It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I spent last weekend immersed in activity. Saturday, LittleLinoleum and I drove to South Pasadena so that she could work her weekend shift at Abuelita's Knitting and Needlepoint. Needless to say, I don't generally have any knitting and crochet students this time of year due to crazy holiday schedules, but simply dropping Lena off at work, going home and returning to retrieve her is pretty much out of the question due to distance and traffic. So, I use my student-free waiting time at the store to work on knitting and crochet projects, while chatting it up with the customers and Samantha (store proprietor). It's a nice way to spend the day and I'd like to believe that LadyLinoleum Jr. will look back fondly upon our Saturdays together.

I spent Saturday evening behind the spinning wheel while in front of the tube watching Christmas flicks (Little Women and It's a Wonderful Life), gas log blazing, lights twinkling on the tree(s), the hubs and I making the most of our quiet evening at home.

Sunday morning was all about a bit of baking on the kitchen front and a little assembly on the fiber front. From the kitchen emerged popovers, of which I forgot to snap a photo, and from my living room based textile mill half of new diamond shawl woven from some of my crazy handspun took shape. Pictures to come of the shawl. It's a wild one to be sure, lots of metallics embedded in the yarn. I'm quite happy with the results!

Then it was back to the kitchen for another round of making eats. This time I tried my hand at homemade marshmallows!



I never fancied myself a concoctor of confections, but marshmallows were surprisingly easy with Alton Brown as my guide. (Love that guy!) In fact, making 'mallows is nothing more than creating a syrup, whipping the syrupy mixture up with some gelatin until the final product is thick and sticky, yet airy. It's pretty fast and relatively simple if I do say so myself.


Marshmallow sugary syrupy base.


Curing mallows in a pie pan.

The most difficult aspect of the recipe process is trying to get the 'mallow mix from the stand mixer bowl into its final resting place, the pan. Wow, sti-cky! I won the battle however, and the mallows look superb. Tonight, I plan to coat my masterful marshmallowy goodness with chocolate. Mmmmm!

The hubs and I rounded out our Sunday with friends at our annual outing to Merry Tuba Christmas! (LittleLinoleum is currently too cool to attend this much loved *by the rest of us* tradition.) Sans child, we began the evening with a fabulous friends-filled dinner at Far Niente, then headed over to the Alex Theater to partake in a bit of musical majesty that only 150 tubas playing Christmas (and Hanukkah) carols can provide.



It was awesome. Incidentally, this year marked my fifth Tuba Christmas and, thankfully, the event always manages to kick my hibernating Christmas spirit into gear.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we launch into the holiday season I'd like to take a moment to thank you all for visiting me and your willingness to share your thoughts, anecdotes and life's melange with me. You're all amazingly creative and a source of endless inspiration for me.

Love you guys!

As for T-Day, I'm on stuffing and pie duty. This year I am churning out a large batch of my tried and true Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom stuffing, a new-to-me twist on traditional pumpkin pie, Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie (from November's issue of Bon Appetit), as well as a Linoleum family favorite, Cranberry Orange Pie...



Pretty and tasty!

Do yourself a favor and give this pie a try. It's tart and sweet and super easy!

Cranberry Orange Pie

Pie crust for two crust pie
3 1/2 c. fresh cranberries (about 1 pkg.)
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tbs. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbs. orange juice (depending upon what's available at the grocery store, try substituting blood orange or tangerine juice)
2 tbs. minced or grated orange zest
2 tbs. melted butter

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 egg, lightly beaten with 2 tbs. heavy cream for glazing
granulated sugar of sprinkling

Prepare pastry, roll out half to line a 9" pie pan. Partially bake crust in 400 degree oven 10 - 15 minutes until almost done, but not completely browned. Keep pricking crust with fork as it puffs up. (I used pie weights to avert any pre-bake pietastrophes.) Cool pie shell about 15 minutes before filling.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine cranberries, sugar, flour, salt, orange juice, zest and melted butter. Toss to combine. Pour into cooled pie shell.

Use beaten egg if making lattice design for top crust. Roll out dough 1/16" thick, cut into 1/2" strips, moisten crust with egg and make lattice pattern over cranberries. (I love to weave dough peeps!)

Brush top of pastry with egg glaze and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbly, about 45 minutes longer.

Delicious!

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone!