Mayfly

This year it seems, I made fewer handmade gifts than usual. We're just being more selective and deliberate with gift giving in general. So in my opinion it's good every way I look at it.
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First the p.j. quilts for my nieces in Texas. I explained these here. These two girls still get a big kick out of my handmades, so I will of course keep making for them as long as it tickles them so.
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Next is N's mommy-made gift. This child loves to play restaurant, so I made her a little chef's hat, 4 little checkered dinner napkins, and 4 very empty laminated menus. She can write all the items on with a dry-erase marker and use them over and over. It all goes really well with her daddy-made kitchen and her purchased gift, a little wooden cash register. And just so you know, she likes to serve chicken and milk shakes.
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Last is J's gift. Last year his gift was the tough one, but this year his was a breeze. He asked for warm jammies. I whipped up a pair of flannel pajama pants and bought a long sleeve thermal t-shirt (from Target) to go with them. Done!
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I still have a little painting to finish for my dad, the poor thing. He's been begging for a painting of his beloved (deceased) rooster for over a year, and I promised him I'd do it. He's patient like that. : )

Posted by Alicia at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. It was Kansas City's first real white Christmas since 1962, and we are loving it. We're still snuggly and snowed in. There are piles of wet clothes and boots by every door and empty hot cocoa cups on every table.

Good thing we have tons of left-overs to keep us well fed. I thought just for fun I'd share two of our holiday food successes this morning:

The Christmas tree appetizer. Spread ranch dip (or any kind you like) in the bottom of a tray and build a tree. My aunt and I did this when I was small, and N and I made this one for Christmas Eve.

Overnight French toast for Christmas morning. I usually make a sausage, egg and cheese casserole, but my small people voted for the French toast. I really like breakfast casseroles for days like this so I don't have to spend the entire morning in the kitchen. We fried some bacon and made a big pot of coffee, and we were set until it was time for the cheese ball, summer sausage, crackers and nuts at about 2 pm. (I think we ate Christmas dinner at about 3:30.)

Anyway, that's all I have today. Next week I'll share some of the handmade gifts I made.

Stay warm, friends. I foresee a sledding expedition in our future!

Posted by Alicia at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Happy Winter Solstice! Thank goodness we're on the upswing with good old sun.

I'm officially calling it winter vacation here at the blog now that both of my kids are home. It's time to relax and enjoy. I'll still post a few handmade gifts I'm finishing up over at flickr, and Heather and I will of course be posting at the Noticing Project until the end of the year.

No matter your persuasion, I hope these winter holidays are treating you well and you have plenty of time to eat, drink and be merry. Much love to you and yours.

Take good care,
Alicia

Posted by Alicia at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Tis true.

We missed (um er, forgot) our annual Saint Lucia Day dinner yesterday. We have been doing a terrible job keeping up with our advent calendar. I'm going to get serious tomorrow and fill the rest of the socks with little activities and stick. to. them. These children of mine get such a kick out of them.

Anyway, since we missed the dinner yesterday, tonight's treat was homemade pumpkin pie by candlelight. My little pumpkin pie connoisseur told me it was the best he's ever eaten. That boy knows how to win a girl's heart already.

Posted by Alicia at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So yesterday I had lots of things I should have been doing (gift making, laundry, shopping) but instead I just had to paint the dining room. I've been pondering colors for a month or so and finally went with Restoration Hardware silver sage. Once I got it up, I wasn't so sure, but it's growing on me. It's a little magic. In the morning it looks grey. Right now it's kind of greenish-blue. And last night it was a darker grey-blue.

Of course it makes me want to paint the little china cabinet, and the mirror, not to mention the kitchen walls...

p.s. Have a wonderful weekend!

Posted by Alicia at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

Whatcha think? I finished the coat this weekend. It still feels a little old lady-ish, but I'm embracing it because I really like it. See the little wristlet purse? My mom gave it to me for my birthday. It's covered in felted wool balls. SO cute!

