To Do Tuesday

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go...

Okay, it's the last day of November. That's Christmas season, y'all. And it's especially looking like Christmas in my sewing room (what passes for a sewing room around here - I'll give you the grand tour another day).

I have our community center reserved for tonight for a little sewing party. Might just be me and Rendy, but we're going to be busy bees working on Christmas. Here's what's on my list for tonight:

Sew at least one new dress for Kit

William's boy doll

Just discovered this art journal here and I must make them for my munchkins. I might even get one too!

Can I just say that I'm longing for the days when handmade goods were appreciated as gifts? At church, instead of choosing gifts, maybe even making them and then wrapping them, now we are instructed to just buy gift cards. It's just so cold and impersonal to me. I'd love to make a little girl a doll and blanket and one of these art journals. Now, it's just about giving people money.

It makes me glad for those who do still appreciate handmade gifts. I'm even making a commissioned apron for a friend at church - he's one of those perceptive husbands who listens when his wife says she likes something. Well, she told him I made pretty aprons and he e-mailed my husband and we picked out fabric and now I'm making an apron for her. I hope she likes it. I'll take pictures, of course!

But that comes after my finals and such. Classes officially end on the 10th, and I have just one final on the 13th.

And here's my early Christmas present - I discovered yesterday that I will graduate in June, if all goes as planned! Hooray!

My Christmas Kitchen

Corrie over at retro mummy is the inspiration for this post. So here's what will be coming out of my kitchen this Christmas - some are traditions and some will become such.

The first - peanut brittle. Aaron is not a cookie man, and we paid out quite a bit for a baking and pastry education, so let's produce some candy! He gets a tin of this every year under the tree. I'll have to make more this year though - Laurel is a fan now too!

Next: December 15th will be our family Doughnut Fry. A family friend back in Kennewick has been doing this their whole married life and we're officially adopting it this year. We love doughnuts and we like our friends and family. Aaron chose the date because it is not only part of the Christmas season but because it also celebrates Bill of Rights day. Yes, we're flag-waving Americans around here and proud of it.
This coconut cake is heavenly. I just made one for Thanksgiving and I'll be making one for our church Christmas party.
Aaron and I fell in love with these coconut macaroons this year. We have some special family members whose favorite cookies are coconut macaroons. Will be shipping some out in December!
Spritz cookies. It's all about the butter. I've been making them for years, first with my mom, now with my kids. We like the tree shapes and the stars. I don't want to think about how many pounds of butter I will use up creating gift tins for friends. I know some people like to give a variety of treats, but I like to give just a bunch of one thing. It's easy on me, they taste great and the kids don't fight over them.
Course, I have to get through my finals first before I start baking. But I'll be going to the store to stock up on butter and sugar. 'Tis the season.

Can I leave it up forever?

Loving my new blog decorations. I'm limited at home regarding decorations for Christmas. Still creating what I want. In the meantime, I thought the blog could use something fun.

Busy week this week - and some sewing time on Tuesday night. Getting together with my sewing buddies for a few hours after bedtime. I'm super excited to get some projects done for Christmas.

You. Must. Try. These!

Okay, my first Thanksgiving dinner as hostess was a success. The turkey was perfect, the gravy was spectacular (well-worth the four, count 'em, four pounds of shallots), the dressing was yummy and the mashed potatoes were just dandy.

I have an oven space issues, however. As in, not enough. So I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out how everything was going to arrive on the table on time and hot. I was not leaving out my yams. Even if I was the only one eating them.

Enter my gorgeous slow cooker. This girl has been coming to my rescue more often than I'd like to think. So I did a little Googling and lo and behold, it's been done. Candied yams in the slow cooker. I just peeled, sliced, layered with brown sugar and white sugar and butter and four hours later, awesomeness. I kid not. Oh, and I pulsed the sugars with the scrapings from a vanilla bean. When they were all done, I put the yams and most of the liquid in my mixer and whipped them up. Topped with marshmallows (don't judge) and I was in yam heaven.

