My in-laws used to get nervous that they gave me too many books as gifts, that I’d get tired of them. They have learned by now that nothing makes me happier, and they’ve joined my own family in helping me build my library every year. And this year, the selection of books I was given was pretty astoundingly good. Some of these were on my own wishlist, some of them were given with great thought and care, and one of them was a gift to myself.

Quilting Modern:Techniques and Projects for Improvisational Quilts was on my wishlist that I was really excited for, andInstinctive Quilt Art: Fusing Techniques and Design (right) was from my in-laws. And it has the most amazing, vivid art quilts in it. Both books really focus on free form, go-with-what-you-feel quilting, so maybe this is the universe telling me to just start cutting and sewing this year.

Felt Mistress: Creature Couture is an insanely strange and sublimely cool find from my brother-in-law Thomas. The Felt Mistress is heretofore unfamiliar to me, but apparently she is a force in British fashion, toy design, puppetry, and window displays. This giant art book details piles of her original stuff and her work with Jonathan Edwards creating some of the most awesome felt creatures I’ve ever seen. This is one of those fabulous, only-available-in-Britain treasures that I could spend hours upon hours poring over.

And to add to my ever-growing arsenal of food tomes are The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making, this great resource that explains how to make everything from pop tarts to ketchup at home in your own kitchen. The feeling is more retro Home Ec than depressing preservative-free food Nazi, and that is infinitely cooler and more accessible.

I also got On a Stick to add to my party food collection and Jam On: The Craft of Canning Fruit. This one was actually written by a girl who was in the graduate Library and Information Science program with me at Pratt. We didn’t know each other, but Laena McCarthy is one of those faces you remember from the halls and somehow end up Facebook friends with. So I knew she’d become kind of this legendary artisanal jam maker in Brooklyn, which is very cool in and of itself. But when I found out she was publishing a book about jam at the end of the summer when I discovered this art form I got REALLY excited. All of the food books were on my wishlist.

My Ideal Bookshelf is also one from my wishlist. Again, I’m a little obsessed and plan on spending hours poring over this one. The title is pretty self-explanatory, but any book that includes the favorite books of James Franco AND Nancy Pearl Librarian Extraordinaire in the same book is perfection. Plus, the bookshelves are illustrated. Very cool.

And then finally, Dancers Among Us. This was my present to myself, and I am so smitten with this book. And don’t you dare judge me for reading about it in O magazine’s December issue. Look at the cover, how could you not be in love with this? And look at this photo:

This is the ultimate, cure-a-bad-day book of photos. Pure joy, and I love every page. We have 3 students from my school all battling relapsed leukemia, and the one I’ve taught the most (her mom is a teacher in the building) just went back into the hospital in December. She’s in 3rd grade, so I sent her a copy of Hugo Cabret, the next 2 books in the Bone series after the last one she checked out of the library, and this book for her whole family. I may send this book to everyone I know from here on out that could use a smile.

So, all in all I’d say this was one of my best hauls of books ever. I’m kind of over the moon.

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone’s Christmas was as merry as ours!

So I finally finished our new monogrammed family Christmas stockings. I started thinking about these a while back, knowing that Hannah would need one and wanting to take the opportunity to improve on our old ones with a new coordinated family set. The old ones have been great, but I’m a better sewer 4 years later. And, I can applique things.

We have a random assortment of stockings I’ve never gotten rid of, so I took one of the bigger ones and used it as a template for these. I made them extra long and wide, and Fat Quarter Shop had this special Robert Kaufman Spot On bundle called Deck the Halls that I bought (and then combined with dots from my stash).

I cut all my dotty fabrics into various strip widths and pieced together big sections to cut out my stocking shape. Then I used this tutorial for the stocking construction and this tutorial for the cuff sizing (I made 6″ cuffs on mine). I love these.

Just in time for Santa’s arrival.

