Winter guide to the Hudson Valley
Stissing House Craft Feast & the story behind this year’s stockings
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As the season is already in full swing, it felt like the right moment to finally share my long-promised Hudson Valley guide with you all - the place that inspired this year’s stockings.
Two years ago, Deborah Needlemann and Clare de Boer invited me to join them for their very first Craft Feast at Stissing House in Pine Plains, upstate New York. If you don’t know of it, you must. And if you’re lucky enough to live closer than I do, you absolutely have to go. It’s a feast for the senses - for the eye, the tastebuds and the spirit.
Clare (hostess with the mostess) and her wonderful team prepare the most delicious little treats that drift around the house all weekend: from fresh oysters, warm homemade cheese puffs, Clare’s legendary chewy ginger cake… and so much more. It all started with a love for crafts and the artisans bringing work they’ve spent the entire year making. It’s rare to see craft honoured like this, so I felt really lucky to be a part of it.
No wonder the girl who starts repairing antique quilts for holiday stockings in June, felt at home here right away.
As in; finally, I found my people.
So in today’s letter, I thought I’d share from the top of my mind - where to stay, where to antique, where to eat and all my favorite makers from the market as well as a few other gems in the area. We were just there for a week the first year, and a few days disappeared into prep and finding our way around Manhattan - all that jazz. I had no idea what I was in for, but lucky to have the sweetest partner at the time, up for the adventure. Off we went. The result? A little edit of the perfect places and people we got to meet, simply because everything was in the area.