First Christmas

Barrett's first Christmas. December 25, 2009. Stop. Pause. Blink. Poof. And then it's all but a memory. This year, I was more excited than ever and as it goes with time's cruel joke, the season whizzed by faster than ever.

Truth be told, I felt a little lost this season. While I was excited, I felt a little like a wobbly fawn figuring out my legs for the first time. This was my first Christmas as a mom. But Barrett wasn't quizzing me about Santa, tearing through gifts and writing wish lists for Xbox and bikes. He was just a baby! Why was this a surprise to me? I'm not sure. I sort of imagined him running down the stairs saying "Santa's been here!" Plus, we went over to my mom's house and camped out there for a few days, so it was just like Christmas when I was a kid, only I had a kid. I don't know why, but I was just not sure of how to navigate that. Luckily, Barrett was a lot more like a doll than a Christmas-crazed-kid. He looked, he awed, he smiled, he ate, he wet his diaper and then went to bed.

We introduced Barrett to the Christmas Eve tradition of going to the Walnut Room at Marshall Fields, er Macy's, on State Street. This is a tradition I plan to keep each year. It was magical, even with a 5:45 a.m. wake-up call. Of course, followed-up by a Christmas Eve church service. He loved the lights and songs. And, I was brought to tears during the service while smelling my Bear's sweet head, thanking God for two gifts this year, his son and mine.

It is heart warming to see my family and John's family around him. Barrett is so loved, so cherished. And, he completely has me hook-line-and sinker. I guess that's what Christmas is all about, so I suppose I wasn't as lost as I thought.

Fleece Blankets....great gifts!

My big Christmas present this year to everyone was a fleece blanket. But not just any fleece blanket. These babies were made by yours truely AND I picked out the color and pattern and customized them for each person.

I discovered there's this way to make a fleece blanket without sewing. WITHOUT SEWING!! And I became obsessed. Did you know about this? Why didn't you tell me about it? When I got the fabric from the fabric store, I told the woman about this amazing invention and she laughed at me and said people have been doing this for years. Years! Where have I been!?!?!?

I loved the idea of people being cozy with a blanket and feeling like they are getting a big, warm hug from me. Everyone seemed to love theirs, now I just need to figure out how to make one for myself! Here's how, if you want to do it yourself. It's an excellent present if you're watching your budget (get the fleece on sale!), also great for baby showers--there is a ton of adorable baby fleece out there!

Fleece Blanket Recipe

Ingredients

2 yards of fleece** (color/style of your choice, I usually go for a print on one, but the world is your oyster my friend)

2 yards of fleece** (color/solid of your choice)

Directions

Wash and dry fleece, use extra fabric softener for love

Lay both pieces of fleece on top of each other

Make sure they line up, trim excess

Cut a 4 inch square in each corner

Cut slits around the entire blanket

Tie the two pieces together

Give to favorite person....and enjoy!

** 1.5 yards for baby blankets

Merry....Mushroom Risotto!

This year I learned a new way to say Merry Christmas: Mushroom Risotto. Warning, your taste buds may explode with savory, deliciousness. John and I volunteered to bring risotto to Christmas dinner at his sister's house and I decided that if you can't go big, go home. So, I spent about a week researching mushroom risotto recipes (excellent resources like mushroominfo.com, and the Food Network, and "the Best Recipe Book Ever." I landed on Tyler Florence's mushroom risotto. Here's what I like about it, it includes fresh mushrooms, dried and truffle oil. Now when I worked on the Mushroom Council team at Edelman I learned a ton about mushrooms and I am very partial to fresh mushrooms. Turns out that they were much tastier than the dried ones in the risotto, but I was glad I tried.

This recipe is to DIE for. It requires love, patience, time, chopping, measuring, LOTS of stirring, and a little white wine (for you and the risotto). But let me tell you, GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO COOK!!!!! In all honesty, this took me close to 3 hours, but I would and will do it again. It got rave reviews and made me feel like I cooked a pot of love for the family.

Go forth and cook my friends. You can do it!

p.s. BIG thanks to John who was my sous chef. He stood. He stirred. He sipped (well the wine) with me for the entire 3 hours. John, my cup runneth over.