We had a holiday party this year! We skipped last year because it was just too much with the baby on the way, but last Sunday we had a bunch of great people over for an early evening celebration. I forgot how much I missed this party. I took zero photos once the party started, which I’m horrible about every year. There’s always so much to do, so many people to talk to. Plus Hannah was up entertaining people, so at one point we had to go get her to bed.

Anyway, I did manage to get some photos of most of the spread before folks arrived. I didn’t get any of the hot chocolate bar, which is nowhere near as fancy as it sounds. Just a corner of the kitchen set up with hot chocolate, white and dark chocolate bits, crushed candy canes, caramel, marshmallows, and Baileys to mix in. I loved that, we’re totally doing it again for Christmas. But here are the other goodies.

Delicious, delicious cupcakes from Sugarush. Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies, a cookie decorating station, and chocolate covered pretzels. We also had the white chocolate peppermint M&Ms, they’re pretty darn good.

I used my Ninjabread Men cookie cutters. The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (my no-fail book) had a great recipe for thick and chewy gingerbread (as well as thin and crispy), and since I believe there’s no point to a cookie that isn’t chewy I was happy to use it. Maybe I’ll post it one of these days, but there are so many great gingerbead cookie recipes out there. The important thing is that these cookies are NINJAS. They will kick your butt into the festive spirit.

And, of course, supplies to decorate your little warriors. Within my minimalist Scandinavian color scheme, obviously. See what a grownup I was this year? No cartoon reindeer or snowmen or polka dotted tray liners this year.

Red. Velvet. Cheesecake. Brownies. I found this recipe on Pinterest and made them, they were pretty darn good. Fudgey (Fudgy? nothing looks right) and awesome, and even though I got distracted and (very slightly) overbaked them, the cheesecake layer more than made up for it.

The whole shebang.

And from the other side. Fancy.

This was the “savory spread.” Chips, dips, cheese and crackers. I actually just remembered that I also made garlic knots from a Bon Appetit recipe. That one I’ll post here, it was really good and Bon Appetit doesn’t keep all their recipes online forever.

I had a great time this year! I wish I had taken some photos of the actual party, especially Hannah hanging out and entertaining everyone with her baby piano. There were a lot of new faces this year, and it really was such a nice time. It definitely helped get me into the festive spirit, I’d been feeling a little overwhelmed by the holiday To Do list until then.

Garlic Oregano Knots (from the December 2012 issue of Bon Appetit)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter plus more for baking sheet
1 pound store-bought fresh (or frozen, thawed) pizza dough, at room temperature for 30 minutes
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

Lightly butter a baking sheet. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. Cut dough in half. Cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-thick strips (for 24 strips total). Tie each strip into a knot, gently stretching dough as needed. Place on prepared sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until slightly puffed, 1-1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°. Bake knots until cooked through and golden, 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup butter with garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic butter to a large bowl; stir in oregano.
Place warm bread knots in bowl with garlic butter; toss until well coated. Transfer to a platter. Sprinkle with flaky salt.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/12/garlic-oregano-knots#ixzz2FwMGblZ4

It’s December 20th already?! How did that happen? I’m finally getting some steam back today, and I think I’m just running on adrenaline knowing there’s only 1 more day until winter break. Hannah got a second tooth last week, and as of yesterday we think she’s working on a 3rd. Plus, since the stubborn little thing will NOT eat solids, she’s starting to get extra hungry just drinking milk and formula. So, this basically means a LOT of waking up in the middle of the night this month. On top of stomach bugs and all kinds of other excitement.

So I never posted about our trip to get a tree on the 2nd (you didn’t miss much excitement on Hannah’s part).

Or Adam’s excellent job on the lights that same afternoon. My mom came over to see them lit up that night.

I haven’t even posted any pictures of Hannah’s first impression of the tree that day.

This one was taken last Saturday, the day she turned 9 months (and I never posted a photo of that, either!).

So, yeah. Behind at life, failing at the holidays, etc. etc. No, not really. Just very sleep deprived, busy, unable to get much done. But I’m really starting to get excited about Christmas! I’ll post more tomorrow.