Missed Connections

Craigslist has a section called "Missed Connections." It was new to me, but some are really pretty funny. Artist Sophie Blackwell draws her interpretation of people's missed connections. Adorable. (Missed Connections Blog || Etsy) (via Cup of Jo).

Homemade Macarons

I've said many times before, I'm not a baker. I enjoy cooking, but never really liked to bake. Recently, however, I'm beginning to like it more and more. Over the past couple years, I've baked pies, flognardes, galettes, cookies, to name a few. And today, gave in to my current obsession and tried my first attempt at the macaron. About 2/3 were filled with chocolate butter cream, and 1/3 with a milk chocolate orange ganache. I'm not sure if I just lucked out (macarons are supposedly a "notoriously difficult recipe" and are easy to ruin), but both turned out to be really delicious. Yea!

Claudia Fleming's Macarons

2¼ cups powdered sugar
2 cups almond flour
2 tablespoon sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.
   
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off (which I did).
   
5. Pipe one-inch-sized mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners or parchment paper.
6. Bake the macaron for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

The Tinsel is Down

We spent today taking down all of the holiday decorations. I admit, I get a little melancholy doing it. At the same time, it does feel great to clean house. This year, we finally burned the ornament candle (above). For years, we've put it out as decoration, but never lit the flame. My aunt (my mom's twin) would give us some sort of quirky present every year for Christmas. We all looked forward to seeing what it would be, and always got a kick out of whatever it was. One year, we received this candle as a gift. It was one of the last years she was around for the holidays -- she passed away not too much later from breast cancer. I just could never bring myself to use the crazy candle. Every year Brian asks if we can light it. And every year I say "not this candle." But it's been almost ten years since that last Christmas, and I know it was given to us to be used. So we did. I think she'd like that.

The New Year

New Year's Eve. was spent with our friends, Chris and Penny, for a "Dishes From Around the World" party. The food was great, and we got to hang out with some really nice people. Surprisingly, no one brought the same thing. Our dish was inspired by German cuisine -- Sausage & Sauerkraut and Spätzle. Pork and cooked greens are considered to be foods that bring good fortune. Other dishes we had were cotechino con lenticchie -- sausages and green lentils (Italy), collard greens (US South), carrot tzimmes (Jewish), mince meat pie (UK) and a Greek salad. Brian made cherries jubilee -- something his family made every year. Both boys made it to midnight (barely), so we got to ring in the new year together. So far, 2010 has been great. We slept until 9am, then went to a New Year's Open House brunch at some friends who we met at C's school. What a great way to start the new year!

So Long, 2009

I'm not sure why I decided to add a photo of my breakfast to this post. But I did. It was pretty yummy.

I know this was not a great year for many people. At work, I'm thrilled to be able to say good-bye to 2009. It was crazy and insane. Brian and I were fortunate to survive during a time of budget cuts and lay-offs. But overall, I have to say, 2009 was a really great year for our family. Some of the highlights of our year were:

• Taking the boys skiing (twice)
• Brian and the boys surprised me with a trip to California (just me)
• Key Lime Cove with Grandma and the Kramers
• Attending our very first murder mystery party
• Visiting Florida over H's 7th birthday (more, more, and more)
• Spending a week in the house Brian grew up visiting each summer (more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, and more)
• Competing in, and finishing, my first triathlon (and then we did one the following week too)
• A vacation with Brian to the Amalfi Coast (more, more, more, more, more, more, and more)
• C turned 5
• I turned 40
• Brian and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary
• Saw U2 -- and had an awesome view
• Brian and Chris rode with our friend Jeff to help raise awareness for his organization, Pablove

See? We pretty much had a blast. There were so many other fun times with friends and family too. We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives.

It's a blue moon tonight (the first NYE blue moon since 1990) -- that has to be a good sign.

Here's to a great 2010!

Wine & Cheese

Tonight, we went over to Chris & Penny's, along with some other neighbors -- Isabelle, Francois, and their three kids -- for a little wine, cheese and homemade bread. It was absolutely delicious.

