Christmas Recap

Technically, Christmas just ended yesterday with the 6th being the 12th day of Christmas and the Epiphany, so I figure I can eek out a quick Christmas recap post still. Right? Sure.

We started the festivities by meeting my brother's family, my parents and my aunt at the zoo for Zoo Lights (my mom and dad delivered our gift for B and me - our Zoo Membership - early so we got everyone in on my membership with only having to buy one guest pass, which was awesome). Our zoo closes at five to get ready for Zoo Lights and reopens at 5:30, but we knew that the kids would get too cold and lines were crazy, so we went at 3:30 and planned to spend an hour and a half at the zoo. They started to tur the lights on around 4:30, and at 5 they started to tell us to make our way to the exits, but as we left, the music was playing, it was dark, and all the lights were on. It was the best zoo trip ever - animals and lights! A new tradition was born.

On Sunday the 23rd, I wanted to take Tom and Emma ice skating at the rink by our house while my brother and my dad were at the Broncos game. B came with us because I knew I couldn't handle two toddlers on ice skates by myself on skates, and we had a blast. I skated with Emma, B skated with Thomas, and unfortunately for our future sports budget, T was a natural on skates and refused to get off the ice. Our oldest nephew plays hockey, and Thomas is obsessed because of Zack, but I just figured he'd have my coordination on ice and that would be the end of hockey. Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Christmas Eve was perfect, but I still haven't gone through all the photos. My great Aunt and great Uncle, as well as their daughter (my second cousin? cousin? I call her Aunt Debbie) were in town and my mom's entire Colorado side of the family plus the guests of honor had a big, Scandinavian Christmas Eve dinner at my mom and dad's house. It was perfect.

Christmas morning, we woke up at our house and the kids played with their Santa gifts before we all opened presents, then we headed to Mr. B's mom and dad's for brunch and games. It was a perfectly balanced Christmas - lots of play, lots of family, and lots of fun. 

And now, Christmas season is over. I took the tree down on the 26th, but left the outdoor wreaths and lights up until the season was truly over on the 6th of January. On to the new year!  Happy 2013!

DIY Activity Advent Calendar

My friend Kim is doing her Dare to DIY series again this year, and while our Christmas seasons get busier and busier, I try to participate when I can.  I'm making only one gift this year for my cousins' families and our neighbors, but I can't share that on the blog just yet. So, here's a little DIY gift our neighbors dropped by our house on Friday night.

Our sweet neighbors showed up with two glasses of wine and an Activity Advent Calendar they put together for each family on our block. And it's darling. They stayed and chatted for a few minutes and then continued down the block to the next neighbors house to deliver wine and an Advent Calendar...we figure they made six stops that night. We have the best neighbors and neighborhood ever.

While I didn't do this myself, I thought it was too awesome not to share.

I've loved the idea of a Activity Advent calendar, but I just have never gotten my act together enough to make one. So it helps that my neighbors have their acts together.  And what a fun idea for a gift for neighbors or extended family - it's an act of time and love to put it together, but doesn't cost a ton of money. And the wine for the parents doesn't hurt either.  Our neighbor put together 25 small red envelopes, punched out the circles and put 25 mini clothespins and a long strand of ribbon in each bag. And inside each envelope was a cute little tag for the activities we were doing.

We love the gift and we love our neighbors. Every time I start to think we could use more living space, I'm reminded of why we'll never actually want to move. B and I joked as we opened Day 1 that it would have been awesome if they'd put totally extravagant activities in each little envelope, like "Make 4 dozen cookies for your neighbors two doors down" or "Take your children on a three day snowboarding extravaganza". But our neighbors are much nicer than we are :). I'm saving the envelopes and the activities so that I can just reuse this next year. Because we've already established I won't get my act together to make a new one with new activities.

Link up with Kim and see what DIY gifts others are giving this year.

