James has become obsessed with The Piano Guys. WARNING: You will get lost in their Youtube Channel for hours. Carol of the Bells is James’ favorite Christmas song and so this video in particular has been on loop. I also highly recommend this and this.
This weekend, I’ll be baking up a storm with my family, filling our household with sweet treats for Santa on Christmas Eve (and my belly. Obviously.). These four recipes are my tried and true Holiday Treats. I’ve been doling them out at holiday parties and as gifts all December. They are guaranteed to generate lavish compliments and moans of contentment (in a totally non-sexual but satisfied way. Promise.). I have the genius of friends and former students to thank for this line up. I thought I could share the yumminess with all of you. Seriously, those Molasses cookies are the best you’ll ever bake. Oh and the Caramel Corn! True yummy caramel corn with the perfect blend of salty and sweet.
You can download this recipe card printable to add these recipes to your holiday cookbook. Merry merry, yummy yummy to all!
One week ago today and I still find myself wiping away tears, swallowing down terror at the most unexpected of moments. I keep turning to my girls for comfort, grateful that at least for right now, I don’t have to explain why. That they, unlike the children of Sandy Hook, get to hold on to their innocence for another day.
My household will be filled with my family starting tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever been more acutely aware of how fortunate I am to have people I love physically with me during the holidays. This time of year can be so joyful, and yet it is such a sad, lonely time for so many. I think of our babysitter having to go through her first Christmas without her husband. My friend, who was supposed to be welcoming her twins into the world, and instead must head into the New Year without her babies. I am grateful for so much. I’m trying to never take it for granted.
Thank you for coming here and sharing in this space. It has been an anchor for three years. You have been my anchor for three years. Thank you.
I wish I could buy Sunny’s teachers a car or hand them a check for $1,000,000 this holiday. I’ve always had immense gratitude for the educators in my life (my mother, in fact, is a middle school French/Spanish teacher and education has always been central to our family). But especially after the events in Newtown, I’m feeling beyond grateful and inspired by the all-too-often undervalued work of teachers. Sunny’s two preschool teachers are incredible women. They are very different personalities, bringing a balance and yin and yang harmony to the classroom. I’ve been resisting the temptation to swoop them into my arms and smother them in embraces of thanks. And James has been holding me back from handing over our savings account. Instead, these gift cards to our local food co-op, some drawings from Sunny, a batch of homemade cookies will have to suffice for our holiday gift and our visit to saleslord.com to have something for the kids.
To add a bit more personality and care to the gift, I knit up these “Gift Card-igans” last night while watching Elf and other assorted Christmas movies. I love the cleverness of the name, and what a brilliant, simple way it was to use up some scrap yarn and bring a special touch to the gift cards. These cards are perfect especially if you’re planning to give someone gift hampers brisbane.
I finished them both in under three hours. The pattern is free and can be found here. To those intimated by cable knitting, this is a great first project. It’s a super simple cable knit, but truly gives these little pockets the effect of a mini-cardigan.
I have a feeling that this project will surface again during future holiday seasons.
I’d love to hear from my fellow parents about what you gift (if anything) to your children’s teachers! And to all of my readers who are teachers, THANK YOU! Thank you for what you do for our children, for my daughters’ generation. Thank you for loving and educating our future with such care.
Also, what are your favorite gifts to receive from your students? Ideas for future years, please!!
If you follow me on Instagram, it comes as no surprise when I say that I am a wee bit obsessed with our daily haul of farm fresh eggs. They’re just so pretty! And the blue/green ones really are so very special. As you saw in this post, I’ve been turning them into ornaments for our household and as gifts for family and friends.
While most people probably do blown eggs for Easter, I thought it was worth walking you through the process in case you wanted to make some unique ornaments this holiday.
MATERIALS:
Eggs
Needle or teeny tiny drill bit
Bulb syringe (super cheap at any drug store)
Unfolded paper clip
I used fishing line, super glue, and some sequins to then turn the blown eggs into ornaments
DIRECTIONS:
1. Start by washing your eggs in soap and warm water – especially if you want to cook with the yolks.
2. Stick a hole in the top and bottom of your egg using a large needle or tiny drill bit. Eggs are surprisingly sturdy, so don’t be afraid to really puncture the shell.