This one is on the list every year now. I will get my kids to eat them. Who wouldn't like something with toasted marshmallows on top?

And now that I've fed my husband one of the best meals he's ever had (he can't stop going on about that gravy), maybe he'll fix my sewing machine tonight so I can sew tomorrow. Homework can wait. I need some crafting time.

Happy Thanksgiving all! I hope it was a lovely day for everyone!

My Thanksgiving Menu

Because we're on our own for Thanksgiving this year, and because I know, I just know, that my kids will most likely eat only a few things on the menu, I'm making what sounds good to me.
Here it is, in all it's excess and glory (links provided when possible):

Herb-Roasted Turkey with Shallot Pan Gravy

Sausage, Cranberry, and Pecan Stuffing

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Rolls - lots and lots of rolls from my zoji

Ambrosia - Gran's recipe, and this is all for me - oranges, coconut, pecans and maraschino cherries - Heaven!

Mom's Famous Orange Jell-o - and I even have the Jadeite green mold just like hers - I searched and searched on e-bay for one for quite a while. This is the. best. jell-o. ever. It's orange jell-o, boiling water, orange sherbet instead of cold water and a can o' mandarin oranges, drained. Awesomeness. We've been eating it in our family for years and years. I can't imagine Thanksgiving without it.

Brown-Sugar Glazed Yams with Marshmallows - I must have these. I will eat them all myself if needed.

Brussels Sprouts with Onion and Bacon - Aaron and I share a deep and abiding love for brussels sprouts. Yeah, we're weirdos.

Carrots with Shallots, Sage and Thyme - my kids love carrots, so we'll see if they eat these

And for dessert:

Chocolate bundt cake - for the kids
Pumpkin tarts - for Aaron
Lemon tarts - for me (I might share for Laurel)

I'm not meaning to exclude my kids from the process. I know what they will eat (turkey, potatoes, maybe carrots, definitely jell-o and rolls for sure) and I know that I want more than just kid friendly food. I also want them to see adults enjoying different things. James and Will can be quite adventurous if they see Aaron and I enjoying something.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thanksgiving Plans!

I have big plans for this four-day weekend coming up. They are primarily centered on my family and feeling grateful, but I've got other things on my plate too. Such as:

• catching up on homework, maybe getting ahead (don't count on it - how boring!)
• fixing my sewing machine (today) so I can work on some projects
• Of those projects, I think I can crank out two Christmas quilts
• avoiding any shopping like the plague - I know there are great deals, but dealing with crowds of bargain hunters is not my idea of fun. I'll stay home with the leftovers.
• decorating the "kid" Christmas tree - we bought a tiny one years ago and it's going in the kids' room this year.
• decorating the house for Christmas - getting ready for the Christmas tree

That's a good list, isn't it?

Okay, I might go buy one thing. A rotary cutter. Mine is clearly not wishing to be found. I cleaned (and I mean REALLY cleaned) yesterday and still no sign. It's gotta be hiding under the washer/dryer or something. So rotary cutters and blades are on sale at JoAnn's for $6.99 on Black Friday. I'll be there at 6 a.m. (or whenever they open - I'm up early anyway) to get one so I can use my fabric therapy for finals coming up.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving week!

Hot date

No, silly, I do not have a hot date with Gordon Ramsay. I'm a married woman. He's married. But I could have a smidgen of a culinary crush on him. Just a smidge.

No, the hot date is with my awesome husband who is as much a Hell's Kitchen junkie as I am. We don't have a TV, but we do watch our HK episodes on fox.com. We were going through withdrawals a few weeks back during the World Series. But Chef is back and we're watching the latest tonight. SO excited.

And then we get to fix my sewing machine together. The old girl needs her tension fixed so she can get me through the holidays and continue to provide fabric therapy for me. Poor girl - she needs a break!

That is all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I win a Go cutter. Because a little business idea is bouncing around in my brain and I'm wondering how great it is. We shall see.

Have a lovely weekend!