Mersydotes

Today and tomorrow are my "elfing" days- time to do all the things that a good little Christmas elf would do in preparation for the holiday!  Wrapping, baking decorating, reading, baking, sipping tea, cleaning, baking...! Today I began preparing the homemade treat boxes that I'm looking forward to giving loved ones this year.  I made lemon curd (pictures of that tomorrow- it's amazing!) as well as some really neat candy cane/marshmallow treats that I spotted at the farmer's market and just had to try making myself.  I think that they were a big success!  Would you like to see how they turned out? First, I did some chocolate and peanut ones:   Then, I tried some white chocolate with peppermint pieces: I think they are wonderfully whimsical!  Like giant marshmallow lollipops!  All you have to do is poke some candy canes into giant marshmallows and then dip them in melted chocolate and crushed peanuts, etc.  But be careful- between the candy c

We had a birthday to celebrate here today, and we kicked it off in style with some homemade gluten-free cinnamon rolls.  Wow- did they make the apartment smell good!  I used the recipe from the Bob's Redmill glee pizza crust mix- I highly recommend it.  Next time I think I'll add even more cinnamon and maybe even freeze a pan for the future. It was wonderful to celebrate in the morning rather than waiting all the way until after work!  We baked together, had tea and cinnamon rolls, and the birthday boy opened up some of his presents.  Would you like to join us in our gooey, yummy morning?!

It's so exciting here at Mersydotes!  We've been busily preparing the Christmas cards that we're sending out this year, and it's been a blast!  The theme for this year is "Scandinavian hand-made shabby chic cottage", and we've been trying to make Christmas cards along those lines. Would you like to see what we've come up with?  They are made from recycled paper, rubber stamps and embossing powder, and different designs of washi tape. We even tried a Christmas tree one (it still needs a star on the top!): The washi tape also looks great around some tea lights: We can't wait to pop these cards in the mail and send them out to the family! ~Mersydotes

Hello All!  It's nice to be back in bloggy land- I've had some aches and pains recently, so I've slowed down my posting a bit.  Looking around the house, though, I noticed how many vibrant colors there are- normally we never have anything red or green hanging around.  We're more of the cream and blue types.  So I decided to put together a round of "Christmas I Spy" from spots around the apartment!  I've always been enchanted by those books and the mini atmospheres that they evoke.  It probably won't be hard to guess what these are, but I think it's refreshing to take a different perspective on things you normally pass by without a second glance. Here we go!

On my way to my car from work this afternoon, I was walking by the creek, enjoying the sunshine, when I saw the most gorgeous red-tail hawk!  He (or she perhaps?) had just caught a squirrel and was beginning to eat it.  The hawk didn't mind my company at all, and allowed me to slowly approach to take its picture as it ate.  Its tail feathers were a wonderful burnt orange color, and it looked so intelligent when it looked directly at me! 

Today was the big day!  The debut of the little jar hats at the Holiday Farmer's Market!  Would you like to see?  Our fabulous friends who make the autumn berry jam had everything displayed just so- little towers of jars with one well-dressed one on the top: It's exhilarating to be part of something!  I hope business is brisk!

 It's the second of December and a balmy 60 degrees here amongst the corn fields.  It feels so strange!  It should have already snowed a few times by now!  But that doesn't mean that we can't go ahead and welcome the new month and all its festivities!    There's been some winter crafting going on over here:    One of my favorite traditions is stringing popcorn and cranberries for garland- to make the house beautiful and then, after the holidays, to make the birds happy! It was also time to hang up those snow flakes that I've been working on!  But before they could show their true beauty, they needed to be blocked.  I did it by blasting them with steam from the iron, pulling and tugging them into shape, and then blasting them with more steam for good measure.  It made a huge difference!  I thought they were pretty before, but wow!  Now they're awesome! On the right is the snowflake before blocking, and on the left is the snowflake af

Mmmmm... so many blog-worthy things going on here (especially in preparation for Christmas!), but I've just got a little moment before bed to say good night. And sweet dreams with little crocheted heart confetti and the sweet smell of pepermint!

I've always felt a bit bad for the sweet potato, which is, in my opinion, a much maligned tuber.  Why should it always be relegated to too much sugar or too much grease?  Why not appreciate it for what it is?! A mild, nutty, sweet, compact meal that is sooo  warming and fulfilling.   Recently, we've been trying to appreciate sweet potatoes and all that they offer.  This was inspired by a magazine article about healthy, but easy dinners, and here's our personal (as always, gluten-free) interpretation:   We wash and pierce one sweet potato per person:    Wrap them up snugly in foil: And then bake them at 350 until you can easily poke a knife all the way through. Then, we split them down the middle, lightly mash the insides, and sprinkle on some goat cheese and a few walnuts.  Tah-dah!   Hope you give it a try- it's truly scrumptious!

(A guest post by Penny) This evening, Mama and Papa tried out Instagram, and they decided to take some practice pictures of the cutest thing in the room- me!  I had just eaten my dinner (kibbly bits, of course!), so I was a little sleepy and was resting on the couch.  Would you like to see how artsy my puppy nap looks when photographed with Instagram?

Recently, my aunt sent out a picture of the favors she's been making for Thanksgiving- adorable! I liked the idea so much, I decided to try my hand at it and make a flock of candy turkeys to take out to the hubby's family. First, I made some turkey heads and added some little googly eyes. The turkeys needed legs too, so I twisted together three short lengths of pipe cleaners and bent the ends to make toes. We decided to use Reese's Pieces (they're glee), and placed a quarter cup into little squares of orange tulle.  Then it all gets tied up to make the tail, and the head and legs get poked through the holes in the tool.  Would you like to see the whole flock?  Here they are: Gobble, Gobble!!