Dear blogging friends, click here to find out how you can get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly this season!
The time is nearly upon us. The snow is falling and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Soon we’ll be designing and addressing and mailing our Christmas cards. And my favorite part? Receiving cards from friends! Therefore, it’s time for the Olsens to start thinking about which holiday card to choose this season. Where to start?
One of my very favorite photo sites is Shutterfly. Two years ago, we sent out Christmas cards announcing that we were expecting. The cards came from Shutterfly. We also ordered a few cute cards this summer with Ella’s one year pictures. The cards are always beautifully done. We’ve even framed a couple. They make the process of designing a photo book on your own incredibly simple. I’ve made one with pictures of our honeymoon in Jamaica in 2007 and one from our family trip to Maine last May. And another Shutterfly favorite? They very often have special deals for free shipping or other discounts.
I haven’t decided yet which card we’ll go with for this Christmas. Shutterfly has hundreds of holiday card designs. Some use just one photo: Others have space for multiple photos, for those of us who have a hard time choosing just one to represent an entire year.
If you’re looking for a perfectly personalized Christmas gift, I have to recommend a Shutterfly calendar. We’ve made them a few times. They are available in many designs and can start in any month, making them great to give at any time of year.
And there you have it! Just a little holiday encouragement for you as the season approaches. Enjoy!
It’s amazing how a few little decorating changes can give a room an entirely different feel. Shortly after moving into our house in mid-May, we had the fireplace updated by having a gas insert installed. I’ve been dreaming for years of having a cozy little fireplace for snuggling and reading and drinking coffee. I use this one nearly every day now that the weather has started to cool. We’re going to have a very happy future together – this lovely fireplace and I.
I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do with the mantle until just a few weeks ago. Of course there are mountains of possibilities, but we were looking for something that wouldn’t be super spendy and that can be changed from season to season. The solution?
A mirror! It goes with anything, including the intricate painting we have hanging on the opposite wall. I already had the candles and the small wreath. The vase was a wedding gift. I’ve wanted to use it for years, but this is the first time I’m really happy with how it looks. The vase filler and the mirror came from Target, while the Home Sweet Home piece is something I found on clearance at JCPenny a few months ago. It required a little dismantling since it had other not-so-pretty parts attached to it.
One of my favorite living room pieces is the little clock with the bird. It was one of those things that I actually thought I’d end up returning before I even bought it. Once I got it home, though, it was truly home.
This is how it looks in the glow of the evening. You can see the reflection of the painting on the opposite wall. I should post a picture of that as well. It’s beautiful. Pete grew up with it in his dining room, and we feel blessed to now have it in our own home.
So the mantle has been decorated. Now I feel like the living room is very close to being complete. That’s a good thing because we’re hosting a big resident interview dinner on Thursday night. If I could just finish the curtains!
Yes, a dinner is on the horizon. What does that mean? I’ve been baking! Today was Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. Tomorrow will be Strawberry Cheesecake. I’ll post the very yummy recipes soon. The pie is perfect for Thanksgiving!
This was absolutely my favorite picture this week. It was hard to choose with all of the Halloween pictures, but this one melted my heart. Without an ounce of prompting on my part, Ella picked up her dolly, opened her book, and babbled as though she was truly reading to her baby. Being a reading teacher, I’m excited to have my own little girl who just might grow up to love the world of imagination and wild adventures that books can bring to life.
This recipe came from my very own mama, and it’s one that I definitely feel I should pass on to you. It’s incredibly simple in the fact that it’s pretty hard to mess up. You could even forget about it in the oven and it would probably come out just fine. (Unless, of course, you leave it baking through half of the Project Runway marathon. And no, I haven’t done that. Yet.) So pull out a baking dish (nearly any will do), peel a few apples, and lets get going.
Without question, Cortland apples are my favorite for baking, but they’re not always easy to find. You can go with Fuji, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or a combination of a couple. That allows the flavors to mix, which is delish. If you’ve got your own favorite, I’d be curious to know what it is. I’m always looking for new ideas.
Apple mixture: 7 medium apples 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp flour 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional)
Heat the oven to 350. Peel & core the apples. Thinly slice them and put them in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Then, stirring gently with a large spoon, coat the apples with the sugar mixture. Set aside.
(I was blessed by an apple peeler/corer last winter. I actually got two – one from Pete & one from my sister-in-law Kristin. Such a time saver! Definitely worth the $20-some investment if you do a lot of apple baking. This one is the best I’ve seen. It suctions right to the counter. Find it here at Williams-Sonoma.)
Crisp Topping: 1/2 oatmeal 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/8 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 5 T butter, partially softened
Mix all the dry ingredients (not the butter; it’s not dry) together in a medium bowl. Then, using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the mixture. Do this until small clumps form. If you have a lot of dry mixture that isn’t mixing in, add a very small amount of melted butter.
Now you’re ready to put the crisp together. Choose an oven-safe dish. I often use a glass or metal pie pan, but you can also use a bread pan or an 8×8 pan. No need to grease it. Pour your apple mixture into the pan. Remember that the apples will bake down a bit, so it won’t be as full in the end. Using your fingers, sprinkle the crisp over the apples. Pinch some of the crisp mixture together to create clumps, which gives it a nice look. Most of the top should be covered, but it’s okay if there are open spots. Crisps are very forgiving.
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. It’s not always easy to tell when its ready. You can look for bubbly edges if you can see the apple mixture under the topping. Otherwise, pull it out of the oven, hold it in good lighting (not always available in the oven), and check how dark the topping is. You want it to have some darker color but not to be really dark. Let the crisp cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. It is perfect served with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or completely on its own! Enjoy!
Fruit Crisp Variation: For a daring variation to your apple crisp, try placing raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries on top of the apples before sprinkling the topping over the fruit. When it all bakes together, the flavor of the apples changes completely.
In reference to Ella’s Halloween costume: I have to admit that I never actually figured out if it was a chick or a duck. As my mom pointed out, the bill was rounded, which made us think it might be a duck. I started calling her a duck at the Harvest Party, but then people were calling her a chicken, so I switched back. I really don’t know. She was our little chicky ducky!
Such a fun Halloween! We attended a giant party at our church, the Duluth Vineyard, on Saturday morning, so the very first thing we had to do was get into costume. We were in no hurry.
Therefore, dressing was interrupted with a little playtime.
Once we finally made it to the church, we found loads of games and face painting and those big jumpy things that kids absolutely love.
Ella’s favorite, though, was the live blues band. She didn’t care at all about the cookies or blow-up slide or cotton candy. The girlie just wanted to get on stage and dance!
Then, on Sunday, Malena spent nearly the entire day at our house while Mama Bex made a move into a new apartment. Before Malena left we got the girls ready to trick-or-treat and took a few fun pictures.
No question – these two are the cutest animals on the farm!
Mama Bex & her little bunny.
Sisters & Cousins
Ella helped us pass out candy for a little while before we took a stroll through the neighborhood to see our friends. She bashfully picked a single piece of candy at the first couple houses but quickly gained confidence and insisted on having one in each hand at every house. Once we got home, she spent lots of time playing with the shiny packages in her basket until we finally revealed the most amazing Halloween secret of all – there was CANDY inside each little wrapper! She only tried a little bit of the sweet stuff before bed, and we certainly brushed her teeth afterward. (Grandpa Olsen, we thought you would be proud of that!)
A big THANK YOU to Ang’s Auntie Jean for the adorable chick costume!
On a completely different note, I’ve changed the comment settings so that anyone can now leave a comment, whether you’re a Blogger member or not. Please do! I love to read comments!
