Wishing you all a lovely day with family and friends.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been so busy that perhaps you may have missed a few of those clever posts around with wonderful tips and ideas on making your own gifts or tasty foods for the holidays. It’s really hard to keep up, and especially the closer we get to the big festivities.
As I spend this weekend finishing off my gifts for friends and family, and attending a few parties in between, I’d like to just quickly recap some of the foods I’ve made this season for gifts and holiday entertaining. I’m hoping these might offers some inspiration when seen all together and be of help in choosing a recipe for those “what can I make?” moments ahead! Continue reading
Here are two more EVEN EASIER recipes than the ice box cookies, if you can believe that! Yep, these olives and almonds are super special and unbelievably easy to make. Both of these make great cocktail nibbles to have with any festive libation and are a wonderful hostess gift, too!
Stir all ingredients together, bake and you're done!
Recipe 1Â Glazed Red Pepper and Fennel Almonds: I’ve made these almonds for many a year now…all year long, in fact, but they are always welcomed during the holidays and definitely have a festive quality about them. They are so simple and you can whip them up for the weekend for guests, take them to parties, or gift them in pretty jars or bags… and they keep in an airtight container for a week…bonus! They are spicy, I won’t lie to you…and they have a distinctive anise flavor from the fennel, but these are all good things in my book. The combination of ingredients makes a truly harmonious whole, and I’ve yet to encounter anyone who didn’t love these tidbits. Here’s the recipe as I make it. Continue reading
With dough on standby in the ice box, you can make this many in about 10 minutes...gotta love it!
Starting to feel that teensy bit of panic set in? Trying NOT to look at the calendar and realize that the holidays start NEXT WEEK? Thinking over all that was on your “To Do” list and is rapidly moving to the “No Way” list? I’m with you.
Just slice these up ever so quickly....
While I have been diligently making things for gifts and yes, buying a few little items as well, I’m beginning to realize that I haven’t really wrapped anything, and that some of those goodies I wanted to make are just too time consuming to contemplate at this juncture. Exit the supposedly “easy” and enter the “effortless”…at least by comparison! This post and my next will feature recipes for some things I made over the last two nights that make terrific quick gifts, good fun and great eating. Continue reading
The first of my Cranberry Liqueur was ready on Sunday and I was very excited to see how my spice experiment worked out, plus try some new and old cocktail recipes featuring the liqueur that you can make or share with your gift. Here’s how it all went: Continue reading
Busy, busy, busy. That pretty much sums up this time of year for everyone, and on the weekends in particular. We started our weekend off with a visit from this busy owl, who loves to come and hunt in our backyard just around sunset. On Friday, he came so close to our deck that we had to run out and take some snaps of him, and here’s the best one of this guy (or gal?) that my husband took with his 35mm. Beautiful. Continue reading
Well, not really a big compromise and I guess that’s the point. In all my talk of eating healthy in between the holidays, we still need a little dessert now and then. I love clafouti, with its amazing texture between a cake and a custard, that little touch of booze for flavor and richness, and the fruit—fresh apples, cherries or pears. It’s not hard to make, isn’t overly sweet and it ticks off a lot of boxes in the happy dessert category for me. Continue reading
This is the tree we got for our cats this year…a live cat-sized tree! The angel ornament on top is a gift from a friend and fellow cat lover who brought it back for me from her trip to Paris. The plaque at the bottom is St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the Patron Saint of Cats. The spoiled pussycats themselves are across the room eyeing the tree.
Well now. After a whole weekend of fun and frolic, great artwork and party food, and general misbehavin’, I’m exhausted and feel the need to recharge with something healthy and yet comforting for dinner. It’s time for some homemade veggie soup. Continue reading
For now, I'll get by with a little plug for my friends....
‘Tis the season of art openings for all of my arty friends, and we try to go and support as many as we can, because, well, we love their work and it’s lots of fun! Amongst them are painters and woodworkers, weavers and jewelry artisans, and of course…closest to my heart…the potters. I was a hand builder of pottery for many years and enjoyed having a studio locally with some friends. Although circumstances forced me to bow out of my studio and take a rather long sabbatical from clay, I love staying in touch with these folks and being inspired by their creations.
We spent last night and will spend a good part of today and next weekend attending these events, being of good cheer, reconnecting with and supporting friends. If you are in our area this weekend or next, do take some time to check out these folks and their work. At each event you will see more cards and flyers for other arts and craft events as well because all these folks have networked together…there are tons of them these two weekends! Just seeing all that pottery is making me want to get back into it again, and this time learn how to throw and make some serving bowls and dinnerware! New Year’s Resolution to self: do this! Continue reading
These biscotti won't last very long!
For many a year now I’ve tried to make a lot of my Christmas gifts, and some years I’m more successful than others, mostly due to time contraints. A few years ago, I found that I was stressing myself so much over buying presents—financially and from a shopping perspective—that it was taking over the holiday season as well as my pocket book. Continue reading
bits and breadcrumbs 