all is calm

I cut the phrase "all is calm" out of pretty white glittery paper as part of our christmas decorations this year. I've packed everything away except for this & I've been thinking I might leave it up awhile longer. sometimes I just need a little reminder to stop, take a deep breath & tell myself that god is in control. hope you all have a restful weekend! 

2012

well, I'm not gonna lie. 2012 was a sucky year. nevertheless, I wanted to continue my tradition of wrapping up the year with some of the positive highlights. 

-I celebrated my 30th birthday. I am officially old
-we took a family day trip to check out peaches to the beaches
-there were lots of bike rides (thanks to my new bicycle basket) 
-some really great bands came to play in our city (beach house, wilco, jim gaffigan &mark kozelek)
-we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! 
-a mini vacation to the florida keys
-blueberry picking is now officially an annual tradition
-my mom & I had a fun road trip to see my sister
-fall happened in nyc & I got to see it
-hola costa rica! 
-fun times with friends exploring renningers antiques & finding treasures
-we shook things up & went to atlanta for thanksgiving
-I (almost) successfully completed a year of cookies (not sure what happened to june)

I sincerely thank each of you for taking the time to stop by here & read & comment. wishing you all a happy & healthy 2013! 

I couldn't sum it up better:

source

december cookie: peanut butter nutella cookie

peanut butter + nutella are like the best combination ever. I was skeptical about this recipe, because I've baked with nutella before & then felt like it was a waste of the precious condiment. it tasted better just sitting on the couch eating it out of the jar with a spoon (err, not that I've ever done that... recently). but these cookies are definitely an exception. they were very easy to make & turned out perfectly. you can find the recipe here.

november cookie: lemon snowdrop cookies

our neighbor brought us the most beautiful meyer lemons from her tree in november. not sure what to do with all of them, I juiced some & then decided to make some lemon cookies with the rest. bad idea. this recipe looked great & I'm really not sure what I did wrong, but these cookies totally sucked. they finally got crispy around the outsides but were still too wet on the inside. in reading the comments on the blog, they turned out fine for other people, so don't let me hinder you from attempting them. maybe I should dedicate 2013 to re-making all the recipes that I screwed up along the way. 

october cookie: flourless rocky road chocolate chip cookies

we had a cool day in october so I was looking for a meringue-like cookie that would go well with hot chocolate. I adapted this recipe slightly from here & added marshmallows, which was a great addition. 

flourless rocky road chocolate chip cookies

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch if you have it)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups mini marshmallows 
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or heck, just dump the whole bag in if you're feeling crazy)

1. preheat oven to 350.
2. in a large bowl, mix together powdered sugar, cocoa powder and sea salt. add in vanilla. whisk in egg whites until just moistened. add in marshmallows & chocolate chips. pop in the fridge for about 20 minute so that the dough becomes cool (this will keep them from spreading when they bake). 
3. spoon batter onto cookie sheets in small mounds.
4. bake for 12 minutes or until tops are glossy and lightly cracked.

goat cheese & pistachio filled dates

I feel like I'm always looking for easy appetizers to take to get togethers, especially around the holidays. I want something easy to make, that I can assemble ahead of time, without a lot of ingredients that still tastes really delicious. these goat cheese filled dates fulfill all my requirements. I had these dates at my friend heather's baby shower & the hostess was kind enough to give me the recipe. they are so delicious I could sit down & eat the entire plate. I promise, your guests will love them! 

goat cheese & pistachio filled dates

4 oz soft goat cheese (I used the kind with honey!)
3 tbsp shelled, salted pistachios, lightly toasted & chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
fresh ground pepper
10 medjool dates, pitted & halved lengthwise

in a small bowl, combine cheese, 2 tbsp pistachios & 1 tbsp chives until smooth. season with a little pepper. spoon cheese mixture into each date half to cover. garnish dates with remaining pistachios & more chives. cover in the refrigerator until ready to serve (I usually pull them out about 15 minutes before my guests arrive so they aren't too cold). 

christmas morning

here are a few photos from our christmas morning, if you'd like to see. my mom totally outdid herself like she does every year, making an amazing breakfast, lunch & dinner (not to mention the big christmas eve dinner she made the night before)! I don't know how she does it- we are certainly a spoiled bunch. 

 {santa came!}

 {my mom got robert the donna hay cookbook & it's beautiful}

 {dad's getting hip with his non-pleated pants}

 {grammie made us these sweet christmas angels using some lace from our mom's wedding dress}

 {mom's getting high tech with her new kindle fire}

 {good thing we're over the "everything my parent's do embarrass me" stage}