welcome christmas, bring your cheer ...

(photo via Erik Symes)

We spent the weekend switching gears from this ...

To this ...

It all started after school on Friday - little bug had a friend over and they made a gingerbread house ... yum!

We hit the ground running on Saturday morning - it went something like this: parkas, mittens, hats, ice skating lessons, fresh bagels, extra ice time, tree selection at the local nursery, quick wave to the local "Christmas Walk" parade (Santa arrives via lobster boat - see first picture - to greet the locals followed by a parade thru town), hot lunch at home, tree setup, hot chocolate and warm ginger snaps, tree trimming, college football, then a table for four at Fen Yang - chopsticks and all - delicious! We all fell into bed that night, full and happy ...

Sunday brought even more good things: pancake breakfast, the girls set up their Christmas angels (see above photo - the girls' great aunt gives them each a special angel each year for their collection - the one above is the big ladybug's collection, which now has 12 angels since her first Christmas in 1998 ... note Toddy the elf curiously looking on from above), Starbucks run, lunch at home, headed up to my father-in-law's house to set up and trim his tree ... the 4 grandchildren love to do this for him and he happily rewards them with heaping bowls of ice cream afterwards. Then we ended the weekend with what will surely be one of the most special memories of all ... Boston Ballet's Nutcracker ...

Seeing the Nutcracker is a very important part of our holidays each year, we had to miss it one year due to heavy snow on the day of our show and it left a big hole in my heart, the holidays just aren't complete without it! For the last 4 years this tradition has become even more special because my little ladybug has had a close friend and classmate who dances with the Boston Ballet - this year, her friend was a Polichinelle who ran out from under Mother Ginger's skirt. Our seats were only 12 rows back, so we got a wonderful view of her friend, who did an amazing job in a much more demanding role than previous years ... as usual, the Boston Ballet put on a spectacular show from end to end. But for us, the night got even more special when her parents invited us backstage to pick up little ladybug's friend ... what a view ...

And as if the view from the stage wasn't enough of a thrill, we also got to meet the stars of the show and thank them personally for such an amazing evening ... here's my sweet little ladybug with the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince ...

Definitely couldn't have asked for a more amazing weekend ... lucky as a ladybug, I am ... amazingly blessed ...

Welcome Christmas,

Bring your cheer -

Cheer to all Whos far and near.

Christmas Day is in our grasp,

So long as we have hands to clasp.

Christmas Day will always be -

Just as long as we have we.

Welcome Christmas while we stand,

Heart to heart and

Hand in hand.

potatoes potatoes potatoes

So a few of you had asked about those mashed potato side dishes that I made for our Thanksgiving meal last week - tasty? yes. makes you look like a potato hero? yes. But the most important question of all: are they easy?? Why, YES - yes they are easy!! Glad you asked ...

The bleu cheese and chive mashed potato dish is a trick I've had up my sleeve for years - such a crowd pleaser. I've modified it to suit our own taste (ie, a bit more sour cream and more bleu cheese!), but the original credit goes to the New Basics Cookbook (also the authors of the Silver Palate series). In the cookbook, they're called "Bleu de Bresse Baked Potatoes", found on page 273. Here's what you need to yield 4 servings, ladybug style:

• 4 Idaho baking potatoes
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 cloves of finely minced garlic
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 ounces bleu cheese
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 2 T fresh chopped chives
• salt/pepper to taste

First you need to bake the potatoes for about an hour and 15-30 minutes (don't forget to prick them so they don't explode!). Once they've cooled, cut and scoop out all of the insides into a mixing bowl. Melt the butter in a pan and add the minced garlic until it's just about to turn brown, then add it to the potatoes in the bowl. From there, add the remaining ingredients and mix/mash until well blended. The New Basics recipe would have you return the mixture to the original potato skins to re-bake for 15 minutes. Since I always seem to rip the skins with my not-so-gentle hands, I've never once rebaked them this way. Furthermore, since they reheat so perfectly, I almost always make this one a day ahead, so from this point, I would simply put the mixture into a baking dish, cover, and refrigerate. When you're ready, reheat uncovered for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Delicious ...

This year, I was feeling crazy and decided to try a second potato recipe with the extended family ... a brand new recipe I'd never made before. This was the white cheddar and sage ... turned out to be equally delicious and equally easy! This one came from a local friend, so I'm not sure of the original source. Her recipe serves 10:

• 4-5 lbs. russett potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
• 2T minced fresh sage
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 1/2 cups sharp white cheddar cheese, packed
• salt/pepper to taste

Cook the cubed potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water, about 12-15 minutes. Meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan - then add the sage and stir until the butter begins to brown (@ 3 minutes). Add the cream and milk and bring mixture to a simmer. Drain potatoes and return to pot - stir until excess moisture evaporates. Add cream mixture and mash together. Stir in 2 cups of the cheese and add salt/pepper to taste. Transfer to a baking dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and a bit of extra sage. This one is also a great day-ahead-of-time recipe - just cover with plastic and chill. When you're ready, bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. This was mine just before going into the fridge the night before ...