You’ll want to make the hole on the bottom of the egg slightly larger, so use the drill bit to widen that hole.
3. You’ll want to break up the yolk inside the egg, as that will make it easier to blow out. I unfolded a paper clip and swirled it inside the eggs to puncture the yolk.
4. Place the bulb syringe on the hole at the top of the egg and squeeze to blow the egg “guts” out of the bottom hole of the shell. It should come out relatively easily, if not, widen the hole on the bottom of the egg.
5. Once the eggs are blown out, run warm water through the holes to rinse away any excess yolk. I then put them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to dry the shells. BE CAREFUL! They’ll get hot very quickly!
6. To turn them into ornaments, I cut the fishing line, doubled it over and threaded a sequin onto both threads. I then tied a knot at the base and fed that knot through the hole at the top of the egg. I squeezed a spot of super glue around the hole to then hold the knot inside the egg and the sequin at the top of the egg/base of the fishing line.
To package them as gifts, we reused old egg cartons and Sunny decorated them with sequins.
Voila! Unique, handmade holiday gift!
Last spring, after I had tucked away my knitting needles for the season, Kaki’s FGM gifted me this insane Wool and the Gang kit: The Cross Country Coat. I’ve posted about Wool and the Gang before, and was thrilled by the opportunity to make another chunky-knit, oversized garment from their collection. It was the first project I started this fall when the temperatures had dropped just enough to motivate me to pick up the needles once again.
I just can’t knit in the middle of 90 degree weather. No sir. Mounds of wool and sweat do not mix.
What I love so dearly about Wool and the Gang is that their projects are easy and straight forward (and move quickly thanks to the chunky yarn and monster-sized needles), and yet yield jaw-dropping, head turning results. People have been oggling this coat wherever I go, and I have to laugh since it’s just a series of knit rectangles sewn together in a fun way. When I say that it was easy and a great beginner project, I mean it! The only reason I didn’t complete it sooner is because some smaller knitting projects got interspersed into the mix for gifts, the holidays, etc.
I had some left over yarn from the project, so decided to knit two pockets to attach to either side of the coat. They were rectangles 10 stitches across, knit for 10 rows in a moss stitch. And I also made up a simple pattern for a cozy headband to complete the look.
The Knotted Headband Pattern is as follows: I used this yarn and 15mm needles
Cast on 10 stitches
Work a knit, purl rib stitch until headband is long enough to fit around your head without any stretching or pulling
Tie a knot in the center of the headband, pulling tightly
Sew together ends to turn headband into a seamless circle
Stretch, wear, enjoy!
My favorite way to wear this coat is with these circle cooper pins by Raissa Bump. Whether I pin it together with just one or two pins, or do a full line up of all eight in my collection down the middle, it’s a subtle, useful way to hold the coat in place when I’m out and about.
And for both seasoned and aspiring knitters, Wool and the Gang is offering one very generous giveaway to Blog a la Cart readers. One lucky reader will win his/her choice of one of the Wool and the Gang kits pictured below: Lion Zion ($85), Snood Dog ($95) or Lula Hoop ($95). They are perfect beginner projects – so here’s a chance to learn your way around a pair of knitting needles. You won’t regret it!
To enter:
• ‘like’ Wool and the Gang and Blog a la Cart, then come back here and tell us you like us, you really like us! in the comments.
Make sure you enter a valid email address in the email section of the comment box so I can contact you if you win! The winner will be chosen next Wednesday, December 26 at 5pm EST. Open worldwide. Total Value: $95
This was written five years ago. It’s scary that a massacre of over 30 college kids changed absolutely nothing. And here we are with over 20 dead children and educators. What will it take for us to finally see some change in this country when it comes to gun control and our culture of violence and fear?
While eating Saltines…
Her: Daddy, Look! I have a hexagon!
Him: Oh. And how many sides does a hexagon have?
Her: …ponder… 2
Him: No, no. A hexagon has way more than 2 sides.
