Tag Archives: christmas

Hello, faithful readers!  How’s everyone’s Christmas shopping going?  I still have quite a bit left to do and not a whole lot of time to do it!  If you’re like me, I’m always looking for new easy and inexpensive ideas.  If holiday shopping and DIY gift-making is your plan this week, I’ve got a special treat for you today!

I’m sure many of you remember the DIY Beard Hat Pattern I shared earlier this year.  I made this beard hat for Daniel as a Christmas gift last year.  He loved it so much, I wanted to share it with all of you, since I know I had a hard time finding the perfect pattern.  I had no idea so many of you would love it too!

Knitting a beard hat for someone is a great DIY Christmas gift on its own, but if you know someone that wants to learn to knit, there’s an even better way to present this gift.  A knitting kit!

I had a very sweet and talented reader contact me with this great idea.  She’s a graphic designer from Spain, and she created a wonderful printed tutorial based on my beard hat pattern.  She originally created it for her sister-in-law to include in a knitting kit for her, but she generously wants to share it with all of you as well!

You can download the Beard Hat Pattern tutorial here, and then simply print out the guide on standard letter sized paper.  You’ll notice there are small black lines on each corner.  Those are just guide lines for cutting each side, as the graphic is smaller than the paper.

She also included this handy guide on how to fold the printed tutorial.

Here’s how I followed the guide:

1. With the blank side of the paper facing up, and the Knit Beard Pattern cover closest to me.  Fold the cover side up.  You will now have steps 7-16 facing up and upside down.  This is Step 2 on the graphic.
2. Fold over the right side of the tutorial, you will now have steps 3-6 facing up (upside down).  This is Step 3 on the graphic.  This is just to create a crease, so then you will unfold the right side of the tutorial.
3. I then flipped the tutorial over, so steps 1-6 were facing up.  Then following Step 4 on the graphic, I folded both the left side and right side of the tutorial to the crease I just made.  You will now see the Knit Beard Pattern cover and steps 7-10 facing up.
4. I then folded the right side of the tutorial back (steps 7-10).  You should now be left with a little accordion booklet, with the cover facing up at you.  You can flip through to make sure all the steps are in order.

Here’s the finished Beard Hat Pattern printed tutorial!  Super cute, right?

This is such a great idea to include with a knitting kit, and a really easy, fast and inexpensive DIY Christmas gift!

If you’re not sure what to include in a knitting kit, you could always buy a pre-made kit.  This is actually the one I got as a kid, and how I taught myself to knit.  I still use a lot of the tools that came with it!

Here are a few more options for those that like to comparative shop:  Red Heart Knitting Made Easy Kit and the Learn Knitting! Kit.

I want to say a BIG thank you to Laia for her awesome idea for a printed tutorial and knitting kit.  And especially for being so kind and sharing her wonderful tutorial.  Be sure to head over to her website and check out more of her work!

Hey guys, so today I’m going to share an outrageously delicious Spicy Cashew Brittle recipe.  I made this for Daniel for Valentine’s Day, and he said it was the best brittle he’s ever had!  Not only is it delicious, but it’s also ridiculously easy to make!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup cashews, chopped
• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The original recipe called for a 1/2 tsp of rum extract and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla.  I couldn’t find rum extract anywhere, so I just upped the vanilla.  I also upped the cayenne because Daniel loves spicy food, but the brittle is still easy to eat for someone that can’t handle a lot of spicy (aka, me).  And my last deviation was using all cashews (original used 1/2 cup of pecans), because they are Daniel’s favorite!

Here’s what you do:

1. Butter a cookie sheet and set aside.  I also highly suggest setting up all your ingredients, as each step happens pretty fast and you’ll need to move quickly.
2. Lightly grease a 2-qt. microwave safe bowl, and combine sugar and corn syrup.  Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes, then stir.  Microwave an additional 2 1/2 minutes.  Stir in cashews, butter, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and nutmeg.
3. Microwave uncovered for 2 minutes, or until mixtures turns a light amber color (caution:  this will be extremely hot, so please be careful!).  Quickly stir in baking soda and extract until light and foamy.  Immediately pour mixture onto prepared pan, and evenly spread with a greased metal spatula.  Cool completely.

