Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar Day Five & Six

Somehow yesterday slipped away without any Advent Fun to be had! We made up for it in spades today. Wellll, Molly and I made up for it in spades. Maggie just continued her reign of destruction around my house. Destruction brings her joy even if it does not bring the same feeling to me.

Wearing her Mermaid Costume (boy, have we ever gotten our money worth out of that thing!), Molly made cards (with a bit of help from me) for Teacher Janice, Coach Kirstie and her Speech Therapist, Deanna. I plan to add a little something to them and then we'll start delivering them next week.

Then we moved on to making treats for our neighbors. Every year I bake up cookies and other treats and then we make the rounds delivering the goods. I love visiting our neighbors and seeing how they are doing and I believe they like the baked goods. Molly's attention span wasn't great so we tackled just one of the goodies on our list today. 

We made Reindeer Chow Muddy Buddies which were perfect for today because they can be stored in the freezer until gifting time (hopefully sometime next week). 

I'm really enjoying our Advent Calendar Fun (even if we missed yesterday due to Holiday parties, appointments and commitments). I'm especially enjoying everyone else's calendars and I'm gathering so many ideas for next year! 

Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar Day Four

Today's Advent Calendar activity was a field trip to Swanson's Nursery to check out the reindeer and camel along with the holiday trains. We also had our first advent guest! One of my PEPS friends joined us at Swanson's. Molly and her son are best buds so they had a grand time running around the nursery and checking out all the holiday goodness.

We spent a looooong, loooong time at the Holiday Train with Molly and her little friend checking out the entire set. They were greatly amused when the "Train Master" came along to fix a derailed train. 

After checking out the trains, we roamed around the nursery a bit before heading inside to watch the fish. Maggie thought the pond was awesome and ended up soaked when I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I should have been. 

It was a successful field trip to check out the holiday fun at Swanson's Nursery! Both Molly and Maggie took a nice long nap afterward. 

The Podcast Edition! Wednesday Links from Around The Web

A New Dawn for the Podcast Podcasts are huge right now and I, for one, am having a love affair with them. I used to listen to Podcasts all the time when I was working and commuting by bus. Then life changed and I stopped listening to them. Recently I got swept up in the Serial podcast craze and started listening again. I now listen to a podcast or two while doing the dishes every night. It allows me time to recharge while also getting something done.

Here are a few of my favorite podcasts:

Elise Gets Crafty Elise of EliseJoy.com started her own podcast to discuss blogging, creative endeavors and small business practices. I am gaining so much inspiration from Elise!

Spilled Milk - Molly Wizenberg of Orangette fame has partnered with Matthew Amster-Burton, an author of three really good books. I used to sponsor their show at my old job because I loved their work and when I get a chance, I still like to listen to them. They explore food and food topics in such a fun way.

DoubleKnit Podcast - My two knitting friends run this fun podcast about knitting. I love listening to hear what they are working on and to discover new things. They always know the latest and greatest things going on in the knitting world.

Stash and Burn Podcast - Just like DoubleKnit, this podcast is also about knitting. I love this one too because if I can't knit, I like to at least hear about knitting!

This American Life This is also a radio show but I don't always get a chance to listen to it when it is on NPR so I love that I can listen to it as a podcast.

What are your favorite podcasts? I'm in need of a few more and I'd love to branch out in my podcast interests!

Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar Day Three

On this third day of Advent, we delivered wreaths across the city and made dough ornaments. The wreath delivery was definitely a highlight while the ornaments were ok. Molly enjoyed making them and Maggie thought it was fun to look on but they didn't really come out as beautiful as I hoped. Maybe my hopes and dreams were too grand for this project?

The kids did enjoy making the dough and rolling it out. We didn't let Maggie cut out the ornaments but she did laugh and watch us as we did cut them out.

The ornament are now drying and we'll attempt to hang them tomorrow. They look a little delicate to me but I might be wrong.

Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar Day Two

Day Two of our Christmas Advent Calendar was to "Make a Cardboard Gingerbread House" which seemed like a fun activity when I added it to our calendar. It turned out to be a bit lame but I think Molly enjoyed the activity. We started out the afternoon by putting up the tree and starting to decorate it. I'll probably finish decorating it after the kids go to bed as ornaments and toddlers do not mix very well. 

Maggie's contribution to today's advent fun was to roam around chewing on a foam letter while throwing things around the house. She found that to be completely awesome. 

In the end, Molly had a great time using her glue stick and coloring her Cardboard Gingerbread House. It was a good activity for a quiet afternoon at home. I think next year though, we might tackle a real gingerbread house instead. That sounds way more delicious to me. 

Forty Nine Weeks with Chicken Nugget

This week Maggie discovered that running is fun! She also decided that it is extra fun to steal Mommy's things and run away from Mommy with them, especially my iPhone.

