Last week’s Christmas celebrations had a wide range of emotions for me.  At it’s best, I was savoring time spent with my visiting extended family (particularly two of my cousins whom I’m best friends with and rarely do we all get to be together), watching the excitement of the kids in the family opening gifts, and enjoying a delicious challah bread french toast breakfast Christmas morning.  The worst: worrying over buying and finishing gifts last minute on Christmas Eve (I never seem to be able to learn from last year’s stresses), totally stressing out over my nephew’s stocking which I sewed incorrectly multiple times, and never eating the cider brined turkey I was so looking forward to (and invested so much time and money into).  Yep, that’s right… no turkey.  We listened to Emeril and took the turkey out at 160°, which we learned the hard way that it was still too early (but because I was frantically trying to sew a stocking, I wasn’t paying attention to the turkey and just told my husband to take it out).  My Mom assured me to simply put it back in the oven at my mother-in-law’s house, but after it had been out of the oven for about 1.5 hours, it took forever to heat back up again and never reached 180°.  I also forgot to bring more stock to baste with and the turkey began to dry out.  At 8:30 pm when it was time for dessert, my husband and I gave up.  I figured at least this weekend I could make turkey soup with it, keeping it out on the freezing cold porch, but thanks to Mother Nature it reached 50-55° on Sunday and it was not cold enough anymore to be safe to eat.

Going into 2010, I’m once again reminded that I am not perfect.  Although I am quite the control freak as well as a perfectionist, I am human and we all make mistakes.  Nothing can ever go as smoothly as we’d like, especially during the holidays.  I’m an a true romantic with visions of Christmas being as beautiful as a holiday card: snow slowly falling and I’m sitting by a cozy fire, carefully and quietly stitching up a handmade gift while Bing Crobsy plays in the background as I soak up the warmth of the holiday spirit.  This has never been the case, I don’t know why I continually think it will be.  I need to remember that many of my projects have a certain amount of stress and frustration involved as I try to figure out (usually last minute) how to complete them.  Life isn’t like Little Women where everyone sits by a fire, singing carols and giving simple gifts (with not a bit of today’s overcommercialized, guilt ridden “did I buy a gift for _____, because I can’t be caught without something for everyone”, holiday in sight).  I had an inkling that it might not be the best idea to try a new recipe (a turkey, at that) on Christmas Eve, but figured I would have the whole day to cook away in the kitchen.  I am a stubborn New England Yankee, liking to do things myself and trying to “do it all”, regardless of how much free time I have, and always wanting to make things from scratch (because obviously, homemade is superior to anything else – yes, I’m being sarcastic).  What I’m realizing is that as often as my husband says it to me (and I usually tune him out only to be cursing out loud and begging for his help once I’m up to my knees) is that I spread myself too thin sometimes, and I’m hoping this is something I can remember and learn from as the New Year approaches.

Even though my turkey clearly won the battle, I ripped out more seams and restitched things more than I could count, and cursed the holidays while frantically cleaning and getting ready while already being late, there were successes.  I managed to bake four types of Christmas cookies (which I received many compliments about, which helped to fix my bruised kitchen ego), finally and successfully finished my nephew’s stocking in the knick of time, and made a heartfelt, handmade gift with my nephew for him to give to his parents, who loved it more than any of their other gifts.  My attempts at enjoying the simplicity of the holidays didn’t necessarily work this year, but there is always the next time.  And with the happy holiday memories I do have, along with the ones I’d rather forget, I will move forward into 2010 and remember to enjoy it to the fullest …while not burning myself out.

{for more of my baking photos, check out my Flickr}

I’ve never made a turkey before (my Mom has always cooked it on Thanksgiving), and I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a brined turkey.  I’ve talked to several people about how they cook their turkeys and many of them swear by brining, so now my interest has been peaked… what’s this brining business all about?  After watching this clip of Emeril’s Cider-Brined Turkey on Martha, I think this Christmas Eve will be my first attempt brining and baking the large bird.  After successfully making a roast for the first time this past weekend, I think I’m up for the challenge.  I have the entire day off so I’d rather make something special and use a recipe I haven’t made before since it is Christmas Eve.  We’ll see how it goes… I hope I’m not cringing at these words on Thursday, stressing out and wishing I had just made a lasagna instead!

{image shown is not the Emeril recipe, but is another cider brined turkey that looks very successful. the image belongs to mintyfreshflavor}

We had our first Nor’easter over the weekend, which blanketed much of the Eastern coast of the States in inches, if not feet, of snow.  We ended up receiving about a foot and a half of the white stuff, and luckily it wasn’t too heavy to shovel.  We were fully prepared to be snowed in for a day and I made a “spoon roast” with roasted fingerling potatoes, carrots, and sauteed spinach for a Sunday dinner (Wholefoods had an amazing sale on the roast and it was my first time cooking one).  I also got many of my holiday to-do’s done and watched several favorite movies (including this favorite Christmas one).  The best part of the weekend (besides staying in my pj’s during the entire storm) was being with close family and knowing that this storm will make one of my holiday wishes come true… it really will be a White Christmas!

