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A Real Christmas Tree

Maddie is 12 this year, and so is our artificial tree.  As you can imagine, it's looking a little scraggly.  I didn't really want to get another artificial tree -- they get kind of musty after a few years in the attic or basement and I don't really like the perfect look of them.  

We bought our tree at Bengston's Tree Farm -- a local-ish small farm which I am happy to support.  And from what I understand, a real tree is better for the enviroment (if only marginally).  

It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at all the trees, and cutting the tree down was a breeze as the saw they provided was well sharpened.  At the farm we visited, you cut the tree and they come around with a truck to pick it up and bring it back to your car for you after they shake it (to get out loose needles and any debris) and bail it.

The nearly 9 ft. tall tree actually fit in my Honda FIT (love my car!!), so we didn't have to worry about securing it to the roof.

I suppose we could have kept it in a bucket of water in the vestibule, which is unheated, until the next day, but we forged ahead.

Oops!  A little too tall, but I figured that top bit would have to come off.  This is a Caanan Fir, which is tall, somewhat narrow and more open -- perfect for hanging ornaments.  

After some lights, ornaments and old fashioned tinsel...

Our tree!

Gluten Free Spritz

Yum!  More on these at Going Gluten Free.

Homemade Irish Cream

I have a list -- a list of festive holiday things  -- and this week, since Pete is off work, we are planning on checking off a few of the items.  One item we checked off was homemade Irish Cream!

Pete and I both enjoy having a glass of Bailey's at the holidays, so I thought it might be fun to make some from scratch.  I found out that it was super easy and ridiculously delicious.  So much yummier than the premade stuff!

There are a bunch of recipes out there, but they are mostly all about the same.  Here's a recipe I cobbled together to create my own version:

Holiday Irish Cream Recipe

1 cup Jameson's Irish Whiskey

1 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Tbsp. good quality Chocolate Syrup

2 tsp. Espresso Powder (I get mine from King Arthur Flour)

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Blend everything except the whipping cream in a blender for about a minute.  Add the whipping cream and blend until combined (only a few seconds).

Pour into a pretty bottle or jar and refrigerate.  Shake before using.  Should keep for about 3-4 weeks.

 

The Holidays Approach

I have a love/hate relationship with the Holidays.  As I get older, however, I seem to be learning to enjoy them more and more.  I especially love the planning -- heck, I love planning anything and everything (just ask my poor family!)  As you can see, I've pulled out the old holiday issues of Everyday Food.  (Did you hear that the magazine is shutting down/getting incorporated into Living?  I'm so sad!)  I'm making my holiday baking list, so expect more food posts in the coming days!

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Every year my family gets together for the annual pumpkin carving contest.  My mom makes chili and my sisters, brother-in-laws, niece and nephews carve up some pumpkins.  It's a super fun family tradition for grown ups and kids.

After we carve up the pumpkins, we line them up and everyone votes on the best ones.  (No voting for yourself!)

This year's winner was Maddie's pumpkin!!  Not bad, considering this is only her second year carving and this year she did all the designing and carving on her own.

And I came in second!  Exciting stuff!

And here's Pete's pumpkin -- doesn't it remind you of Bert, as in Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street?

Time flies...

I've been so busy with Summer that I completely forgot to post for about a month.  So what have I been doing?  Watering the garden -- a lot.  We're in the middle of a drought here, and while we never water the lawn, I do try to keep the veggies from wilting. (Heh!  I call it a lawn but it is primarily what some might call weeds.  But heck, the weeds are greener than everyone elses grass!)

I also went berry picking again -- raspberries this time -- and made some raspberry jam and raspberry sauce which was excellent on ice cream!

We also went to my mother-in-law's for the annual family picnic and had a great time playing bocce ball and ladder ball.

I had an awesome garage sale find -- an Epiphone Les Paul guitar!!  So now I'm learning to play, which is fun and a little intimidating (especially since Maddie, who is only 11 is already a very good guitar player).

And of course there was the 4th of July which we celebrated yesterday with some good food, fireworks and a visit to my Mom's place on the river for an afternoon boat ride.

I've also been reading, but I need to do an entire post to get all that logged.  And I'm looking for a new knitting project -- something fun and easy with a enough going to to keep my interest.  Any thoughts fellow knitters?  I'm thinking of doing the Stephen West mystery shawl kal, but don't have suitable yarn in the stash.  Perhaps it's time to enhance the stash.

So Cliche

I bought a treadmill -- on New Year's Day.  Is there anything more cliche than that?  And my New Year's resolution?  To read blogs while walking on said treadmill. (Thus, hopefully, spending less time online and keeping fit.)  If I'm not on the treadmill -- I don't want to be surfing the net.  (I bought the NordicTrack C900, btw.)

As a result of some health issues, I haven't been able to fully participate in my usual workouts -- Pilates and yoga (acid reflux issues) and my elliptical machine (hip flexor pain and tightness).  I love to walk and did so in the Summer, but I'm not a fan of inclement weather.  I think the treadmill will be a perfect fit since I can use it while on the computer or while reading on my iPad.

