New Year's Eve

Ah, New Year's Eve. It always holds so much anticipation and excitement. What will the night entail? What does the new year have in store for me?

When I was younger (aka didn't have a child), it was definitely more about what the night would entail, not what the new year would bring.

Not to say there is anything wrong with that. I had plenty of fun with those kinds of New Years Eves. (and yes, sometimes TOO much fun.) I'm just saying my perspective has changed somewhat.

Now instead of worrying about what to wear, where I am going to go and how I am going to get home, I worry about staying awake until midnight.

I know, pathetic, right?

Oh well, c'est la vie. Mais, J'adore ma vie.  (pardon my french (literally), it's been a while)

It's true. I do. I love my life.

And spending New Year's Eve at home, in my pj's, eating crab legs and drinking ginger ale (the closest thing we have to bubbly) sounds magnifique.

So whether you are hosting a magnificent NYE party like my SIL is or staying home like we are, I hope it's wonderful and exciting. (and yes, flannel pants are exciting!)

And if you spend the first day of the brand spanking new year moaning on your couch in agony instead of tackling your new years resolutions head on, don't worry. There's always tomorrow.

And make sure to eat something. The greasier the better.

Wishing you the very best in 2010!



and p.s. Can you tell that two of my resolutions for 2010 are to brush up on my French and use the word magnificent daily?

I'm on a roll!

I won another giveaway!

I won a 30 day supply of Evora Plus Probiotic Mints from Nicole over at Bless Their Hearts Mom!

Now I know this is not as exciting as winning a computer, but still. I won! Again!

Seriously, I never win anything. Not even Tic Tac Toe. Or thumb wars. Or staring contests. I am just not a winner.

Ok, that doesn't sound right. But you know what I mean.

Well, now I can say I am a winner. Sweet!

Computer Update

I heard back from MckMama, she said that I should be contacted by HP shortly. Yay!

I guess I need to start thinking about where I will set it up....and if I want to hand over my laptop to Chris (who desperately needs a new one) or hold on to it.  I guess I don't need two computers....we'll see.

Um...

  Oh my goodness. Oh my GOODNESS. OH MY GOODNESS!

I won a computer on MckMama's blog. And not just any computer...an HP Touchsmart 600 computer.

Me. ME! The one who never wins anything. I won a freaking computer!! AAAAH!

Here I was, basking in the glow of after Christmas joy. Enjoying the heart warming company of my family. Thinking about how truly blessed I am and have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. Getting ready to enjoy a sit in the outdoor living room my brother in law and sisters in law constructed before sitting down to a delicious fondue dinner.

And I thought, hey, I am going to check my email quick.

Wow, am I glad I did! I had 7 messages from comments on my blog. I thought that was kind of strange since the posts people were commenting on were almost a week old. So I opened the first one and it said

"Lindsay, I'll email you, too, but wanted to let you know that you won the HP TouchSmart computer!!! Please email me asap at the contact email on my blog;)

Love,

MckMama"


And I am pretty sure my heart stopped for a beat or two. Or three. I had to read it again and then again before I could even begin to comprehend what I was reading.  I managed to squeak out "I just won a computer!" and my whole family went bananas! I will be honest, my husband was (and maybe still is?) a bit skeptical.

Unbelievable. Completely and utterly unbelievable. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking but I managed to email MckMama with my contact info. I haven't heard back from her yet, but have faith that I will soon.

 So thank you. Thank you MckMama for sharing this amazing giveaway with us. And thank you to all of the people who have taken the time to look at my humble little blog and leave me well wishes and kind words.

Thank you!

Aebleskeebies

 
or whatever they are called.

Chris' family introduced me to "aebleskivers" last Christmas. I have to say, I was quite shocked that it took them 5 years to introduce the doughy goodness to me.

Aebleskivers are little round filled pancakes. You make them in an aebleskiver pan like this:

You fill each well of the pan with batter and filling and let it cook much like a pancake. When the batter starts to bubble, you very carefully flip the half cooked dough ball over. In our house this involves a fork and a chopstick.

I *think* they are traditionally filled with apples or some sort of fruit filling, but we used a cinnamon sugar filling that is heavenly.  Adam and Kelsey introduced us to the recipe last Christmas and we have made them several times since, this morning included. I can see Aebleskeebies becoming a Christmas breakfast tradition in our house. Olive LOVED them. She would scarf one down and with her mouth still full say "more? more?"

The recipes calls for a cream cheese frosting, but honestly, we think that makes them too sweet. They were plenty sweet without it. But, to each their own!

Cinnamon Filled Aebleskivers

(adapted from Williams-Sonoma.com)

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon filling:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes,
    at room temperature (we nuked it until very soft)
  
  

For the cream cheese frosting: (not necessary in our opinion)

• 3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 to 4 Tbs. milk
  
  

For the pancakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups milk
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking

To make the cinnamon filling:
Stir together the granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and, using the back of a spoon, mash the butter into the flour mixture until all of it is absorbed into the butter, forming a paste. Set aside.

To make the cream cheese frosting:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, reduce the speed to low and beat until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add 3 Tbs. of the milk and beat until combined, about 1 minute. The frosting should be thick but still pourable; add more milk if needed to thin it. Transfer the frosting to a small bowl; set aside.