     

Fall Around The House

I love Fall. Enough to decorate for it - and keep decorations in storage the remainder of the year. And we all know that's big for this minimalist. That being said, my Fall decor pales in comparison to so many others. But I'm taking baby steps. I think it's the kids that are softening me up and causing me to embrace seasonal decor. As Thomas starts to discover the holidays and seasons and I watch his face light up at every pumpkin we see, it's so much more fun. And I look forward to Nell discovering the magic of holidays and seasons, too. Just not too soon, little lady. I'm in no rush to move beyond the baby stage.  
So, our minimal seasonal decor tour begins at the console table just opposite the front door. Two white pumpkins and a little white gourd that Thomas and I made into a ghost.  They never stay here...Thomas pulls them off the console about thirty times a day and makes a "pumpkin patch" on the floor. The real pumpkin patch we're taking him to this week is going to blow his mind.

And then you take about three steps into our living room and you've got our mantle. Featuring the pennant banner Kim sent me three years ago, the Fall printable that my mom and I made last year, Thomas's pumpkin from his first pumpkin patch adventure with his Gigi and his pumpkin bucket.

And a few more steps into the kitchen, you're greeted by my white ceramic pumpkin cookie jar/soup tureen. Two guesses which of those foods fills it at this house. Yeah, definitely not the soup.

And my kitchen bulletin board, with mustard fall fabric for a backdrop to our family pictures/invitations and Thomas's pumpkin craft.

And that's Fall inside this imperfect little house. If you're just joining us and need a lay of the land, you can see how our house looks year round in this House Tour. How's your fall decor shaping up?  Stop back later this week - I'm finally going to share Thomas's board and batten nursery revamped to become Nell's nursery. No big deal, she's only four months old and I'm finally just declaring it as done as it ever will be.

Linking up to The Inspired Room.

My One Valentine's Decoration

Holiday decor's never been one of my strong points, but Valentine's especially - pastels and red aren't really "me". Love the holiday, I'd just love it more if it were associated with chartreuse. But after seeing this pin, my cousin and I decided to give a little Vday decor a try. 

 

 

My cousin Sarah bought the hearts at Hobby Lobby and ordered the vinyl from a friend - and even made a place holder for McKiddle #2 so that next year I just have to peel off the old vinyl and add new. Nicest cousin ever.

So that concludes our Valentine's Day decor. I rock holidays. Ha.

Christmas Kitchen Centerpiece

I just got a new kitchen table and chairs (to go along with the completed banquette...3 years later...so hold your breath for a post on that one!) in our breakfast nook, and since I'm madly in love with this table, my old standard centerpiece (or what some would call Thomas's shoes and Casco's leash) just wasn't going to do. So when I saw this Better Homes & Gardens idea on Pinterest, I beelined for the nearest Hobby Lobby to pick up some greenery and berries. I already owned my signature green colander and a green candle, so this was an inexpensive little project (especially since all Christmas items were 50% off).  For a girl who has always operated under the "I don't really decorate for the holidays" motto, this is big, friends. The Hobby Lobby Christmas aisles were a new experience for me, but that's another story. 

I'm kind of in love with the new centerpiece. The colander makes it so kitchen appropriate. More on the table, chairs...and banquette soon. I promise!

Dare to Eat Cookies: Family Swedish Spritz Christmas Cookies

It's Week 3 of Kim's Dare to DIY Challenge, and in week 3 we throw our food diaries out the window and eat cookies! I mean, how could I say no to that?

Being a girl who was born with a Mc last name and married a Mc (I took my maiden name as my middle name when we got married so I'm a double Mc kinda girl), I usually claim my Irish heritage. Because it's just in your face like that. But there's a significant Norwegian and Swedish contingent to both sides of my family, too (just ask my ribs...they're very Norwegian). And that half of me really loves Scandinavian Christmas cookies.

I didn't actually bake the cookies this year - my aunt made her grandmother's (my great-grandmother Emma for whom I was named) Swedish Spritz cookies for our weekend in the mountains for Thanksgiving this year. But I would have made them for this week if my aunt hadn't done all the work for me :). And we actually have two family recipes - Grandma Emma's cookies and Grandma Stella's cookies. Pictured are Emma's cookies, the recipe is Stella's...they're very similar. Just trying to keep you on your toes, friends.