On this first day of the New Year, I'm actually looking forward to making some changes in my life:  finding out what I want to do as career now that Maddie is getting older, working on getting the house organized, and selling some of the items I have sitting in bins in my spare room.  I plan to read a lot, continue my exploration of gluten free baking and cooking, and step away from the computer and toward some of the creative projects that have languished this past year.

Happy New Year!  May 2012 be a super year!

 

Kitchen Success!

Lots of baking and such in the kitchen yesterday.  First up we have Spiced Pecans from this wonderful recipe.

And homemade marshmallows -- or marshies, as we like to call them -- from Alton Brown's recipe. 

And finally, Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies -- based on this recipe, but obviously modified.

Today I wrap!

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

I made gluten free Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and I have to say, it went pretty well.  Of course we will all be going to my mom's on the actual Turkey day, but since there is a lot of gluten involved in the traditional meal, Maddie and I will be unable to truly stuff ourselves.

For our mini Thanksgiving I made a half turkey breast, stuffing (made with gluten free bread), mashed potatoes, gravy and fresh cranberry sauce.  The turkey cooked in about 1 1/2 hours and was quite moist for being just white meat, and the stuffing was reminiscent of my mom's stuffing, although not as good.

As for the cranberry sauce -- make your own if you have 10 minutes to spare.  Really, that's all it takes and I think it's quite a bit beter than that canned stuff.  Here's what you do... get a bag of cranberries, boil a cup of water + a cup of sugar.  Add the cranberries, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  The cranberries will pop, so may I suggest one of those spatter screens.

One bag of cranberries resulted in this much sauce -- enough for our mini gluten free Thanksgiving, a small jar for the freezer and another jar to take to my mom's for Thanksgiving.

Oh, and remember that lemon curd I made?  I made some mini gluten free scones and we ate them this past weekend too.  Super yummy!

Being Festive & Fall-ish

 

Maddie's pumpkin is on the far left, Pete's is in the foreground and mine is 5th from the left.

This was my pumpkin all lit up.

Friday night was our annual pumpkin carving contest at my mom's house.  I was super excited to win 2nd place!  I usually never get any votes (except for the occasional sympathy vote from Pete), so I was shocked to be in the running this year.

I also had some baking time this weekend, so I made some awesome peanut butter sandwich cookies.  I based them off some recipes that all led back to Thomas Keller's Nutter Butter Cookie recipe.  I used more peanut butter than butter (and salt -- which is not listed in the one recipe?!?) and had to make them GF, of course.  They are super yummy!

And last night I made Broccoli Cheddar soup -- the one that was on the cover of Food Network Magazine.  I have to say that the recipes from the Food Network Kitchen are usually a winner, so I'm guessing they are well tested.  I actually have better luck with these recipes than some from the network's "chef stars".  Be warned though, they say this soup can be made in 35 minutes, and that is just not true.  Even with Pete helping with potato peeling and clean up, it took about double that amount of time.  It was yummy though.

The Calm Before the Storm

The second half of September gives us a bit of a breather -- Summer is winding down, we're back to homeschooling and the craziness of October has not yet hit. 

I'm taking some time to get ahead of the game.  Heck, I even bought Maddie's Halloween costume already!  I'm also trying to take some time to do activities that I enjoy, but have neglected becasue of the summer heat.  I actually worked on my log cabin quilt yesterday and I'm hoping to pick up the knitting needles this evening. 

Ah autumn, how I love you!

Mother's Day

When writing the title for today's post, I actually looked up the correct spelling of Mother's Day.  I thought for sure that it should be Mothers' Day, but apparently the creator of the holiday -- Anna Jarvis -- wanted the spelling to be singular possessive as she meant for each family to honor their own mothers, rather than the mothers of the world.  (BTW, everything I've read points to the fact that she was distraught over the commercialization of the holiday.)

My weekend included flowers, donuts*, Catan and other good things, but most of all time with my daughter -- who turned me into the crazy mother that I am.  (Best time was probably pulling weeds with her in the garden -- no kidding!)

* If you want to know more about the homemade gluten free donuts -- I have a posting up at Going Gluten-Free.

Busy with Easter stuff

Busy with Easter egg hunts and searching for Easter baskets as well as eating and drinking, of course!

I didn't take a photo of the potatoes I made for Easter dinner, but I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for Perfect Potatoes au Gratin and they were easy and delicious!  Definitely one to add to the recipe file. 

Sort of Irish

I've got a good bit of Irish in me from my Mom's side and growing up I remember her making Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's Day.  When I grew up and moved out, I really missed eating this every year, so I eventually decided to try making it myself.  It's actually super simple, but you have to cook it a *long* time.  Most recipes seem to recommend 2 - 2 1/2  hours, but I think you need to simmer the meat for close to 4 hours.

I also attempted a Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread (which I based on the one here) and it turned out pretty well.  In fact, I'm off to go toast a piece...

Day #12 of this cold/flu thing...

Christmas has come and gone in a blur -- literally.  I'm still fighting the tail end of this illness and can't seem to kick the low grade fever. 