{for more of my snow images, check out my Flickr}

This month my beloved grandparents have been married for 60th years – quite a feat for anyone.  A few days after Christmas with all the extended family visiting, we are going to have a fantastic party to celebrate, including having my grandparents renew their vows (I am beyond excited for that).  When my aunt came to me and asked if I would letterpress print invitations for the party, I jumped at the chance.  The colors of the invite, red and gold, coordinate with the party’s color scheme as well as with the holiday season.  I chose typefaces and illustrations that were elegant for this momentous and festive occasion.  My grandparents haven’t actually seen the invite yet, but I think we’re planning on presenting it to them framed, a keepsake of what will hopefully be an incredibly touching and memorable night with family and close friends.

{for more images of my letterpress work, please check out my Flickr}

Her written posts have been short, but the photographs alone do more justice… have you been watching SouleMama’s “postcards” she’s been leaving her loyal blog readers?  They’re a wonderful way she’s been keeping in touch while her family stays on a farm.  The experience looks heavenly to me and I’m sure the entire family of hers is loving every minute.  Definitely go to her blog and scroll through to see the entire series so far.

{images shown belong to SouleMama}

This morning I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the breathtakingly beautiful photos of Sarah & Vincent’s wedding on 100 Layer Cake.  I am in love with her floral headpiece (which was made from vintage paper flowers by A Little Vintage) as well as all the paper details (the invite, menu, favor bags, etc).  The wedding was photographed by Charlotte Jenks Lewis; check out her portfolio here.

{images shown taken by Charlotte Jenks Lewis and found via 100 Layer Cake}

Saturday started out being so-so, stuck on the couch with a sniffly cold and watching endless DVR-ed episodes of Martha and Rick Steves (I bet that combination says a lot about me!) and watching the rain come down all afternoon, but that changed in the late evening.  My husband went to bring the trash outside and came back exclaiming, “Snow! SNOW! It’s snowing!”  I peeked out the window and sure enough, it was definitely snowing, even still falling when we went to bed.  Sunday morning, I woke up early to this gorgeous sight: the first snowfall of the season.

Hope you got to see some snow or do something festive this past weekend that put you in the holiday spirit!

{for more of my first snowfall photos, check out my Flickr}

Thanksgiving was held at our house last week and was lots of work, but well worth it.  There was so much food (oh my goodness, the leftovers) and lots of good times had by all.  I especially love how all of our family is together at Thanksgiving, not just my side but my husband’s family too… and to me, they’re all our family and all so special to us both.  There was lots of cooking and baking (I decided at the last minute to stick to my tried-and-true Oatmeal Raisin recipe but I do have to try Smitten Kitchen’s recipe soon) and of course, my favorite part was dessert.  My husband and I ordered a delicious turkey from Wholefoods and it was his first time carving the holiday bird (and he did a great job, thanks to a few videos from youtube!).

After Thanksgiving had officially passed this weekend, we decided to get going on Christmas decorations since it’s not that too far away.  We spent this past Sunday night relaxing in our pj’s and decorating the tree; or rather, I decorated it while my husband sat and read a book on the couch.  However, it was still a sublime evening with Christmas music playing, a fire blazing in the fireplace, homemade soup and hot apple cider for dinner, and our kitties joining us for the relaxing evening too.  It’s past all the hustle and bustle of the holidays to these special moments at home with my loved ones that I really enjoy and always pine for.

I hope you made lots of wonderful holiday memories with your family this past week too!

{for more of my photos, check out my Flickr}

This Thanksgiving I’m on baking duty: specifically cookie duty.  Not everyone is a huge pie person; wait, let me restate that.  I’m not a big pie person and only recently learned to like pie, but only apple, blueberry, and fruit-of-the-forest… no pecan or pumpkin for me (my sister would call that complete crazy talk).  With past Thanksgivings in mind where pie was the only option, I’m making some finger food desserts that are sure to please everyone, one of which will be oatmeal raisin cookies.  I have a great recipe already, but this one from Smitten Kitchen is making me think perhaps I can try an alternate.  My brother-in-law has been asking for me to bake oatmeal raisin cookies for about two years now, so they’ve got to be good (or else).  I think with my most recent recipe from Smitten Kitchen being a success, this one will definitely do the trick.

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (via Smitten Kitchen)

{image shown belongs to Smitten Kitchen}

With fall winding down and cooling into winter (it’s not that far off), I’m enjoying these atmospheric images from bloom-grow-love’s Flickr group, Harvest.  Alicia Bock is such a talented photographer.  Check out her Etsy shop too.

{images shown belong to bloom-grow-love and Alicia Bock}