Christmas Wish

I received a Christmas card from someone and it was really touching. Take a look through and see if you can do anything on this list! Have a blessed Christmas.

This Christmas, mend a quarrel
Seek out a forgotten friend
Write a love letter
Share some treasure
Give a soft answer
Encourage youth
Keep a promise
Find the time
Forgive an enemy
Listen
Apologize if you were wrong
Think first of someone else
Be kind and gentle
Laugh a little
Laugh a little more
Express your gratitude
Gladden the heart of a child
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth
Speak your love
Speak it again
Speak it still once again

Christmas Magic on a budget (and cookies!)

This holiday season, I've made it my personal goal to make things magical and special, without spending money. One of my favorite traditions is our weeknight movie dates. John and I have been watching Blockbuster movies (mostly Harry Potter!) on school nights. With the glow of the Christmas tree and a little crackling fire, it makes an ordinary night feel celebratory. And, it's virtually free (if you watch movies you already own). It's making me realize that I want to be better about making life more fun all year, not just at Christmas. I must say my house comes alive at Christmastime. Somehow, I seem to know how to decorate and do fun things.

I've also have discovered an AWESOME inexpensive, special, magical, warm, present that I'm giving to my family this year. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but here's a hint: it's easy to make, customizable, personable, fun, cozy. Oh. It is just awesome. I'll share more after Christmas.

So, I went to a holiday party and I brought the Chicago Tribune's 2009 Holiday Cookie Contest Winner: "Grandma's Walnut Horns." I'm known for my lemon bars. Oh, yum, my mouth puckers just when I write that. But Lemon Bars arn't a crowd pleaser. These little Walnut Horns were pretty good! They take a while (make the dough overnight!), and are not too sweet. But they're bite-sized, pretty, and no one could say they don't like them -- I think that's how they won. Anyways, I probably won't make them again, but they were pretty good for the party.

Sauteed Chicken with Parmesan Cheese

I give this two forks up. While very simple, this was the easiest, most affordable, and fastest recipe we've tried yet. John loved it and I actually did too. It comes from my very first cook book "Williams-Sonoma Simple Classics Cookbook" from Aunt Joan in 2003 for our wedding, or shower. I dumbed-down the recipe a bit, and it worked great. Here's my version:

4 chicken breast (6 oz bonless breasts--I used frozen ckn from Costco)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp capers, drained (optional)

Rinse and pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. Put wax paper or tin foil over the chicken and flatten with a rolling pin. Combine the parmesan and flour on a plate with a little salt and pepper, coat the chicken and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a saute pan. Add the coated chicken (only 2 would fit at a time for me, but if you can do 4, more power do ya). Saute turning only once, about 5 minutes on each side. Poke the middle of the chicken and make sure the juices run clear and it doesn't look pink. And, you're DONE! Top with capers and Voilla, you have a golden, crisp, hot, dinner.

Side Dish: We did green beans and Yukon Gold Potatoes (any potatoes will do). Cut them in wedges, top with Lipton's French Onion Dip and some olive oil and bake in a pan for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Herb Butter,Goat Cheese and Tomato Pasta

Yessss, de-lish. Thank you again, Rachy-Ray. I feel as though I need a nick-name for her, while I use her recipes. This week I picked a recipe with my taste in mind. Butter, check. Goat cheese, check., check. pasta, tomatoes, check. Next week, I'll do one John likes again. Although, John really liked this one even though it had "no meat." Men!

So this was pretty easy, I only used two pots and it tasted really fresh. My only complaint was the tomatoes. They weren't in season and you could tell. Maybe I'd leave them out next time or try canned diced tomatoes. I also skipped the dill, since I hate dill like the kid in third grade who picked his buggers and ate them. Yup, green and gross. But John thought it would have maybe sweetened it if we had dill? I also used rotinni pasta instead of linguine. I liked that a lot! Easier to fork and shovel.

Here's the recipe, "Herb Butter and Goat Cheese Linguine with Fresh Tomatoes"