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gift & crafting ideas for the holidays Wk. 48/49

Published by fairfaxhill

Thanksgiving week kept us pretty busy. We cooked a lot and did lots of dishes. How was your Thanksgiving? Do you celebrate this holiday? I also worked on my Tawny pullover, which is almost finished. This post was supposed to go up yesterday, so we’ll have to change the format a bit. This works, because now I have more time to prepare next week’s idea roundup.

Here are some things that caught my eye this week:

1) I cannot get enough of Anthropologie’s holiday decor. The ornaments of a cute tiger skiing and a poodle wearing glasses jumped out at me as something to collect. I love, love things made of wool and these felted animals are SUPER CUTE! It’s making me want to get this book about felting to give it a try. How fun!

a felt toy tiger skiing
Tiger ornament: Anthropologie
A dog in glasses tree ornament
Dog tree topper: Anthropologie
The cover of the book, Needle Felting for Beginners
Needle Felting for Beginners by Roz Dace and Judy Balchin


2) A holiday tradition I’ve always loved, but haven’t always practiced at home, is baking and decorating gingerbread houses. This year, however, it is one thing I really want to do with the kids. I found a great tutorial and this gorgeous photo on the blog aliceandlois.com. I like that they use store-bought cookies, which should help with stability. If I feel really crafty, though, I think I’ll bake my own cookies from scratch. We’ll see! Hopefully, if all goes well, we can add gingerbread decorating to our little Christmas traditions.

Three holiday decorated gingerbread houses
Gingerbread House Decorating / aliceandlois.com

3) While looking for felt project ideas on Pinterest, I came across this pretty we garland. If like me you were once the parent (or are the parent) of a preschool-aged child, there is probably a lot of felt stored away in more than one drawer in your house. I’ve used my felt “stash” for some other projects: stuffed animal gifts for my son’s friends, as well as different size squares and circles that I place under heavy furniture to protect our hardwood floors. This project is perfect if you are ready to finally put all that felt to good use. I’m hoping I can finish mine in time to enjoy it this Christmas. I think it will make a lovely table decoration.

multi-color felt garland hanging on a white wooden mantel
Felt Garland / anthropologie.com
multi-color felt garland
Felt Garland / anthropologie.com

4) I’ve had my eye on a pair of these for quite a while. I may try to make myself something similar, but I’m also hoping Santa’s Elves might catch a glimpse of this post.

A pair of colorful knitted mittens. Gift idea for the holidays.
Colorful Mittens / sundancecatalog.com

5) Everyone needs to watch this video by @holalolatravelgifts. Of course, I think it’s gorgeous. I think everything the creative mind behind Holalola (my sister) makes is amazing. She makes drawing look so easy! I’d love to be able to do something like it on my gingerbread houses. (It’s okay to dream a little, right?) Check out her Instagram @holalolatravelgifts.

Holiday decorated brown gift bags that look like a gingerbread house.
Video tutorial from @holalolatravelgifts: Make your own wrapping paper

6) Finally, I’ve been promising my kids to make biscotti for weeks. I love biscotti and with my sweet tooth I think it will be a great addition to my newly revived afternoon tea ritual. Italian Fika? This could be the beginning of something! I’ve found a recipe that sounds pretty good in an old Gourmet magazine I have in my library. I’ll let you know how they turn out. I have two other biscotti recipes I want to try, so perhaps next week I’ll write about my favorites.

a photo of hazelnut biscotti in a bowl
Hazelnut Biscotti / Gourmet magazine

What will you be making this week?

overhead shot of mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce

Thanksgiving at Our House for the Very First Time

Published by fairfaxhill

I hadn’t realized I was stressed out about Thanksgiving dinner this year until around three in the morning on Thursday when thoughts of all the different recipes we would have to prepare to pull off the meal interrupted my sleep abruptly. In 20-plus years, Patrick and I had yet to cook a whole Thanksgiving feast on our own. Can you believe our kids (14 and 16) had never had Thanksgiving at home? This year was going to be “a first,” and I wanted it to be super special.

I still had to go to the store in the morning to get the apples for the pie and the ingredients for the salad I would be making. (They wouldn’t run out of apples in the middle of autumn, would they?) I had followed Samin Nosrat’s recipe for her famous buttermilk turkey to a T and was crossing my fingers that we’d all love it.

To get my mind off of dinner, I grabbed some yarn and needles. I decided to learn how to knit a miniature mitten. I had promised I would teach myself how to make these and share a pattern for a cute Christmas garland.

It worked. As soon as I finished the mitten, I was tired enough to go back to sleep. As I knit quietly in my studio, I went through all the steps for the next day in my mind. The challenge was to make all the recipes in one afternoon with only one oven. The pie would go first, then stuffing and potatoes, followed by the bird and the yams. The cranberry sauce and the salad could be saved for last. I figured worst-case scenario we would eat dinner at six instead of four-thirty or five as we had hoped for. (Deep breath.)

