Welcome to December at the Estate

Recipes & Rituals from Stags Head Retreat

December arrives at Stags Head Retreat not quietly, but with its usual dramatic entrance: a gust of cold air, the scent of fir needles, and the unmistakable sound of someone dragging a tree through the orchard. (That someone is usually Rupert. He insists on the biggest one.)

Around the Grounds

The day after Thanksgiving, we march out to the pines and cut down our Christmas tree — a long-standing estate ritual in which at least one person pretends to measure the branches for symmetry while everyone else simply chooses the one that “feels charmingly lopsided.”

By dusk, the Fall Village in the Whiski Room has been lovingly packed away and replaced with the Christmas Village, complete with its tiny streetlamps, crooked cottages, and a suspiciously festive tavern scene. Crèches appear on mantels throughout the house, some traditional, some collected over years of wandering, all luminous in the soft candlelight.

The fireplaces crackle from morning until night, wreathed in the scent of orange, clove, and cinnamon simmering on the stovetop — the estate’s unofficial December perfume.

Rituals of Hospitality

December is the month when linen napkins rule the table. Even breakfast. Especially breakfast.

There is something about the cold, the candlelight, the procession of quiet rituals that calls for a bit of grandeur — even if the meal is simply buttered toast and a slice of last night’s Stollen.

And of course, throughout the estate, coupe glasses stand at attention: polished, ready, waiting for a celebratory toast at any moment. At SHR, the line between “ordinary Tuesday” and “champagne-worthy event” is perilously thin.

Tabitha “Tinsel” Tannenbaum Arrives

No December is complete without the annual arrival of our most sparkling house guest: Tabitha “Tinsel” Tannenbaum, who breezes through the front doors in a swirl of bows, snowflakes, and opinions about garland density.

If a wreath appears overnight on a barn door, or if the Whiski Room suddenly sports tinsel framing the bar cart… assume Tinsel had a hand in it. Rumor has it she even decorated the Christmas Village bakery after midnight, leaving behind a single silver sequin as her calling card.

In the Estate Kitchens

December is the most fragrant month in the Stags Head Retreat kitchens. Cookies are decorated with an enthusiasm bordering on competitive sport. Stollen bakes in heavy, golden loaves dusted with powdered sugar like fresh snow.

Great sheets of toffee and peanut brittle crack across marble counters. Eggnog pound cakes — wrapped in parchment and tied with velvet ribbon — are prepared for gift-giving, house calls, and unexpected visitors. (We have many.)

And through it all, music plays, fires roar, dogs snore, and the whole estate feels wrapped in a soft, shimmering hush.

A Toast to the Season

As we settle into December, we invite you to wander the estate rooms, peek into the Whiski Room’s Christmas Village, and linger in the warm glow of the Guest Cottage.

The coupes are ready.

The fire is lit.

And the month has only just begun.