Right now, in this season I feel like I'm surrounded by yumminess.
Hot chocolate with whipped cream while decorating the Christmas tree--yummy (add a little chocolate liquor for the adults).
This morning Juniper wanted candy at breakfast. Mama: "Um no, candy is not a good choice for breakfast" Juniper: "OK, but hot chocolate is a healthy choice for breakfast because it makes you warm for these cold wintry days" Never mind that it was just over 30 degrees, with little more than a hint of snow on the ground. "All right, yes, hot chocolate would be yummy with breakfast". It was.
* The kids have been watching some of our favorite holiday specials. So far "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Tomorrow Wylie is pushing hard for "STARWARS" prequel one, which I'm pretty sure is not actually a holiday film, but I'm feeling pretty generous these days.
*This is our favorite wreath. It is one Rob's mom made years ago and we inherited along with many of his ornaments from when he was a child. Some year I'd like to make a few of these as gifts. I haven't looked for a pattern (and probably never will) but it seems to be just three long, stuffed tubes braided together. Its hard to tell in the pic but the red and green are a tiny wildflower print, and the white has polka dots. Its very kitschy in really wonderful way.
* The pine cone is the Maine State flower. We've been collecting a lot of pinecones for various gift making and other projects and have noticed this: some are really open and beautiful, and others are tightly closed and kind of skinny and fugly. Hmmm. Did the skinny ones fall before they opened? If so, will they open if we keep them alive? We stuck these skinny dudes in water to see if they would open up for us. I'll keep you posted.
* We added a few wintry touches to some corners of the house including these framed photos from last winter, and a make over for the seasonal table which had been terribly neglected since last spring.
Juniper sewed the little snowman herself.
* A sneak peak at a few little friends being created in the studio.
* Kale has perfected the side shuffle (think high school basket ball warm-ups). He thinks he is so cool--and he totally is. And those dimples--yummy!
* Chubby baby wrists, more yum.
* Also yummy: short bread cookies--the store-bought kind in different shapes sprinkled with sugar (though not gluten free), and this cardamom-chocolate-bark. We may be making a second batch of this, with a little more cardamom (we use dried, pre-ground and maybe it wasn't as strong as the pods suggested in the recipe). Yum!
I love all the decorations, and those dolls are adorable! I have been meaning to try making some bark, this one sounds very tasty.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I answered your pine cone question on my blog (naturenotebook). You should take them out of the water right away, and pop them in the oven.