How's It Going?

Holiday preparations underway? Pretty busy? I hear ya. Yesterday I finished up Miss S and Miss G's Christmas presents (finally!) and I'm still working on a few more presents. Not to mention, the day after tomorrow we are having another feast - our annual Sweet Swap (Now with Bonus Potluck-Style Feast)! People bring enough of a homemade treat to share and at the end of the night everyone goes home with an array of sweets. You might have guessed we were having another feast if you've been following along at All Tomorrow's (Dinner) Parties!

In the last week we had Husband's graduation from university (that means a big party), kids' holiday and end of semester school events, holiday preparation, and we all had fun making and decorating cookies. If you haven't seen this, it's worth a look...we had a bunch of fun doing this to our cookies! So gorgeous and fun. Awesome Cookie Decorating Method from The Kitchn. Yes, it's as excellent as it looks.

We used my mom's simple icing recipe for the base and then colored icing for the embellishments.

Annaliese's Mom's Icing Recipe (Ready? It's Complicated)

1. Pour some powdered sugar in a bowl.
2. Add some drops of vanilla extract.
3. Add a little milk.
4. Mix until it's icing.
    4a. Too runny? Add a little more powdered sugar until it's right.
    4b. Too dry? Add a little more milk til it's right.
    4c. Too un-vanilla-y? Add a few more drops of vanilla.
5. Voila! Add food coloring, if you so choose.

I learned this recipe when I was, oh I don't know, three years old maybe. It's actually really good, and the factor of ease makes it quite delightful. I like the way it hardens on the cookie and everything looks smooth and beautiful.

The girls' main presents are a fox doll and a cat doll. They both have been asking for these for months and it's been difficult to keep it a surprise, but there's only less than a week to go now! Yay! Here are (Yet Unnamed) the Cat and Carrot the Fox, with masks, jackets, bows, and purses:

What do you think? Husband thinks the kids are going to flip out when they see them. I can't wait! ^_^

We did it: Friendsgiving (+ much much more)

What a week! Our anniversary, Husband's birthday, Thanksgivikkuh, Friendsgiving...am I missing anything? Wow, I feel about partied out. This post will consist of picture collages and explanations thereof. 

Last Saturday was our wedding anniversary and we spent a lovey dovey, rrrromantic three days in St. Louis by ourselves. Aww yeah. Despite me pretty much completely losing my voice on Saturday, everything was perfect. When we got there we found out that a band we love, High On Fire, was playing ON our anniversary! It was amazing and prompted Husband to create the tag #metalversary. Other highlights included lots of alone time, great Mexican food, the art museum, and the list goes on and on. So much love. <3

On the way home we visited Cahokia, a large archeological site from the Mississippian culture that created a huge city complete with enormous earthen mounds. Pretty freaking incredible. We even climbed to the top of the biggest mound, where the chief lived, and went to a recreation of their woodhenge. What a perfect way to end a perfect trip!

A few days after we came back it was Husband's birthday and some friends came to our house to celebrate. He made a plethora of Asian dishes. I made him some seasoned salt. 

Next came Thanksgiving, which was very event-full and we ended up sort of vegging out that night. 

Friday was Friendsgiving and we did it up proper. The first part of the day was spent grocery shopping for ingredients, cooking, setting the table, etc. Then came the friends, food, and fun. 

We played so much dreidel. I think everyone was pretty dreideled out by the end of the night, but in a good way. Husband made a brisket and latkes, and friends brought an array of amazing side dishes and desserts. 

Today there were no parties! Our family checked out a nature area we had never been to and had a great time outside in the nice weather. 

Believe it or not, the fun isn't over! We still have one more day left of this super fun five days we've had off of work and school with each other!

November's Feast: Friendsgiving: Preparing for Friendsgiving

The time of feasting has begun! We're starting it all off with this month's feast: Friendsgiving. How excited am I about this series of feasts? Well I'm so excited, in fact, that Husband and I went and searched out an awesome table that can seat at least 8 people. Aww yeah! (Now to find chairs...)

The calendar has been marked and friends have been notified. Exciting! November 29th it is, the day after Actual Thanksgiving and two days after The Celebration of the Birth of Husband (<--this is a very important holiday, by the way). What a busy and fun time!

I've been pinning everything wonderful and relevant I find over at All Tomorrow's (Dinner) Parties and discussing recipes with Husband. Right now we are deciding between traditional or non-traditional for the main dish. We have asked each person or couple to bring either a side dish or a dessert...or both, if they wish! Since we're doing a sort of potluck style feast, the dishes don't necessarily have to go together. It will be fun to see (and eat!) what everyone brings to the table.

I have also been scouring the local thrift shops and flea markets for interesting tableware and decorations. I'll be sure to post what I find so maybe I can help you with ideas for your own Friendsgiving! I'm brainstorming how I would like to set the table (which depends on how many people RSVP of course). Here are our current dishes to choose from for this feast. The white and gold plates have smaller, matching plates, too. What do you think?

Bigger plates on top, smaller plates on bottom

I've also thought about making at least one dessert, just because it's so freaking cute and I might not be able to resist. It's on the Pinterest board, but have you seen this?

via graciousrain.com

How adorable are those? I think they would be perfect for the last feast of fall. My snickerdoodle cookies usually get requested, so I might have to make those, too. Surely no one will complain with multitudes of desserts to choose between!

So what are your favorite color schemes for fall feasts and Thanksgiving-type meals? I would be interested to hear some ideas for color!

A Way to Warm Up the Season

Those who know me know that I'm not too keen on cold weather. I like outdoor living. I like not being cold. I even like being in New Orleans in the summer. I wish I loved cold weather as much as Eryn! I'm trying. <--I say this every year around this time.

Here is me, unimpressed with the cold weather in Prague
(Seriously, though, Prague is awesome.)

One thing I do love about the mid to late fall and winter, however, is the abundance of festivities. Not only do we have Thanksgiving and the holidays in December, but for our family it also means Husband's birthday and our wedding anniversary! Once January is here, we have several family birthdays and then of course Valentine's Day in February (rrrrromantic). 

I will admit that I get pretty excited about the holidays in November and December and their various decorations, feasts, and lights, etc., but when New Year's is over I tend to start feeling kind of bleak and have to fight off depression until I see buds on the trees and green foliage again. This is something I've always struggled with, so it's nothing new. That doesn't mean it doesn't really, really suck. 

I had a spur of the moment idea today, which I shared with Husband and he agreed to with glee. My proposal: a series of feasts for our family and friends throughout the late fall and winter. He is the major chef in our house, but I've been doing a little more cooking lately and we have had a lot of fun preparing food together. It isn't unusual for us to have friends over to eat with our family. Sometimes it's a weekly thing (what is the saying - "friends are family you get to choose"?).

This will be different. More festive. Something that makes me happy in December, for example, are the holiday lights, shiny and glittery decorations, happy music. Basically I am a total sap for the holidays. Likewise, I want our feasts to be a little more fancy than usual. Pretty table settings? Sure. Napkin rings? Why not. Place cards? Maybe. Hell, I may even do actual invitations (don't hold me to that). Just something fun and cheery to spread a little happiness to the ones we care about and at the same time keep my own mood up during the coldest time of the year.

Sound fun? I have quite a few ideas and I will keep you all posted. I might even show you a few little crafts or things we are preparing for our parties! I've made a special Pinterest board just for that reason: All Tomorrow's (Dinner) Parties. I'll be adding stuff all throughout the following months, so follow along and even try it yourself if you'd like! I would love to hear your ideas for your dinner parties as well. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you are up to!