Little bites of blogs...

Here's a couple of lovely blogs that have captured my imagination lately. I'm trying to bake and make as many of our Christmas gifts as possible, fun food gifts and little sewing things. These have kept the ideas flowing. Don't be put off if these seem particularly girly or homemade, the style and design is part of the fun.

Sidewalk Shoes is a kindred spirit... great blog with books, recipes and sewing pattern reviews.

Posie Gets Cozy is filled with make your own ideas, kid crafts and inspiration for dragging the sewing machine out of retirement.

Sew Mama Sew is wonderful too, lots of gift ideas and places to shop if you'd rather buy.

Bella Dia has fun softie ideas and a great list of free gift tags from last year. Check her archives.

Mmmmm Mint Chips, Gearing up for Holiday Baking

Here's the first round our annual holiday baking. We don't do Thanksgiving, instead we're usually traveling on turkey day. The downside is no leftover stuffing, but the upside cheap airfare, early skiing, and we are so excited for the big family Christmas meal. I always take LOTS and LOTS of cookies to Colorado to munch on apres-ski. The baking season, like ski season has officially begun. To kick off the whole shbang Mint Chocolate Cookies. Our fabulous b-sitter brought over some really delish mint chips from a gourmet shop in the area. Much like these I found online. I made Martha's Outrageous Chocolate Cookies, an easy choc cookie recipe with a nice soft center and instead of adding the last round of choc chunks, added the lovely green chips. They looked beautiful and fun, with green peeking out from the choc cookie. The flavors blend really well.

I also made one FUGLY cake yesterday. It was your standard two layer chocolate cake, with chocolate butter cream icing. Simple. I've don't it a million times. I have a new cake stand I wanted to use. But when I went to frost the cake, the sides kept falling apart, crumbling like a celebrity power marriage. I couldn't figure out why. I waited. Made another batch of icing and just schlacked the heck out of it. Everybody ate it, but I could barely look at it. Well, you win some... you crumble some.

Spicy/Recipe Card Combo...

Boy, do I have an election hangover and I don't even drink. I'm thrilled about Obama's victory and still bruised and stinging from Prop 8's win.

Anyway, I'm sure you're gearing up for the holidays, getting ready for all the massive meals that are on the horizon. I wanted to share some beautifully designed recipe cards that many small online boutiques offer on their sites. No Biting Wolfie posted these very cool, very fluid cards on her site last July. Here's another set from See Jane Scrapbook, with light pastels and floral flourishes. And here's a more Fall-ish, modern set from one of my new favorites, Creature Comforts. Instead of dragging a bottle of mediocre wine to the next party you hit, take a spice jar, looped with a tiny ribbon and a recipe card for your Great Aunt Myrtle's hard sauce.

Sure, sure...

This is from today's Cake Wrecks... Amazing find.

I've voted. And I managed not to cry, although I had to take a moment before I turned away from the booth to pull myself together. And I've gotten my free coffee at Starbucks. They had to revise their policy about free coffee for voters, because no good deed goes unpunished. I heard they would be giving coffee away but in honor of election day, not voting... although the barista asked me if I voted before she bestowed me my cup of decaf.

Last election eve we had the worst party EVER. Kerry was ahead in the polls and we thought for sure it would be a bumpy but victorious night. Well, we all know how that went. The food was great. G made mashed potatoes. We had lots and lots of homemade mac and cheese courtesy of my mom and dozens of brownies. But of course the mood just wen sour as the minutes passed and there was no recovering.

Tonight we're indulging in a grill cheese night with our friend's panini press and I'm making a roasted pumpkin filled with bread and gruyere. I spent way too much money on cheese and great bread. I'm going to saute mushrooms and kale, so we can build our own sandwich. And I'm making a couple of pies, apple and pumpkin.

Only a handful of our friends are coming, those folks too nervous to stay home or are party hopping. They are the folks who won't take it personally if I get overwhelmed and have to go to bed. Our checker at TJ's said she and her room mate were ordering pizza and cracking open a great bottle of wine they've been saving. How are you spending the evening?