Merry Christmas 2011

This year was a different year for us. Usually we go to visit our family out of state, but this year since I would be 34 weeks on Christmas we decided it would be cutting it a bit too close to travel. So, instead we shopped and shipped our Christmas presents to family and had the great opportunity to have my sister Linda and her daughter Amanda spend Christmas with us.

We decked out house out for the season as usual. It always makes me smile to see all our decorations out, especially the nativity, which we added the wise men to this year. I love all our white cut out candle holders and the spider on our tree from Dan's mom.





We also had out our various tins and cookie jars, Williamsburg pineapples, and new this year a pomegranate from Greece.






Christmas Eve was a little hard for Dan and I this year. We both had a bit of a cry fest missing our families, listening to Christmas music and calling to talk to everyone made us feel a bit better :) Then Linda and Amanda arrived and we headed over to our friends house for a wonderful dinner and acting out of the Nativity story. I enjoyed being around friends, family, and even a few little kids. After dinner we went home and watched movies and put out our gifts to each other. Quite a haul!





Santa came and filled our stockings and left us a few things! Looks like we were good kids this year :)





We woke up and had breakfast, Dan made yummy pancakes, roasted potatoes and chicken sausage with fruit and juice. It was just what I needed.



We opened gifts, and were totally spoiled this year (as usual!). Here's my loot:





Dan's loot:




We both got ornaments from Santa. Mine was the elephant with a peanut on his nose, Dan's was a copper pan.



Santa also left us some Christmas books to add to our future advent collection. We hope to have 25 books to wrap and open with our son the month of December as a new family tradition. We're off to a good start in the collection.



New decorations put out, plus me posing with my FAVORITE gift of all, and 11 lb tub of Nutella :)




To top off a wonderful day we opened gifts from Dan's family and found the candy cane pillow case Dan had as a child, a fun blanket sewn from fabric found in Sherry's sewing room, a silver baby spoon, and a traditional tin that held homemade candy that Dan remembers from his childhood as well. We also got the story of the Elf on the Shelf, which apparently is pretty popular now, but the idea was from back in the 60's. The modern elf was removed from the box and replaced with a Sherry creation. She made a ton of little elves that hung in garland to decorate the home, and would sometimes see the elf hiding elsewhere in the home checking in on the kids to report back to Santa. These fun traditions and memories brought tears of joy to our eyes.




Finally we had so much food and candy that day it was crazy! I've eaten myself sick the past few weeks and wanted to see if I could still see my feet...I can, but just barely :)

Christmas Project

Last year for Christmas my sister-in-law gave all the siblings Christmas pillowcases. This is a tradition passed down from Dan's mom who gave the kids a new pillowcase (or got out last years if it wasn't worn out) the beginning of December to sleep on for the month. This was yet another way to make the holiday special and hype up the kids for the Christmas season :)

I thought it was such a great idea I decided right after Christmas to go out and buy fabric on sale (another Sherry tradition!) to make some for the next Christmas to give to my family. I had a lot of fun picking out fabric patterns and matching them together. It is really quite easy to do, but in my typical style I procrastinated for quite a while until I realized I need to crank these out if I was going to get them in the mail after Thanksgiving!



The original thought was to just give to my nieces, but I soon realized I had enough to give to my mom and siblings as well.





I even had enough fabric to make another set for Dan and I. I've been sleeping on mine ever since. It makes me smile every time I see it, I hope it does the same for my family.

2011 Annual Craven Candy Making

One of our favorite holiday traditions is making homemade candy, chocolates and confections for Christmas gift giving. It always reminds me of my childhood and the fun food traditions we had growing up, creating in the kitchen with my Mom. This year Holly & I had a fun time mixing it up and doing different types of fudges and caramels to share with our family, colleagues at work and various friends & neighbors.



Starting a big batch of caramel and adding chocolate to make a chocolate-espresso batch.



Cooking it down and letting it bubble, adding more chocolate a handful at a time.



Adding the espresso and cooking it to soft ball stage.



Almost to temperate and ready to pour in my prepped pan.



After the batch cooled, I cut it and prepped it for wrapping in glassine paper candy cups.



A complete batch of white chocolate, peppermint fudge.



The white chocolate peppermint fudge all cut, wrapped and cupped.



Finished batches ready for boxing. Chocolate-espresso caramel. White chocolate peppermint fudge. And a batch of cinnamon-anise golden caramel.



Boxed and ready for lids, and custom designed labels from Holly.



The finished goodies. Have been shipping to friends across the country, making local deliveries, shipping to family, and sharing with neighbors and colleagues. A very fun tradition indeed. Grateful to have learned from my Mom, and to be able to share the talent with my many friends.

2011 Half Marathon #5 - Seattle Thanksgiving Marathon

AWESOME RUN! New personal best time at 2:29:06.



A 2:10 improvement off my last race in October. And a >52:00 improvement off my first race in May of this year. Today's goal was to come in <2:30:00. I'm happy with my accomplishment today in the rain! :) WOOT!



