Blue Willow Kitchen began in 2020 as a mother-daughter pair, Echo and Caroline, sharing perfected recipes, the art of the tea table, and a love for all things blue and white.

Echo had been fighting cancer since 2011. Together, Caroline and Echo worked together to record as much family cooking knowledge as they could before Caroline couldn’t readily ask her mother questions anymore. They wanted to make sure that there weren’t any “lost” recipes, and that all of their memories were saved in the clouds of the internet. 

After Echo passed away in 2022, Caroline continued Blue Willow Kitchen to honor to all of the mothers of her family who have had to “figure it all out” before her; and to carry on, making new memories, recipes, and traditions along the way. 

Blue Willow Kitchen is dedicated to everything they both spent our lives developing an appreciation for: hosting afternoon tea, creating tablescapes, doing things the old-school way, growing your own garden, researching historical decorative arts, planning menus, learning essential kitchen techniques, and entertaining.

Echo R. Fling was a New Jersey-based author, photographer, retired marketing professional, and cancer warrior. She was happily married more than thirty years to a most amiable taste tester. 

Her food blog, The Plucky Gastronome, ran from February 2010 to July 2013.

 

 

Caroline J. Halfinger is a museum director, history adjunct, decorative arts enthusiast, recovering picky-eater, and Echo’s daughter. She lives in southern New Jersey with her husband, son, and adorable lapdog, Minnie. She wrote her senior thesis on American dinnerware. 

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This blog is a second generation of an original project begun in the summer of 2016. Link here