   

4. Once cooled, break into pieces and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container.

I’ve never been a huge fan of brittle, but I seriously can’t get enough of this one!  I thought it worked particularly well as a Valentine’s Day gift, because of the spice and heat.  It would also make a great Christmas treat as well – the cinnamon and nutmeg definitely give this brittle a holiday flavor!

After visiting Peacock Lane in Portland, we found another fun Christmas lights attraction… Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo!

We had been to the Zoo Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago a few years back.   It was so magical to see, and a great opportunity to see nocturnal animals awake and active!  I was super excited to learn we had another opportunity to see Zoo Lights, and in our own city no less!

As with Peacock Lane, we went to see the Zoo Lights after Christmas, so despite going on a Sunday it was fairly easy to find parking.

If you plan to go in 2014 and it’s before the holiday has passed, public transportation may be your best friend in getting there.  I’d imagine the parking lot would be somewhat of a nightmare.  You also get a discount on your tickets if you take the MAX!

It was still pretty crowded inside for us though, so it was a little hard to get decent pictures.  Here are a few that I managed to get!

While it was nowhere near as cold as it was in Chicago during the winter, we still found it to be uncomfortably chilly.  I would highly recommend bundling up when you go!

Luckily, anywhere you turn there is hot chocolate and other hot beverages being sold throughout the zoo.  Unluckily, there are impossibly long lines at each and every one of them!  I think next time we’ll bring a couple of thermoses with us and avoid the crowds!

Even though we went after Christmas, the zoo itself was very congested, which we were a little surprised at.  I can only imagine if you go before Christmas that it would be a lot worse.  I’d personally try to go during the week, since I’m sure the weekends are crazy.  Despite the crowds, we still had a great time seeing all the beautiful lights – here are a few more pictures!

Other than traditional Christmas lights, they also had an impressive array of displays that incorporated movement (not that you can tell from pictures).

This African river scene was particularly impressive, as just about everything moved.

There were also a lot of displays with classic movie characters as well!

My absolute favorite place at the zoo was The Kaleidoscope, which was basically a big tunnel of lights.  Check it out!

It was pretty congested at the entrance of the tunnel, because obviously it’s a great photo opportunity.  I don’t think people realized how big it was though, because if you just walked a few steps through, there was way more room to take pictures.  I’d recommended squeezing through the crowds as quickly as you can, to get to the middle of the tunnel.  Then you can take your time and take as many photos as you want, without people constantly walking in your shot!

While the lights are the main attraction, another advantage of being at the zoo at night is seeing the nocturnal animals.  Two highlights for us were seeing the tigers up and about, and being able to spend time at the bat exhibit.

If you go during dinnertime, you can bring your own food in, but I would highly recommend eating at the Cascade Grill if you can.  The food is delicious and healthy, and they use a lot of local ingredients.  They also serve local beer and wine!

We had a great time at the Zoo Lights, and I can’t wait to go again!  I hope I’ve piqued your interest as well, but even if you can’t make it during the holiday season, the Oregon Zoo is a wonderful place to visit.  So if you’re planning a trip or in the area, definitely add it to your activity list while staying in Portland!

Since moving to Portland 6 months ago, Daniel and I have been having fun eating and seeing what the city has to offer.  Thanks to Instagram and Portland hashtags, I discovered a street called Peacock Lane during this past holiday season.

Located in Southeast between Stark and Belmont, this cute little street is transformed during Christmas time with a spectacle of lights.  Since the 1920s, every house is decorated from mid-December through New Year’s Eve.  I was really excited when I learned about Peacock Lane, because I never got to visit Candy Cane Lane when I lived in Los Angeles, which is very similar (but on a much bigger scale).

Here are some of my favorite houses and decorations from 2013!

I loved seeing how creative some people got and their use of beloved Christmas characters.  Can you spot them all?

These last few displays were my favorite… I guess you can say I’m a little nerdy!

Don’t blink!  The lights were off at this house, so it was hard to get a good picture, but I can’t resist sharing this Doctor Who display!

The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas movies, so I was pretty happy when I saw this!

