Decorating and November Book

We got home from our Thanksgiving trip in time to watch Elf while putting up and decorating our Christmas tree. The tree has turned into a baking tree with cupcake and baking themed ornaments galore.

Of course there are others like the yearly plant a tree pewter ornaments that my mom gives me. They are really pretty and such a nice idea ;) I am also super happy with our beaded snowflake tree topper which my mother in law and I found at Marshall's. I saw one at Caspari last year and it was $80 and way too big for our tree. So I was thrilled to find this one!

And that's not even all the ornaments. I put up my favorites and then quit since what goes on must come off. Also, check out the tree skirt! We found it at Marshall's. I wanted to make one but this is really close to what I wanted and I definitely could not have made it for what I paid (price of tree skirt < materials + emotional distress).

We made pancakes with gingerbread men egg/ pancake molds. They were easier to use than I thought they would be and not a pain at all to clean. All December pancakes shall be gingerbread men pancakes!

On to the November book. I re read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was just as awesome as it was the first time I read it. This was the first time I've re read a book in my life with the exception of Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell. I think I'm going to read Little Women for my December book. Is that a good December book? Can you suggest something more Christmas-y?

Thanksgiving Part 2

We headed to Michael's sister's farm where the Thanksgiving feast was scheduled to go down.

I had the Burke's bakery experience. I was told to know what I wanted before I reached the counter as the employees aren't trying to be the best at customer service. All I wanted was a cinnamon roll. So when I asked for it the girl behind the counter looked at me with kind of a blank stare and then asked if I meant honey buns (yes, cinnamon rolls were on the menu). This led to all kinds of confusion and I ended up with honey buns. Don't get me wrong- they were delicious.

We saw the new Harry Potter movie. It wasn't a masterpiece but I liked it. It's choppy but there's a lot of waiting around in the first part of the book and I think they covered most of the important parts in the book.

I made Pumpkin Cream Pie for the Thanksgiving feast. I used whiskey and it is definitely the key ingredient to this pie. Anything pumpkin kind of freaks me out but I really liked this pie.

Frying one of the turkeys

The rest of the food was delicious and it was everything we all could do to stay awake for the Saints game.

We ended Thanksgiving day with multiple episodes of Hoarders on A&E. This is the ultimate antidote to shopping on Black Friday. You will want to go home and clean any clutter and never shop again. You will also probably lose your appetite in some cases.

We woke up to a bit of snow on the ground on Friday. Enough to fill you with some holiday spirit and put on the Christmas music.

Thanksgiving Part 1

We stayed with Michael's brother and his wife and their baby for a few days before heading to the farm. We usually don't get to spend so much time with them when we're in Kentucky. It was definitely a treat to get in some quality time this go round.

We had PF Chang's and cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company. I rode their horse and Theo played outside in their yard until he couldn't play anymore.

Friday Coloring Book Page

Stars, like many of my favorite bands, was introduced to me by my husband. I didn't intend to talk about the coloring book pages but since I actually listen to some of the bands in this particular book I figured I'd share some music love with you. Here are two of my absolutely favorite songs by Stars: My Favourite Book and Look Up. Take Me to The Riot which is the song on the coloring page starts at 1:07 if you click the link to watch the video.

And here's two favorite songs from Iron & Wine (from two weeks ago): Sodom, South Georgia and Boy with a Coin.

Friday Coloring Book Page

This page is for Elvis Perkins' While You Were Sleeping. We saw him last year in a small venue. He was really great.

One is the Loneliest Number

Michael is flying in tonight from a week away interviewing in Texas and Alabama. I worked all but one day so I was pretty busy. Not to mention all the knitting I need to do. I tried four new recipes. The two entrees keep and reheat well which is great news when you're cooking for one.

Rigatoni di Gregorio. Pasta, baby bellas, wine, and heavy cream... um yes, please! This is from a new food blog I'm following called Annie's Eats. I cooked my sauce a little longer at the end to get it thicker. It was super mega yummy. Looking at the picture is making me miss it. Moving on...

These are also from Annie's Eats. They are made with my new favorite ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. oh yeah. I made them for the Significant Others Support Group craft night but none were eaten so I took them to the Needle Lady knit night and all but two were eaten. Did I say sweetened condensed milk?

Smitten Kitchen's Spaghetti with Chickpeas was much more tasty than I expected. This is an excellent one to reheat since there's no meat in it. Meat reheated in the microwave always tastes a little funky to me.

Lastly, I made Pioneer Woman's Tres Leche Cake for Michael's return. It is sinful.

