I am doing a little holiday baking this weekend. This holly and ivy treat is one that I remember enjoying when I was a kid. So easy and so cute. And of course, yummy!
Holly & Ivy 1/2 cup butter 10 oz pkg marshmallows 1 tsp green food coloring 1 tsp vanilla 4 cups cornflakes cinnamon red hot candies
Put butter and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for a minute then stir. Repeat 3 - 4 times until marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Add food coloring and vanilla. Stir. Add cornflakes and stir to coat.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper and sprinkle with red hots. Cool to room temp and then store in an airtight container.
Today Ava had a little Christmas dance show and Santa was there. She was so excited to see him. She walked up to him and grabbed his hands and when he asked her what she'd like him to bring her she said, 'a lot of baby things.' She's hoping for a diaper bag with all the things that a little mommy needs to take care of her bitty baby.
Elle asked for a new pair of ice skates and Thomas said he'd write him a letter, with a smirk on his face. :)
I was searching on YouTube the other day trying to find a video to show me how to knit a particular pattern for a project I'm working on. I didn't have any luck finding what I was looking for but I ran across this really great how to video for knitting continental style. If you are interested in learning to knit, this is the video that will get you going! I taught myself to knit using the book, Knitting for Baby. I couldn't understand knitting instructions until I happened upon that book. I also highly recommend it because it gets you started right away with projects that are beautiful and useful using just the knit stitch. This video would've been a great help too!
My latest project that I've finished after the girls legwarmers was this cable knit beanie. Last time I made it for Elle. This time I made it for me, even though I'm not really sure I can pull off the beanie look. This blurry shot is the best picture of it that I have right now and it's dark out already (even though it's not even 5:00 yet) so there won't be a better picture of it today. I wore it to the City of Lights celebration last weekend. I think I need to line it with fleece though because it was really itchy. Bummer!
I used to make these cookies all the time growing up. I'm pretty sure it was just so I could snitch the dough! If you are craving oatmeal chocolate chip cookies these will not disappoint. Take them out of the oven a minute before you think they are done that way they are super soft. They are especially good frozen. Sounds weird I know, but try it! I actually prefer most cookies frozen.
Cowboy Cookies
1 cup butter (room temp) 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 cups oatmeal 12 oz chocolate chips
Cream together butter, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs and combine. Add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir until mixed, then add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes. Let sit on cooking sheet for a minute or two before moving to cooling racks.
Happy Thanksgiving! We had such a nice day. I was thankful for my helpers in the kitchen this year! Thomas and Elle enjoyed helping prepare our lunch....well, except for all of the dish drying!
Here's the plate of food picture for our family in Nebraska. We pigged out! The meal turned out good but my favorite was dessert. I made creme brulee and it turned out! We hope you all had a great day. We were thinking of you and are looking forward to seeing you next month!
Dancing. Elle and Ava's dance show went great on Saturday! I videoed their dances so family can see them at Christmas! I forgot to take photots though. Thank you to my friend Steph for sharing this one she took of her daughter Lexie with Elle! Such cuties!
Baking. Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe is the best!
Short School Week! I'm pretty sure that's why Thomas left this note for me. :)
Drawing. And it's not on the walls!
Menu Planning for the big Thanksgiving dinner. My favorite holiday!
Geography. One of Thomas's favorite subjects.
Handwriting. Not one of Elle's favorite subjects. :)
See if you can tell what happened just by looking at these pictures -
As soon as the last word of Happy Birthday was sung Ava jumped up on Elle's chair and blew out almost all of the candles. The little turkey! It was hilarious! Did you notice the sheer joy on her face in the first picture?! We relit them so Elle could blow them out. I love that last picture with Thomas's hand over Ava's mouth. It was a good laugh!
Our sweet Elle Marie turned 8 years old today! It's been a fun-filled day around here. She's raced to the phone every time it's rang. She ran out to the mailbox as soon as she saw the postman and was so excited to get 4 birthday cards. Later she walked into the post office with the biggest smile on her face to pick up her package from Grandpa and Grandma. It's so fun to watch her enjoying her special day so much!
She chose strawberry muffins and pepperminty white hot chocolate for her birthday breakfast. The kids always crack me up in the days before their birthdays trying to decide on their birthday menus. It's a big deal for them and they always change their minds over and over.
Thomas couldn't believe she would choose veggie wraps for her birthday lunch. He opted for some leftovers in the fridge instead. :)
Thomas got Elle a new lego kit so there were hours of lego construction going on here today.
Along with some sewing practice on her new Hello Kitty sewing machine. She is going to have so much fun with this thing!
This is yet another dessert we love. Obviously we like sweets as it's the category with the most recipes on my sidebar! And it's chocolate,of course! Make this and your family will think you 'rock'. I love it when my kids say that. :)
Chocolate Angel Food Cake
3/4 cup cake flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 cups white sugar 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces 12 egg whites 1 tsp cream of tartar 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of your angel food cake pan with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside. Chop the chocolate and toss in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at low speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium, stir in cream of tartar and salt and continue to beat until egg mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually mix in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. If you've never made an angel food cake before this is what you are looking for -
Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, then fold in the chocolate pieces, stirring just until no white streaks remain. Gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter and tap the pan lightly to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when touched. Cool upside down before removing from the pan.
I prefer to serve this cake with a dollop of chocolate cool whip. Fresh sliced strawberries would be really good too!
Scott makes the coffee in our house. I make terrible coffee and he's the early riser so he always gets it going. Lucky me! :) Ava has decided that she's Daddy's helper to make coffee. If the grinder wakes her up she's out of bed in no time flat calling for him to wait for her. There have even been real tears shed if its brewing and she wasn't up to help.
Look at how happy she is to press that button!
Another part of her morning routine is putting Scott's sandwich in his laptop bag. She's the only one who gets to do that. She's such a good little helper. :)
Fall has arrived here in Minnesota! After a very cold and rainy October we are loving the sunshine and warmer temps. We've been busy getting outside projects done. Be back soon!
Some of my favorite conversations with Ava are when I cuddle her for a few minutes before her nap. She always tells me she needs 'alotta cuddles' while holding up all her fingers.
When we got the mail today there were several catalogs, so we each picked one and looked at it while we ate our sandwiches at lunch. Of course, that led to talking about what the kids want for Christmas. Ava continued this conversation at naptime. She said she wants something 'nice, special and shiny.' She suggested a baby toy.....for when she's a baby again. :)
We then started talking about best friends and how much she loves all of her best friends. I asked her who they are and she said 'Muffin, Leila, Maggie, & um......, um.......... Mom.' Muffin, Leila and Maggie are all dogs. I guess I'm just happy I made the list! She said that she couldn't tell me the rest of her best friends. The girl cracks me up!
I took this picture a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon. She fell asleep while we were watching Food Network together. She still loves Giada and Ina. :)
The kids had a great time trick or treating around the neighborhood last night. Elle dressed up as Pippi Longstocking, Ava was a princess (she would tell you she was a princess in a castle), and Thomas was the Aflac duck. It was so funny to hear them go up to the door and say 'Trick or Treat please' and then to hear Thomas follow that up with 'Aflac!'
This blog is about my day to day life as a wife to my husband Scott, and mama to our 3 children - Thomas (13), Elle (11) and Ava (6). I love all things domestic - cooking, baking, knitting, and sewing so you will find a little of each here along with lots of pictures of the kids.
I am doing a little holiday baking this weekend. This holly and ivy treat is one that I remember enjoying when I was a kid. So easy and so cute. And of course, yummy!