Grandma Stella's Swedish Spritz (Detroit Lakes, Minnesota)
Cream together:
1 1/2 cups Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons almond extract

Sift together:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Add the flour and baking powder to the creamed together mixture and force through a cookie press.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes

We love cookies. Swedish Spritz, Norwegian Krumkake, the secret McD family Christmas cookie cutouts. It's no wonder I'm always dieting come January. Head on over to Kim's blog to get even more great cookie recipes!

4th of July Weekend

Back in January, my aunt bought a cabin in the mountains. It's awesome - across the street from a private lake, five bedrooms to sleep our entire family in, and away from the hustle and bustle but close enough to a charming town for food and other activities.  We love it up there!

Anyway, for the 4th of July weekend, my aunt arranged the first big family gathering at the cabin. My brother, sister-in-law and niece drove in from South Dakota, my mom and I sped to the mountains after my friend's bridal shower, and we spent the entire long weekend lounging, boating, walking and moose-seeing.

Enough chat, here are some pictures:

 As we were putting the canoe in the water I asked B, Do you want to ride in the front or the back? B: I want the back. Me: How much canoeing experience do you have? B: None. Me: Alright, front for you it is.  He loved canoeing! While we were out on the lake I said, "Can't you see why I went to Maine for the summers?". He could.

McD girls on the lake. So much fun!

B and my brother fished every day. They didn't catch anything. We try not to bring it up.

My dad is one of Thomas's favorite people. He lights up when my dad walks into the room.

And he loves his Grammy Caroline. She's the best at cuddling and singing Raffi songs.

 My sweet niece, Emma wading in the water at the community beach.

And our Patriotic Family on the 4th. We watched beautiful fireworks from the water tower above the cabin. It was a perfect weekend.
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A Tisket, A Tasket

My sweet cousin Sarah - who just moved about a mile away from me and has made my life infinitely brighter as a result - and a group of friends from her church get together once a month or so to do crafts - and last month was Easter Basket month.  Sarah always forwards me the links to the projects they're going to be working on so I can join them if I'm not working or make my own, and when she sent me the link to what they were making (inspired by something she'd seen on ETSY) in March, I jumped on board. Thomas needed an Easter basket.

I found the buckets in the clearance section of Target for 64 cents each.  I bought the last buckets they had - cobalt blue for Thomas and pink for my favorite little lady. Thomas's bucket got a coat of Robin's Egg Blue spray paint because cobalt blue does not an Easter basket make.   Then I ordered vinyl names and rabbits from a great, inexpensive and uber-helpful local vinyl company. 

I made Emma's bucket first so that I could get it in the mail and I was super type-A about getting the bunny and name centered. And when it came to Thomas's I winged it.  And his text was totally wonky.  And because I had a lot of other more important stuff weighing on my mind, I decided to lose it over the crooked name on my son's first Easter basket.  Naturally.  But after three attempts at peeling off his name and reapplying it, it's no longer awful. Just imperfect, which I can handle.

The darling Easter print was downloaded from this fabulous blog.  I love their subway art.  Casco doesn't love it because I use the frame for his silhouette for the prints during holidays.  He actually throws a little temper tantrum when I switch it out - seriously.

Christmas Caroling Party

We threw a neighbor Christmas party last weekend.  We've become pretty close with a number of people on our block - and last year our friend, at her son's first birthday party, pulled me aside and said "How do you feel about Caroling?" I told her I was pro-caroling and she said "Good, let's start a Christmas caroling party next year".  Which, on our street means, "Hey B and Emily, why don't you bring our idea to life?".  We have no idea how we became the party planners, but we're embracing the role. 

Naturally, I didn't take pictures once things really got going, but we had so much fun.  Here are the invites I made and dropped off (I try to avoid evite if at all possible - I love printed invites!). 

All the men (and some of the women) came griping about the caroling.  But once the kids were into it running door to door and ringing doorbells, most people got into it.  And it turned out to be so much fun!  I can't carry a tune to save my life, but I sang loud and proud and off key.