Friday Coloring Book Page

World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements

Last weekend was the Virginia Film Festival. We missed out on the Parking Lot movie which is about the lives of the people who work at the parking lot on The Corner (a row of shops and restaurants on the other side of the street from UVa). I actually heard that it was supposed to be really good. It sold out. Another film I wanted to see was Disney's Beauty and the Beast because the voice of Belle was going to be there! Alas, I was working. 

We did make it to one movie. It was World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements. It's a documentary that was filmed at a local elementary school. It is about the World Peace Game which was created by a teacher, John Hunter, who was originally from Richmond. The game is played once a week for eight weeks and the fourth graders must solve the world's problems in order to win the game. The game has been played for 20-something years and has only been lost once. The film follows one group of fourth graders as they play the game. It's really cool and John Hunter is one of those teachers you never forget. He encourages the students to think for themselves. I actually subbed one day in his wife's first grade classroom as her instructional assistant. She is also a phenomenal educator. As someone who works in education it's inspiring to see something so enriching and positive happening in a public school. Since it was shown at the film festival there was a question and answer session with the director Chris Farina and John Hunter.

Unfortunately it's only possible to see the film at screenings so you'll have to check the website to see if there's one near you.

Ishbel and a Holiday Sneak Peek

Here are some pictures of my "spring" shawl, called Ishbel by Ysolda Teague a very talented Scottish designer. I met her one knit night at The Needle Lady but I was very new to knitting and I think all I said to her was "hi, my name is..." I knit it last spring but it got so hot so quickly I never had a chance to wear it, and it's pretty warm. So now it can be my fall shawl, y'all. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

The lace work drove me crazy. It's necessary to count the stitches on every row, and that's a lot of stitches.

I am really happy with how it turned out in variegated yarn. The yarn I used I bought with Christmas money and it's scrumptious (100% Merino wool).

Kicking it with some Myspace style photography

I've also made some of Ysolda's flip-top mittens (which I'll photograph eventually) and I plan to make the matching tam before the winter is over. That is, after Christmas presents and my cardigan are finished! Speaking of Christmas gifts here's some fabulous yarn I bought at The Needle Lady's "Friday Night Knitting Club" event last week.

Ooooo what lovely yarn! What could she be crafting?! Muahahahahaaaaa...

The event I mentioned was a trunk show with Claudia who makes the yarn in the last picture. She's from Harrisonburg which makes her local. You cannot imagine the colors. I just looked at them on her site and it really does them no justice. They are so vibrant and perfectly mixed. I digress. It was also an event to meet the author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. We chatted with her through Skype. There was also wine and cheese, a store wide discount, and lots of friendly faces.

From the Kitchen

Roasted Chicken and Scallions (MS Living April 2010) with Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad from Smitten Kitchen. My first time eating butternut squash. First of all it smells like a pumpkin which freaked me out but after roasting it I didn't find it had much flavor. So it was ok.

Pan sauteed Tilapia with Emeril's Lemon Butter Sauce (OMG this is the best lemon butter sauce on the face of the planet. Seriously, I licked my plate. TMI?) and Emeril's Creole Rice Pilaf, which we've already discussed.

It's the sauces.

The Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Stew with Biscuits. This ain't yo mama's chicken stew. Well, unless Ina Garten is your mom. We've made this before but this was the first time I went to the trouble of roasting the chicken instead of just boiling it to save time. Y'all. Roast the chicken. It's like the filling of chicken pot pie (which I don't think I've ever had). Also make the biscuits. Don't cheat. Put on some music and relax. Cook it on a Sunday when you have lots of time. It's labor intensive but oh so worth it.

Pioneer Woman's Braised Short Ribs with Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta and steamed green beans. We bought the short ribs from the Organic Butcher whose prices are pretty comparable to Whole Foods. It took around 3 hours to cook- not 2. This was the first time I've had polenta. I didn't realize it was just corn meal. I liked it, but Michael wasn't a fan since it has a grit like quality to it. The goat cheese was a scrumptious addition.

Rendering fat from Pancetta.

Carrots. duh.

I can't believe I forgot to talk about my breakfast this morning. Mr B's Waffles with Bananas Foster Sauce (I actually used Emeril's Bananas Foster recipe - halved- and the rum halved again). I want to shout it from the mountaintops how ridiculously awesome this was. Oh man. It was perfect.

Thoughts on the James Bond Movie Marathon

Six Bond movies in we started making a list of "bests" from the movies.