Maggie enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and since she is currently in the EAT ALL THE THINGS STAGE, she ATE ALL THE THINGS. Seriously this kid can pack away some serious food. She's growing like a weed and needs all the fuel she can get.

She's also started this thing where she raises her hands up in the air as if to say, TouchDown! or SuperStar! It's adorable. It's more adorable when she giggles. 

Maggie thinks her sister, Molly is the coolest thing in the world! She loves playing with her and follows her around everywhere. I am loving this playing together thing that they do. This is why I wanted to have two kids, so they would have each other. I can't wait to see how their relationship grows and I hope they are tight as they get older. 

Rock on, Maggie! In three short weeks, you'll be ONE! Can't wait to celebrate with you!

Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar Day One

Today was the first day of our Advent Calendar Adventure! Today's Fun was to Visit Santa Claus for Santa Photos!  Molly and I had church with my Mom this morning so we decided to visit Santa in the afternoon. Scott refused to wait in the cold so he requested that we visit Santa indoors. We decided to head on up to Pacific Place to visit Santa and it was so much fun! 

We arrived right as Santa was coming off his break and so had time to snap a few photos in line with the beautiful decorations. Or I should say TRY to snap a few photos. My subjects were less than cooperative! 

But they were pretty darn cute and hilarious in their antics. Maggie has started running away as fast as her chubby little legs will take her. This is fun at home but not so fun when one is waiting in line for Santa! 

I'm saving the actual Santa Photo for later but I can tell you, it was epic! Both girls wigged out and started crying when they saw Santa so we had to do the drop them in Santa's lap, let him clutch them tightly and jump out of the photo. We now have a very memorable photo of crying little girls. Scott and I were giggling as we purchased them. The other parents at first tried to comfort us by saying this time is brief but then started giggling when they saw that we were laughing. We know this time is brief and honestly we are going to be a little sad when they no longer cry in Santa's lap. 

After visiting Santa, we decided to head over to Westlake Center to check out the holiday decorations. Molly spotted the Holiday Carousel and begged to ride it. Since it is one of my favorite holiday traditions, I couldn't say no. We had the best time riding it while Scott and Maggie looked on.  Our Advent Calendar is off to a successful start and I'm excited for the rest of our adventures!

Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar

Last year, I started a Christmas Tradition with Molly of having an advent calendar filled with activities and fun. Now that Maggie is here, she'll be taking part in our tradition. We'll be using the Smitten Mittens from last year as a holding place for our fun but I thought I'd also share our plans here. I'm planning to blog about our advent activities.

Advent Calendar Activities

November 30: Visit Santa Claus for Santa Photos! 

December 1: Make a Cardboard Gingerbread House 

December 2: Make Cinnamon Ornaments Make Dough Ornaments

December 3: Visit Swanson's Nursery to see the Reindeer 

December 4: Make a Christmas Card for Teacher Janice

December 5: Make Christmas Cookies for the neighbors

December 6: Take the Santa Train! 

December 7: Explore Portland Christmas Decorations

December 8: Make Christmas Cards for Grandparents 

December 9: Do the WildLights at the Zoo!

December 10: Celebrate Grandpa Burgess on his birthday by visiting his niche

December 11: Play Snowman Factory with Homemade Play dough 

December 12: Visit the Sheraton Gingerbread Village 

December 13: Have a Holiday Adventure with Daddy while Mommy is in San Diego

December 14: Drive Candy Cane Lane to look at Christmas Lights

December 15: Color a drawing of Santa Claus

December16: Listen to a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas

December 17: Drink Hot Cocoa at a coffee shop

December 18: Donate a gift to someone in need through a Giving Tree

December 19: Take pictures of Christmas Tree Lights with Mommy's Camera & Sing Happy Birthday to Mommy

December 20: Make a Paper Garland

December 21: Sing/Play Christmas Music & Celebrate Maggie's Birthday

December 22: Visit the Bellevue Botanical Garden Christmas Lights

December 23: Buy Christmas Cookies for Santa at Larsen's Bakery

December 24: Christmas Eve Church Service

Thanksgiving Day

Today I hosted Thanksgiving for 13 people and my heart is full. Family and friends gathered to share the fruit of my labors (because I'm the Thanksgiving Hostess that refuses to let people bring things), enjoy time together and celebrate the day.

The food was awesome (ok the gravy was an utter fail!), the company was delightful and the kids had so much fun that all of them are passed out asleep. The food that took me days to make was excitedly consumed in less than 30 minutes, the kids lasted approximately 2.5 seconds at the kid's table before running off to play and much laughter was heard across the table.