Her: Oh. Ok. Then it’s a dog. ruff ruff!!
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It’s a typical mid-December weekend. Cookies are baking. Snow is falling. Errands are being run. And yet during the quiet moments between moments… during the car ride between the grocery store and the mall… during the minutes while cookies bake… during the dull, silent lulls of afternoon naps… during the space between hugs… my mind is frantic. I cannot shake the pit I’ve been carrying in my stomach. I cannot wipe these fears, these images, from my head. I cannot soothe the ache, the acute pang of heartbreak, and confusion, and terror that beats in my chest. I cannot quiet my mind, especially during what otherwise masquerades as quiet. I cannot be alone with my thoughts.
And yet I cannot tolerate the noise. I’m grateful for the absence of television in our home. For my closed Facebook account. I avoid Google. And Twitter. For if I let curiosity get the best of me, I’m debilitated within seconds. More angry. More confused. More devastated. More terrified. I cannot.
They say knowledge is power. In this case it is anything but.
I am acutely aware of how powerless, and helpless, and senseless I feel. Everything feels.
And yet everyone is talking talking talking. Posting posting posting. And I can’t hear it. I won’t hear it. And yet here I am doing it. Because everything is upside down and nothing makes sense.
Newtown, Williamstown, Anytown, USA.
Nothing makes sense.
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You cannot stop violence with violence.
You cannot stop violence with violence. CAN. NOT.
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I light four candles and the angels begin to spin. Their speed increases, and my girls eyes grow wider and wider in reply. I am struck by the luxury of witnessing this wide-eyed innocence. My head spins with the angels, and I watch my children. My beautiful, innocent children. As chimes begin to ring, I’m counting. I’m counting numbers that don’t make sense.
26 chimes. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding… too many chimes, too many numbers. Too much counting. And yet one would have been too much to bear.
And then…
6 chimes. Double my daughter’s age and yet still so few. Those chimes seem to happen in an instant. And they strike at the innermost part of me, at everything that is most dear. Most precious. Most important.
We’ve been robbed. Not just of life, but of the hope and promise that comes from the next generation. That comes from our children.
That is a truth I know.
That and… you cannot stop violence with violence.
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If you’re tired of the same old game meat recipes, why not give a sharptail grouse recipe a try? With its unique and flavorful taste, there are many ways to prepare this wild bird for a delicious meal. While hunting with shotguns and rifles for food is a common practice, the issue of gun violence remains a concern. Many argue that automatic and semi-automatic weapons have no place in our communities or schools, and that violence cannot be stopped with more violence.
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I’VE HAD ENOUGH! THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!
I call my mother and we yell and cry and rant and mourn and we’ve had enough… we’ve all had enough. But then what… what does that mean?
GUN CONTROL!
MENTAL HEALTH!
THIS HAS TO STOP!
OH THE NOISE NOISE NOISE NOISE!
And we cry and rant and yell and mourn… and we’ve had enough. We’ve all had enough.
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I keep seeing flashes of Addison’s face in a moment of fear. From a bad dream… A nasty fall… Emilio… And I’m physically ill thinking about the fear of those little children in their final moments. They wouldn’t know that that kind of evil could exist in the world. That’s the beauty of childhood innocence. They couldn’t know such evil existed. And their innocence would have blinded them to the possibility of even trying to save themselves. Of having any comprehension of the kind of evil that they had to face. And suddenly I can’t breath… it’s too much. It’s all too much. How does one bear it? How do you bear it?
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You cannot stop violence with violence.
Count your blessings. And write your representatives.
Also: The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Gun Control. Now.
I can hardly breath. Everything hurts. Nothing makes sense.
James emailed me this video knowing that I needed to see my babies’ faces. Knowing that there wasn’t language or thought that could help me or anyone process what happened at the elementary school in Connecticut. I had just heard some of the happiest news of 2012 from a dear friend, and was suddenly blindsided with devastation, fury, and fear when the news from Connecticut hit my inbox.
We are all someone’s child. Hug the someones that you love tightly. Please.