We made far too much food.  The biggest hit were frosted Christmas cookies.  I feel for all the parents whose kids we hopped up on sugar.  And my famous bleu cheese pomegranate guacamole was a huge hit - that is by far my most asked for recipe among friends.  I made Clover Lane's Feta Dip and it was popular.  We also had bacon wrapped dates and buffalo dip.  The kids loved Cheese and Crackers and Lit'l Smokies...but mostly the sugar cookies.  We had wine, beer and cranberry bellinis for cocktails, and pink lemonade for kids (in plastic cups) and preggos (in wine glasses - even knocked up girls like to feel festive). 

I went all out on decor this year.  Translation: I did more than put ornaments on our Christmas tree.  I added garland to the mantle.  I know, I'm a disgrace to real Christmas decorators.

We had a blast!  We'll definitely do this again.  When we were starting planning we said, "Well just do neighbors this year and if it's fun, we'll expand next year."  But keeping it "small" - 12 adults and their kids - was fun.  Almost everyone knew each other and had things to talk about.  So it might just be perfect as a neighbor party.

It was a perfect way to start the Christmas festivities!  I am so grateful for our neighborhood - and love that everyone is neighborly!

Low-Fat Pumpkin Cheesecake

I bought cool whip to top my contribution to the family Thanksgiving this year and left it in my refrigerator.  Luckily, my mom and aunt provided plenty of whipped topping, but come on, Emily.  Fail whale. 

So, I had an 8oz thing of Cool Whip and nothing to do with it.  Until I found Gina's No-bake Pumpkin Cheesecake.  And I had some pumpkin puree frozen in the freezer.  And I figured, what the hell? Just because Thanksgiving is over doesn't mean that I need to say goodbye to pumpkin deliciousness.

So, I whipped up a pumpkin cheesecake.  And honestly? It's tasty (I've only tasted the filling - but graham cracker crust is a given).  Not totally cheesecake like, but good.  And won't Mr. B be excited when he comes home to find that dinner's in the crockpot AND I made dessert while working and tending to T-Mac?  I mean, throw in a side dish and a load of laundry and that's almost worthy of winning the Wife of November 29th Award (a year is far too ambitious).

And no, this is not a cookie, but I'm linking it up to Kim's Dare to DIY party today anyway.  I'm a rule breaker, what can I say?  Hop on over to Kim's blog to take part in the cookie (and "cheesecake" cheater) party. 

Dare to Entertain

My friend Kim at Newlywoodwards is at it again...her Dare to DIY party is back.  I'm planning to participate as much as I can this year, and this week is Dare to...Entertain.  And I'm all about entertaining.

After all of my Thanksgiving preparation, we're not hosting the holiday this year.  Which is just fine, at least I know how to make a turkey so I won't be terrified when I need to.  I've never had the patience for fancy tablescapes, but I do like a set table.  I whipped out our winter table runner (Pottery Barn three years ago), woven chargers, wine glasses and china and set the table.  Our set table - simple as it is - is so romantic to me.  Clean and streamlined - but almost everything was a wedding gift or inspired by our own wedding.

I love simple details - the beading on our wedding china matches the beading on the napkin rings - and the beading on both mine and Mr. B's wedding rings (I know it's not actually called beading, but you get the idea).

We got these wine charms for our wedding, too.  I love the numbers.  I always take number 1.  1 is my number.  Because I was born on 1/1.  And because I'm number 1.  Kidding, seriously just because of the birthday - 1 is my number.

And this is one of my favorite silly things ever.  Our gurgle pot.  We received this as a wedding gift and thought we both were a little confused when we opened the gift, it's a conversation starter and we love it.  Here's the story of the gurgle pot.  I love this thing - it comes out whenever we entertain.

And that's our simple, streamlined tablescape.  It doesn't change much throughout the year - give or take a table runner.  But it stays clean and is ready for guests at a moment's notice.

Now, jump on over to Kim's blog to partake in the DIY fabulousness!!!

Rookie Thanksgiving: Pies

It's the last week of the Rookie Thanksgiving challenge (everyone breathe a sigh of relief).  And this week I missed it - but I'll make it up.  The stomach flu (and an injured knee - but that's a secondary excuse) is upon me and I just can't fathom the idea of food right now.

