MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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I love this year's Christmas card.  Erik designed them and I letterpressed each one by hand (thanks to a very generous friend who owns a press).  We hope it conveys a bit of the true meaning of the season.

SCENES FROM A HOLIDAY

I had it in my head that I would do a bunch of Christmas-y posts this month, but I've been too busy doing Christmas-y things!  Right now I am in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana (we are expecting snow today and tomorrow!)  It is so great to be with my whole family and Erik; eating, playing games, and cracking up.  Here are some pictures from the past several weeks (both California and Indiana).  I love this time of year so much.  Merry Christmas to all my friends and family!

CARD WREATH

I made a really fun craft last week; a Christmas card wreath!  I found it in this month's Living (pg. 78), though they recycled the idea from a '02 issue.  Here is how you make it: buy a 14-inch wooden embroidery hoop (I couldn't find that size and used a larger one; it worked fine) and a bag of mini wooden clothespins.  Affix the clothespins to the hoop with wood glue, alternating the pins outward and inward.  Space them about 1.5 inches apart for the 14-inch hoop, and more for larger hoops.  Suspend the wreath from a ribbon and clip on cards!  Mine doesn't have too many cards yet.  For now I hung up my prized Wiener Werkstatte (!!) inspired postcards I got from the Neue Gallerie several years ago.  Send me cards so I can fill it up!  :)

IT'S CHRISTMASTIME

We had some family over this week to decorate our little tree and the rest of our house. We drank eggnog and made homemade donuts (fried Pillsbury biscuits coated in sugar and cinnamon), listened to Christmas music, and had so much fun! Things are very festive this year; we have lights up in almost every room in the house. I loved it all, but the best part might have been getting out my Christmas book collection.  The collection is still relatively small but I try to add to it every year.  I am going to try to post about some of my favorites during the month of December.

I made these argyle stockings the first year we spent Christmas together as a married couple.  I traced a real sock and then enlarged that shape to make a template; I used a heavy red fabric that was close to felt for the main body.  I then attached the white diamond shapes using the "iron-on" method.  The green stripes are embroidery string.  I love these stocking but will probably end up knitting some larger ones in the future (we like stocking stuffers in this house).

THANKSGIVING THANKS

We were so lucky to spend Thanksgiving Day with very good friends in the magical world of Yosemite National Park.  We left early Thanksgiving morning and made the 3.5 hour drive to the park.  There was snow!!  We even had to put chains on the tires!  The whole place was covered in heavy snow and looked like it belonged in a snow globe.  As if the natural beauty wasn't enough, we dined in the famed Ahwahnee Lodge.  Built in the 1920s, it is truly the "jewel in the crown" of the park.  We couldn't get enough of the architecture (perfect!) and the Thanksgiving feast was one of the most memorable meals I have ever had.  After dinner we finished our time there with a hike to the falls, and on the way back we got to see the setting sun turn the top of one of the mountains bright pink.  So beautiful.  The drive home was filled with good conversation, happy hearts, and full stomachs.  We are so thankful for our wonderful friends for giving us an experience will we never forget.

GREY

It is finally getting "cold" in northern California.  Though I can't complain about the beautiful weather here, I still feel an almost wistful jealousy when I hear of my friends and family getting blizzards and bundling up to go out Christmas shopping.  I have always loved the snow, and winter, and Christmastime, so it is strange being in a place with no real seasons.  Still, I have been staying busy doing some cozy crafts; making Erik a grey cardigan for Christmas (that is a sleeve up there) and sewing a grey corduroy scarf.  (I love all things grey; the most prime example being shown in the below picture).  Hope everyone is having a cozy early winter no matter where you might be! 

BUTTER TARTS

When Erik lived in Toronto, he came to love the many snacks and sweets that Canada has to offer.  Among such delights as All-Dressed potato chips (!!!!!) and the Crunchie bar, is the butter tart.  They are very ubiquitous in Canada; the first one I had was in Montreal. I wasn't too impressed, but later had a much better one that our friend brought us back from Vancouver.  YUM!  We wanted to make a fun dessert for our friend last night and found a recipe online that received very good reviews.  I added on my best pastry crust recipe and made Canadian Heaven on earth.  Oh, man.  I am telling you; these are amazing.  You will kill yourself you will want to eat so many.  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients

• pie pastry ( enough to fill 16 muffin cups, your own or from a mix)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1. Prepare muffin pans by rolling out pie dough and cutting 4-inch (approx) circles; fit dough circles into muffin cups; set aside in fridge until ready to fill.
2. In a small bowl, place raisins and cover with hot tap water; let stand on the counter for 30 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the soft butter, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup; stir well until sugar is dissolved and butter is creamed.
4. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
5. Drain raisins.
6. Retrieve tart shells and divide raisins equally into all shells; then divide butter mixture into all tarts.
7. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes; filling will be lightly browned but still bubbling.
8. Canadians fall into two camps about butter tarts and are quite loyal to their favourite type: runny or firm.
9. If you like runny-- the type that dribbles when you bite into one, cook about 15 minutes; if you like firm, bake them for the full 20 minutes, even adding another minute or two if you wish.
10. Let cooked butter tarts cool in pans for 10 minutes after removing from oven; then remove and place on racks until completely cool.

PARIS IN THE FALL

I put pictures on Facebook and sent pictures to my family, but I am still so obsessed with our recent trip to Paris, I thought I would make a blog post too.  It was the perfect trip.  The weather was amazing everyday and fall colors were everywhere, making the sky even bluer.  We had such a wonderful time returning to the place of our honeymoon, and it was just what we needed after a very hard year.  Life is so good.  Even when it is sad, it is happy.

 

 

WEEKNIGHT DIN-DIN

I love to cook, but sometimes thinking up new ideas all the time is a pain.  I think I feel a lot of pressure to try something new every time, but I probably shouldn't.  I mean, my mom put things like beef stroganoff, chipped beef on toast, and tuna casserole in very heavy rotation, and I certainly didn't complain.  A dish that I make all the time is Roast Chicken and Asparagus with Tahini Sauce from the new-ish Gourmet Today cookbook.  It is very easy and so so good.  The chicken turns out juicy and tender because of the cooking method, it is packed with flavor, and is fairly healthy.  Serving it with a crusty bread is a must since you will want to mop up all the sauce.

You can find the recipe here.  My only suggestion would be to use the ready-made tahini sauce at Trader Joe's instead of the regular tahini paste and just add less water.  It makes it even better!

STAMPS

I learned about making stamp collages from my friend, Abby.  She let me know that stamp fairs aren't just for middle-aged guys, and ever since, I've enjoyed collecting sheets of vintage stamps (they are always worth face value).   I love putting together little collages for many special-occasion mailings. Below are a few examples.  I seriously love stamps.

POINT LOBOS

I was looking through some photos from this past summer of our trip to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, near Carmel. The pictures were so beautiful and moody I decided to post a few. We loved it there and spent the whole day hiking the trails and exploring the tide pools (that's a starfish in the second picture down).  It is a small but breathtaking place; varied in plant life, wildlife, and landscape.  If you get a chance to visit this park, do it. I want to go back soon, especially after I found out that it was used as a location to shoot many scenes from one of my favorite movies, Hitchcock's Rebecca!