monday. baby shower preview.

well, the breakfast at tiffany's themed shower for my little sister, steph, was a blast! everyone showed up in their little black dresses, complete with pearls and costume jewelry! awesome food, thanks to one of her girls, jolene; and mimosa's courtesy of amy! i have about 500 photos to sort through, but until then, these will have to tide you over ...
mama-to-be in all her glory ... steph and her 'girls' ... 'special' sisters ... lucky duck first-time grandma ...
veteran grandma jilly bean ...



my baby girl ... looking like she's 20 ...

monday. hot butter rum.

it's that time of year. cold, windy, the promise of that swirly, whirly white fluffy stuff. what better way to get warm than rum? i mean, really? is there any better drink this time of year than hot butter rum? nope. at least not for me!

p.s. this picture isn't what it actually looks like, but apple cider butter rum looked dang good, too! i was lazy and didn't take pictures this weekend. might have to post this recipe later this week!

the husband left on another hunting excursion friday, and i thought i'd make a batch to have ready for his homecoming! have the fire blazing in the living room, steaming hot butter rum, lights turned down ... and the two crazies building a fort right in the middle of it, squealing and running around like little loons. Who wouldn't want to come home to that?!

anyway, hot butter rum batter is way easy to make, and so good. buy extra rum ... this batch makes enough for 100 servings, but stores in the freezer quite nicely for up to six months (recipe from allrecipes.com)!

ingredients.

1 lb. butter
1 lb. brown sugar
1 lb. confectioners' sugar
1 qt. vanilla ice cream, softened
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

how-to.

1. melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
   
2. blend in brown sugar and confectioners' sugar. remove from heat, and whisk in the ice cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
   
3. pour mixture into a plastic container, seal, and freeze.
   

later in the day ...

1. measure 1 TBS Hot Buttered Rum Batter and 1 oz. of rum (or more depending on the day you've had) into your favorite mug.
   
2. fill your cup with boiling water, stir, and sprinkle top of drink with nutmeg and/or cinnamon.

friday. the long winter.

winter's on it's way. i even heard the 's' word on the weather this morning.

but, apparently, snow's been on my brain for a week now. i started reading, 'the long winter' ... yes, the little house on the prairie book. and i had forgotten how truly great it is. and no, i can't even blame me reading it on my daughter. i stayed up reading in bed last night until midnight ... all by my lonesome.

such a classic. no matter how many times i read those books, which, mind you has been several (thousand), it makes me realize i was born in the wrong era. granted, i don't think pioneer life was really for me, but definitely a time when things were so much less complicated in a different way than they are now.

bundling in for the winter and making do with what you had, spending the days with family, baking EVERYTHING from scratch, working hard for what you have, but also enjoying it just as much because of it. maybe i'm idealizing some of it. and yes, there are beauties to modern life, things i often feel i couldn't live without. and less of a lot of the hardships, but, so much of the things we have today seem to be just because "we can."

so, when i feel like things are just a little too complicated, i turn on my electric fireplace and cozy up after the kids go to bed, and read about laura ingalls wilder. somehow, it makes me feel a little bit better.

wednesday. knitting nell.

nell knits, like, a lot. you name it, she knits it. blankets for new babies, socks and hats and mittens for the children’s home, and scarves for everyone in her family.

i love this book and the fact that it introduces the idea of servicing others. it oozes generosity, and putting others before yourself. nell is super quiet which is a nice change from a lot of characters out there today ... especially when you have a little girl like i do that has a hard time branching out and meeting new friends sometimes.

super lovely illustrations and a super lovely story. only issue? taylor wants me to teach her to knit ... if only i knew more than one stitch!