But, I have the ingredients for PW's Pie Crust and Clover Lane's Apple Pie. And I'm sure it will be delicious when I make it.  So for now, link up if you made a pie and I'll update this post in a couple days.  Thank you to everyone who participated over the last 6 weeks!

Rookie Thanksgiving: Stuffing

Honestly, I never eat the stuffing at Thanksgiving - I'm a picky eater when it comes to food textures and stuffing has never appealed to me.  But this was good.  I made sure it was crispy, and I loved it.  I altered the recipe a little bit - I left out the sage because I was lazy and just added a little extra wine instead of using chicken broth.  It was divine.  We might add apples next time.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.  We took our little Lobster "Trick or Treating" at his Grammy and Grandpa's in Denver after church this morning, to his Aunt and Uncle's house down the road, and to
our neighbor's house. 

This is about the time I told B, "I hope Tommy doesn't cry everytime he doesn't get his way for the rest of his life".  And B told me, "Em, he's 4 months old and you just put him in a lobster pot for your own amusement.  I think it'll be fine."

We carved a pumpkin, put him to bed, and ate dinner - chicken breasts, stuffing, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin beer - while handing out candy to our 150 (and still counting) trick or treaters. 

It was laid back, relaxing and fun.  Happy Halloween!

Rookie Thanksgiving: Sweet Potatoes

Oh sweet potatoes, I love you.  So, there was lots of interest in how these would look when I posted the recipe last week.  And here's the step by step for Kate's Thanksgiving Yam Balls. 

Take your boiled (or in my case, canned yams because I was too lazy to peel and boil sweet potatoes) sweet potatoes and mash them up with butter and brown sugar. 

 Take your marshmallow and form a ball of sweet potato around the marshmallow.  This is where you forgive my terrible photography focus - I changed the focus features on my camera in order to have better control and can't remember how to change it back.  The result is 100% control over what's in focus when I'm taking pictures, but a lot of blurry pictures when I hand the camera to B or set the timer function.  Oh well.

You stick your yams in a baking dish and freeze them.  I only froze them for an hour before baking and they hold their form much better if you freeze them for at least a day.

And here's the finished product - an individual yam ball for everyone.  They're so flipping good.



Mr. B's family does candied yams - and they're so good, too.  The flavors are all the same, the form and texture is really the only difference. 

Anyone going to give yam balls a try this year (please freeze them for 24 hours so they don't crack like mine did)?  What other recipes do you all love?

Rookie Thanksgiving: Turkey and Gravy

This was a helluva week to pick Turkey.  Mr. B and I have been battling colds and are pretty much miserable excuses for human beings right now.  But, I promised you turkey and turkey you'll get.

I followed the AllRecipes recipe for "Perfect Turkey".  I generally trust AllRecipes and their rating system - if it has at least 4 stars and 50+ reviews, I'll try a recipe. My philosophy usually works for me - rolls excepted - and it worked this time.  This was so freaking good, juicy and easy.

I brined the turkey for 12 hours, stuffed it and prepped it for roasting breast side down.  Lots of people suggested I use a turkey bag but I wanted to try my first turkey without too many accessories - I figure if I have a starting point I can better appreciate modern conveniences down the road.  I've told you before, I'm fickle.

It immediately smelled wonderful.  2/3 of the way through cooking, I flipped it so the bird was breast side up.  That was tricky.  But I made it work.

I allowed 15 minutes per pound of turkey and it was seriously  perfect to get the internal temperature to 165 degrees. As I opened the door when the timer went off the red turkey timer popped right up and the temperature was perfect.  I was amazed.

And here's the turkey all carved up with its very tired and sick pajama wearing chef.  Yikes.

I forgot to take a picture of the gravy but it was good, too.  I made a very small batch and substituted white wine for half of the broth and loved the flavor.  Turkey pot-pie is on the menu for some of the leftovers.  And now I'm going back to bed provided Thomas cooperates - good thing I'm still wearing yesterday's pajamas. 

I'll post the McLinky for anyone who had a chance to participate.