First you should know the things you will most likely find in every Bond film:

• Naked women's silhouettes in the opening credits
• Suggestive one liners
• Women lining up to throw themselves at 007
• The first woman in the film involved with James usually dies
• 007 sleeps with bad women and they end up helping him
• James Bond will eventually get caught by a henchman by getting hit on the back of the neck
• Henchmen/ women in matching outfits
• Bad guy gives James a tour of evil lair and divulges entire evil plan then...
• Attempts to kill James in some super elaborate scheme

Note: Most of these are all true up until the Pierce Brosnan movies where the films got a little too cool for all the super cheesiness (except the one liners.)

Now for our favorites:

• Theme Song: Die Another Day; Live and Let Die
• Opening Credits: Die Another Day; Casino Royale (2006)
• Best Henchman: Goldfinger- Odd Job ; The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker- Jaws; Live and Let Die- Whisper
• Best Ambiguously Gay Henchmen Duo: Diamonds are Forever- Mr Wint and Mr Kidd
• Best Way to Kill a Henchman: Diamonds are Forever- Bond ties a bomb to the henchman's coat tails and flips him overboard
• Baddest B*tch: The World is Not Enough- Elektra King; A View to a Kill- May Day
• Best Car Chase: Diamonds are Forever- Bond commandeers a moon vehicle. At some point in this chase he needs a new vehicle and gets one by kicking a henchman in the head.
• Most Elaborate Way to kill James (after he's seen the secret lair of course): Never Say Never Again- Bond is chained up by handcuffs in a tower with vultures and bars on the windows. Of course they don't take away his watch that happens to have a laser.; Live and Let Die- James escapes his doom of getting eaten alive by alligators and crocodiles by running across their backs to safety.
• Best End of Film Henchmen Showdown: Moonraker, hands down. It's a fight in outer space.
• Best Villain: You Only Live Twice- Ernst Stavro Blofeld (this was my favorite actor since Blofeld was the villain in several films); A View to a Kill- Max Zorin
• Best James Bond: I really liked George Lazenby in On Your Majesty's Secret Service. Unfortunately he was only in that one. So as far as the quintessential Bond our vote is for Roger Moore. The movies he was in had all the elements needed for a James Bond film. We do love Daniel Craig in the newest James Bond films. He's a good spy and he's really bad ass.
• Favorite Movie: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Here are some pointers if you should find yourself interested in embarking on a James Bond marathon. The sound effects will get better. The one liners will not. Don't waste your time on Never Say Never Again. It's the same story at Thunderball with some variations of course, but it's just kind of weird. Also don't bother with the original Casino Royale. It's a spoof and it's really long and strange. We didn't even finish watching it. Working on a simple craft project will help you get through it. Sometimes you might have to watch it in segments. We're actually a little sad that the marathon is over.

Our next potential marathon- one that I thought of doing a while back- is a Jude Law marathon. Yes, he's easy on the eyes. My interest in this marathon, however, is to see in how many of his movies does he cry. He cries in most of the ones we've seen and he's such a pathetic crier.

Friday Coloring Book Page

I like to color. I have 3 coloring books which I either bought or received in the last year and a half. So I'm starting the Friday Coloring Book Page here on the blog to show off my skillz. Enjoy.

Knittin' n' Stitchin'

Last year I was asked to knit my uncle a scarf. The yarn is un-dyed alpaca from my aunt's travels in Guatemala. I think. Anyway alpaca is so nice but it's a little slippery. I think it turned out nicely. Just in time for cooler weather. Here Michael models it. (Notice the quality of the photos!)

Here's a work in progress (WIP). It's a short sleeve open cardigan made with Malabrigo which is some fabulously soft wool. Both sleeves are on now and I'm working on putting the edging around the neck/ sides/ back. I plan to get some help with it this week so I can wear it. Did I mention it's 42 degrees outside right now at a quarter to 11? This is going to be the perfect winter accessory!

You knew Michael's mom visited. But you didn't know that she was knitting up a storm. She knit this mobius cowl like the one I made last year and I'm now realizing I didn't share with you. Anyway, this was her first project and it came out awesome! I wear my cowl all the time and her cowl will definitely come in handy at those LSU games. It's made with baby alpaca yarn so I wouldn't blame her if she won't let you try it on because you will want to keep it. It's that wonderful.

I will also tell you that I married into a family with mad Do-It-Yourself skills. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both sew. This was good news for me since I agreed to make a friend's baby mobile ornaments. While I could have eventually figured it out, Michael's mom kindly offered her skills and was done sewing the dogs together in like 5 minutes. I did the stuffing and finishing and little felt collars with bows which I absolutely love.

I'm thinking a fall photo shoot with the new camera and Theo and his sweater is in order. I have to go dig out my sweatpants!