bring the look of the souk to your abode with ease, ceramics…

Elegantly rustic, exotic handmade ceramics could be found throughout the souks of Marrakech. These shapes, glazes and patterns have been present for centuries in this area. Aside from being beautiful to look at and therefore display, many also have great functionality. I’ve loved curating and using some of this traditional pottery at home, and you can too, with ease, read on to see how.

I could have bought this entire heap of tagines to use for a giant dinner party or just to put on display, but they wouldn’t have fit into my suitcase very well. I just love the rough finishes, elegant shapes and functional efficiencies of these vessels. Tagines may be the original slow cooker. For hundred of years, they’ve been propped over fire pits in Northern Africa and beyond, the base filled with meats, chickpeas, preserved lemons, olives, herbs and spices that were allowed to bubble away over the flames. As the steamy heat built, the conical lid returns the liquid to the food below, keeping all of the moisture and flavor trapped in the clay container.

Eventually, tough meats became melt~in~your mouth tender and the flavors of the ingredients blended together to create a complex, soul~satisfying stew. I love using and gazing at the Tagines I have on display in my kitchen {top shot}, I bought the navy glazed one from Le Souk Ceramiques, click on cookable tagines to see their offering of stunning handpainted tagines they’ve imported from Tunisa. To understand just how easily one can make an amazing dinner in one of these pots at home click on A Tagine on a Rainy Day in Antibes , and for even more delicious inspiration click on Tagine Recipes.

You can also find mini tagines in the Souks, the Herboristes use them for display and to package some of their concoctions. Amassaffah gave me one that was lined with the dried tint of poppies to use as a lip stain. I have a set of mini tagines like these {see top shot} and use them as salt cellars in my kitchen and on the table.

What do you think of Greeney, the Pantone Color of the year for 2017? I love it, it’s such a refreshing shade that will go with most anything.

This stunning display of lovely hand made and glazed ceramics are a beautiful blend of “greenery” {the color on the left below} and “treetop” {on the right below}, another gorgeous color Pantone is featuring this year. I was lusting over the green tagine in the lower right hand corner.

The display of decorative plates on this store front definitely caught my eye, but what I was really seeking were some neat little oil burning diffusers I’d seen at several restaurants and hotels during our stay.

This fellow had them in abundance, I bought a couple glazed in navy and just love them. Here’s how they work: the top is a little dish that holds a splash of water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil; light a tea light in the bottom section and within minutes your scent of choice will be wafting through your abode.

Simply brilliant.

The flickering candle showing through the cut out designs evokes thoughts of exotic nomadic tents in the desert on a starry night for me.

Here is a Navy Ceramic Oil Diffuser that’s similar to mine, and look at this chic little white oil burner from Rain, I also love this elegantly carved soapstone oil diffuser. These tea lights in a clear cup look much better than those in metal cups. There are many essential oils to choose from, I usually buy mine at Pharmaca but there plenty of on~line sources as well. Right now I am burning this Jasmine Essential Oil, and the rich floral scent is absolutely dreamy, one of my other favorite’s is Geranium Essential Oil, I find it to be very uplifting, the scent of this Orange Blossom Oil reminds me of dinners we had beneath the citrus trees in Marrakech.

What are your favorite scents?