Merry Christmas to All

             
                                                                                                                          image here

Nutscene Garden Twine

My mom gave
me this great garden twine.
She's  given me larger spools 
(in a handy can) which I've used in and around the garden throughout the season. There was something about this colorful row of tiddlers I could not share with my tomatoes.
Today, I made a great hand scrub and wrapped it up tight.
Love.

twine here.

Under the tree

Fun festive 

gift wrapping ideas

 and inspiration.

All images from  pinterest .

Cookie Day

I'm gearing up for our annual Cookie Day. 

 My mom, my sister, georgia and myself 

get together for two days  of

 pure baking

 flying flour

rolling dough and 

 slinging cookies.

We share dozens of cookies that we have each made at home, 

and bake strictly sugar cookies together. 

Christine and I do most of the rolling and cutting.

Georgia is queen of decorating the cookies. 

Mom is happy we are under her roof.

We fill dozens of tins, 

drink lots of coffee and laugh a lot.

 It's a sweet tradition.

Checking my pantry for this staple, 

my favorite vanilla extract.

Find it at food shops or williams-sonoma

sparkling cookies from the Purl Bee

Sparkling Coin Cookies

(adapted from the Icebox Butter Cookies in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

Makes approximately 5 dozen

Ingredients:

2 Sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sanding sugar of each color for rolling

You will also need:

Parchment paper

Electric mixer

To make cookies:

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and almond extract and mix to combine.  Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.

Divide dough into quarters and roll each piece into a log approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap each log in parchment and refrigerate until firm.  If freezing, wrap well in plastic and parchment.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment.  Let dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to slice, but firm enough that it won't lose it's round shape when cutting.  Roll logs in sanding sugar until they are thoroughly coated and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.  Place the rounds approximately 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden on edges and bottoms.  Remove and place on cooling racks.

We used Martha Stewart's Icebox Butter Cookie recipe and substituted almond extract for the vanilla extract.  We like that you can make this dough ahead and keep it in the freezer for up to three weeks before baking it.

 the purl bee features a holiday cookie every year, 
take a minute and check their archives for past deliciousness.

Psst! check out these giveaway goodies

 

Seriously folksies, THIS is a great giveaway. 

Discover Paper has put together a ginormous holiday gift guide

 and outta sight giveaway.

My favs-

 the Retro calendar, 

 the Uppercase subscription and 

 coolie watercolor postcards.

Check it out for yourself at 

discover paper's holiday guide, 

and while your there peruse the blog, 

chock- full of great ideas and inspiration.  

                     YAY!