 

We had a beautiful snowfall here which really made it feel like Christmas.  Pete and Maddie took advantage and did a little sledding around the yard.  All this beautiful snow is gone now though, as the temp is up to a bizarre 52º.  We even had an extremely loud thunderstorm this morning! 

I've been trying to spend my free time here -- in bed with the kitties -- in an attempt to get well.  They really know how to relax!

Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Holiday Partying

Over the weekend we had our family progressive holiday dinner -- where we go from house to house eating, drinking and letting the kids open presents.  I'm very fortunate in that all three of my sisters and my mom live near one another and we can do this kind of thing.  I love seeing all their homes decorated!

In not so wonderful news, I woke up today with a sore throat.  While I am trying to convince myself that I am not getting sick, it's looking more like I am as the day progresses.  (The workout, hot shower, Emergen-C regime did not help in the least.)  My shopping is done though, and almost all of my wrapping.  Perhaps I should look at this as a reason to snuggle under the blankets with a cup of tea and a good book, and forget everything else. 

Dala Horse Love

My husband is Swedish and when I married him, I was introduced to many Swedish things.  Yes, I've tried lutefisk (not awful if covered in cream sauce), and Bond-ost and Glogg -- both of which I plan on having at my mother-in-law's this holiday season.  But my favorite Swedish thing is the Dala horse. 

On our most recent trip to The Gift Box, Pete got me this wonderful orange Dala horse dish which I am loving, but I still don't have an actual Dala horse of my own.  We do have quite a collection though:

Yes, there are two bulls down on the far end -- I believe the different animals represent different regions of Sweden and perhaps my husband's family comes from the region represented by the bull (but he can correct me here).  The black horse is a very special gift -- an antique given to Maddie by her Farfar before he passed away.

And while we are on the subject of Swedish things...

Here's our Swedish Christmas tree.

Another Holiday Gift Suggestion!

Maddie has ThinkFun Rush Hour and loves playing with it -- and I have to admit that I enjoy it too! A great puzzle game that kids can play on their own, plus it has different difficulty levels, so they can work their way up.

It's an Amazon Cyber Week Deal right now, but even at their regular discount, it's a great buy.

Old School Video Games -- Mario Style

Here's one for all you old school gamers! Mario is 25 years old this year and Nintendo is releasing Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii. It's a limited Edition game that includes four of the old games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, & Super Mario Bros. 3.

My daughter has been playing some of these games which she downloaded from the Wii Shop Chanel and she's loving them, so they are definitely not just for us old folks.

If you are an uber Mario fan, Nintendo has also released a Special Mario Edition DSi XL and a fancy Mario themed Wii!

Speaking of Harry Potter

A great gift for the Harry Potter fan who doesn't have the movies yet -- Amazon.com has a (pre) Black Friday deal! You can get all 6 previous movies on Blu-ray or DVD for cheap!

Holiday Kid Gift Guide

Maybe you are like me, and you have lots of kids to get gifts for each holiday season.  But what to get them?  I'm going to give you some of my ideas, in case you are struggling to find the perfect gift.

DVDs are always great, and this year the big kids movie is Toy Story 3, which is perfect for all ages (and entertaining for adults too!)

Speaking of movies, the latest Harry Potter movie is out in theaters, and while you won't be able to get it on DVD for months, there are some great Harry Potter toys. We love LEGO in our house and they have lots of fun new games, including the LEGO Hogwarts Game.

Sometimes during the holiday craziness, it's nice to sit quietly and work on a puzzle. We love the quilaity of the Ravensburger puzzles and their Ravensburger Friends and Family Puzzle let everyone join in the fun. The puzzle is broken down into separate sections with different sized pieces -- a great idea!

I have lots more ideas -- especially when it comes to books and video games, so I'll write separate posts on each. And if you have a specific age range you need ideas for, let me know. I have nieces and nephews ranging in age from 3 to 25, so I probably have an idea for you!

Fireworks, backyard bonfires and s'mores

Luckily our local fireworks display was saved this year -- I think some cities around us lost theirs judging by the long line of cars trying to get on the highway after the show.  And while they were threatened by rain, the showers rolled through in the early evening and there was not much more than a few sprinkles around showtime.

While we were rather tired and cranky from the heat and activities of the previous day, the fireworks really perked us up! 

We finished up the festivities with some toasted marshmallows back at home while we listened to our neighbors shoot off a crazy amount of firecrackers and fireworks.  

Hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July!

What I've been up to...

...attending Easter egg hunts.

... reading sci-fi -- namely Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback. (This is the guy who wrote the book Flashforward -- yeah, that TV show is based on it.)

... playing video games -- namely Pokemon HeartGold as my daughter is a Pokemon fanatic -- seriously.  Name a Pokemon and she know all its stats. Plus lots of Wii Fit Plus since our vacation is coming up and I want to be able to eat any goodies I desire without any guilt.

... learning more Python -- most fun I've had with a programming language in ages.  May make a little GUI knitting counter for fun.

... battling pain.  I had a few good weeks and thought maybe I was miraculously cured -- HA!  Advil and the heating pad are once again my friends.

... drinking coffee -- hot one day and iced the next, because our weather is crazy here.  40's today = hot coffee.