Christmas in Wisconsin - Day Two

Next up, a day with Brian's family. Brian's mom had a fantastic Christmas lunch for us. We spent a great afternoon with her, then went over and visited Brian's sister and her family. I know we don't need to hop on a plane, or travel many, many hours in a car to visit our families, but sometimes, it would really be nice to live closer than a couple hours away. We had a great time with everyone. Thank you, Wisconsin. We miss you already.

Frolicking

We left fairly early for our next leg of the Wisconsin journey, but not before a bit of time in the snow. My mom loves it as much as the boys, I think. She took them sledding. My dad plowed the driveway while C stood under the blowing snow and Storm chased the tractor.

Christmas in Wisconsin - Day One

Florida girl making snow angels -- Santa's helpers (yes, C is wearing his suit coat, again)
Christie and me with our cousin, Justin.Storm with my sister, the former non-dog lover.
Most of the gang.The day after Christmas, we traveled to Wisconsin to spend the holidays with our families. My parents hosted an awesome chili lunch, and we were very happy to get to spend time with my sister and her family and my cousin and his family from Tampa. My parents live in the woods, and it was a beautiful winter wonderland while we were there. My dad's tractor rides while pulling the sled(s) around the driveway were a huge hit with the kids. What a great day.

(Here's a video, of the tractor sled ride, in case you are interested):

Christmas 2009

The boys woke up at 7:00 a.m. They were so excited about the slot car set they got -- but H was mostly thrilled about the letter Santa wrote him in response to his. At 3:00 p.m. we finally got out of our PJs and got ready for our guests. Melissa and I took turns with the courses, and had a great meal. We had sweet potato ravioli.

French onion soup.

Shrimp with bok choy and an Asian Beurre Blanc Sauce.

Lamb.
And chocolate cake and cookies. We also did wine parings, so by this point, quite frankly I forgot to take pictures (updated note: for really good food shots, and a photo of the finished lamb dish, visit Tales of the Elsmo Four). It was a great night, and now, we are looking forward to our trip up to Wisconsin. Merry Christmas.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

C donned his finest suit jacket (the only one he owns -- the first time he's worn it) and we walked across the street to The Frigs house for our annual Christmas Eve. appetizer extravaganza. This year, Penny's parents were in town from Mississippi, and it was a pleasure sharing the evening with them. By 9:00, the boys (and M) were anxious for us to go. They had been tracking Santa and noticed he was already in Canada. Needless to say, H & C were asleep within minutes. Thanks for a wonderful night Chris & Penny!

Happy Holidays ... from me to you!

We'll be home for the holidays this year. It's really icy out, so probably is a good thing our plans don't take us more than a block away from home, celebrating with great friends, sitting by our fire. We'll travel to Wisconsin this weekend to see our families, and can't wait. Besides, there's nothing wrong with celebrating four days of Christmas now, is there?

Wishing you and your loved ones a merry holiday season. Love, A, B, C & H

Art by C: Christmas Tree

Cookies: Dark Chocolate Meringues

Dark Chocolate Meringues
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60-75% cacao), divided
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (preferably dark chocolate)
3 tablespoons cocoa nibs, optional
1/3 cup egg whites (about 3 large), room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Coarsely chop 3 ounces of chocolate; melt it and set aside. Chop remaining 2 ounces of chocolate into pieces the size of mini-chocolate chips. In a small bowl, combine chopped chocolate with cocoa and cocoa nibs, if using. In separate glass bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar; beat with electric mixer at low speed for 30 sections, then at medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat mixture about 2 minutes longer, using medium speed of mixer. Mixture should be smooth, opaque, glossy and thickened. Beat at high speed for 30 seconds more. Lightly fold in cocoa mixture and melted chocolate just until evenly blended and no streaks remain. Do not over mix. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 1-inch apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Cookies will be firm when pressed gently by still soft inside. Cool for 1-2 minutes on pans, then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Cookies are best served fresh, but may be stored in tightly covered container for up to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 weeks. Makes about 4 dozen.