And there you have it ... these are both great recipes for entertaining not only because they can be done ahead of time, but also for their very favorable wow-factor to ease-of-prep ratio ;-)

If you try them, you'll have to let me know what you think! Bon appetit!

he's baaaaaaack ...

Does anyone else out there have an "Elf on the Shelf"?

We got ours 3 years ago and he quickly became a very important and endearing part of our Christmas traditions ... we named ours "Toddy" and he's our own personal elf from the North Pole who acts as our liaison with Santa by returning to the big man's Workshop each night only to return to our house by morning, always tucked into a new perch to observe and watch over us during waking hours.

For some families we know, the Elf on the Shelf was a massive "fail" - the kids were freaked out and scared by the idea of an elf who comes to life at night. Fortunately for us, our Elf on the Shelf exceeded our every hope and both ladybugs love to wake up and search the house for Toddy ... over past years, he's been known to like lampshades, curtain rods, clocks, picture frames, bowls, and once even rode a tiny porcelain horse that was just his size ...

Did you notice the papers tucked under Toddy's arm in that first photo? Last year, our little ladybug would make Toddy little tiny-sized treasures that she felt would be useful for him ... these included a briefcase, papers, a tiny pencil, and a tiny modified ziploc baggy with 2 cheerios inside. This year, the treasures have expanded to include meals and snacks. Here is Toddy's teaspoon-sized apple pie and ice cream, which was served in the lid of a peanut butter jar ...

Toddy loved it and ate it right up! Here he is over the weekend enjoying a tiny pancake no bigger than a dime ...

I wonder how you feel about this little tradition ... is it unabashed consumerism or is it something sweet? Am I horrible for lying to my girls or will they appreciate the magic that it brought them? Whatever the answer, we love this little guy like crazy ... Toddy seems to hold the key to the magic of Christmas, I see it in my little bug's eyes each morning when she finds him in his new spot - the pure joy on her face is the most heartwarming sight you'll ever see! Thank you, dear Toddy, for giving us that gift ...

thanksgiving slide show 2010

Thanksgiving morning - these are my white cheddar and sage mashed potatoes ...

And these are my blue cheese and chive mashed potatoes ...

Checklist? Both white potato dishes, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, hot spinach dip, crackers, bakery-bought apple pie, and the all important camera bag ... packed up the car around 11:00 and headed over to my father-in-law's house ...

With 3 sons and their widower father, plus the hometown team (Go Pats!) in the 1:00 Thanksgiving Day game, you don't even need to ask how much of a role football played in the day ...

Meantime, the turkey was baking beautifully, courtesy of my sister-in-law ...

And at last, it was time to feast ...

Followed by our traditional sunset walk ...

Followed by another feast ... this is my other sister-in-law's signature dessert - a pumpkin cheesecake with ginger snap crust ... to die for ...

As darkness fell, so did our triptophan-induced food comas ... another year behind us, another year of happy memories right inside this window ...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

happy thanksgiving!

We woke up this morning to these wonderful treasures taped up all over the house, courtesy of the littlest ladybug, who had been hard at work at the kitchen table as the sun rose on this bright and brisk morning ...

Happy Thanksgiving, indeed!

cake pops

Ok, so remember that Book Fair book from my last post that my older ladybug came home with ... Cake Pops? The one I called too Martha for me? The one that required specialty ingredients that I've never even heard of? Well, of course, the little ladybug got to browsing over the weekend and decided that we needed to make Turkey cake pops for Thanksgiving:

Yeah right ... sure, kid. I tried desperately to dissuade her - I mean, just look at them ... we'd need to go to a William Sonoma to get the gourmet lollipop sticks, the special candies for the decorations, the edible markers ... I'd have to make fondant frosting for the first time, it was all too much, especially in the face of our actual Thanksgiving preparations. So she quickly redirected her attention to these:

She argued (correctly) that not only did these not call for fondant, but these could be easily modified with non-specialty ingredients ... furthermore, she claimed that Easter baskets would be a fun, colorful, and easy place to start. She's a girl that knows how to get what she wants for sure. So I sighed a big sigh and mentally cleared the next couple of hours in my day ... and we made Easter baskets on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

So here's how it all went down ... ladybug style. As opposed to Martha style. First we used a serrated knife (gentle back and forth "sawing") to cut the tips off of some sugar ice cream cones:

We set the "baskets" aside and started mixing a boxed cake mix:

When the cake was fresh out of the oven and still hot, we scooped out portions of hot cake and firmly packed the baskets full of cake:

While the cake-stuffed baskets were cooling, little bug and and I dyed some coconut flakes by shaking baggies of coconut shavings with just a few drops of food coloring:

We should have poked the "handles" into place during the cake-stuffing process - the cake had already set by the time we tried to poke in the handles and it made things difficult. Licorice would have also made a great handle (easier to poke into place too), but little ladybug insisted on gummy worm handles. At that point, all that was left to do was sprinkle on our coconut flakes and drop on the jelly bean "eggs":

And voila, our finished baskets ...

