Yesterday I helped my in-laws get a few Christmas decorations up.
While poking around in the Christmas closet, looking for a small floral box that contained the string and clips that have held their christmas cards on display year after year, Lucinda pulled out this or that and would comment:
'oh yes, and this is from my childhood, though I only remember there being two of them...'
or
'someone gave that to us for Christmas one year and I have never none what to do with it, would you like to take it?'
or
'if you see anything you need for your Christmas decorating, be sure to take it home with you'.
It was nice to look through some of the treasures in that closet, it got me thinking about my undecorated home down the hill.

Anyway, today I pulled out our one box of Christmas decorations from the closet.
I discovered that we don't have much decorating work to do until we get a tree - it seems that all we own are two strings of Christmas lights and tree ornaments. Oh, yes and three red and white stripped candles that I think have been sitting unused in the box since we were married.

I kept out the candles and two tree ornaments, then put the rest away till we get our tree.

Its a start...I think later this week I will take Lucinda up on her offer to pick out a few Christmas decorations from their wonderful Christmas closet.

Last Thursday I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner all by myself....it's kinda lonely cooking a big meal all by yourself. I was missing the company of my mom and my sisters and my sisters-in-laws. Throwing caution to the wind I called home - we all know that it is dangerous to cook and talk on the phone at the same time, you never know what mistakes will be made!
After being passed around the ladies in the kitchen I was passed (very smart of them) to Mercy who was not yet on duty and who was actually enjoying a bit of breakfast.  She was eating an all time Newton favorite - Cranberry Coffee Cake.  We discussed it - this is kinda how it went:

me: I love that coffee cake, I wish I made it for our breakfast.
Mercy: Yeah, its pretty delicious...but I just wish it had more cream cheese in it you know?  It's just that I love cream cheese so much.
me: Maybe you should talk to Mom about that...maybe the cake could have a cream cheese icing instead of powered sugar.

Anyway, I don't know if you talked to Mom about that cream cheese idea Mercy, but I was inspired by our conversation to make the Cranberry Coffee Cake for the guys tomorrow for breakfast. I considered, for about 5 seconds, how to add more cream cheese for you Mercy but in the end I figured you wouldn't be here to try it so I had just better stick to the recipe.

Cranberry Coffee Cake:
preheat oven at 350 F 
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 cup butter/margerine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of cranberries (sorry, I don't know if these are supposed to be chopped or not...I did a bit of both. hehe. anyone who knows, do fill the rest of us in!)

Cream the sugar, cream cheese and the butter then add the vanilla and eggs.
Mix together the flour, baking powder and the salt then add to the butter mixture.
Once combined add the cranberries and mix until evenly distributed.
Spoon into a greased bundt pan.
Bake for 1 hour, check after 50 min - it's done when a knife comes out clean!

 

isn't this adorable?

(find out all about it here.)

Sunday brunch jacket by Oliver + S

maybe a nice sewing project for these up-coming long winter days & nights.

I'm thinking it could be a lite Spring coat for florence.

colossians

dear Naomi - it's so good to be asked about how memorizing colossians is going.

lets just say I have had my ups and downs...but I have been pressing on.
we are using a scheme from this website.  the basic idea is to memorize 2 verses a week and by the end of a year you will have memorized the entire book!  it has been so good - but I tell you what those first two chapters are jammed packed with mind boggling theology.  so good, so intense.  it has taken me a bit to get them memorized properly.
at the rate I am going, I think I am on the 2 year plan.  and that's ok, disciplining myself in memorizing scripture is always worth it even if I get off schedule! it is amazing how memorizing scripture reinforces and cements truth in my heart and mind. 
 

I think the coat from Selma will be just perfect for the winter...so cute, even with the sleeves rolled!.

the Thanksgiving center piece. 

nice. simple. little. perfect.

A picture of Autumns last burst of color

I think there must be two kinds of cold - one that makes you want to bake and create wonderful things in the kitchen, and the other one makes you want to cuddle under a blanket, read a book and really do nothing.  yesterday was a cuddle up under a blanket and do nothing sort of cold - lets just say I was not terribly productive.

Nathaniel was so kind as to eat left overs from the night before so I didn't have to make dinner but I still needed to make something for the guys.  I was planning on making an cinnamon type roll with an orange flair - a recipe I tore out of a magazine years ago and never got around to making. 
Due to my 'do nothing' state I didn't get around to starting my baking till 6.30 - not enough time to make a yeast dough unless I was planning on staying up till 11, which I was not.  Instead I flipped to a banana bread recipe in my recipe binder...the title on the recipe: Real Simple Banana Bread.
real simple thats what I needed...and it really was really simple. nice - I hardly had to think while putting this together.
So I guess most of you out there already have a really simple go to banana recipe but for those of you who don't tuck this one away it may just come in handy.

1 stick of butter melted
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
3 mashed ripe bananas
*and I added 1/2 tsp of salt and left out the 1/2 cup nuts*

mix in order given
pour into a large greased loaf pan
bake at 350 F for 50 minutes until golden brown
cool on wire rack 10 minutes then turn out onto rack to cool completely

I did over cook mine - we were having issues with our heater, you understand how one can get distracted by heaters right?  See, because it was so cold in our house we turned the heater on in the afternoon - but then it wouldn't shut off so that it was 84 degrees in our house and climbing at 7.30 last night.
I told Nathaniel that this was the only time in my life we would have our home so warm in the winter and I wasn't even being able to enjoy it because I was stressing out as to whether the heater would ever shut off.  Anyway I was a little distracted and the bread over cooked. but here is the thing - it was still delicious, it just needed a little...ok fine, a lot of butter.
Also - I think this recipe is courtesy of Gab, at least it looks like her hand writing...thanks for passing along this great recipe I have been looking for something like this for ages and silly me, I had it all along.

last week I bought some molasses - I have been thinking about gingerbread.
for this morning I made a pan of gingerbread, a Jackson family recipe.
I don't think I realized that gingerbread could be anything but cutout cookies until Nathaniel and I got married.
as it turns out gingerbread is one of Nathaniel's favorites - loves it at breakfast, tea, dessert with a bit of whipped cream...

Everyone can use a good gingerbread recipe - especially with Christmas around the corner (Ahhh! Christmas is coming!).  Please, please, please make this recipe at some point in the next two months and especially eat it with freshly whipped cream and a cup of coffee.

mix together:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

in a different bowl mix together
1/2 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of molasses
1 egg

mix all the ingredients together until smooth
pour into a 8-9 inch cake pan
bake at 325 F for 35 minutes

I ate a piece while skyping with Gab this morning - I restrained myself from exclaiming out loud just how delicious it was because I didn't want her to be sad not to have a piece of her own.
I definitely do not make this recipe enough.


I don't make it nearly often enough.