Cinnamon Rolls -- a Thanksgiving Tradition

It seems that cinnamon rolls are becoming a Thanksgiving weekend tradition in our house.  This year I tried Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls and they were delicious!  I didn't do the boiling water in the oven thing that he recommends, but I did let these sit out for a few hours in the morning before baking them.  I baked them Thursday morning and we ate the last of them on Sunday.  Popping them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds made them as fresh and gooey as the day they were baked.  I'll definitely use this recipe again.

Black Friday Deal

I found this awesome deal at Amazon while I was looking at their Black Friday Deals. Basically you get the Nintendo DSi pre-loaded with 5 games for $15 less than the plain DSi with no pre-loaded games. (This is of particular interest to me since my DS lite finally gave out after years of daily play.) So just wanted to pass it along in case this is on the wish list of someone you know :)

Advent Calendar Time!

I'm obsessed with Advent Calendars. When I was young, our crafty neighbor made one of those felt advent calendars which was a tree, and it had all kinds of little felt ornaments which would be added one day at a time. With four kids in the house, we each got to take turns adding those ornaments. It seems like a simple thing, but it was so exciting as we got closer and closer to the big day.

This year Maddie has another LEGO City Advent Calendar.  She's had these in the past and loved them, so I knew it would be fun for her.  Each day you get a little model to put together -- perfect for my Lego obsessed child.

I have to admit that I want an advent calender for myself too, but I'm having some trouble deciding.  I was thinking chocolate -- traditional and good for someone who reviews chocolate, right?  But I'm having a difficult time finding a calendar with decent chocolate.  That nasty "chocolate" stuff that comes in most calendars is inedible as far as I'm concerned.  

I did see this Hachez Haus Advent Calendar on Amazon which looks like it might be promising.

And I could always make my own and add my favorite chocolates:

• Embroidered Felt Advent Calendar at Purl Bee
• Advent Calendar Pockets at Allsorts
• Quilted Advent Calendar at Sew, Mama, Sew

And there are some darn cute advent calendars for sale over at etsy.

Do you have advent calendar ideas?  I'd love to hear them!

Halloween

We made it through another crazy October.  Last week was our annual pumpkin carving contest and this year Maddie carved her first pumpkin -- it's the cute little one in the top row -- second from the right.  She did all the carving herself and I was proud of her, because she chose a white "pumpkin" and those things are hard!  the carving tools were completely bent up and destroyed when she was done.

Our nephew received a *giant* pumpkin from his "big" (he's in Big Bothers/Big Sisters) and he spent at least an hour cleaning the thing out.  It looked great all lit up on the porch at my mom's.

I lost the contest once again (mine is in the top row -- far right), but I'm used to it by now.

Maddie was a witch once again -- I think it's her third time and I'm convinced she does it for the dresses.  She has her old costumes and loves to dress up in them from time to time.

Here she is with her cousins, ready for some trick or treating.  The sumo costume was a real hit with everyone (but perhaps not so easy to walk in!)

Luckily we had dry weather here after many days of rain.  It was seriously chilly, but at least it was partly sunny.  All in all, a good year for trick-or-treating.

Happy Holidays!

Last minute gift -- Find It

Just a quick last minute gift idea! My sister bought Find It for each of the kids and they loved it! Maddie carried hers around all day. And the adults were getting into it too -- which is always fun. So I can highly recommend this gift for kids of pretty much any age. (There are even mini pillow versions for little kids.)

Holiday Punch (or a Very Martha Christmas)

It's been all about Martha Stewart around here. First there were the cookies -- oh, and btw, Maddie and I made two more batches of cookies from the book -- Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies and Grammies Chocolate Cookies which were both awesome! And then there was this punch which is from her website. It is the Southern Comfort Punch and everyone liked it. In fact, we drank the whole thing! I have to mention that I didn't put in nearly as much alcohol as she recommends  since I was the second to last house in the progressive brunch and we still had to drive (even if it was only 4 blocks to my Mom's house!)

Doesn't it look pretty in my thrifted punch bowl?

Fantasy Fudge

I mentioned my love for Fantasy Fudge in my last post and then I had a strong desire to make some -- so I did. It's one of those special things that only gets made at Christmas time which makes it all the more delicious. The original recipe came from Bambi -- our neighbor who was like a grandma to us. I always remember her making a tin of it this time of year, and after she moved away, we took over the tradition.

 

Here is the original recipe in my mom's hand. I photo copied a bunch of recipes from her cookbook a while back and I like seeing them in her handwriting so much, that I never copied them onto new recipe cards. I have made some changes, but the basics remain the same. Here is my version:

Fantasy Fudge 

Makes 1 9" X 13" pan or about 60 pieces.

Ingredients:

3 c. Sugar
3/4 c. Butter (1 1/2 sticks)
2/3 c. Evaporated Milk (Not sweetened condensed!)
1 12 oz. bag of good quality bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Jar Marshmallow Fluff (The kind in the glass jar, not plastic tub) approx. 2 c.
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 c. nuts of your choice -- optional

Combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a saucepan -- mixture will expand as it boils, so make sure the pan is large enough). Bring to a rolling boil on med high heat and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, marshmallow fluff, vanilla extract and nuts (if using).