Check it out! 5 Half Marathons (this season) & counting. I'm liking me my "Shiny Sports Bling...!" Getting active & healthy and turning into an athlete has been the best thing I ever done for myself & my future family. Excited to run a race with my son someday.

140# LOST FOREVER & COUNTING! :)

2011 Half Marathon #4 - Leavenworth Oktoberfest

Nailed it...! Half Marathon #4 complete. Unofficial clock time is a 30-35 second improvement! Making a new personal best. AND most of this was trail running.



My friend Steve & I, pre-race.



2011 Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon official timing chip race results: 2:31:16. A 2:16 "official" improvement in time off of my last half marathon. I'm proud of my accomplishment high in the cascade mountains...!

Half marathon #5, the annual Seattle Marathon is slated for this upcoming weekend.

Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Buttercream

This past weekend was Holly's Birthday. I really wanted to make her a diner style birthday cake. Big flavor, with multiple layers. And on an impressive cake stand. I had fun perusing a few recipes and came up with with something that I felt was moist and not overly dry for the cake after some adjusting. And some tasty peppermint buttercream with the addition of cream cheese. It turned out well.



Dan's Moist Chocolate Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1 cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil
5 large or 4 extra large/jumbo eggs
¾ cup water
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder

Directions for cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cocoa & espresso powder. Next, add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Mix for 1 minute. Then add eggs, 3/4 cup of water, vanilla. Mix 5-6 minutes with a whisk, 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer, or 2 minutes with a KitchenAid mixer.

Pour into three prepared 10" cake pans, bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes (adjust for convection); test by placing and removing a toothpick through the center at 25 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, loosen from and invert onto a wire cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely on the racks. Wrap in foil, and put in the freezer until firm. I find it easiest to frost a frozen cake.

Dan's Peppermint Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
3 boxes (1 pound each) powdered sugar
1 TBS pure peppermint extract
Pink or Red food coloring

Directions for frosting:

This part is a little harder as it is really done to taste. Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add 2.5 to three boxes of powdered sugar until you get desire consistency. Thin with milk as necessary or add more powdered sugar. Add food coloring to get to desired shade of pink. Add extract to desired flavor. Frost frozen cakes. Once frosted, allow frozen cake to that to room temperate for a few hours.

Carrot Ginger Soup

One thing I love about autumn, is the cool brisk night time air. With that oncoming winter chill, I love making soups for dinner. Nothing beats a nice bowl full of warm comfort food after a long day of work at the office and working out at the gym. Each autumn, Holly & I also host a big open house. I make a spread of soups, chowder, stews & chili to share with all our friends. I took a few carrot-ginger soup recipes and came up with something of my own that had more spice, and tasted less dessert like.



Dan's Creamy Carrot-Ginger Soup

1 large onion, peeled & rough chopped
Grated zest of 1 large orange
5 pounds carrots, rough chopped, cut into 1-inch pieces, no need to peel
1 qt vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 tsp Tabasco, or to taste
1 tsp smoked spanish paprika, or to taste
2 TBS soy sauce, or to taste
Cayenne to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
Dried thyme to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 C half & half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place carrots and onion on cookie sheet. Liberally cover with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until charred. Once cooked, scrape vegetables into a soup / stock pot. Cover with stock, add bay leaves and ginger wedge and cook for 30 more minutes. Discard bay leaves & ginger. Use a hand-held immersion blender to purée the soup right in the pot. Taste the soup, then season with the Tabasco, orange zest, soy sauce and the spices to your liking. Add half & half (or cream). Continue to adjust spices to your liking. Serve the soup hot.

It's a Boy!

Did we ever mention it's a boy? I don't think we did, but my "pregnant" brain isn't working very well these days.

We found out it was a boy right after we got back from Greece during our 20 week ultrasound. He was totally NOT shy and the tech said she was so happy we wanted to know because she wasn't sure how she would hide it from us :) Everything they look for was healthy and normal which gave us a huge relief, as did actually seeing his little hands and feet...so cute!

I just had my 24 week visit to the Dr. and took the glucose test. Basically I had to fast for 2 hours, then drink a huge sugary drink and have my blood drawn an hour after that to check to see if there is any risk of getting gestational diabetes. Side affects of the drink are nausea and vomiting, luckily I didn't have that, however it did give me a huge headache. On top of not feeling great, not having eaten for 3 hours, I really suck at giving blood. I told the tech this and he was encouraging and said he'd be quick...I guess he wasn't quick enough because next thing I knew there were 5 nurses around me helping me to the ground and putting my feet up on a stool. I honestly can't believe I fainted, I was so humiliated. Oh well, let's hope giving birth goes better than giving blood :)

Thankfully I don't have to do that test again, I passed and was told all looked good. I had to have other things checked while I was there for new health insurance rules and they discovered I was a bit anemic which I guess is normal during pregnancy as well...so I guess I need to eat more red meat and take an iron supplement.

We have also been trying to get ready for our new arrival, looking for big things like a crib, stroller and car seat. We aren't really going all out for a nursery, but did buy the print above which is guiding the way as far as colors go.

I'm getting so excited but am still so very nervous to be a mom. I can't wait for Dan and I to meet this little guy!

