A Christmas Tradition {ornaments}

 Every year my husband's family all go to Valley View Farms and everyone picks out a Christmas ornament and then we go out to eat for a family dinner.  It is one of our favorite traditions during the Christmas season and it makes decorating our tree each year a lot of fun because our ornaments bring back memories of Christmases past.

 This year we didn't travel back to Maryland for Christmas but didn't want to miss out on the ornament fun so we took the kids to a local store with lots of ornaments to select from {and steered Q away from the $60+ ornaments...}.

 One of Q's favorite things are fish. Especially "nemo fish" so it was no surprise when he picked out a clown fish as his ornament for this year.

 It took him an excessively long time to find an appropriate place on the tree to hang his ornament but he finally decided on a spot in the front and center.

Valentine's Cookies

Last night, hubby and I went out for a sushi date at our favorite local sushi spot in Monterey, Crystal Fish. I commented that I don't think I'll ever eat sushi without thinking of our favorite Hawaiian sushi spot, Sansei, which was were I first learned to like raw fish and was a frequent hang out of ours where we have many fun memories of karaoke nights. It got us thinking about what other things are so quintessential that we will always think of them when doing certain things.

Our last date at Sansei before leaving Hawaii

One of those quintessential things for me are my mom's dainty tea cookies.

Growing up my mom always made "dainty tea cookies" with the cookie press for Valentine's Day. Now I can't think about Valentine's Day without thinking about these yummy little almond flavored cookies.

I thought I would whip up a batch to make little Valentine treats for some friends. And in case you're looking for a little Valentine inspiration, I'll post the simple recipe here!

Dainty Tea Cookies

1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp red food coloring

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add flavoring and coloring and mix thoroughly. Put through cookie press with heart insert onto cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 4-6 minutes.

*We also make these at Christmas time with the wreath insert in the cookie press and substitute green food coloring

Quick, easy, and delicious.  But watch out... they're addictive!

The Spirit of Christmas

I love Christmas!  Who doesn't? It truely is the most wonderful time of the year!

My husband and I were elated to be able to travel "home" to Maryland to spend Christmas with our families this year.  The past couple of years my family has come to us because we were either living over seas with limited time off of work or we had just delievered a baby. We are so grateful that my family came to us when we couldn't come "home" but it still didn't quite feel like Christmas when we weren't back in Maryland. So this year has been a real treat for us despite missing my little sister who is currently living abroad in Italy and couldn't make it home (though she did join us for Christmas eve dinner and Christmas morning via Skype).


Dad giving my sister a skype kiss over Christmas Eve dinner

Q skyping with Zia (what he calls my sister) Christmas morning

This Christmas has been especially fun because Q is old enough to enjoy it!  Last year, at a tender 3 weeks old we were lucky if he would wake up to peer at his presents.  This year, he still doesn't really "get it" but he definitely had fun checking out the ornaments on the tree and very slowly ripping miniscule pieces of wrapping paper from his abundance of gifts.

What I look forward to most about Christmas is spending time with family and sharing traditions like searching for ornaments at Valley View Farms with my husband's family and the anticipation of waiting to open presents until after my Aunt Dale's sausage casserole and my mom's baked pears on Christmas morning. This year Q got to pick out his own ornament at Valley View for the first time (he chose a miniature snow globe) and we made some new traditions like going to my brother-in-law and his wife's Christmas Eve party at their new home.

There is also something about coming "home" that makes me feel like a child again and children seem to enjoy Christmas the most. Most likely this phenomenon has something to do with my lack of responsibility at home since our parents are happy to take over taking care of Q and I don't have to cook, clean, etc- it's fantastic!

As wonderful as it is to see our family, participate in traditions, and enjoy the "magic" of Christmas by becoming a kid again, in my family we are always aware of the real gift of Christmas. The reason for all the merriment and joy this time of year comes from a gift that we can enjoy no matter where we are, no matter who we are with, and no matter what season it is.  That gift is God's love. 

This year I was touched by my father's Christmas list.  He asked for $5 Subway cards.  My dad works in the city and will sometimes have homeless people ask him for money to get something to eat.  He is hesitant to give them money since he has even smelled liquor on some of their breaths, but he does not want to turn away a hungry person, so he wants to be armed with something practical and loving that he can give them.  I am so proud to have a father who considers it a personal gift to himself to be prepared to show God's love in a tangible way to others.  Isn't this the true spirit of Christmas, recieving God's love and passing it on?

I have been privileged to grow up in a home were these sorts of acts are the norm, not the exception. I have grown up seeing my parents give and show love to others even when they didn't think we were watching. They live out the spirit of Christmas all year round. Now, as a parent myself, I'm asking myself, what will my children see in me and my husband? What little acts of love will they notice as they grow up? Will the spirit of Christmas live in our home and our family throughout the year? I hope it will. And I believe it will because of the legacy of my own parents who taught me to live in that way. And I hope and pray that the spirit of Christmas lives on in each of your homes too!

Fall is... pumpkins, football, chili

I love fall!  Even though here on the central coast of California we are having our belated summer right now (finally) there is something about the air that just feels like fall.  I remember walking out of my house last week heading to take our pups for a walk and fall hit me.  I can't put my finger on it because it was a warm sunny day, but fall was definitely in the air! So after our walk I came home and made my shopping list to cook up some delicious fall food. (see some of my favorite recipes later in the post!!!) Of those delicious fall foods pumpkin is a staple. I came home from the grocery store with 6 cans of pumpkin last week and hubby laughed, but I am now down to just 1 left! 

Since Halloween is approaching and since the weather has been so glorious, we took Q to the pumpkin patch, picked out this beauty and carved our first family pumpkin! How is it that we have been married over 5 years and yet to carve a pumpkin??? Oh right... we're a Navy family and for some reason our relocations typically leave us homeless during the fall/pumpkin carving season:-P

Our inspiration for our pumpkin design is another fall staple... football!  The background noise to our life on fall weekends is football on the TV. I am not one that likes always having the TV on but for some reason in the fall the sound of a game broadcast is almost as comforting as a big bowl of chili. Even better if I can eat the big bowl of chili while watching a good game! (see my favorite chili recipe later in this post!)

Since we are so fortunate to be from Maryland, home of the BEST NFL team in the country... we carved a Raven on our pumpkin. (I use the term "we" here very loosely... what I actually mean is my husband carved a raven on the pumpkin. He's pretty good with a knife don't ya think?)

If you need a little inspiration for fall cooking, look no further!  I've included my favorite chili recipe and a yummy (and easy) pumpkin mousse recipe passed on to me from a good friend.  Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili (adapted from Boston Uncommon cookbook)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 large onion
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cans black beans
4 cups chicken broth
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 can corn
1 cup cooked brown rice

Heat oil in a large pot. Add turkey, crumble and brown till cooked through. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add beans, broth, tomato paste, cumin, and red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, adding more broth if the chili gets to thick. Stir in the corn and rice and enjoy!

Anna's Pumpkin Mousse

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin-pie mix)
1 package vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling for 4 servings
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups heavy or whipping cream

In large bowl with wire whisk, mix pumpkin, pudding mix, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar until well blended. In another bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy or whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold 2/3 of the whipped cream into pumpkin mixture. Spoon pumpkin mixture into 8 10- ounce goblets or into a large serving bowl. Top with reserved 1/3 of the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pumpkin mixture tastes best if refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before serving.