We made it! I’m happy to report that everything went according to plan – well, mostly everything. The potato dish took a last-minute turn. The kids were in charge of potatoes. The plan was to make Julia Child’s Potatoes Dauphinoise, from the book Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. Cooked in cream and butter, these are lovely in place of mashed potatoes. But when Patrick handed the cookbook to the kids he accidentally pointed to Jacques Pepin’s recipe instead of Julia’s. The potatoes were good, but they weren’t the creamy dish we had anticipated. It turns out Jacques’ recipe didn’t have any milk!

Samin’s turkey did not disappoint. The color was just like in her video, caramel all over, except for a few spots. It had the right amount of salt, and it was not dry at all. Beautiful!

Patrick was in charge of the stuffing. This has become his specialty and the one recipe he cooks almost every Thanksgiving to bring to the family potluck. He changes the ingredient mix a bit every year. This one had Italian sausage, homemade croutons, celery, chicken broth, and other spices. I was a bit too distracted with the pie to pay close attention to the recipe. All I can say is it was really good!

I decided to make a salad I’d seen in a blog I follow called Love and Lemons that looked super pretty. The ingredient list was short and called for common ingredients like apples and apple cider vinegar, except for something I had never heard of before called kohlrabi. I had to buy that in the morning. Did I have a plan B for the salad if I couldn’t find the kohlrabi? Not yet. Hopefully, this was a super common veggie. 🤞🏼I was curious what it would taste like and hoped we would like it.

They had kohlrabi! I was so happy because I didn’t want to think of another recipe at the last minute. In the end, we actually didn’t eat much of the salad because we couldn’t eat another bite. But I know I am going to be making this salad often from now on. It was crunchy and fresh and a breeze to make. You should definitely try it. I loved it.

For the cranberry sauce and the roasted yams, I just followed @clarkbar’s one-pan, one-pot Thanksgiving dinner recipes.

The apple pie I made was an old favorite. I tried an improvised lattice decoration and added a little turkey to match the occasion. I only wish I had used my new go-to crumble topping instead of the one I made that called for mace. I found out I am not a huge fan of mace. Thankfully, a little vanilla ice cream was all it needed to tone down the mace.

Our dinner turned out better than I imagined. The food was ready on time and tasted fine. Out table was nice and cozy, and sharing dinner as a family never felt better. We had candlelight and pretty leaves I’d picked on my walk with Estelle decorated the table.

Even in what seems the worst year ever, we have so much for which to be grateful. I am hoping for many more dinners at home and continuing to celebrate all the good things in our life. I’m especially thankful for a whole day of left-over sandwiches, apple pie and time together we’ve had today.

Happy Day After Thanksgiving, everyone!

💛 Gabi

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november plans and ideas – wk.47

Published by fairfaxhill

I was thinking this morning, that on a typical week I find so many ideas for projects I want to try, that I have trouble keeping track of them all. I keep a paper journal where I save photos of things I’d like to make, names of websites I stumble upon and want to revisit, recipes I think we’ll love, gift ideas, etc. My paper journals are complemented with apps like Evernote and Pinterest, and quick snapshots saved on my phone.

So, today I had an idea. What if I gave myself a recurring task to review my notes once a week, and select my favorite things to share with you? I got this idea from reading this article on creativity, which I revisit often and has inspired me to try other things like drawing and thinking up my own knitting patterns.

I will comb through all my notes every weekend and share them on the blog on Sundays. This will a) motivate me to write more often, b) give all my favorite notes a home, and c) share my ideas with others. (a.k.a.: The why of this blog.)

Of course, I am certain I will never get to all of the ideas I save, but you might!

I also like the idea of keeping track of the year one week at a time. It makes my planning more manageable and keeps me on track. This is week #47. Let’s get started!

Here are a few things that caught my eye this week.

For knitters…

This week’s board includes the cover of the latest Rowan newsletter, Fall/Winter issue. (1) I have been a fan of Rowan for my whole adult knitting life. This newsletter will get you excited about Magazine 68, their latest issue. I’ve already ordered mine and cannot wait to receive it in the mail. For more pattern ideas, go check out their site: knitrowan.com. 

photo: Rowan Magazine

(3) Knitting technique + free pattern: Mini tassels are adorable. This is a free pattern by London Loop. They also sell kits and offer tutorials if you decide to try this project.

photo: London Loops

(5) If you have little kiddos in your family, you might like to try making a small toy as a Christmas gift. The book The Knitted Nursery Collection by Jem Weston offers some adorable ideas using Rowan yarns, which are my favorite.

