Mushroom Hunting

This has been an incredibly rainy summer, the perfect conditions

 for beloved fungi to flourish in the high alpine forests.

We spent the day mushroom hunting for porcinis, an earthy rich tasting wild mushroom.

Disclaimer: only hunt for mushrooms that you are certain 

you know what they are as some are highly poisonous!!

Look forward to Jeff's Wild Porcini Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil recipe, YUM!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year.
I wish for each of you that the year to come is filled with peace, love,
kindness, smiles, creativity, health, and laughter.

As a side note, I have not neglected posting about our amazing Christmas Day, I have been quite busy this past week, and promise to post about our Christmas and all the incredibly amazing and thoughtful gifts Lola received this coming week.

Then, hopefully the following week, I will finally get to post her Birthday Party which was back in October. I have a bunch of fantastic tutorials, recipes, and party ideas for you.

Best Cookie Ever

These are quite possibly the best cookies I have ever tasted!

My mom made them the other day, following what she thought was 

a recipe, but turns out did't follow the recipe at all and created her own new cookie!! 

They are light, moist, cake-like, not too sweet, and taste almost likea very fluffy shortbread.

Ingredients:

1 package Better Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 stick of butter

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 (8oz)  package room temperature cream cheese

1 egg

Directions:

Combine all ingredients with electric mixer. 

Chill Dough for 2 hours.

Roll walnut size balls of dough in powdered sugar.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350°s for 10-12 minutes.

Dust with powered sugar when cooled.

Pour glass of milk.

Enjoy.

The hardest part about making these cookies is eating only a few!

The Red Nosed Reindeer

For most Rudolph has been a part of Christmas forever,
but he is a relatively new addition to Christmas tradition. His character and story
were created in 1939 by a copy writer (Robert L. May) for Montgomery Ward department store as a promotional gimmick in the form of a coloring book.

The song came later, in 1949 May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks (a song writer) adapted the original story into the popular "Roudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" recorded by Gene Autry.


Below are a variety of projects in a wide range of difficulty dedicated
to honoring the antlered marketing marvel and his eight buddies.

Find the template and instructions for this 3-D ornament here.

Jeff and I made this Roudolph for Lola's room, using this template.
This is not our picture, it is from the origional post... Lola is sleeping in her room at the moment, when she wakes up I will update this picture to ours. 
It was a lot of fun and quite easy, we highly recommend trying this one.

Find the tutorial and template for this pop up card here.

See the video tutorial for origami reindeer here.

 

Thumbprint reindeer are perfect for toddlers and babies.

Could these peanuts be cuter?

 

Get excited for Santa at breakfast time with Rudolph pancakes.

 

These reindeer cookies are so sweet...YUMM!

6 Geese A-Laying

So what to do with all those eggs?
(OK, maybe not goose eggs)

Try an eggnog with anise cocktail!

Ingredients:
Ice
⅔oz Triple Sec
⅓oz Pastis
1⅓oz your favorite alcoholic eggnog recipe
or
substitute 1⅓oz Advocaat for eggnog

Instructions:
Shake with ice & Strain
Serve in glass of your choice
Garnish with a floating star anise

Pastis: an anise-flavored French liqueur that gained popularity with the ban of absinthe,
alcohol-free varieties are also available.
Advocaat: a rich Dutch liqueur made from eggs, sugar, honey, brandy,
and cream smooth and custard-like in flavor.

Tis the Season

 

Spicy Gingerman

Ingredients:

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Hazelnut liqueur
1/2 oz Butterscotch Schnapps
2 oz Ginger Beer

Cinnamon stick

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake over ice.
Pour over ice into a rocks glass and garnish with Cinnamon stick.

 I found this along with the other "Days of Christmas Cocktails" here. Try out one of these recipes at your next Holiday get together, or after the little one(s) go(es) to bed and just enjoy the lights on the tree.

Below are a few more cocktails from that same site.

Happy Christmas Party Season!

Candy Cane Lane

Ingredients:

2 1-2 oz Van Gogh Blue vodka
1 oz White crème de menthe
1/2 oz Peppermint schnapps
Cream
Splash of Grenadine
Peppermint candy for garnish

Directions:

Add a dash of grenadine into the bottom of a chilled martini glass and set aside. Pour the rest of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into the glass with grenadine to create a “swirl” effect. Garnish with peppermint candy.

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Dessert Shot

Ingredients:

1 can (14 oz) Pumpkin, chilled
3 oz Reduced-fat cream cheese
6 oz Low fat vanilla yogurt
1 Cup low fat milk
1/4 Cup Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 Teaspoon nutmeg
6 Teaspoons graham cracker crumbs, optional

Directions:

Place all ingredients (except graham cracker crumbs) in a blender and blend until silky. Pour into shot glasses and top each serving with a teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs.

 

Winter Wonderland Martini

Ingredients:

2 oz Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka
1 oz White crème de cacao
2 oz White chocolate liqueur
1 oz Cream
½ Teaspoon of coconut flakes
1 White chocolate wafer stick

Directions:

Add the vanilla vodka, white chocolate liqueur, crème de cacao and cream into a shaker and shake over ice. Strain martini into a martini glass and add half a teaspoon of coconut flakes. Stir martini gently with white chocolate wafer stick to create a blizzard!

 Kayte and Lauri, it's  time to get a mixin' and a sippin' ladies! I'm especially counting on you to be our guides as to which are the most tasty and most deserving of the holiday calories! :O)

Sun-Dried Tomato Skyr Dip

 

Continuing with my recent obsession for skyr,
I found this recipe that I wanted to share with you.

Sun-dried tomato skyr dip

1 container plain skyr
2 cloves garlic
1 table spoon of thyme
35 g (21/2 tablespoons) tomato paste
Dash of pepper
Dash of salt
10 to 12 diced sun-dried tomatoes

Combine skyr, garlic, thyme, and tomato paste and blend until smooth
Add sun-dried tomatoes
Add skyr to desired thickness
Add pepper and salt to taste

This recipe is from skyr.is. I have not yet tried their skyr, but will keep an eye out for them at my local market. I do however, love that siggi's has such eco-friendly and beautiful packaging.
(I'm a graphic designer...of course I love the packaging)

You can check out the other recipes using skyr from skyr.is here.