-:- happy easter

Oh, I've missed this space! Mr. and I took a trip South to visit family and I'm just now getting back into the swing of things around here. I had some pretty massive library fines to take care of, we needed to restock our kitchen, and I'm still only partially unpacked. But I find myself getting a little twitchy if I'm away from this blog for too long, so I had to stop in to say hello - and Easter seemed like the perfect day to do so.

Today we cooked and ate a vegetarian version of the traditional Slovak meal my family has on Easter - I made paska and hrutka  (paska is the bread, hrutka is the cheese), Mr. made homemade egg noodles to put in a vegetable soup, and we finished everything off with a big salad. There may have been a Cadbury egg and a Peep or two thrown in there as well.

I hope you all had a restful weekend and I am, as always, wishing you lovely weeks ahead.

xox

-:- finished objects

photos by Mr.
 

-:- the secret project revealed - harmony shawl for gma s.

-:- latte hoodie for our little nephew, buttons from here

-:- big noggin hat for gpa r.

-:- semolina hat for me

xox

-:- go skiing

I can't believe we're already into the second week of January - it seems like it was Christmas just yesterday. So forgive my late post, but in my defense, isn't 2013 already moving a bit too quickly?

For Christmas this year, my in-laws rented a ski condo in Colorado for the whole family - it was such a wonderful trip - and I was able to accomplish #20 on my list of things to do.

If you are going skiing for the first time and have to rent your equipment, let me give you two pieces of advice that your husband might not think to tell you because he's a boy. When you go to get your boots and skis, make sure to shave your legs and don't wear skinny jeans. Trust me.

picture by Mr.

And I'll give you one more piece of advice - even if you're a natural skier and you learn how to ski pretty quickly, do not go to the top of a mountain after having just a couple of hours of experience under your belt (even if the slopes are all green - ahem). That's what I did - and after that little episode, I was happy to leave skiing to the experts and spend the next couple of days hanging out with my in-laws and nephew instead.

He's pretty stinking cute, right?

It was really fun to be on the road again with Mr. and I hadn't been back to the Rockies since my childhood, so I was happy to see those mountains again. We all ate some great food (thanks to my MIL for planning and fixing), played board games into the night, collectively ate approximately one million Cuties, and I have never been more focused on hydration in my life - my skin thanked me for that.

But the best part was getting to spend time with this crew - and next time, I'll definitely be ready to step up my skiing game. Kokomo, here I come!

xox

-:- catching up

I hope each of you experienced merriment and relaxation over the holidays - and now here we are, in 2013. I can already tell it's going to be a great year.

I really meant to stop by this space to let you know I'd be missing for awhile, but got so swept up in Christmas preparations that it slipped under the radar. I'm back now, and though I have so much to tell you about, I thought I'd ease back into this space with a few photographs from way back in 2012.

-:- Sriracha nuts - a gift for Mr. - recipe found here. I cut the sugar down to 1/4 c. (instead of 2 c.) and used about 3 tablespoons of sriracha.

-:- Sleepy puppy, courtesy of doggie day care

-:- A new tea (citrus lavender sage - yum), courtesy of a dear friend

-:- New (matching!) socks, courtesy of Mr.

Wishing each of you a bright, peaceful, wonderful New Year filled with many, many good things.

xox

-:- holiday cheer

This weekend I occupied myself with some quiet holiday baking that we shared with our neighbors and Mr.'s coworkers. Mr. and I picked our favorite cookies (lime meltaways for him and Russian tea cakes for me) and then I added a few new recipes to the mix. I am in love with those Bounty balls - they are so good and I think they will become a new holiday tradition around here.

And see those cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies? Mr. said they might be his new favorite. I didn't have enough oats on hand, so I supplemented with another multi-grain hot cereal. I also ran out of brown sugar and ended up with just short of a quarter cup (instead of the half cup the recipe calls for). Luckily, the finished product wasn't adversely affected by either modification.

Bounty Balls
Lime Meltaways
Russian Tea Cakes
Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies

yum.

xox 

-:- winter plants

1. Paperwhites - these bulbs were something like 59 cents each at our local nursery and I love forcing bulbs in winter. I just put them together in a bowl with some of those semi-flattened glass marbles (they were left over from some other project) and some water. Paperwhites don't require chilling, so they are pretty easy to force and these had already started to sprout when they were in the store. Pretty soon they'll be in full bloom and I will be in love.

2. Cyclamen - despite my love of bulbs, other plants that go through a dormant period make me kind of nervous. But I love cyclamen enough to give it a shot - the flowers are so pretty and they smell really sweet. Hopefully I can keep it alive through its dormancy - if I can manage that, I think this plant will be around for many years.

