Merry Christmas, everyone! Here’s hoping you had a day full of fun, family, and food. What did you do to celebrate the season?
I’m more than a little excited to announce the winner (via this random number generator) of the handmade scarf giveaway: the adorable Nancy of Piggleywinks! Be sure to check out her blog; it’s super cute, and the girl’s got some serious style.
Speaking of serious style, go check out the lovely Amanda of The Upside of Wonder . She's got the most wonderful blog full of amazing photos, sweet posts, and darling outfits! This girl knows how to seriously rock the cutest dresses. I recently won her We Love Colors giveaway, and I'm super excited to show off my new charcoal and maroon tights as soon as I can!
It’s been a crazy week! Tuesday I shaped and decorated marzipan to give my father for Christmas (top and bottom pictures above). I used Odense marzipan paste, cookie cutters, and food dye. I also made a super quick, super tasty custard dessert (middle picture above), which I adapted from a recipe here .
To make the custard I took one cup Greek yogurt (I used fage) and one cup of sweetened condensed milk and mixed them thoroughly in an ovenproof dish. I then added some cinnamon and a dash of freshly ground nutmeg and cloves. I then covered the dish and placed it in a tray filled halfway with boiling water (a bain marie), and left it in the oven on 375F for 30 minutes. The end result was delicious: rich, creamy, sweet, and with a hint of tang from the Greek yogurt.
Wednesday morning one of my best friends, Marie, and I went on a hunt to find the movie Arsenic and Old Lace for her father for Christmas. We finally found a copy at Barns and Nobel! After that we went to a local park in a neighboring town where we took pictures and wandered around. Even though it was chilly it was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun looking at people’s holiday décor and chatting. That night I went over my friend Jenna’s house with a bunch of people and we played Apples to Apples, Name Five, and Taboo!
On Thursday I went to Barns and Nobel with my friend Amanda. We read magazines and drank Starbucks (their Tazo Vanilla Chai Late is amazing), and afterwards my friend Jenna and I went geocatching, which is where you use a GPS is go on treasure hunts other people set up. It was a ton of fun, even though we didn’t find any of the three geocatches we looked for!
( Jeans: J. Crew, Coat: Jason Kole, Boots: Nine West,
Scarf: Unknown, Gloves: Old Navy, Headband: Handmade )
On Friday my family ate a big Italian dinner, had desert (persimmon pudding with lemon sauce, chocolate pizzelle bowls with candy cane ice cream, and homemade Kahlua from a friend) and then went to our Church for Christmas service, which was really nice. After we got back we did some last minute gift wrapping and went to bed.
Christmas morning my family got up for our traditional homemade sugar cake, bacon, and fruit brunch and then we got down to unwrapping gifts! I got some clothes, a nice (much needed) school bag, and a pair of good headphones, which I adore. After gifts we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol, and then started preparing dinner. My mom made cranberry sauce, a turkey breast and a roast, brussle sprouts, mashed potatoes, onions, asparagus, and Yorkshire pudding. It was all delicious! After dinner we opened our stockings and then we had dessert: my mom made a Bûche de Noël Yule log (with homemade meringue mushrooms) and my sister made a pumpkin pie. Yum!