Use a hand held beater to thoroughly mix ingredients -- make sure to scrape down sides and stir bottom corners of the pan several times.

Pour into parchment lined 9" X 13" pan. Leave on the counter to cool for about 1 hour then refrigerate an additional 1-2 hours before cutting.

Lift fudge and parchment out of pan and using a long knife (I use a big bread knife), cut into individual pieces. Store in layers separated by wax paper or parchment in a tin in the fridge.

I spent the weekend bowling, making aebleskiver and decorating the house for the holidays

So I don't have much to show here. Instead I will do a meme that my sister, Amanda, sent me via email over two weeks ago. . .

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper -- In fact, I'm coordinating all my packages this year. Plain red paper with black ribbon and black and natural straw ornaments.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial -- two actually. There is the big, traditional tree in the family room and a Swedish tree decorated with mostly straw ornaments and tomtes in the dining room. (I know, real trees are better for the environment if sustainably grown, but we bought the trees years ago.)
3. When do you put up the tree? near the beginning of December. We put it up yesterday (Dec. 8th).
4. When do you take the tree down? The beginning of January. Pete usually takes it down for me -- yeah! (I absolutely hate taking down the decorations, but enjoy putting them up.)
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, in moderation. I usually buy one carton so that I can make a few eggnog lattes during December.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmmmm. . . don't really remember -- probably Capsela or Legos.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Pete. He never really wants anything and the one thing he likes -- books -- he has *lots* of already.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Maddie -- kids at this age (she's 8) are into letting you know what they want!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Um, no. As atheists, we don't really get into that sort of thing.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail -- although we are pretty bad at getting them out. We did purchase cards at IKEA in November and I got some stamps last week, so we are part way there.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I'll try to be nice here and simply say that people should probably not buy me clothes. (Except for my mom -- she buys us great jammies every year!)
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? New-ish: The Polar Express (watched it yesterday!) Old-ish: It's a Wonderful Life.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December -- I purchased my first gift last week and I'm almost done today. I start creating a list on Amazon in November and then go online and purchase things as I finalize them. I love having it all shipped to me so I don't have to deal with carrying heavy packages and fighting crowds!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I've never re-gifted, but I have re-sold or taken some to a charity shop.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge! I make Bambi's Fantasy Fudge. Bambie was our neighbor when we were growing up and was like a grandma to us. She made the best fudge. I'll have to post the recipe here soon.
16. Lights on the tree? Yes. Colored on the big tree and all white on the little tree.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Hmmm. . . anything traditional and secular.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home! We go to my mom's which is about 4 blocks away and the weekend after Christmas we go to Pete's mom's for the day which is only about an hour away.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Sure! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen. And don't forget Rudolph!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel on one tree and star on the other.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both -- we have a lot of family!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Shopping. I don't normally like to shop, so you can imagine how I feel about shopping this time of year. Thank goodness for the internet!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Love traditional, Swedish ornaments -- hence the Swedish tree.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Hmmmm. . . My mom makes an AWESOME Thanksgiving dinner, but she doesn't have a specific Christmas dinner, so it varies from year to year. Lately she makes her famous stew on Christmas Eve which is delicious.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A happy, healthy family and for everyone to keep their jobs. I'd also like an end to the recession and world peace -- not too much to ask, right?

The Black Sheep Bags Holiday Party (or, what Maddie & I do while Pete is at the company Christmas party)

A good time was had by all (all being Maddie & I) at the annual Black Sheep Bags Holiday Party. Let me explain.

Each year Pete's company has a Christmas party -- when he worked at the company prior to his current one, they were extravagant, wild, free for alls (including exotic dancers for the men & women!) Spouses were never invited. It was a time for the employees to kick back and blow off steam or something. Don't get the wrong impression -- Pete is in finance, this was a commercial real estate company -- the owner was just a bit, um, interesting (maybe you've heard of him -- he is the current owner of the Chicago Trib and the Cubs too). Now Pete works at a straight laced bank and the parties are calmer, but spouses still aren't invited. So Maddie and I have our own party at home.

There was cookie making and decorating, and we watched Rudolph on TV while eating appetizers:

Yes, those are fish sticks -- Maddie insisted we have appetizers since it was a party -- and a fine dinner of mac & cheese from the box (a special treat for Maddie, not me) followed by card games -- Scrambled States 2 & good old fashioned Uno. (Those would be great stocking stuffers -- and I have to mention Wig Out! too which is a super fun card game!)

We ended the night by laying in bed reading, waiting for Pete to get home. It's a fun little tradition that I hope to continue for years to come.

Lego Advent Calendar

I love Legos -- LOVE them. Not only did I play with them as a child -- I have purchased them as an adult -- for myself. Luckily, Maddie is very much into Legos too, so I now have a partner in crime. In fact, today I purchased the LEGO City Advent Calendar for her (and me). I love that there is a little Lego project for each day of December!

And the free shipping from Amazon is perfect -- I swear I've been doing almost all my Christmas shopping through Amazon the last couple of years. This way, when I actually do go shopping at the holidays, it's more for fun -- and I don't have all the heavy packages to carry around (this has so helped my holiday spirit!!)