As I reflect on today, I'm grateful for the opportunity to provide a wonderful meal to such awesome people. Throughout the day we missed my Dad and his absence was felt from the pumpkin pies to the carving of the turkey. No matter how many times he tried to teach me how to carve a turkey, I never quite got it. And I do believe Dad would have been able to save my terrible gravy. Seriously, it was congealed and just awful. I do feel blessed to have a community of wonderful friends and family that surrounds all of us with love even when it isn't Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Prep: Day Three

Tomorrow is the BIG day and I’m feeling way confident about our meal tomorrow. I’ve baked the pies, cooked the cranberry chutney, chopped and saluted the veggies for the stuffing, made the sweet potato casserole (marshmallows to be melted on top tomorrow!) and dried out the bread for the stuffing. Things are looking good! 

The turkey has been defrosting in a cold water bath to speed up the process. Maggie gleefully got me up at 5:45 a.m. this morning so I was in the kitchen cooking away by 7 a.m. after some playtime and a big cup of coffee. I think she knew that my to do list was long today. 

Tonight I need to clean up the dining room and get the table settings ready. I might even need to iron a few napkins but that will be a joy, not a burden.

Tomorrow I’ll host 10-13 people for Thanksgiving and we’ll be thankful for each other’s company and hopefully for this great meal I’ve prepared. My good friend is anxiously awaiting her second child and will hopefully join us with her family for dinner. If they don’t join us, it will be for a very good reason, she’ll be having her baby! I’m kinda hoping they don’t make it because I know how much fun it is to have a Turkey Baby and she deserves that kind of fun. That and I think she’s done being pregnant. 

May your Thanksgiving Meal be full of laughter, grace and wonderful feelings. 

Thanksgiving Prep: Day Two

Today's tasks were to continue on with the bread drying, make pie crusts and start chopping up some of the stuffing vegetables. The bread is looking delicious and is making the house smell awesome. While Molly was at co-op preschool this morning and Maggie was helping me out by taking a nice nap, I started making pie crust dough. I used my favorite recipe, which I'll include at the end of this post. 

I always love making pie dough. I once spent a year perfecting pie dough and all the tasty memories come back from that experience. I rarely make pies anymore though so when the opportunity presents itself, I get really excited. 

After making four batches of pie dough, I wrapped them up and stuck them in my very full fridge. That turkey is taking up a lot of room! I checked the time and I still had 45 minutes before I needed to pick up Molly and Maggie was taking an epic nap so I decided to start chopping! 

I use my mother's recipe for stuffing and it is a complicated beast. There is chopping and bread drying and seasonings to mind. My Mom never pre-cooked any of the veggies but I decided to roast them one year and have never looked back. I chopped the onions and celery today and placed them in the fridge. I'll roast them tomorrow for final assembly on Thursday. 

And while I was busy prepping for Thanksgiving, Molly was busy creating Orange Turkeys at school. Shortly after I took this picture, she took everything out, peeled the orange and ate it. At least it was cute while it lasted! 

Perfect Pie Crust

by Rebecca Mongrain

Prep Time: 15 minutes active




6068452



Ingredients (1 pie crust)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup COLD unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup COLD butter-flavored vegetable shortening, cut into cubes
1/4 cup cold water




Instructions

Add the flour, sugar and salt to the food processor. Pulse a few times to mix before scattering the butter over the dry ingredients. Pulse about 6 times to cut in the butter. Add the butter-flavored vegetable shortening and pulse again, about 6 times. Scrape the edges to make sure the mixture is mixing in before adding half the water. Pulse about 5 times and then add in the remaining water. Process until the dough begins to look like coarse crumbs.

Using your hands, form the pastry to a ball. Knead the ball twice before flattening it into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight before rolling out.


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Thanksgiving Prep: Day One

Today is a slow start toward preparing for Thanksgiving. I had a small list of to-do's in regards to food prep but a HUGE list when it comes to preparing the house for guests.

My food list included starting to defrost the turkey and cubing the bread loaves to start drying them out in the oven. I set the oven to warm (170F) and spread the bread out in a single layer on cookie sheets. I left the cookie sheets in the oven for a few hours and then put the dried bread cubes into a big roaster pan for storage.

I brought the turkey out of the basement chest freezer and placed it in the fridge to begin the defrost process. I am behind on the defrosting process so I'll be combining the two safe methods for defrosting a turkey. 

I also started scrubbing down the kitchen. I find it so much easier to work in a super clean kitchen when preparing a big meal like Thanksgiving. Ideally my kitchen would always be super, sparkly clean but when preparing three meals a day for four humans, at times it needs a bit of Mr. Clean cleaning. I'm also preparing to tackle the mess in the dining room. I've created a mission control station at the end of the table and that needs to be cleared out. I'm hoping to really tackle it once the kids are in bed this evening because nap time is almost over and that means my prep time is at an end. What are you doing to prepare for Thanksgiving?