honey almonds for giving

This is a successful and easy food gift for Christmas giving--healthy too! I've made these honey almonds for my parents two Christmases in a row now and they really like them. This year, they were part of their fabric bucket. Next year I might make them for everybody.
And to fancy everything up, I used a lot of the printable labels from the Black Apple this year. I love them so much! Find them here. This was my first time using full-sheet sticker paper and we had so much fun with it. The recipe for the honey almonds is here.

and before that there was . . .

A few days before Christmas Ken and I--and the little boys--had a fabulous pre-holiday getaway to Santa Barbara. It was maybe the best part of the whole vacation--at least so far. A couple months ago, I realized that Rainer is finally old enough--and well enough--to be left with my parents overnight. Yippee! That meant Ken and I could have an overnight outing for the first time in 3+ years. So we did that for 24 hours, and it was so great to talk and connect like young childless people! Then, since the little inn in Santa Barbara, where we love to stay, requires a two-night minimum, we went and got our boys and brought them back with us. It was such a fun way to do a mini-vacation and just my cup of tea.
First, we took them to lunch at Padaro Beach Grill, which has a fabulous grassy area looking straight out to the ocean and a huge sandbox with lots of toys for the kids to play with. We always have so much fun there.


After that, we went straight to the zoo. I loved this Christmassy zoo-themed wreath. My boys love animals and we looked at lots of them . . .
But I think they had the most fun at the playground. It's wildly popular, and we and several other families stayed there until closing.
There's a little "sledding" hill and the kids slide down with cardboard. Very much fun for them.
Then we went straight to State Street to look and lights and decorations and have dinner.
I loved this village!


The next morning we had a dip in the hot tub (it was perfectly tepid because the maintenance guy had just finished topping it off with cold water!) and the boys loved it. Then it was off to our favorite park in Santa Barbara and lunch at our beloved Crushcakes.
We had a fabulous time full of fun and family, just as I had dreamed about for our holiday celebration. A special thank you to my parents for making the first 24 hours of it possible--thanks mom and dad!!

a few scenes from our christmas

We had a sweet and good Christmas. How about you? Even amidst simplifying greatly this year, I'm having thoughts about and ideas for keeping it even simpler next year, and emphasizing connectedness and family even more. My best moments of Christmas were experiencing my children's sense of joy and wonder.





Merry Christmas to all!

"just keeping it real" winter solstice

We celebrated the winter solstice tonight--a couple days late. This is a "just keeping it real" post because in truth I've been completely uninspired to bake cookies, make meals, or do anything but spend time with my family--that is what I really want to do this holiday. So the solstice tea was a bit different this year. The food here was not homemade by me. We had cookies that were sent to us by my brothers nice girlfriend, a pie our neighbor brought over last night (not a homebaked pie either--it's from Costco!) and some bakery goods we picked up on our lovely mini-vacation to Santa Barbara (more on that in another post). Even though I was uninspired to do my own baking, I felt the tea must go on, and I'm so glad it did. It was maybe even better, with the mommy not stressing out and all.

{our tree}

{the five children all together}

{Rainer has been sick with a cold and his facial rashes are acting up again--but he is so darn cute nonetheless!}

{our solstice bonfire}

Even though feeling uninspired and like our tea was not "blogworthy," I found this little scene in the kitchen that I wanted to capture. While we were enjoying the backyard fire, there was soup warming on the stove and fresh bread baking in the oven. The table was set and ready. I can appreciate these small things, and for that I am grateful.

{soup and bread}

{Faith with Dieter}

The best part was just sitting leisurely at the table and enjoying the family. Isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway?

pancake flat! -sugar and spice cookies

I decided to make this old recipe up with butter instead of the shortening called for. Man--did they ever spread! Made with shortening, these cookies are beautifully crackled, round, and chewy. Made with butter they are just . . . flat. To be honest, they still taste good (they are wonderfully spiced with cinnamon, ginger and cloves) and they smell fantastic while baking. But looks are important in a cookie, don't you think? Especially around the holidays. The other night I spotted a similar looking recipe in a magazine at the store--I checked the ingredients and sure enough, they called for shortening too. Any ideas on how to make them higher and nicer while still avoiding the trans fats? Here's the recipe:

Sugar and Spice Cookies

Cream together:
3/4 c. shortening (or butter if you don't mind them totally FLAT)
1 c. sugar

Add:
1 egg
4 T. white Karo syrup

Sift together and stir in:
2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ginger

Form small balls (an inch or so in diameter), roll in granulated sugar, place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

"i did the star . . ."