You really should have seen the set up to take this shot. It involved a very precarious swivel-stool-stacked-book tripod and a set of andirons as the stand in for me to focus the auto timer. I would have spent less time actually pulling out the real tripod, but that would have been too easy. And I really need one of those remote shutter thingies.

The windchill is brutal here today, so I think I'll wear this fancy new coat to go pickup the kids from school now. : )

Have a good Wednesday.

Posted by Alicia at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)

Well, I did it. Yesterday I cooked and cooked and cooked some more.

Sunday I looked over all your suggestions and did a few searches then made myself a game plan and a grocery list. Except for when I sat down and ate dinner with the family, I was on my feet in the kitchen from noon until 9:30 p.m. Yowser!

So here's what I made:

- a extra large batch of pizza/pasta sauce.
- baked pasta with chicken sausage- this is a big recipe- it will feed us 3 times.
- mac and cheese- this made two 9 x 9 pans full. We ate one for dinner last night.
- catalina cranberry chicken- I very loosely used that recipe. I made my own catalina dressing with grated onions, but I did buy a can of cranberry sauce. I eliminated the onion soup, so I added a little garlic salt and onion powder.
- turkey meatloaf- my own recipe. I just throw in whatever I have. I used a pound of ground turkey and a pound of turkey Italian sausage, onions, bread soaked in milk, an egg, ketchup, minced garlic, worchestireshire sauce...
- Irish beef hand pies- I cheated and bought ready-made pie crusts. I think it made enough for 2 meals. J is stoked about these.
- broccoli calzones- I am stoked about these.

What I wanted to prepare, but didn't have time:

- a batch of pesto from my rapidly wilting potted basil from the patio.
- bacon wrapped chicken- I think we'll just have this for dinner tonight. You know how I feel about the bacon.
- vegetable soup- my plan was to make a big pot for dinner and freeze the extra but it didn't happen.

What I think I'll still make this week:

- cinnamon bread- I am making this in the morning just because it looks soooo good.
- banana bread- one plain and one chocolate chip. I have some brown bananas to use up. I'll freeze both loaves.
- pumpkin bread- one to eat and one to freeze. I had three little pie pumpkins on the front porch for Fall and a squirrel took a nibble of one. I'm afraid if I don't cook it soon, it will rot.
- granola. We're just all out. People around here start squawking if I let that happen. ; )

So what did I learn? Well, this may not be the ideal way to go about this. I think the better way is to double the batch of whatever you're preparing and freeze the second half. BUT I actually had a great time (dorky, I know). What else? I think you could put just about anything in a hand pie. I really love the freezer-friendly section at Martha Stewart. And... I am a wimp. Standing on my feet all that time made me tired.

Now we have all these meals just waiting for us! Yum.

Oh, and thank you all SO much for your help, but I didn't put together a big list of resources for you, I'm sorry. I figure you're big kids. You can read the comments on your own. ; )

Posted by Alicia at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I could kiss every single one of you. Thank you so much for your freezing suggestions. I am going to sit down this weekend and pick through recipes and websites and make a menu plan. I'm planning on Monday for my prepare-a-thon day, so maybe Tuesday I'll let you know what I made and perhaps post a nice consolidated list of recipes and resources. Thanks again!

And the coat. Ah yes. I saw this coat at the Anthropologie website (via Erin) and I have been a little obsessed with it. I'm glad I swiped the photo (which they seem to encourage these days!) because it seems to be gone already- it didn't get very good fit reviews. It is so stinkin' cute! As I do with lots of expensive clothing items, I thought, "I could probably do that."

I ran across a coat at a thrift store in St. Louis. It's a little bit swing-ish, wool from Saks, has a nice big collar, and was under $10. My sweet mother-in-law looked at me a little sideways and said, "You don't really want that, do you? It's an old lady coat!" I explained that it's a project coat. And she should just wait and see.

I looked through our stash of old wool sweaters and found some that might work for the sleeves. I also think I'll go buy some new buttons for it. It may not be exactly the same style or color, but I have high hopes.

Whatcha think? Will it be cute?!

Posted by Alicia at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Hi there! This photo really doesn't have anything to do with my request, except that it's food, and I have had food on the brain since Thanksgiving.

