...Dinner and a Christmas Party...

...the Church Sunday School Christmas Party was last night...so we didn't watch a movie...but we still had a lot of fun...

...I gathered some ingredients to make the cake mix red velvet Christmas cookies again...this time I'm going to add some peppermint...

...I just pounded the candy canes (these are the soft ones)...in the bag they came in...

...mixed up the batter...and rolled the balls in the crushed candy cane first...

...and then in the powdered sugar...

...and baked...they smelled so good...I'm not sure they're quite as pretty as the ones without the candy...but they were delicious...well the Man doesn't like mint and chocolate so he didn't really like these either...but Scout and I did...

...it started snowing up in the afternoon...almost unheard of here before Christmas...

...and then because I knew that there would be pigs in a blanket at the party...I made some vegan ones...and a few crescent rolls with the leftover dough...I just whipped up a quick dough because I didn't have the canned variety on hand...

...about 40 people came...a light turnout...probably because of the weather...

...but there was still plenty of vegan food...and some people went to a lot of trouble to make sure there was vegan food...the polenta fries and marinara and the roasted cauliflower with nooch dip were delicious...and of course there were veggie trays and chips galore...

...everyone enjoyed their meal...

...and then we did one of those Crazy Santa Christmas gift exchanges where you draw a number and then everyone steals everyone else's gift...lots of fun and laughter...

...has your Christmas Party Season started?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...Friday Favorites...

...Cuties are once again available at our local grocery store...so we've stocked up...and I'm trying to limit myself to three or four a day...

...all of the nuts are out as well...for holiday baking...but I'll stock up on some brazil nuts...because they are difficult to find any other time of the year...

...what special foods are you enjoying this Christmas season...

~Have a lovely day!

...W.I.A.Y. ...

First Breakfast was some oatmeal with chia and flax seeds and some baby Mission Figs...

Second Breakfast...a smoothie...

...lunch was just a tofu sandwich...

...with some more of those cute cucumbers...and also a pickle...

...snack...Rainier apple...goji berries...cacao nibs...and walnuts...so delicious...

...I whipped up a Julia Child-like potato salad that was the star of dinner...

...it's basically her dressing from the Salade Nicoise...with some tomatoes and olives...

...served with some bbq tofu and grilled mixed veg...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

...W.I.P. Wednesday...Christmas Cookies...

...or...this could be titled...Easiest EVER two ingredient Christmas Cookies...

...because all I did was take a box of Red Velvet Cake Mix...and add water...

...there's a recipe on the side of the box for Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies...and I thought they looked pretty...

...and Christmas-y...

...formed them into little balls...and dusted them in powdered sugar...

...placed on a parchment lined baking sheet...

...and the magic happens as they bake...

...they get all these pretty cracks and crevices...

...so pretty...so Christmas-y...

...and the texture is perfect...there's a crisp crunch and then a soft and chewy middle...

...we got about 16 cookies from one box of mix...

...so that was fun...and so...so easy...and it got me thinking that I could do this with basically any flavor of Cake Mix...

...are you making any special Christmas cookies?...

~Have a lovely day!

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...trying to work through the HUGE sauce section of MtAoFC...this one is just adding some vegan butter to a béchamel...

...and we had it with some steamed broccoli florets...and it was buttery (obvi)...and good...

...so hop over to The Vegan Version for all the details...

...and Have a lovely day!

...Over the weekend...

...Advent is upon us...and I couldn't be more pleased...It is...after all...the most wonderful time of the year...

...the luminaries came out...

...and I was trying to get a photo of the Nativity and the sign with the Singing Christmas Tree notes on it...but the light from the sign thwarted my plans...

...wreaths were hung...

...and huge Christmas trees were decorated...

...one on each side of the Sanctuary...

...all of the Chrismons came out of the closet...

...I love all of the beaded white and gold symbols...

...they are so pretty...

...and the cross stitched ones...

...are pretty too...

...I just love walking into the Sanctuary and smelling the balsam...and seeing all of the lights...

...Christmas cards were prepped...they didn't get into the mail box yet...I still have to buy stamps...but we're getting there...haha...

...final touches on the decorations around the house...

...and you really can (just barely) see the tree through the open front door...

...and this was the weekend when ALL the leaves fell...

...just a virtual shower of leaves all day long...

...there was a SuperMoon...so we all went outside to see that...

...and too many ripe bananas...

...means that we had fresh banana bread for breakfast...

...how was your weekend?

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...Dinner and a Movie...

...really nothing interesting to report at all...

...simple pizza and a salad on a TV tray...

...and the movie...was the last of the Durrells...I enjoyed that...and next week I'll be sure to let the Man have a turn...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...Friday Favorites...

...my salt collection...

...I've always said that I prefer salty things to sweet...

...so...it stands to reason that I'd have several different kinds of salt...

...left to right...the little Avon egg holds course Kosher salt...then a big grinder of Pink Himalayan Salt...and a shaker of the same...already ground...fresh black pepper and salt grinders for the table...Mommaw's Tulip Jar full of regular iodized salt...and in front are the salt and pepper shakers for the table...

...how many kinds of salt do you have?...

~Have a lovely day!