Year End

Now that the holidays are coming to a close, I am going to have some fun knitting to share with you. As always, I had a lot of fun knitting gifts for the holidays, and feel they went to some very knit-worthy recipients. Stay tuned to future posts to see what's been on the needles lately.



For now, I'm going to work on getting settled back in after a week away in with family, friends and lots of snow. After a day of traveling back, a nap may be in order, if I plan to make it to midnight tonight! Thanks for tuning in to this little blog during 2009. Happy new year!

Christmas Eve

*snow at my parents house*

Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to look at Christmas lights. We have our regular favorite spots to go. This year's freezing rain cut our ride a little short, but we still got to drive by my favorite house on Foster.



When I was younger, this house's light display was paired with the house next door, and included a horse drawn-carriage with two riders. They are no longer there, but the friendly waving snowman (he moves!) always says Christmas time to me.


*(My parent's pic, taken right after 15 inches of snow)*

Now we're snuggling up by the fire, getting ready for Santa to come tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

Get crackin'

There were two of these guys outside of my apartment's front entryway and they made me laugh.



Somebody call hunky Santa at the Beverly Center and tell him there's a new guy in town....

Caramel Pretzel Turtles

Over the weekend Boyfriend and I had dinner at my Aunt's house. As a holiday treat to bring along, I made these Caramel Pretzel Turtles:

I flattened out caramels with a rolling pin



wrapped them around pretzel nuggets (these steps were improvised a little bit. I couldn't find regular caramels, so I used caramel cremes...these worked, but the cream part flaked a little bit in the wrapping process, and pretzel nuggets/round were not available either, so I chopped up pretzel rods).



The caramel wrapped pretzels were dipped in chocolate, and rolled around in finely chopped almonds.



* They don't look particularly appetizing like this....*

Finally, I wrapped them up in individual cellophane bags - ta-da!

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Hello holiday friends! Preparations for the holidays have been keeping me busy. There's been a lot of Christmas knitting happening, which I can't share yet, but I can share the holiday baking!

I turned to my Martha Cookie book for inspiration, but you can find the same recipe online. These turned out great - the fresh ginger really adds to the flavor of the cookie, and mine turned out super chewy, even a few days later.



This little elf has to get back to work, if I want to win Christmas like the Target lady!

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

The table was skillfully set by yours truly



Pumpkins and turkeys were all around



Brussel Sprouts from the garden (I don’t eat these, but they look cool!)



A hand-crafted button tree (mom’s work, not mine)



A sleepy kitty



Mittens make piano playing even MORE fun



And of course, mini-mittens were presented just in time for December 1st



I hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as mine!