs one of these!

Glass tealight logs and pinecone candles.

Snowmen awaiting your mantel.

Felt mousies for your tree.

Vintage Christmas baby shoes from the 50s.

Loving lavender all over again: new line at Pomegranate

Last month I added a new spot to my 'happy places' list. Go ahead, laugh at how silly that sounds, but when I'm having trouble sleeping, I dredge up these places and think about being there. And then I fall asleep, content.

My new place is Matanzas Creek Winery in the Bennett Valley area of Sonoma. We were lucky enough to visit them last month at the tail end of our family road trip. It's a lovely winery (with great wines) set in this gorgeous location with vineyards and mounds of lavender spread out like a velvety skirt below the tasting room. The tasting room is serene and contemporary and features – aside from their delicious wines – a line of products made from their own estate-grown lavender. We loved it all (including the packaging) and thought it would be a great addition to our offerings at Pomegranate. A little piece of lavender heaven from Sonoma.

And here it is! I love the lavender body butter in that sweet little jar. It smells wonderful, and goes a long way. When my hands are really dry (all the time), I rub some of that in and feel instantly better. We also have a lavender/chamomile butter, lavender lotion and soap, and lavender essential oil in a little roll-on vial.

Here's what I learned about lavender oil (in the past I never really knew what you were supposed to do with it, so we didn't carry it). Not only does it smell great (and is very soothing), it is a natural topical antibiotic, so you can keep a vial in the kitchen for burns or cuts. Apparently it's what many soldiers used in WWII to help heal wounds.

In the culinary department, we also brought in their great little tins of Herbes de Provence (with lavender, of course), a fabulous dry rub, and culinary lavender. All of which make great gifts. And here's something we learned about culinary lavender: a little goes a long way. If you want to dress up a plain goat cheese, just make a little row of culinary lavender buds along the top, but not too much. About one little bud per taste is enough. What makes it culinary? It's organic, for one, and it has to be the right variety of lavender. In our little educational tour at Matanzas, we tasted different varieties of lavender, and some are outright bitter... so don't just use any old lavender growing at home.

It all just arrived at Pomegranate. Here are a few pictures.

I wanted to move into this barn with hundreds of lavender bunches drying in the rafters. Just give me a little cot and I'll be happy...

Inside the barn with all the lavender products. Heaven!

Lavender body butter is rich and soothing.

Lavender/chamomile butter comes in a great box.

Lavender essential oil in tiny vial.

Hand-crafted lavender soaps wrapped in beautiful paper.

Culinary lavender and herbes de provence in tins.

Favorite new must-have on my nightstand.

Open for business, and yet...

I'm working at home today; just called Robert at the shop and asked, "So, are you swamped?"

I was expecting to hear a resounding yes, but instead he told me to check email. And there it is, a giant truck with a blown starter motor, a bit jackknifed and completely blocking our little driveway. Apparently the giant tow truck is now blocking what was left of any access. Not sure what they're going to do, but if you're an intrepid hunter and want to visit Pomegranate today, you'll have to park at Macy's and walk across. At least the rain let up a bit.

Sigh.

{Later: we ended up having a really great day anyway. Determined shoppers parked across the street and made their way over, truck or no truck. We thank you!}

Vintage offerings at Pomegranate

We returned not too long ago from a wonderful friends and family vacation, and filled our car with finds along the way (we barely missed having to tie stuff on the roof). We are compelled to shop everywhere we go. And so we bring you just a little taste of some of our new vintage items... many more to come (as soon as we find room for them in the shop).

We gathered a little collection of beautiful vintage cloisonné pieces, plus a few hand-painted Russian boxes.

Vintage lacquer box, industrial letters.

Spaniel doorstop, very old, very heavy. Home from the hunt?

1890's brown English transferware (wonderful for  your Thanksgiving table).