Today is the first day of The 12 Days of Valentine’s Day! It’s a time when you do little things to show love for family, friends and yourself. Wear something red, set the table with pink place mats, put sprinkles on your kids' pancakes. Everything “counts” when you are celebrating the fact that you love a lot of people.
When someone notices, tell them about the 12 Days of Valentine’s Day and encourage them to find their own way of expressing love over the next 12 days. It's so fun. Today I am going to find something festive to hang in my front door. Tomorrow I will be mailing Valentines to a few old friends.
This is how I celebrate the beauty of every day life. Join me? I'd love to hear how you are celebrating.
*How did this come to be? In February 2008, I had all of my heart-shaped cake pans out on the kitchen counter. I had pink carnations in a vase in the kitchen and was plotting all kinds of baking fun for the week. When I brought up which night we should order heart-shaped pizza (because they only make it for the 3 days leading up to Valentines Day) Dan blurted out, "What is this, the 12 Days of Valentine's Day?" and I stopped in my tracks. What an awesome name for what I had always done: the joy of celebrating Valentines Day for 2 weeks. It's impossible to get all of the heart-shaped food and decorations into one day, so why not spread it out over 12 days and share the fun with everyone you love.
#12daysofvalentinesday #beautyofeverydaylife #finddelight #givetoothers #sharethelove #itssofun #winwin #makeyourhearthappy
Happy May Day!
In France, May 1st is a national holiday called La Fête du Travail (National Labor Day) as well as La Fête du Muguet (Lily of the Valley Day).
I was lucky to be in Paris on May Day one year and I loved seeing Parisians of all ages hustling through the city with bouquets of lily of the valley. It was quite funny to see how each of them managed with an extra item to juggle. Some businessmen tucked them horizontally in the same hand that was holding their briefcase. Young girls held them out in front of them as if they were walking down the aisle. And every so often, I'd see a young woman looking at the bouquet a little too often, as if she couldn't believe that someone gave them to her. Love is grand. Each individual made me question, Who is the bouquet for? Did they just receive it as a gift themselves?
This morning I was in a garden center here in America admiring all of the new plants for sale when I heard a Frenchwoman asking for lily of the valley. It was early in the morning and I hadn't realized that it was May 1st yet.
When I came back home to my computer the May Day proclamations were all over Facebook. So that's why she wanted Lily of the Valley today of all days! I so regret not realizing what she was doing. She was getting a lot of far flung information from the clerk about shipments and the planting season and what she really needed (in addition to some flowers to give) was someone to say Happy May Day to her!
Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet and I can't let it go. Each fall season for the past few years, I've made a small batch of homemade pickles. It's very easy and it helps me to acknowledge my Laura Ingalls Wilder-side.
This year, I was in Seattle living in a hotel with a kitchenette. No pickle making for me, or so it seemed. Then I was at the farmer's market, saw these beautiful pickle-size cucumbers and thought to myself, "Why exactly am I not making pickles this year?"
I decided that at small batch would make 4 jars. I bought what I thought would be enough cucumbers and the total cost of my bag of cucumbers was a whopping $1.00. I guess I needed .35 cents more worth of cucumbers, because I only came up with enough slices to make 3 jars, which in my case, is even better. How many pickles can one couple eat?
I stood in the vendor's booth at the farmer's market and went through a check list in my head. To make Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles, I would need Ball jars, vinegar, white sugar, pickling spice mix, salt, turmeric and cucumbers. Easy peasy.
Do you know what was the hardest part of this little endeavor? Finding Pickling Spice. I know! While there is a Canning Department in every store from Target, Supermarket and Hardware Store, I had a really hard time finding pickling spice here in Seattle. My husband mentioned this to a co-worker and she said that, Yes, it indeed does sell out around here. Fascinating.
Are the stores under buying? Has all the small batch and home canning articles finally reached a point where pickling has moved to main stream? I think it is a great evolution, though I wish I had known and could have included it in my Spice Stash.
You have a Spice Stash with you in Seattle? Oh yes. Ziploc baggies with a few tablespoons of my go-to spices. Dry Mustard, Dill, Cinnamon etc. Having just enough spices on hand makes cooking in the hotel so much easier.
My bunny bun is being coy. Look at this little sweetheart peeking at us over the plate. Last year I made these simple bunny-shaped rolls for a large family Easter in Florida (we were all on vacation together) and they were a hit!
I am showing you a photo a few days early in case you want to make some for your Easter party. Buy a bag of frozen roll dough (Look in the freezer section for a bag of individual balls of dough). Space the rolls on a cookie sheet with about 4 inches between each roll. Allow the rolls to defrost and rise. Shape the the dough to make it oval-shaped.
To make the ears, angle your scissors at a 45 degree angle. Hold the scissors over the bunny and aim the point of the scissors over the bunny's nose and the handle of the scissors along his back. Move the scissors back an inch and snip two ears into the dough. Pull the ears up and away to give them some definition.
To make the cotton tail, pull and twist quarter-size piece of dough in a low area on the back of the bunny. Bake according to the package directions.
Once they have cooled, you make the eyes by pressing two raisins deep into the face of the bunny. Enjoy!
Every year we have a small Family Tea with our mothers, aunts and their children. It brings the ladies together for a cup of tea and conversation and lets the cousins play together for a few hours. This is my year to host and while many of you are nibbling on the remains of the cookies tray, I am beginning to bake!
See my strand of Christmas lights? I bought this copper cookie cutter years ago and was so happy when I found silver sugar to replicate the metal base of the bulb! This season, I saw Christmas light bulb cookies touted as a great hostess gift in House Beautiful and Oprah magazine. Don't you love how they look?I hope you find a cookie on the cookie tray to "light up" your afternoon.
With only a few days until December 1st, I thought I would talk about advent calendars. Each morning you open a numbered flap on the advent calendar to reveal a Christmas image. There are so many sweet designs to choose from in retail stores, but I also want you to see a few unique examples at Blumchen, an online resource for Old World holiday papers and ornaments. This advent calendar is actually a house by Martha Stewart Crafts. Behind each numbered panel on the roof is a compartment for candy & prizes. It was easy to assemble and I absolutely love how it looks in my dining room. I've actually decided to count down to Christmas on another advent calendar in my kitchen...I just can't bring myself to alter this roof line!