And to get back to the whole Lego thing. Last week Maddie turned 8 and I bought her the Lego Creator Beach House which is awesome! It makes 3 different houses and we've already put together 2 of them. I love this because Maddie really enjoys actually putting the things together (as do I) so a set that can be reconfigured in different ways was perfect for her.

Fun!!!

Potica

A true cottage industry -- potica!  Does anyone else out there eat this at Christmas?  We always had it growing up, but I wasn't sure if it was a Catholic thing or a Midwest thing or what.  After doing a bit of searching around on the web, it appears to be Slovenian in origin. 

Now first of all, it's delicious.  Maybe it's hard to tell from the photo, but it is made from a dough rolled very thin and then crushed nuts and honey (and other things I'm sure, but I don't know what) are added and then it's rolled up.  This creates *many* layers of goodness!

And you don't buy these at a store -- you don't even buy them at a bakery.  You need to find a local woman who knows how to make them and sells them at the holidays.  I love that idea!  Because of this, some poticas are more bread-y, some are more nutty, some are dryer -- it's very individual.  I'm sure the recipes are passed down in each family.

There are some recipes out there on the web, these are some that looked unique or had helpful illustrations:

• Potica Bread -- looks like a nice variation and makes a pretty loaf!
• Potica -- has instructions with photos
• Potica-Povitica -- a cookbook devoted entirely to Potica!  I've never seen this and don't know anything about the company publishing it -- but it looks interesting.

So, does anyone else out there eat Potica at the holidays?  And if you have a family recipe that you are willing to share, I would love to have it.  I just might try making my own some time for fun!

Pretty Much Finished

Whew!  The home remodeling stuff for this year is pretty much finished.  The painters left yesterday afternoon and by bedtime the tree was up.  What do you think of the new wall color?  Here is what it used to look like:

Quite a change, huh?  I guess it's pretty dramatic -- I think it looks like chocolate and was joking Pete that I wanted to lick the walls.  I think it works since the room is so big -- and is connected to the sun room, which makes it even bigger.

Speaking of the sun room. . . it's painted the same color. 

And here's a view from the family room, into the hallway and then the dining room.  The hallway used to be gold:

And the dining room used to be red -- now it's a sage-y green/grey:

Now for a few final photos of the office:

My awesome painter painted my wooden IKEA magazine holders to match the room color.  Now my built in looks so fancy!

And speaking of IKEA -- we got some amazing straw ornaments and I decorated my office with some of them:

And a close-up:

I just looped the ornament string around the string holding up one of the slats and then back around the tip of the ornament.  Kinda festive -- which I like since I usually reserve all my holiday decorating for the main part of the house (family room, dining room, hallway).

I'm so glad that this is finished (well, except for window treatments for almost all the first floor windows -- ugh!)  I feel like I have my house back after three weeks of having workers in and out.  It was so worth it though!

Halloween weirdness!

Can you see the jack o' lantern in my coffee?  How weird is that?!?!  Now I'd like to be able to brag that I am a master of latte art and I planned it that way, but I totally did not!

Every morning before school time, I make myself a latte and lately Maddie has a steamer (steamed milk with a touch of vanilla).  So this morning I filled my cup and her cup and had a little extra steamed milk left in the pitcher so I just swirled it over the top of my latte -- et voila!  A Halloween miracle!

Happy Halloween all!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

My grandmother on my mom's side was Irish, so I suppose I have a good bit of Irish in me.  Growing up my mom often made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day and I always loved it.  A special treat that only appeared once a year.  Since I've left home, I've tried making this dish a few times, but it was never quite as good as I remembered my mom's being.  This year I brought out the big heavy cast iron pot and started over 3 hours before dinner time.  This heavy pot and the long cooking time did the trick!  It was so good!

I also made some Irish bread.  And while not very authentic, it was delicious.  I made it in an angel food cake pan to cut down on cooking time -- thus the shape.  And if you are interested -- I used the recipe from the The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.  Sometimes you just need to forego the whole grains. (I also have their whole grain cookbook -- King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking -- which is awesome!)

And you can't for get the beer!  Some nice Irish Stout -- Beamish Irish Stout to be exact. 

I also made a non-Irish dessert -- the Salt Lick Bars that were posted over at Bake and Shake.  Yummy!  (Although I didn't use enough salt on the top.  I only had the fine grained sel de mare and really needed the flaked or larger grained stuff.)

Lots of crafting to photograph and talk about soon!  Knitting and Quilting and Cross Stich -- Oh My!

The Queen of Electronics

That's what Maddie calles me. And she's the Pricess of Electronics. So funny. Although I do feel a bit like the queen of Nintendo products right now. For Christmas I received this:

The elusive Nintendo DS Lite Coral Pink! Along with these cool games:

• Elite Beat Agents
• Clubhouse Games
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 March of the Minis

And Pete did everything he could to find a Nintendo Wii for me, but there were none to be found. He even waited out in the rain on New Year's Eve morning to try to get one -- but no luck. After running to another town Tuesday night and missing the shipment of Wii's at Meijers, I did a run yesterday to a local Target and found one! (There were only 2 left when I got there -- whew!)