First a little explanation. One of the biggest things I associate with the holidays is food. Baked goods, treats, warm traditional meals- turkey, ham, big pots of soup. My mom is a great cook. My sister and I were lucky, lucky children. We learned the value of cooking from scratch from her. I really want to create those warm, good smelling food memories for my children this holiday season without wearing myself thin.

Last year a friend of mine organized a little party at Social Suppers. It was great. I went home with about 8 meals all ready to freeze. They were SO handy to have for the busy evenings, and they were all hits with my family. But the part I didn't like was that they didn't really use my choice of ingredients. They weren't made with my frozen local fruits and veggies or anything organic at all. There was plenty of full fat cheese and sour cream involved (which I'm not opposed to but I often try to use lower fat options.) And it wasn't cheap.

I've decided I'd like to do it on my own here at home. Even if it takes a day or two of work, I'd love to have those meals at the ready again this year. So here is what I'm asking of you: Do you have any tried and true make-ahead freezable meal suggestions for me? I have frozen many a lasagna and casserole, but I'm thinking surely there are some other ideas out there.

Keep in mind we are traditional eaters. My children love veggies and are pretty adventurous, but when I cook I make things like chicken and noodles, spaghetti and turkey meatballs, veggie burgers with homemade sweet potato fries, big salads with grilled chicken, homemade pizza. Vegetarian ideas are great, but I'm not very keen on fussy ingredients.

So that is it. Surely some of you can help me. Feel free to direct me to a recipe somewhere online or at your blog or leave it in the comments or email me. I would be forever in your debt. So would my well-fed little family. : )

p.s. I can compile a list in a couple of days if anyone is interested!

Oh! One more thing. When I put my little online shopping list together yesterday I totally forgot about Grace's brand new shop! The dolls seems pricey, but take it from me. They are worth every. single. penny.

Posted by Alicia at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)

Ok, ok. Don't put your recipes boxes away yet. I promise I'll ask tomorrow, but first I need to take care of some business.

11/02/09 a favorite from last month

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The Noticing Project: Heather and I have decided that December will indeed be the final month for our beloved Noticing Project. This project has opened my eyes wide. At first I was always on the lookout for a good "noticing opportunity" and then it just became part of my day, examining and enjoying the small, lovely things around me. But the thing I thank the NP for the most is sweet Heather. She has become one of my dearest friends in the world, and for that I'm eternally grateful.

We are proud of this two year collaboration. It has been quite an endeavor- taking photos when we were really busy or just not in the mood, emailing photos to each other from out of town, or saving photos to post later when we couldn't. There are only a handful of days we missed. The similarities between our photos were often amazing, even to us. It makes me so pleased to look at the archive pages and remember each small moment. Each and every one.

But it is time to let it wind down. I hope you'll join us a lot over there this month and help us wrap it up in grand fashion.

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Habit: December will also be busy at habit. Molly and Emily have asked all of the year's guests to rejoin them for the month. I really can't say enough about their brilliant project, and I'm honored once again to be a part of it.

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My shop: Here's the deal. I have had plans to put some cute little notepads (kind of like this) and handmade items into my shop for a couple of months- I think they'll be really fun. I just haven't had the time to get them finished up or assembled. I don't want to forget them all together, but I know when to say 'uncle'. I just want to take my time on my own gifts and enjoy the season.

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Their shops: If you're going to purchase something for your loved ones, please consider handmade items. Pretty please? It really makes a difference.

Rachel always keeps lovely items in her shop.
Heather is having a little sale.
Martha's Handcraft Holiday Collection is to die for.
I really do want every single thing in this shop. (Plus she has the best name.)
Melissa has berry bowls again, and then some.
Claire has the most amazing stuff in her shop. So creative.
Crazy Awesome McTote Bags. ; )

I could go on and on...

Ok, then. Have a great Tuesday!

p.s. Oh, wait. I forgot the Simply Photo Pop Up Shop. Yes, Yes. Go there and buy something. It's all good.

Posted by Alicia at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)