Little bug was right, the baskets were a very simple place to start - and a great way to ease into a cookbook with such high expectations ... and when we're ready to raise the bar, just look what lies ahead ...

baking, books, and boots ...

As an aside, I have to tell you that catching up is going to be a lot tougher than I thought ... so many things were already lagging behind before the iphoto crisis that the setback has really slammed me ... and with Thanksgiving breathing down my neck, I'm in panic mode at this point. I can actually hear those menacing paper piles laughing at me while my back is turned ...

Should I ignore the whispers and keep on writing? Probably not the most practical prioritization, but yes! After all, I have much to catch up on over here in blogland as well ... I had promised tales of baking and books and boots (oh my!). I'm happy to report that my latest photos have been safely transported over to iphoto, new storage files have been created, I've edited through all the duds, things are rolling again!

****************

First up, the baking ... I've been busy lately, and at the top of my list are Kim's famous mini chocolate chip muffins - they've become a staple over here, we can't get enough! Little ladybug loves to help ...

I highly recommend them - easy, delicious, and a great go-to snack ... 'nuff said! I also have an upcoming soup post for a delicious pumpkin soup made with bacon and leeks - hearty and delicious - stay tuned! Next up is the topic of books ... one of our favorite subjects to share! We've had a book influx lately thanks to the Fall Book Fair at school. My 6th grade ladybug, age 12, selected these three ...

Fun choices, right? Thirteen is like the 2010 version of a Judy Blume page-turner, she literally has tunnel vision as she reads it ... it's the sequel to a previously adored book she read last summer (called, you guessed it, Twelve). The larger book is called Cake Pops and from the looks of it, it's very Martha Stewart with those p.e.r.f.e.c.t. photos of tasty treats ... too bad Martha doesn't live here. But good for her for shooting high ;-) And the book entitled My Best Year is actually my favorite one ... it's sort of like a journal for tweens - it prompts her with questions about things like her thoughts and feelings, her friends, her interests ...

It'll be really fun for her to look back at this book when she's older and I think the self-reflection will be really healthy and helpful in the here and now, too.

My 4th grade ladybug, age 9, chose these titles from the Book Fair ...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid seems to go without saying - kids seem to loooove that series and this one was just released, so it was a hot pick for sure. Shiloh Season is the second in a trilogy about a neglected beagle named Shiloh and the boy who saves him, I'll bet that's a familiar one to most of you. The Tumtum & Nutmeg book is actually another "new release" that she's been dying to get her hands on - the first volume was purchased after reading this post from Cindy at Loving Life's Little Things last summer. The original book was a huge hit with her, she blazed through the pages, and this one seems just as riveting, she gets that same tunnel vision as her sister when she's snuggled up with it. The Penderwicks seems very promising, too, I can't wait to see how that one goes - the story of 4 sisters, their widowed father, and a memorable summer spent together in the country.

Great choices from both ladybugs, right? Well, as luck and fate would have it, look what showed up in the mail for me last Friday, right in the midst of our book fair mania ...

I received this book courtesy of Jen at Denton Sanatorium ... she had a fun giveaway to mark her "blogiversary" and I was one of a few winners ... but the only one to win a copy of her new favorite book, The Swan Thieves, written by Elizabeth Kostova, who also wrote The Historian. It's a historical thriller and I'm really excited to dig in beyond the 10 or so pages I leafed through last weekend to get a taste. I want to publicly thank Jen for this really thoughtful gift - it's much appreciated and will be greatly enjoyed, I'm sure ... lucky as a ladybug, I am!

But the funniest thing about winning Jen's giveaway book was not just the fact that it was a book amidst a very book-themed week around here ... but that when Jen posted the winners, she made mention of a pair of backordered boots that only she knows I've been waiting what seems like an eternity to receive. Ironically, in an even more amazing twist of fate, look what was delivered the very same day as my new book ...

These, my friends, are one of my biggest splurges in literally years ... and I'd do it all over again! Remember that imaginary cued music with Manbug and his Apple products? It's that kind of love ... imagine "So Happy Together" playing as I run in slow motion through a field of wildflowers ... me holding my boots close ... I love - LOVE - these boots! And the boots came into my life solely because of Jen. The same Jen who sent me the book. The book that arrived the same day as the boots. The boots that I waited over 2 months to receive due to a vicious backorder wait time. Of all the days ... they were one in the same. How crazy is that?

Jen had received these boots for her birthday at the end of August and was clearly smitten in her post about them ... when I saw them, I too went starry eyed (cue music again) ... and the timing was perfect, as I had a bit of birthday money myself, just waiting to be spent. Jen was gracious enough to give me the details and then I did something crazy - I ordered them. Something just for me. Imagine that. I blew my birthday money on ... well, me! Worth every minute of that 10-week backorder. Look out bloggers, with these in my wardrobe I might just take the plunge and participate in get my cowgirl on in one of Kim's What I Wore Wednesday series ...

Hope y'all enjoy a real nice weekend, y'hear?!