To make the pancakes:
 In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 Tbs. melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/8 tsp. melted butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan (or spray with cooking spray). Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well. Spoon 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Using 2 skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Drizzle the pancakes with the frosting and serve immediately. Makes 35 to 40. (They freeze well!)

Enjoy!


(images from Williams-Sonoma.com)

What a hoot.

I may or may not have a slight obsession with owls. There is something about them that melts my heart and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And don't we all need more warm and fuzzy in our lives?

Santa

"Santa" is the word of the day around here.

Actually more like word of the month.

Ever since we visited Santa and Dolly Llama at the zoo, "Santa" has been her word of choice.

Olive loves Santa. But apparently she is trying to get him in trouble. She likes to blame Santa for any wrong doing or incidents that happen. Like, for instance, this morning. Olive may or may not have been passing gas, which we refer to as tooting.  After said tooting incident, I asked her "Olive what do you say after you toot?". Her usual response is "Toot!" and a giggle. Well today, it was

"Santa!"

Maybe that's why he's always so smiley....

Wordless Wednesday

(I know, I've actually been quite wordy today. please forgive me.)

Re-gifting

This year for Christmas, almost all of Olive's gifts from us will be re-gifts.

No, we will not be giving her creepy snowglobes, moldy fruitcake or a 2006 calendar. What i mean is that we are giving her gifts that have been loved by someone else.

*gasp* "You're giving your child USED gifts for Christmas?!"

Yes. For several reasons.
1) She's 18 months old. She doesn't know the difference.
2) Why buy new when slightly used will do? :)
3) Cost savings
4) Not only will your wallet thank you, but Mother Earth will too.

We are very fortunate to have family and friends with older children who have out grown a lot of their belongings. So we have several bags of toys, games, books, puzzles and clothes that are just waiting, no, begging, for someone to love them again.  A quick trip through the dishwasher, washer or soapy water and voila! New stuff!

I realize not everyone is as fortunate as we are in the hand-me down department. But we have also had great success shopping at consignment stores, thrift stores and craigslist. I *heart* craigslist. I take great pride in my craigslist finds (yes, I am a dork). There are craigslist sites for most major cities in the U.S. (and international cities, if you are in need of that!)  Just go to craigslist.org and take a look.

Another option is buying used goods through on-line retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For a lot of their products there is a "used" option. Products are then listed in Excellent, Like New, Great, Good, etc condition. It is quite shocking the difference in price you will see. For example I bought a used hardcover book from Amazon a few months ago for $12, less than half the retail price. It arrived and it appeared to be brand new, never been read.

Olive will not know the difference come Christmas morning. She will not open the Little People Town Square set that was passed down from her cousins and say

"Ugh, this is USED! Just look at that tooth mark on the tow truck driver's hat!". (and if she does, well, to be honest, I would be quite impressed. I mean, that would be a HUGE jump in her cognitive and conversation skills!)

And last but certainly not least (in my book anyway), re-gifting makes the world a happier place. Because it is never too early to teach about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. By re-gifting we are reducing the amount of waste heading to the landfill and reusing items that are still usable. And by taking good care of our belongings, we can then pass them along to someone else when we are finished with them. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

Moral of the story, don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to giving gifts. It's not about the money you spend (or don't spend), it's the thought behind the gift that counts.

Advent Calendars

I love advent calendars. The excitement and anticipation of counting down to Christmas makes the kid in me squeal with joy. Ok, the adult in me too.

I have a wooden Santa advent calendar that hangs in our entry way. It has stars with numbers that you change each day to the correct number. I also bought a classic cardboard advent calendar with doors that open to reveal a little piece of chocolate.  This is what I remember from my childhood. Except now I don't have to fight my brother for the chocolate....just my husband. :)

I also have an Olive The Other Reindeer pop-up advent calendar

that I am saving for a few more years until our daughter, Olive, will enjoy/understand it more. I bought it on mega clearance while I was pregnant and was suddenly feeling like we would have a girl and her name would be Olive. (Apparently advent calendars are also psychic in my world)

This holiday season I am feeling very crafty. I don't know if it's because I am a mom or because I miss being creative and crafty with my students (I was a preschool teacher and nanny in my former life) or because we are being more um, thrifty? frugal? cheap?, these days. Whatever the reason I set out at the beginning of December to find some DIY advent projects. And wow, did I find some!

Most include buying lots of supplies, a sewing machine, knowing how to work said sewing machine and voila! You have a beautiful advent calendar! That's not really my cup of tea. At least not this year. We'll see if Santa brings me a sewing machine and lessons. Maybe next year I'll be sewing up something spectactular. Or the next. Or never.

I did find several DIY options that only require paper and a printer. Here are a few that I like adore:

Sticky Note Advent Calendar

(image courtesy of giverslog.com)

Free Advent Calendar

(image courtesy of mibostudio.co.uk)


And then there is this one:

(image courtesy of Bodie and Fou)

Isn't that a great idea? I found it here and while it's not free, I think you could easily make it yourself using take out container type boxes found at a craft store.

So don't feel bad if you haven't already started an advent calendar! Whip one of these bad boys up and get to it!

Blogger's block

So much to write and I just can't seem to put it into words.  Or the right words anyway.

I blame the lack of snow. It's throwing off my equilibrium. Or something.

And the fact that it is already December 3rd. Wasn't it June like, yesterday? Seriously, Time? SLOW. DOWN.

Thank you.