Apples and Pears

I had a handful of pears and apples from my last bountiful basket that needed to be used. So I made a delicious apple pear crisp for a mid-week dessert.














Topped with vanilla ice cream and served with a glass of wine, it was perfect.

Recipe: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/apple-pear-crisp-recipe/

Salmon

Salmon was on sale this week! So I bought a few steaks and tried a new recipe.
Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon
It was fantastic!

Recipe found here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/03/toasted-sesame-ginger-salmon/

Soup

On any cold winter day a soup is a welcoming thing.
I tried a new potato bacon recipe and is by far my favorite.

I also made a rosemary beer bread and it turned out beautifully! 

Who can say no to bacon and beer

Recipes found here:
http://www.sweetsugarbean.com/2011/10/bacon-potato-leek-soup-with-rosemary.html

Happy Epiphany

This was our first year to celebrate the Epiphany by making a traditional La Galette des Rois, the Kings' Cake. 
For my first try I thought it turned out well.

Recipe: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-schler/la-galette-des-rois-cake-recipe_b_803297.html
Also, as tradition, we had a spiced mulled wine. 

Hot Chocolate and Carols

We hosted a Christmas Carol Singing Party and I wanted something simple as a sweet. I made my eggnog cookies and had a hot chocolate bar for the beverage. Candy canes, marshmallows and hot chocolate powder all in jars made it cute and fun, especially for the kids.

More Christmas Projects

This year I made truffles for my husband's office.
It was tedious but a fairly simple recipe.
Add a pine scented candle in a brown paper bag and you have a fresh Christmas gift with a personal touch

Recipe: http://naomi-sugarspice.blogspot.ca/2012/10/easy-dark-chocolate-truffles-recipe.htm


Also I had a ornament exchange party that I made a few burlap tree ornaments. They were simple and I just used what I had around the house.
Burlap with a bit of stuffing to give it shape.
A few vintage buttons for color
A twig for the stump
A loop of twine to hang it from
And I burnt the edges so it would not fray

Garland Making.

This year I really wanted a fresh garland around my front door and I was feeling ambitious enough to try and make one myself.
Here is how I did it:

Supplies.
I picked up a fake wire garland strand at the thrift store.
Floral wire
Wire cutters
And a LOT of green bows.

Cutting the bows into smaller piece, you wire a small bunch  together then wire the bunch on the garland.

You repeat this over and over and over again, overlapping the bunches slightly to give a fuller look and hiding the wires. It took me roughly 2 hours to finish a garland long enough to go around my door.

Using some extra bows to fill my milk jug and my front entrance is complete. 

Super Boy.

Since we usually have a limited budget for Christmas gifts I end up making a few for our boys. This year I made a cape for our three year old William.

I found some heavy fabric that did not fray. I just happened to have some in my fabric bin and it was a perfect shade of blue. This project was as easy as cutting the cape, cutting a whole with two ends, adding a button and button hole as the clasp and then cutting out a mask with the same fabric. I also added a big letter "W" on the back of the cape by cutting out some grey fabric and sewing it on with a regular stitch. 

Simple and fun.

And now I have a Super William flying around most days.

Sweater Stocking

Old Sweater Stockings for Christmas

This year all of my in-laws were coming to our house for Christmas. Which meant I had to come up with 5 more stockings! 

Instead of going to the dollar store and picking up some of those cheap red generic stockings, I decided to make them. But I did not have a lot of time or a large budget. So I went to our local thrift store and picked up 5 old sweaters. Then I just drew a pattering using a large piece of paper, laid it over the sweater, then cut and sewed.  5 quick stockings that had character and texture.  A great addition to my mantel.