Of course I had to get some games for this too:

• Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Woo-hoo!!

So, basically I've been playing video games -- thus not much to post on the blog. Now I'm off for a little more Zelda -- I'll be back when I find time to craft!

Happy Holidays!

Santa's Phone Number

Check this out if you have little ones! It's Santa's phone number: 800-972-6242

I guess every day there is a new message between now and Christmas. I listened to it first before I let Maddie call and it's cute! Santa tells the kids to behave and such -- Maddie thought it was cool.

BTW, I found this over at Moki's blog. She's been posting lots of holiday things this month.

Working on Episode 2!

I recorded episode two yesterday afternoon and I've been working on editing it and adding some music samples in little bits of free time today.  I'm going to let Pete take a listen to make sure I didn't miss anything and then I'll put it out there.  I also tried to make the Stitch-Cast site a little prettier this week. 

Today was a big day for Maddie.  The annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Every year they have a nice egg hunt in my Mom's neighborhood for the kids and grandkids.  All very friendly and fair.  It was a little chilly, but bright and sunny!

We also went out to the "country" to see my Mom's new cottage on the river and visited an old farm town.  Look at these cool Lustron fronted shops:

At least I think they're Lustron.  (Don't know what Lustron is?  There's info here and here of course.)

So that was our day.  Hopefully the second episode of Stitch-Cast will be up tomorrow!

Green

I almost posted this under the category "gardening" as I'm not much of a gardener and I have as much to do with the moss growing as with anything else in the yard.  Ah well. . .

Spring seems to have sprung around here.  The mosses and lichens are growing around the yard, and I have to say that one of the things I love about an old house is the history which produces such things.  We have little stone borders and walls here and there (some falling down) and the mosses really are very pretty when everything else is still grey and brown.

Why else would I have green on the mind? 

From a girl who's 25% Irish . . . Happy St. Pat's Day!

Santa was good to me. . .

I must have been a good girl this year because Santa brought me lots of wonderful things.  My favorite of them all is this beautiful Needle Tree that Theresa's Dad made.  Somehow Pete, Theresa & her dad conspired to have this beautiful work of art made just for me!  I could hardly believe it when I opened the package and saw it there!

Don't know what a Needle Tree is?  It's for holding your knitting needles, of course!  And holding them in style, I might add.  Theresa's dad made her one of these a while back and I have admired it *so* much!  I'm so flattered that her dad made one for me! 

I received lots of other goodies too!  (I'm spoiled -- really I am!)  Pete got me some CD's (Chutes too Narrow by The Shins & The Tyranny of Distance by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists -- both *excellent*), a super comfy robe, A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (my all time favorite author) and he's getting and assembling a new desk chair for me.  Don't I have a great husband?

Other favorite gifts -- lots of Origin's ginger stuff from my sister, MAC make-up brushes from my Mom and an awesome Le Creuset French oven (cast iron pot).  Yeah, I'm a lucky woman!

I almost forgot (probably because after I opened this gift it was taken away again for safe keeping) my Mom got my sisters and her tickets to see Wicked!!  It's going to be a girls day out -- to lunch and the show.  How fun is that?!?

Favorite gifts that I gave: The Final Solution print by Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine.  He is one of Pete & I's favorite artists.  And Jay Ryan's new book -- 100 posters, 134 Squirrels.  (Pete has been looking at this book a lot -- so I think I did good  :)

And of course it was fun getting gifts for Maddie.  She is so appreciative & filled with wonder at this age -- it's very fun. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone has a great holiday! I'm off to drink some glogg, watch some presents being opened and open a few myself maybe :)

The end of a tradition?

As most of you in the Chicago area know, Marshall Field's was bought by a big department store conglomerate and they are soon changing the name to Macy's.  This doesn't sit well with all the Chicagoans that I've talked to about it.  Despite this, we made our annual trek into Chicago to go eat in the Walnut Room at Field's by the big tree.  This year it was done all in silver and blue and the ornaments were from Swarovski.  It was gorgeous!

And the trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to Santa!  Here is Maddie proudly displaying her "I Saw Santa" pin. 

It was a lovely day (despite the migraine I had) and the lines weren't unbearable.  And now I have a stack of Frango boxes downstairs calling my name -- yum!

I stayed up late and read the first 4 chapters of Wendy Knits

.  I'm really enjoying it!  I'll give a full review as soon as I finish!

And tomorrow. . . coffee filter snowflakes!

Swedish Christmas

Here's my holiday table.  I took a picture going the other direction where you could see both trees lit up, but I'm afraid that the "candlelight" setting on my camera requires a *very* steady hand -- something I didn't have after 2 cups of glogg (more on glogg later. . .)

And here's our smorgasbord (did I spell that right, Pete?)  Swedish Christmas is heavy on the meat and starch.  From top to bottom we have: traditional rice pudding with lingon berries, jello salad, Swedish meatballs, potato sausage, ham, scalloped potatoes, limpa (Swedish rye) and cardamom tea rolls. 

