A fun collage from picasa, just playing, will probably be tons of posts today.

The new Kitchen work space

So things are going well in catering world and Ben got a new toy which he better love! The guys came over yesterday and helped move the 400 lb beast into the kitchen and get it hooked up. We can now cook on 6 burners and bake more cookies than ever at one time, that wasn't a true amount, but as our last oven didn't really circulate heat well, I think this bad boy will cook 4 times as many cookies in the same amount of time. Just think of how my holiday baking productivity has increased? Full sheet trays of cookies that could be 4 dozen and lots more for when making mini's I could probably get 8 dozen spritzers on there. I can't wait for all the baking to commence. I am on cookie dough duty through the weekend and will be baking next weekend.

holiday gifting

Oh, I love the holiday season. I am hoping that I haven't overwhelmed myself being too ambitious. I feel as though things are going pretty well but am starting to feel the time constraints of Christmas Eve being only two weeks away!!! Holy cow!!! Coming so soon. 14 days- that's it. Hope everyone is still enjoying the countdown. Here are a few peeks at some of the things I have been making.

The Ice Storm

Instead of snow in these parts we were slammed with some freezing rain, slick sidewals and roads and all that goodness. While the during kinda sucks, the aftermath of such an event is absolutely beautiful. It is loke everything is covered in glass, and as things move, the whole world becomes a windchime.

Makings of a Saturday Night

It was a cold,freezing rain sort of day here, I wish is were atypical for central Illinois winters, but unfortunately not. Ben got called out of work, due to weather and reservation cancellations, so we had a night at home. And we both wanted pizza, it was the type of night and day for that matter, when ordering out would have been fabulous, but we didn't want some poor delivery dude having to drive in such weather, so we decided to make dough and pizza for the first time since Asher's birth!!! Could not believe it had been so long! Pizza's always been my go to meal, I feel that I make a damn good one, so for it to have been sooo long seems ridiculous, but there you have it. Pizza dough, rolled out, brushed with an olive oil, sage, chiles concoction, topped with brocoli from our garden, feta from WI, red peppers from Jon, red onion from our garden, don't forget the salt and pepper before the final layer of cheese, also from WI.
We used the Moores whole wheat pastry flour, which is fabulous and unfortunately only had enough yeast to single the recipe, so no frozen dough for in pinch pizza making. But it was yummy gulped down with a nice bottle of beer- good eats for a night in.
And then a night of crafting: This old sheet found at an estate sale
Turned into this lovely spring feeling skirt. It is fun and a bit twirly, I love it.

Oh Holidays

Have I mentioned how excited I am about the holiday season? So with Thanksgiving done and being awesome the lighting up the world decorations are comeing out. Our houseplants are decorated with my childhood ornaments and some more recents, the lights are waiting to be strung, the menorah is out, the christmas turkey is in the freezer, cookie and gift lists are made and our annual solstice party needs to be planned. My crafting at the moment is finishing up these placemats thate were started before Asher, and now just need bias tape around the edges.

Thanksgiving: People

While, the food and setting is an important component of t-day, the people are by far the most important. Rachel and Adam hosted us in St. Louis this year and it was absolutely perfect. We had a most wonderful time and couldn't be happier with Asher's first Thanksgiving. He had such a wonderful time getting to know all of his Lubchansky uncles better. Hammed it up at the dinner table and stayed up late both nights. We played games, I caved to the pressure and finally played scrabble, not at bad as I remember it being as a kid- maybe I do actually know more words or maybe I have developed patience? That is highly unlikely, I helped the sloooow game along by busying myself with some knitting.

Thanksgiving: The Table

Thanksgiving: The Food

Oh the holiday centered solely around food. So yummy. Asher quite enjoyed himself, the turkey, the mashed potatoes, the roasted carrots. Everything was absolutely beautiful. Here is a sampling for your enjoyment.
I'm sorry that we ate once it was dark because natural lighting makes all the difference in food photography!

Some Turkeys to Decorate

My fun project of the day. I wasn't sure if Asher's handprint turkeys would yield anything- didn't want to place undue pressure on the growing artist, so I stole this idea from paper source and had a little sweatshop pretend fun this afternoon and mass produced them.

Luckily I stumbled upon a christmas light punch that really made doing the feathers a breeze.

We head to St. Louis tomorrow for our official thanksgiving, which I am really looking forward to. I have lots of car projects and hope to have a relaxing few days.

Happy turkey day y'all.

The Holiday Spirit

So as I said, my holiday season was officially kicked off on Sunday, and I am thrilled for chanukah, solstice, christmas and new years, all guarenteed to be huge fun celebrations with family and friends.

But in attempts to not be rushed, or have any last minute gifting to do, I started knitting weeks ago and doing mock ups of gifts then too. I have all the kiddos taken care of as well as most of the men in my life.

I am really enjoying knitting in fall colors this fall and am using up tons of yarn that I have had in my craft room for way to long- which feels great! I have a fair bit of sewing ahead of me but am feeling pretty good about all things. I need to stop coming up with new ideas and run with the ones that I have.

This week should be great, 1.5 days of work and then off for two! I love short work weeks.