Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

It's kind of ironic that my second cookbook just came out and we made all recipes from cookbook #1 for Thanksgiving today :-)

I'm thankful for all things, big and small. Like family and orange tulips.

And Ashley cooking with us! That's big! :-)

Zoe loves to mash potatoes almost as much as she loves to eat them.

Simple. Perfect. Grateful.

Yummy.

I forgot how sweet my pecan pie is since I only make it on holidays.

Tomorrow I'm going to make my vanilla ice cream and add some pecan pie at the end, Ben & Jerry's style. We'll call the ice cream flavor... pecan pie. ;-)

Wishing you love and blessings, Kelly

Easter weekend 2010

Saturday, making the eggs:

Sunday, on the porch with Abi, our neighbor, eating the candies from the mold that I made with dairy-free peppermint chocolate.

Christmas Eve 2009

We have our big dinner on Christmas Eve. That means Christmas day I don't have to cook anything. It's nice. We just have leftovers.

I made a spinach stuffing casserole, mashed potatoes, and ham with homemade cranberry sauce. It was really simple, and I made a ton so I wont be cooking again for days ;-)

Colored lights in a glass.

Zoe's empty dessert glass. We had traditional Scandinavian rice pudding for dessert. (the dish was traditional, not the recipe, haha!) Zoe found the almond. She was so excited.

An after dinner snack.

Making gluten-free cookies for Santa ;-)

decking the halls, part 2

Santa Lucia wreaths & a fort

What a fun day! First we made saffron buns, to test our recipe for Santa Lucia Day. Then we made these Santa Lucia wreaths—aren't they cute? I am so happy with them! And apparently so is Zoe, because she didn't take hers off all day ;-)

Ashley put hers on for long enough to look at herself in the mirror ;-)

And this evening, we made a fort under the table, using a vintage sheet from a thrift store, and some Christmas lights. ...So much fun!

happy birthday Zoe & Ashley

Today we had a small tea party with a few friends to celebrate Zoe's 7th and Ashley's 5th birthdays. It was a small tea party because (and I say this with nothing but love) my house is very tiny :-) If I could have figured out how to swing a tea party at a park, where we could invite all of our friends, I would have! Maybe next year Zoe will request a playground or pool party, so we aren't limited by space. Or maybe we'll just have to have another party in a week or two, outside somewhere :-)

Making a banner.

Tea party and cake time.

Duck Duck Goose, followed by Red Light Green Light and Simon Says.

Making jewelry.

Listening to Happy Birthday to You, by Dr. Seuss.

Christmas Highlights

Mint Swirl Brownies, Lights & Crafts

I know I'm obsessed with these brownies, but I couldn't resist sharing one more with you! I'm still doing the mint, but this time I also added some Vanilla Pudding, then I gave it a swirl with a tooth pick for a pretty effect. It tasted amazing too :-) Just add 5 minutes to the bake time if you try this.

Flourless Brownies

Plus 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract.

(They are even better cold after after being in the fridge!)

Note: I used alchohol-free extract because it was the only spearmint I could find, and I don't care for peppermint. If you use one that is not alchohol-free, you probably wont need 1 and 1/2 teaspoons. I'd start with 1/2 tsp and taste to see.

Some of the lights in Longmont:

A time honored tradition in our house is watching A Christmas Story on Christmas Day... Notice the lamp at this house above... LOL Where did they find it?

Zoe dipped pine cones in white paint to create snow.

And we hung them on the tree with our Scandinavian designed dolls. They are part of relief work - I did not make these myself.

A baby blankie I knit for a very good friend.

Zoe taking a picture of her new hairdo today. Love the missing teeth!