Before dinner there were lots of snacks including Bond-Ost (a caraway seeded cheese) served with knacke bread (hardtack -- like rye krisp kind of).  Oh -- and Sil (pickled herring).   And of course there was glogg!  Glogg is a mulled red wine that you drink warm and it is so good!

The next morning we had cardamom braid and coffee cake from the Swedish Bakery -- yum!

It was lovely to have Pete's mom here for a few days and Pete was wonderful (& so was Maddie).  I will leave it at that, other than to say that I will not be having Swedish Christmas here next year.  I'm glad that I did it for Pete's mom's sake though.  Maybe her daughters will step up next year.

Swedish food resources:

• Swedish Bakery -- I had to have all the baked goods shipped to me from Swedish Bakery because there was bad weather the day we were supposed to go up to Chicago.  Everything arrived here in great condition -- well packed and fresh!  You can see pictures of most of their baked goods on the website.  I ordered cardamom braids, Andersonville coffee cake, limpa, cardamom tea rolls and cinnamon bread.  Yum!
• Wickstrom's -- Wickstrom's is also in Andersonville (in Chicago) and they are a Swedish deli.  You can get the Bond-Ost, Knacke Bread, Sil, Glogg mix and tons of other things.  I haven't ordered online from them, but I have shopped there in person and they are wonderful! 

Winter Wonderland!

We have two *huge* fir trees in the front yard and I love how they look covered in snow.  Up top is tree 1 and here is tree 2. . .

We are supposed to get 4-5 inches south of Chicago where I'm at and having just shoveled our drive and walkway, I can confirm that we have already gotten a couple of inches.  Here's a shot of my "kitchen" garden this afternoon. . .

I like to leave the stems because I think they look very cool in the winter all covered in snow.

And tonight is the Stamping Online / Black Sheep Bags Holiday Party!  I told Maddie this last night and I also told her that daddy couldn't come.  She looked at me incredulously saying -- He can't come?  You mean you won't let him into the house?  Yep, I said.  It was hysterical -- she couldn't believe what she was hearing!  In actuality it is Pete's company Christmas party tonight and he always jokes that Maddie and I hold our company party the same night. 

Ours will be much tamer than his if previous years are any indication.  See, Pete works for this real estate company in Chicago headed by a huge real estate tycoon (he's like the Chicago version of Donald Trump.)  And every year he throws a *bash* for his employees with his own money.  At these parties there are sometimes exotic dancers dancing around in their skivvies -- I kid you not!!  Needless to say the spouses are not invited.  I've seen pictures though and it is wild.

In contrast, Maddie and I will be hanging out, eating Mac & Cheese and relaxing.  We already had our outing to the bookstore earlier in the day in order to avoid the snowstorm.  Time to go knit!

A little bit of Swedish Christmas

Yesterday on our trip to IKEA I saw a lot of Swedish ornaments and I decided it was time to use our second christmas tree this year.  This is a whole Swedish tree and is sitting in the corner of out dining room.  Here's a close-up of a traditional Swedish ornament:

The straw ornaments are very traditional, as are the tomte's hanging from it.  Don't know what a tomte or tomten is?  See my post from last December.

Straw animals are popular too -- darn forgot to photograph our big straw reindeer!  But here is a picture of a cool straw wreath I bought at IKEA:

Pretty cool, huh?  And more Swedish Christmas info will follow.  I'm having the traditional Swedish Christmas dinner for all of Pete's family at my house this year, so I'll be sure to blog about that too!  And if you want to read more on your own, Pete's Mom got me the book Swedish Christmas by Catarina Lundgren Astrom a few years ago.  It has a lot of recipes for Swedish holiday goodies as well as some info on the traditions.

And I'm collecting info on Dala Horses too!  More on that soon!

Tomte

I've been meaning to post pictures of my Tomtes for ages and when Wendy posted about Swedish Christmas last week, I went into action.  Okay, not really.  After a couple of days I talked Pete into taking pictures for me, and now 3 days after that I'm finally posting. 

That picture up top is our biggest Tomte and he sits on the mantle.  Notice his lovely sweater! (which I did not knit.)  So, you're probably asking what a Tomte (or tomten) is.  Well, I found a definition of Tomte here and I found more Tomte info here.  But basically they are little elves that live in your house (on your farm. . . under the house. . .) and they are sometimes thought of as Santa or Santa's helpers.  Oh yeah, and they are Scandinavian.  Here's another. . .

This guy is a little smaller and more freindly looking! than the first one.  Our niece used to be scared of the Tomte in my in-laws house (he looked like the first one up there).

Then there are these little wooden tomtes (here's a website that sells all kinds of them) that come in all varieties.  The tall hat guy is Pete's and was given to him by a family friend years ago.  And here's mine. . .

We bought this a few weeks ago when we went up to Andersonville in Chicago.  While there we ate Swedish pankcakes with lingonberries at Svea and got lots of goodies from the Swedish Bakery. 

I must admit that I only have a touch of Norwegian in me.  However, Pete is almost entirely Swedish and I have loved learning about the Swedish heritage. 

And if you want a cute children's book about a Tomten  check out The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren it's one of Maddie's favorites!