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A year in pictures

Cindy at Romantic Homes is hosting a Year in Review. It is fun to look back and see how the year unfolded.

January ~ Started off the year my favorite way: At the beach. This was taken in Pacific Grove, CA. This is what California looks like in January.

February ~ A few years ago I went a little crazy ordering daffodil bulbs but it pays off every February with ever increasing number of beautiful flowers.

March ~ Finally got the tile backsplash up. The kitchen is almost finished! I love how it turned out and would do everything the same except I think I will go lighter with the counters next time.

April ~ Is one of my favorite months. This April I got to puppysit the ever adorable Remy. We got into some scrapes, Remy and I, but my goodness did we have fun.

May ~ Attended the 2nd Annual Mother's Day Tea hosted by the lovely Sara. I provided the tags for the teacup exchange. Reminds me…better start working on next year's tags.

June ~ Actually completed a project! I love the colors in this pincushion. I have to remember to work with materials and colors that really speak to me.

July ~ I celebrated two years of blogging and tried to give away a goat.

August ~ Attended the Nevada County Fair, just a little slice of pure, unadultrated Americana.

September ~ Finished ANOTHER project. I'm on a roll! Vow to finish up other projects before starting new ones.

October ~ Had a little party with ~~some~~ all of my favorite people (and animals!).

November ~ Tried a few new things. Not always successfully but a learning experience (and lots of fun) nonetheless.

December ~ Ended the year with a scaled back holiday and discovered it was a much more peaceful way to enjoy this very special time of year.

Happy New Year Everyone! Thank you for taking this journey with me. I look forward to a productive and joyful 2009!

Happy the day after the day after Christmas

I trust everyone has their tree down and their decorations put away. Hmmm?

I actually do but then that is no surprise to anyone that has known me more than 45 minutes. To me Christmas is over around 10:00pm on Christmas day. Then I'm just itching to put everything back to rights and to throw that last empty See's candy box out in the trash.

My undecorating was certainly simplified in that I didn't put up a regular tree. So it is all back, snug in its Rubbermaid storage boxes except for that one elusive decoration that manages to escape detection until the attic ladder is pulled back up and the glitter washed off my hands.

This so wasn't going to be a food post. I actually have pictures of a REAL 30's print quilt square that I've been re-purposing today but then I made pop-overs and, well, there you go.

I bought myself a popover pan today. I've been wanting one for years and just never got around to buying one. The recipe for popovers is so simple and is the perfect neutral vehicle for either savory or sweet. Kind of like crepes.

There used to be a restaurant near us called the Proud Popover and for next to nothing you could get a popover with your choice of filling or spread. Like chicken with a creamy sauce. Or honeyed butter.

The very best way to eat a popover is with your mother after a grueling day of shopping at Neiman Marcus, spread with strawberry butter.

I promise – the next post will not be about food. I don't think I can eat any more.

Crème brûlée

Has this become a really food-centric blog or what? Coincidently around the same time I stopped the diet blog? Hmmm.

I'm sad, yet relieved to report I've only put on 1.5 lbs. so far this holiday season. And if you saw the sheer volume of popcorn balls I've eaten you would be amazed at that low number.

December 26th cannot get here soon enough. Then it is broth and the occasional mung bean.

Rick and I made Crème brûlée tonight. I did the cooking part. He did the power tools part.

The last time I made Crème brûlée I was explaining to him that you need a special kitchen grade blow torch and he said he thought he had a blow torch in the garage that would do just fine. I got rather huffy with him about this.

Turns out he was right. His crusty old boy blow torch does the job perfectly. I would just catch my hair on fire if I had an expensive kitcheny one.

Now I really should be wrapping the last of my Christmas presents. I have half a dozen to go. I've run out of Christmas wrap and have resorted to using all-white wedding wrapping paper. I'm thinking everyone will just assume they are Christmas bells and turtle doves if they look closely.

Sometimes you just have to make do.

Christmas slumber party

When you think of a slumber party you probably don't think of gold chargers and grilled salmon on puff pastry. But when Nicki throws a slumber party that's exactly what you get. Plus Christmas Cosmos, savory cranberry and sausage appetizers in filo dough, a warm Brie salad with apples and pistachios, champagne and warm peppermint brownies with vanilla ice cream.

It was the First Annual Christmas Slumber Party and I hope it is the start to a lovely new tradition. My sisters Trish and Kate were there, my cousin Claudia and my niece Sara. Missing was our sister Mary but I think she is buried in snow somewhere in Wisconsin right now.

We all wore our most festive holiday lounge wear or Christmas jammies and just ate and drank and ate some more.

We listened to Christmas music and did an ornament exchange. Nicki gave all of us aprons that she had spent the past week making, picking out fabrics that best suited the recipient.

Did I mention we ate? A lot? It was impossible not to. Everything tasted so good.

We also enjoyed Nicki's lovely home and all her Christmas decorations. It's making me feel kind of bad that I didn't put out much effort this year. Well, there is always next year.

I took a ton of pictures but I don't want to post anyone in their jammies so you'll just have to imagine.

Popcorn Balls

When Rick and I first starting going out his mother was dating a lovely man named Arnie. Arnie was a very kind and good natured fellow and he taught me how to water-ski. So add patience to his list of virtues.

He also made the best popcorn balls and when he made them he made TONS of them so you never felt like you had to ration them. Nope, you just dove in and ate as many as you possibly could, knowing there were more where that came from.

Alas Rick's mom and Arnie parted ways but not before I got his popcorn ball recipe from him. It is the perfect combination of salty popcorn and chewy sweetness holding it together.

This is a fun project but you will need two large containers to mix the popcorn and syrup together. We used a huge stock pot and actually split the recipe in half and just did it twice (since I don't have two huge stock pots). Arnie used to do it in two large roasters. We found it helped to butter the mixing container first, before adding the popped popcorn. You will also need a candy thermometer.

Here is the recipe, updated for our modern sensibilities (microwave popcorn). Makes approximate 40 popcorn balls:

Arnie's Popcorn Balls

8 bags of the lightest microwave popcorn you can find, popped (approx. 40-45 cups)
4 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. vanilla

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Cook until firm ball stage (245 degrees Fahrenheit). Remove from heat and add vanilla. NOTE: If you are using unsalted popcorn (doubtful if using microwave popcorn) add 3 tsp. of salt.

Pour syrup over popcorn, stirring well to coat evenly. Butter hands and form into balls. Wrap in plastic wrap.

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