Daniel and I tried going before Christmas, but the crowds and traffic were pretty nuts!  We did go on a Sunday at around 6pm, so that may have had something to do with it.  We ended up leaving because we weren’t really in the mood to deal with crowds.  We returned after Christmas and practically had the whole street to ourselves!  If you want to go before Christmas, which is understandable, I would suggest trying to go during the week and later at night (when all the kiddos are asleep).

While the homes of Peacock Lane have taken down their lights for this season, be sure to add it to your Christmas to do list for next year!

Before Christmas, I shared with you all a few recipes I intended to make for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  As promised, I now want to share how they all turned out!

You may remember that the main event was a Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna from Martha Stewart.  After reading the reviews, I omitted quite a few things and added others.  I also made mine a lot bigger since the original only made 4 servings.  Not nearly enough leftovers for the amount of work, I think!

Here’s what you need:

• 2 (10 oz.) packages of spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 16 oz. ricotta cheese
• 4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, diced
• Lasagna noodles
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 jars of tomato sauce
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 9 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 green bell pepper (optional)
• 3/4 red bell pepper (optional)
• 3/4 yellow bell pepper (optional)

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Over medium high heat, saute your onion and mushrooms in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.  Add your spices and saute another minute or so.  You don’t need to cook the veggies too long, since they will finish cooking in the oven.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, garlic, and cooled veggies.  Set aside.  Also in a medium bowl, thoroughly mix your diced prosciutto with your tomato sauce.  Set aside.  You can use any sauce you’d like, we combined a four cheese sauce and a basil marinara, both from Trader Joes.

In a 9×13 casserole dish, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Then place a layer of noodles on top.  I used no boil noodles because that’s all Trader Joes had, but either will do!  If you do use no boil noodles, I highly suggest soaking them in hot water for 5-10 minutes before working with them.  This will make them more pliable, and help to ensure they will cook all the way through.

Evenly crumble 1/3 of the spinach and ricotta mixture on top of your noodles, and then spread 1/4 of the remaining sauce.  Repeat noodles, mixture, sauce two more times.  Place one more layer of noodles on top, the last 1/4 of your sauce, and then top with shredded mozzarella.

Now, if you did see my previous Christmas recipe post or just went to my Pinterest board, you know I planned to create a Christmas tree topper for my lasagna.  That’s where those optional bell peppers come in!  You’ll want to slice the green peppers, dice and create a tree stump from the red pepper, and dice and create a star from the yellow pepper.  I thought it was pretty awesome looking, what do you think?

With or without the topper, bake uncovered until brown, about 35-40 minutes.  Then let stand 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!  My recipe will make about 12 servings, and Daniel said it was the best lasagna he’s ever eaten!

Here are a few pictures of our tasty lasagna and our Christmas Eve!

We served our lasagna with garlic bread and salad, and plenty of wine, of course!

For dessert, as I suspected, we were too tired to make this peppermint bark cheesecake.  So sadly I can’t tell you if it was delicious or a fail, BUT I can tell you that the frozen cheesecake sampler from Trader Joes is worth a try!  It comes with 2 slices of 3 different kinds of cheesecake, and all you have to do is thaw it for an hour on the counter.  A great find if you want something easy!

We did make breakfast and mimosas for Christmas morning though!  We made cranberry mimosas, and they were pretty tasty, although the orange juice really overpowered the cranberry.  I think next time we make them I’ll fill the glass with mostly cranberry juice and add just a splash of orange.

We had a few unused glasses already rimmed with green sugar from our holiday party, and Daniel had the brilliant idea to use them that morning.  I LOVE how festive they look!

We also made baked french toast and baked bacon!

I followed this french toast recipe exactly, and it turned out beautifully!  The top is the perfect french toast consistency, and the bottom has a delicious buttery brown sugar sauce – it didn’t even need syrup!  This was the first time I had ever baked bacon in the oven, while I wouldn’t say it made the clean up any quicker, it did produce an entire pan of perfectly crisp bacon.  So I definitely think I will be cooking it in the oven from now on!

Well, it’s always a little sad to see Christmas come and go.  It was a very relaxing and quiet Christmas with my best friend and love, and all around favorite person in the world.  It will be a Christmas that I will cherish forever!