We are having so much fun with these little coloring books. I never know which mama-generated activities will be a hit (as opposed to the daddy-generated activities, which are always a hit) but these are a winner. We all have been enjoying coloring in these little books, myself included. I bought this as a pdf (here) because I really wanted to sew them up into little books, but you can also get these for free as coloring sheets (here).

Here is some of Dieter's work: {star}

{lights}

{snowflake}

{candle}

{stockings}

russian tea and beeswax candles

Gradually we are getting more holiday-ish around here. On Sunday I knew I wanted to run to farmer's market for holiday beeswax candles if nothing else (I've been super un-inspired in my cooking these last few weeks--I did pick up some locally grown tangerines, though). I'm totally smitten with the strong and sure burn of beeswax candles. Interestingly, they guy who was selling these said that a lot of people tell him they prefer the sure burn of parrafin wax. I have found just the opposite--that cheap candles burn at first but then the wick gets buried and you can't burn it anymore. Hmn. I also learned that he will re-cycle any stubs I bring in (from his candles) and give me a discount on the next one. Woo hoo!
I still love Russian tea at this time of year so thought I'd post it again. It's certainly not a whole food, but it's so tasty just for the holidays. Enjoy!

Russian Tea

Combine:
1 1/4 c. Tang
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. instant tea
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves
dash of salt

Mix some into a mug of boiling water and stir (I use about 2 big spoonfuls).

Lowbrow, maybe, but so citrus-y and spicy. You'll be surprised by how good it is.

even in less than ideal circumstances, we can have fun

{Ben's snowman}

We have gotten some beautiful, wonderful rain these last few days. This morning, we decided to drive up into the mountains to see if we could find some snow. Did we? Well . . . not like last year. But we did find a dirty patch of snow on the side of the road, and you know what? It was really fun. It's amazing what simple pleasures this world holds, especially when you are with the right people.

{finding beauty in the chaparral}

{hitting the snow with your shoe is surprisingly fun}

{Rainer taking a break in the truck--it was fun to feel the cold air of the mountains}

Other goings on this weekend: a knitting lesson Saturday morning, a "Costco date" with Ken Saturday night (where we leave the boys with my parents and go buy essentials, just the two of us), putting the ornaments on the tree, making peppermint bark and some cookies, and listening to Christmas music.

Saturday afternoon we went to a birthday party for two children from Dieter's preschool (twins). It was at "Pump it Up" which we had not been to before and Dieter loved it. It was just a tiny group of children that showed up for the party so it was ideal--no crowding at all. Rainer joined in too. Here is what was interesting for me: all the children there except Dieter had either a medical problem or a disability of some sort (because Dieter attends a preschool that is half "special ed" kids and half "regular" or "neuro-typical" kids). The parents there were so down to earth and nice! It was a very mellow and relaxed atmosphere with no sense of bragging or one-upsmanship or any of that stuff that can go on between parents at times. I really liked it. I dream of a world where everyone can be down to earth and "real" with each other, and it doesn't take having a child with special needs to make it happen . . .

Now with all the fun we've had this weekend I'm dreadfully behind in getting the regular stuff done. Oh well, it will all happen somehow!

just a few yummy thrifting finds

I have been very enamored of thrifting lately. There is just something about the thrill of finding something wonderful amidst so much junk, combined with a bargain, combined with being "green." I'm really into it and so is Faith. Aside from all the Christmassy village things I picked up recently, here are a few more that I've managed to photograph. I adore these little dessert plates: I bought them to use on Thanksgiving and have since found them to be perfect little snack plates and so cheery with their floral themes. They cost next to nothing at $1.98 per stack.

A winter coat for Rainer. It was completely pristine when I bought it. Any non-pristineness you may see in this photo is entirely due to Rainer!
Boots for the boys. The green ones are the new ones--Rainer's are also thrifted from awhile back. And thankfully we are just now getting some rain so they can use them.
And a thrifted scarf drying on the line next to a playsilk. I've been stocking up on scarfs lately--it is really fun.