Tori Amos: Night of Hunters

I'm thoroughly enjoying my lastest Tori Amos CD purchase. I can admit it, I've been a Tori Amos fan for DECADES. She is probably my all time favorite recording artist. I like here eclectic style, her eccentric behaviors, and her modern and traditional spin on piano. I find her piano music mesmerizing.

Sure, I listen to a lot of "skanky teeny-bopper" music, mainly when I'm working out to keep my heart rate up, and my pace up running. But when I'm in the mood to relax and enjoy good quality music, I always go for my Tori Amos, or Sarah McLachlan, or Annie Lenox type of "better quality" music.

This new album is more instrumental and traditional, like her earlier albums. She draws on themes from Satie, Granados & Chopin weaving in some Irish mythical past. I love her all acoustic tracks and am very much looking forward to seeing her in concert again in December.

NAXOS

The last leg of our trip. I have to admit, I was really happy to be leaving Athens and headed to see the islands. We got up really early and took a cab (luckily cabs were no longer on strike) to the port to catch our ferry. They have 2 kinds of ferries, the slow boat and the high speed boats, we opted for the slow boat because they were more reliable and would be a bit less bumpy of a ride. The ride wasn't totally smooth, you could barely walk in a straight line which wasn't good going up or down stairs since people were camped out everywhere. I think I managed to step on a European teenager.





The ride was 5 hours long, but I think it was worth it. I enjoyed seeing some of the interesting land masses and the view of the water. On deck it was so windy you could barely stand and not get blown over, plus the water was spraying up all over the place. I felt bad for the people sitting out there.

We arrived in Naxos and for the first time in Greece my breath was truly taken away. This is what I imagined Greece would look like, white buildings built into the side of a hill. Plus right on the edge you could see the ancient ruin of Apollo's gate, so beautiful.





We were picked up by our hotel which ended up being a bit farther outside of town than we thought. But honestly, it was so lovely and the people that own the place were so kind and generous I would stay there again in a heartbeat. It was really a series of 9 villas and one main gathering area where we ate breakfast. Each had their own pool, and kitchens. They gave us an orientation of the island and offered to make us lunch and dinner that night.

Main area:




Our villa:









Around the area:






Our first day we spent hanging around the pool, napping, reading and soaking up the atmosphere. As I mentioned we were provided lunch and dinner from the woman what owns the place who is an excellent cook. We had braised beef with tomato sauce and orzo pasta which sounds so simple, but I've never had something so flavorful! The next morning breakfast did not disappoint! We were welcomed with homemade pastries, quiches, nut bread, homemade jams all of which were delightful.






We decided we should rent a car to go visit some of the small villages, and explore beaches. We took off and went to find an old Byzantine church. The road to get there was crazy, dirt and full of boulders not to mention super narrow!







There were tons of snails tucked between all the bricks.



On our way to the village of Halki we stopped at a pottery store. They had creepy animals and some adorable ceramic baby shoes :)





Halki was a very quaint village. They had great pottery and textile stores plus it was just beautiful, with a main square that had huge clusters of grapes hanging from a trellis.












After Halki we drove around a bit more. What I found amazing were the small white churches that topped each hill peak. We also saw the marble quarry, one of the main export items Naxos is known for and a cemetery demonstrating the use of marble.







After our drive in the morning, we headed to the beach to relax and find lunch. No pictures, I was honestly kind of done with the beach at this point :) We went back to the villa to relax and get changed before dinner.



That night we went into town to find dinner. Our hosts recommended we go to a small place in town. This was our first venture into town and I LOVED it! This was our view from the place we parked, just stunning!






We learned that the village was built with a labyrinth of streets to deter the pirates. Pirates would come, locals knew their way to the fortress and could escape while the pirates got lost in the maze. It really was quite a maze with something interesting to see around every corner.






Dinner was one of the better meals of the trip. I had amazing fennel pork with potatoes and Dan had a seafood risotto.

The next morning we headed back out to explore more villages. We passed some old windmills, saw Dimitra's Temple which is a mini Parthenon made of marble.







Naxos is one of the more mountainous islands, giving us amazing views from the top.






We ended up in the village of Apiranthos where we actually saw a man riding a donkey! The village was very cute. We rushed a bit through the town, but it was worth the brief visit.












We happened upon some kids playing soccer in front of the church, the interior of which was quite elaborate.




We headed back to our place and hung out by the pool for a while. That night we headed over to see Apollo's gate and take in another sunset.






The next day was our last in Naxos. We decided we'd have a leisurely morning packing and enjoying breakfast, check out of our villa and then head over to town to see things during the day.


















We enjoyed some local ice cream and people watching and Dan and I found our souvenir for the trip. It was a ceramic pomegranate, which was created by a Thessaloniki artist. Pomegranates are a symbol of good luck in Greece, many homes decorate with it and it is used in a few rituals like the ground breaking for a new home. We wanted the big apple too, but didn't think we'd be able to get it home!






We flew out on a teeny tiny propeller plane to get back to Athens, spent the night right by the airport and left bright and early the next day. It was such a wonderful trip, very relaxing and so beautiful.