Photo: Penguin Random House

(7) Here’s a fun way to get rid of small amounts of yarn and decorate your home for the holidays. I saw these miniature mittens in the Sundance Catalog, but they were out of stock. But don’t despair! I’m giving myself some homework to put together a small tutorial on how to make them. Stay tuned! (I just checked and they are available again, but I’ll still be working on a short tutorial for a holiday garland.)

photo: Sundance Catalog

For food lovers…

This week I purchased a small item from the Williams Sonoma store. While on their site, I decided to browse their tableware section. You know, Thanksgiving is coming, and browsing is fun! (6) This 28-piece flatware set is so beautiful! The handles are made out of six different woods harvested in France. I thought it was stunning (as well as the price, which unfortunately is WAY out of my budget)! I’m jealous if you can get it. 😍

photo: Williams Sonoma

On Instagram, (2) this gorgeous photo of a pear tart (also by @williamssonoma) instantly caught my attention. (So beautiful!) Better yet, you can make this recipe in under 30 minutes. THIS I must try! It may not be what I plan on making for Thanksgiving this year, but I think I’ll add a few pears and some puff pastry to my shopping list in case I change my mind. Here’s the link to the recipe.

photo: Williams Sonoma

And speaking of dessert. (4) These Inslee Fariss plates are too cute not to get. The theme is based on the classic song, ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’. Such a cute idea. These may be one of the only things about 2020 worth collecting! You can learn more about this designer, @inslee on IG.

photo: Anthropologie

Need a refresher on the lyrics? It’s never too early to start practicing your holiday carols! Learn about the history of this song and listen to it here.

In other news, we officially welcomed the fall/winter season this week with colder weather and some much-anticipated rain. I started a pair of fingerless mittens to wear on my walks with Estelle. I’m trying to come up with an original design but so far all I have are swatches.

I also tried this delicious pumpkin bread recipe. It makes two loaves, so you may want to read my post about how to freeze bread and cakes. Some of the recipe reviewers at foodnetwork.com thought there was too much oil and sugar in the recipe, but I found the bread to be delicious, without making any substitutions.

Next time I might experiment by using whole wheat flour and some walnuts – I love walnuts in bread. Do you have a favorite pumpkin bread recipe?

Next week is Thanksgiving, and we’re grateful that all our family members are all in good health, which in my mind is the only thing that matters these days. We will miss gathering with them very much this year and look forward to getting together again without the need to wear masks. 

We are still deciding on what our menu will be. It’s a little difficult to include all the traditional dishes to feed such a small group. We don’t want to eat the same thing for a whole week! Below is a list of what we are thinking of making. (I know, I know. We still need something green.) I’ll be looking at Melissa Clark‘s, Samin Nosrat‘s, Alison Roman’s, and Ina Garten’s menu suggestions for 2020, among others, to see if something sounds good. 

possible menu:

What are you making today?

muffin and coffee cup

quick strawberry muffins

Published by fairfaxhill

Today, my plan was to drive out to Pt. Reyes to get coffee and pastries at the Bovine Bakery, by far my favorite bakery in Marin.

Before heading out, I did something I rarely do. I called to make sure they were open. No luck, closed.

This is something I learned from Patrick. When we first moved to Marin, I would often come home after going out shopping and complain about all the different stores I had needed to drive to to finally find the thing I was looking for. To what he always replied, “Why didn’t you call the store before you left?”

It had never occurred to me to call a store to ask if they had something I needed before leaving my house, but it really saves so much time. I think that this is something people don’t do in Costa Rica. Do they? It seems so simple. Do you have fresh halibut today? Do you sell turmeric? Easy, right?

But, to be honest, I think that my impulse to call the Bovine Bakery before getting everyone in the car before 7 a.m. on a Sunday and driving all the way out to Pt. Reyes this morning had more to do with the coronavirus than anything else. Apparently, I needed a pandemic to become a better planner. Or perhaps it had to do with the fact that I am now the parent of teenagers. They would have been so mad at me if I’d gotten them out of their warm beds and into the car for nothing.

Anyway, after I heard they were closed, I quickly moved to “plan B,” which was bringing the bakery home to us.

I had lots of fresh strawberries sitting on the counter. Patrick’s mom had very kindly left some at our doorstep the day before. So, I decided to use them to make strawberry muffins.

I found a recipe in an old cookbook I’ve had for many years: Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2003. I thought they turned out pretty good, and that’s coming from someone who is not a big muffin fan. Sarah especially loved the crumble topping.

My favorite part of this recipe is that you only need a bowl and a whisk to make it, so you can start baking while everyone is still sleeping.

I couldn’t help tweaking things a bit. So, I used a bit less fruit and used a slightly different mix of ingredients for the topping. Here’s how I made them. Let me know if you try them, or if you have good recommendations for easy breakfast muffins.

Strawberry Muffins (adapted from MS Living)

Ingredients
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup strawberries, cut into small cubes

For the topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients and drizzle the butter on top. Mix with a fork and with your fingers sprinkle the mixture over the muffins.

Method

strawberries and batter
  • Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and combine well, using a whisk or a fork.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients, with the fruit, making sure the butter is not too hot. Whisk well.
  • Fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix.
  • Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into muffin cups. Leave enough room for the crumble topping. Add the crumble and place them in the middle rack of the oven for about 17 minutes, or until tops are golden. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 muffins.