Fall

The leaves have just started changing color over the past two weeks here in the south. I always forget how pretty they are against a blue sky. The red leaves on this tree were amazingly bright and vibrant.

{taken with hipstamatic}

Thanksgiving Dinner

Oh man, I am still full from Thanksgiving dinner! Cooking for everyone wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Things ran pretty smoothly...nothing was burned, the food was hot, and it was all super tasty!

The table set with my regular dishes and some really cool, vintage glasses from my great grandfathers general store.

Fresh cranberries cooking down with sugar and the juice from two, fresh squeezed oranges. So simple and tasty and way better than anything canned. The fresh, tart taste was a great compliment to the heavy flavors of all the other dishes. And...while the cranberries were cooking down I could hear them pop open in the pot. :)

Caramelized onions for the stuffing. Mixed with chunks of Italian bread, fresh chives, and thyme. I forgot to take pictures of the other main dishes, but take my word that they were tasty. My 10 year old brother-cousin ate a few brussel sprouts, scarfed down turkey, stuffing, and rice, tried the sweet potato casserole {which he loved}, and then proclaimed that it was the best Thanksgiving ever {yay!} ... and he said all that before dessert!

Speaking of dessert...flourless, chocolate cake...mmmmmm. So tasty with a scoop of homemade whip cream, but soooo not good for you at all. I won't tell you how many sticks of butter are in the whole cake. Trust me, you don't want to know {but if you insist, here is the recipe}.

I hope you all had a lovely dinner with your friends and family. My day was quite relaxing and calm, even with all the cooking. I enjoyed spending the day with part of my family, missed the rest, but am thankful that I have them in my life.

Julia

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've got a lot of cooking to do today and tomorrow! I'm staying in town this year and having my dad, stepmom, stepmom's mom, cousin-brother, and baby brothers over for Thanksgiving dinner. It's my first time cooking the whole meal by myself, but I'm super excited about it! Here's the menu...which had to encompass vegetarians, meat eaters, and gluten free diets. That's a lot to think about for one meal!

Tofurky - no, it does not taste like turkey, but it does taste good in a fake meat way...
carmelized onion and herb stuffing {find it here}
roasted brussel sprouts
sweet potato casserole with gluten free cornflake and pecan topping
wild rice
cranberry relish
flourless chocolate cake {find it here}
cherry pie
vanilla ice cream with cranberry compote {find it here}

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Enjoy your day with family and friends!

Julia

ICE - Indie Craft Experience

The Indie Craft Experience happens this weekend! I've missed it the past few years because of the craziness of work around the holidays, but this year I'm determined to make it. I can't wait to check out all the great handmade art, jewelry, hair accessories, clothes, paper goods, etc, etc.... Some of my favorite local artists will be there:

{Talulah B.} {Glak Love} {Mama Bath + Body} {June Shin} {Blue Eyed Freckle}

The Indie Craft Experience is happening this Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm at Ambient Plus Studio. $5 admission at the door. I'm also looking forward to trying out King of Pops. Haven't made it out to their popsicle cart on N. Highland/North Ave. yet, but definitely looking forward to trying out one of their tasty flavors...

Enjoy the week!
Julia

4 years!

And Even More... Freezer Paper Stenciling

I had to get a little crafty this weekend and make my little brothers some outfits! Simple freezer paper stenciling to make Halloween onesies:

And some monogrammed onesies since they have names now:

Freezer paper stenciling is soooo easy. I've used it on a couple different projects and need to start doing more with it. You can draw your own shapes or print out images to trace. After that, all you need is an iron and permanent fabric paint. Look here for full instructions.

Toodles,
Julia