on the beach.

Little Dust is back to her chipper self this week after last week's bout with sickness.  These photos are from Thanksgiving when she got to run around on the beach and explore sea smells.  She even waded into the water a bit, though she wasn't interested in going any deeper.  We'll have to take her swimming in the summer when the water is warmer to see how she feels about being an aquatic pup.  I have dreams of corgi flops.

 

potato stamped wrapping paper

I bought a couple rolls of Kraft paper last week because I planned on hand stamping it and using it as wrapping paper.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to stamp, at the time, but I figured I'd figure it out later.  I'd stamped paper with a pencil eraser in the past to create mini polka dots, but that was more time consuming than I wanted, since I'd be needing to wrap multiple gifts.  I remembered making potato stamps back in the day, and thought I'd see if that worked, and it did!  I haven't done potato stamping since elementary school, but I love it!  it worked perfectly for my wrapping paper. 
I just used a little potato and cut a triangle into it.  I think that simple shapes would probably work best for potato printing, but if you want to go crazy with it, I'm not going to stop you.  Little simple Christmas trees would be super easy to cut into a potato as a stamp.  I used a stamp ink pad to do my stamping, but acrylic paint would probably also do the job, though it might cause the paper to wrinkle, since paint is wet and may cause the paper to warp when it dries.
Since the paper is simple, I kept the bow simple and just used baker's twine and tied on a sprig of evergreen for color!

handcrafted for the holidays

It's crazy that Christmas is less than a week away!  I spent today stamping kraft paper to pretty it up as wrapping paper, and wrapping a few presents.  Our tree looks less naked now that there are presents underneath, even though almost all of them are for other people.  Dan and I usually agree that our annual rock gym membership is our Christmas present to each other and try to forego superfluous presents, though as Christmas gets closer I have a hard time not buying a couple fun presents for him.  Last year for Dan I splurged on a bottle of fancy Bruichladdich scotch the night before Christmas while on a grocery run, and it actually turned out to last nearly the whole year!  My parents mailed us a few presents, though, so at least we'll have something to open on Christmas day.  It's hard to "open" a rock gym membership, and it also lacks the element of surprise which is half the fun.  I'm a purist when it comes to shaking or peeking at presents, or opening them early.  Last year I wouldn't let Dan give me my birthday present early even though he told me it'd be super practical.  I did end up opening it a bit early, and I wish I'd caved and opened it even earlier because it was an electric blanket and at the time we were living in the coldest house ever!  Sometimes being a purist doesn't make the most sense.

dress + cardigan/via swap :: hat/Dan's :: scarf/h&m :: boots/courtesy of minnetonka
tights/target :: coat/coldwater creek :: beach photos by Dan

We don't have a ton of holiday traditions, but I knew there was one that I wanted to share that is a couple generations old in my family.  Every year on Christmas morning my Mom makes a Swedish Tea Ring for breakfast.  Since Dan and I have done our last two Christmases up in Alaska with my family I haven't yet had to take the reins on this tradition, but this year we'll be here in Tacoma, so I have to make my own tea ring this year!  My mom actually gave me her Betty Crocker cookbook, edges frayed from 30 years of being cracked open, with this recipe in it as a wedding present.  There's something so special and unique opening a cookbook passed down, and reading the same ingredients and directions as the women before me.  I love the internet and being able to look up pretty much any recipe my heart desires, but there's no substitute for the generational ties folded between the pages of an old cookbook.

Sweet Roll Dough

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105-115F)
1/2 cup lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, or butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3.5-4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in larg bowl.

2. Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix. inenough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

3. Turn dough on to lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1.5 hours. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched. (to make ahead: after kneading, dough can be covered and refrigerated in greased bowl no longer than 4 days)

4. Punch down dough. Shape, let rise and bake as directed.

Cinnamon-raisin filling

2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Glaze

Mix 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until glaze is smooth and of desired consistency

Swedish Tea Ring

1. Roll 1/2 Sweet Roll Dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches, on lightly floured surface.

2. Spread butter over rectangle, sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins.

3. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well.

4. Stretch roll to make even. With sealed edge down, shape into ring on lightly greased cookie sheet.Pinch ends together.

5. With scissors, make cuts 2/3 of the way through ring at 1-inch intervals. Turn each section on its side. Let rise until double, about 40 minutes.

6. Heat oven to 375F. Bake until golden brown , 25-30 mins. (If tea ring browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

7. Spread ring with glaze and, if desired, decorate with nuts or cherries while warm.

not so super

Despite wearing a super hero skirt, I'm not feeling like super woman today.  The last couple days have been exhausting.  Dusty has been under the weather and early yesterday morning we had to take her to the emergency vet.  My kitchen needs to be hardcore cleansed after her little fluffy cute body decided it needed to expel every drop from her GI tract.  Le sigh.  I know nothing can truly prepare you for parenthood, but I'm glad that we are going through these kinds of parent-ish trials with Dusty.  Okay, well I'm not glad I had to clean ungodly amounts of vomit and liquified feces off my kitchen floor but I feel like it's like those classes you take in high school where they make you carry around a sack of flour or one of those fancy fake babies to get the feeling of what it's like to have a kid.  Pure glamour, clearly.  It's all chevron bedding and homemade organic baby food, right?

 
skirt + tights(similar)/courtesy of modcloth :: top/cosette :: jacket (similar)/modcloth  necklace(similar)/gift :: shoes/courtesy of lulu's :: glasses/courtesy of bonlook

homemade egg nog

Egg Nog is one of those holiday staples, but usually I find it too rich and syrupy for my taste.  I'll usually cut it with some milk to keep it from being too thick.  When Dan decided to make homemade egg nog the other day and I was intrigued to see how it compared to the store bought versions.  Not surprising to find that it's so much better.  While it's still a rich beverage, the frothiness of the beaten eggs keeps it from having the syrup-like texture of the stuff I find in stores.  
When I was a kid, even though I had stopped believing in Santa Claus, I used to always make a plate of cookies and a glass of egg nog to set by the fireplace for Santa, just to make my younger brothers still believe he existed.  After they went to bed, I'd go up and drink some of the egg nog and take a bite out of some cookies to make it look like Santa had been there.  I don't know how long it actually worked, but I always enjoyed my sneaky little tradition.

 

(Recipe via Alton Brown)

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites
dash of cinnamon or nutmeg for garnish

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

2. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.