3. And, of course, mistletoe. Not that I need an excuse to plant one on Mr. (pun totally intended). When we pull it out each year at the start of the season, we'll remember our first Christmas in our new home.

xox

-:- an orange garland

This weekend, I was inspired to dehydrate some orange slices and make something festive with them. I debated making ornaments, but our little tree is already full, so I ended up with a pretty garland to hang over our fireplace instead.

I dehydrated a sliced orange for about a day - we have a thrifted dehydrator (which makes it really easy) but you could also bake the orange slices on low heat (around 170 degrees F) for anywhere from 6-12 hours. The thicker the orange slices, the longer you'll have to bake them. It's also helpful to put them on an oven-safe rack when they are in the oven to help air flow completely around them - they'll get done much faster that way.

Check on your oranges every few hours (don't forget about them!) and when the juicy part is hardened, not sticky at all, and you can pretty much see through it, they're done baking/dehydrating. 

To make a garland, first roughly measure the space where it will hang to determine the length of your string (baker's twine, cotton kitchen string, or yarn would all work well). I just eyeballed it and then added a few feet to account for tying and drape. It's definitely better to have too much string than not enough.

Then attach the dried oranges. I strung my oranges through their middles like they were two-holed buttons. This helps them stay put and lie flat.

Once I had attached all of my oranges, I tied a large pinecone to each end of the string and then situated my garland before attaching the remaining, smaller pinecones. You do this by wrapping the string around them once, close to their centers - no need to tie these ones - they'll just hang where you wrapped the string around them.

And that's really it - look at your garland from a few feet away and make any little spacing adjustments as needed. Then go make some hot cocoa to drink while you admire your holiday handiwork.

xox

-:- these guys stole all of my moves

Seriously. This is how I dance.

xox

-:- weekend scenes - an adapted poem

Early on Saturday, while drinking our coffee, I turned to Mr. and said very softly, 

I'm just not into this whole Christmas season - it doesn't feel right - I don't know the reason.

It could be that temperatures were mild and light - it could be, perhaps, that my shoes were too tight. 

But whatever the reason, lack of snow or my shoes, we set out to fix it - just like the Whos.

Later that day, in lieu of crying or shouting, we decided instead to embark on an outing.

Our minds were made up, we were on such a mission,

and we returned with a tree, our home's newest addition.

I grabbed the short tree and started to decorate, when I heard a strange noise, one a dog would create.

I turned around fast and I saw a small Lou!

Little Louie Lou Who, who is much less than two.

I had indeed been caught by this small little pup, trimming our tree from the bottom on up.

But, you know me, I'm so smart and so slick,

that I thought of a way to include Lou - and quick!

I grabbed a red ribbon and before he could blink,

I had wrapped it and tied it and gave him a wink.

I know he looks sad, but that's just a facade,

he was really quite glad to be part of our Natividad. 

And what happened then? Well, what Mr. would say

is that my small little heart grew three sizes that day!

And the minute my heart didn't feel quite so tight was the minute I knew everything was just right.

Welcome, December. I am officially in the mood for you.

 xox

-:- happy (really belated) thanksgiving

The highlights of our Thanksgiving holiday were definitely the three people who traveled all the way up the country to spend it with us. We visited with our darling nephew and his amazing parents during our first Thanksgiving in our new home and had such fun with all of them.



Our nephew is just the sweetest, cutest baby. When he approves of what he's eating, he says "Mmmm" and he chews his food, even though he only has two little teeth. He loves bath time and really wants to walk - he had a few moments of unassisted standing that were super fun to watch. And my goodness, when that child laughs and smiles, it's just the best thing in the world.

He sleeps with the bear I gave him when he was just a bean, which makes me insanely happy, and he has some of the best parents in the world. Good stuff all around.

We used our new china for our meal and learned a thing or two about how to put a big dinner on the table. I made a pumpkin pie from scratch, which turned out to be only mildly disastrous. As I was sliding it into the oven, the oven rack caught and jolted my pie so that filling spilled over two of the sides and into my hot oven. I may have shed a few tears.

As you can see, my crust was a bit burned where the filling spilled over, and I think it could have come out of the oven a bit sooner than it did, but it tasted okay so that's something! I'm pretty sure there's another pie in the cards for this weekend so I can redeem myself a bit. I am becoming more and more determined to make a successful pie, dang it.

I skipped the turkey this year for a Trader Joe's faux turkey - which wasn't half bad, but I think I'll be okay without it next time around. I'd rather spend time making some other wonderful side dish. Plus, none of the leftover faux turkey was edible - something happens when you microwave it to make it pretty rubbery.

Of course, we thought a lot about everything we have to be thankful for (each other, our wonderful family and friends, our houses and jobs, this crazy life). We also thought a lot about the people in our family who are in other parts of the world and sent much love their way.

xox