christmas treats

instead of buying gifts for people, i decided this year to bake cookies. since our office is so small i decided to make cookie bags for everyone.... oi. next year i shall start earlier and cut back on the variety.
from that though a coworker asked if i could make a batch of the chocolate dipped rice crispy treats i had included for a party shes attending. my first baking effort commission!
instead of just the standard sprinkle topped treat, i decided to crush up some candy cane and sprinkle that on some also. i even packaged it up in a festive box.

listen...

i have a hard time watching him play, but listening to what he can do on a ukulele is amazing.


more here

via boing boing

christmas in the mainland

the great thing about living in the "mainland" (as opposed to hawaii) during the holiday is the added activities that come with a holiday.
going to the pumpkin patch in october rather than the grocery store... m
and the best... going to the tree farm to cut your own christmas tree rather than picking one up (at a ridiculous price) at a random lot.

thats me cutting down our tree this year

and thats jaisn carrying it to be wrapped up

and thats our end result!

tho i think we agreed that next year wed buy a potted tree to possibly plant or reuse rather than killing another tree.

thanksgiving fun

ok im a bit behind on my posts.... ive been busy with work.
anyway. so we did end up coming into work on thanksgiving for a few hours and made some crab and garlic mashed potatoes for dinner. not very traditional i know.
but for the weekend we went up to a cabin in mount baker with two other couples and had our second annual thanksgiving getaway. last year we went simple and made chili and cornbread... nothing too difficult. this year we decided to step it up.
friday night andy made great steaks in his new cast iron skillet, shannon made a yummy salad with a champagne vinaigrette, and i made garlicy mashed potatoes to go with it
saturday morning the suess' made breakfast burritos with sausage, egg, cheese and salsa. they also made cinnamon rolls and had a fruit platter. yum. and that night was our "real" thanksgiving feast.

sunny was in charge of the main dish... a roasted pork loin. mmmmm.

i was in charge of sides and dessert...

roasted stuffed onions

whiskey glazed carrots

deconstructed green bean casserole, crash hot potatoes, and a pumpkin cream cheese pie (oops i forgot to take pictures of some of them).
the stuffing in the onions was the best stuffing ever... i was exhausted after making it (premade it the day before) because of all the prep that went into it, but it was definetly worth it. the green beans were also very good... tho i made the fried onions in the morning and they didnt stay crispy til dinner time. oh well. the carrots were a little sweet for my taste.. i think it wouldve worked with less (or no) brown sugar. the potatoes were good as well... i think i couldve put garlic on it.... cause who doesnt love garlic. and the pie... so good. the crust came from the same batch as the pecan pie and it was still a hit.

recipes here:
roasted stuffed onions via smitten kitchen
deconstructed green bean casserole via vegan yum yum
whiskey glazed carrots via the pioneer woman
crash hot potatoes via the pioneer woman
pumpkin cream cheese pie via how to eat a cupcake