Smith Family Weblog

3 Jan

Santa!

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Olivia. Leave a Comment

Despite behavior that was often questionable at best the past year, Santa did find his way to Ava Christmas morning. (Olivia, too, though she was pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing.)

Santa brought Ava a trunk of dress-up clothes.

He also brought a special pair of pajamas since Ava has been falling asleep on her own and in her own bed (big news around the Smith household).

Liv received a push-popper toy, but she was hoping for a new pacifier. This one’s worn out.

After a quick breakfast, we loaded up the kids and headed for the Smiths bright and early Christmas morning. More photos to come!

3 Jan

Christmas Eve

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Family. Leave a Comment

We spent Christmas Eve at Mom’s, along with Katie and Gramma and Grampa Great. Mom made a fabulous stuffed pork loin, along with a great horseradish cranberry sauce for dinner.

The girls donned their Christmas dresses and we opened present (after present, after present…).

Ava had a special gift for Bryan and me–a handmade Christmas wreath.

A toaster was at the top of Ava’s wish list this year. Fortunately my mom was able to find one, and it even came with a coffee pot, too.

Some things needed to be tried on RIGHT AWAY.

I helped Ava write a note to Santa, and she decided to leave him princess and Nemo fruit snacks. I have to wonder if he would have preferred homemade Christmas candy.

Ava signed her name and went to bed after the local weatherman said radar showed Santa’s sleigh just over Boston. Here’s hoping he’ll find his way to the lake!

2 Jan

Christmas Round-Up, Part 1 of 57

Posted by Rebecca in Family. Leave a Comment

Given our distance from family, Christmas tends to be a two-week affair for us most years. No worries, though–our families keep us quite busy during our trip. This year, we had nine separate gatherings over eight days.While I probably won’t post about all of them, I will cover quite a few in the coming days.

We started our trip–just the girls and me–out at my mom’s on Monday the 22nd. I took the opportunity to make many batches of candy in my mom’s formerly pristine kitchen (sorry, Mom).

Mornings are always beautiful on the lake, and Mom and Dave added a hot tub to the new deck construction. Just when you thought the view couldn’t be improved…

sunrise

The girls played happily at Gramma’s, though Ava asked when Aunt Katie would arrive about 15 times every hour.

Katie flew into Kansas City on Tuesday night, but a pending ice storm caused her and Bryan to delay their trip west until Wednesday morning. Road conditions meant an extra 90 minutes in the car for what was already a five hour trip. Needless to say, they were both a little tired and stressed.

You know what will help with that? Mulled wine. Nicely done, Mom.

For the record, you are not supposed to drink mulled wine in the hot tub, then request more by throwing your cinnamon stick stirrer at the window in an effort to get Mom’s attention. Despite the fact that it is literally four degrees above zero, you should risk life and limb to scurry across the deck into the house. The 30 mile an hour winds feel brisk against your wet skin, but you probably won’t get frostbite. The wine–made with a LOT of apricot brandy–is worth the trip.

More to come!

29 Dec

Do they offer lessons in irony?

Posted by Rebecca in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

sign

29 Dec

Red Velvet Balls

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 1 Comment

I recently made red velvet balls, and I have to say, I was completely underwhelmed. I did use a cake mix, so perhaps that was part of the problem.

The batter–which is just crumbled cake and a jar of cream cheese frosting–was incredibly sticky.

The recipe suggested using chocolate-flavored almond bark–which I find to be great for a lot of things–but in this recipe it was cloyingly sweet. I think a dark chocolate coating might be a better balance.

They looked pretty, but I actually only ended up dipping about a half dozen. They just didn’t live up to my expectations–especially given the work involved. Has anyone else attempted these? What did I do wrong?

29 Dec

Ava and Olivia

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Olivia. Leave a Comment

From Doug:

For the “hardcore Ava and Olivia fan,” a new photo gallery is up on his site.

23 Dec

Brew blogging

Posted by Rebecca in Family, In the kitchen. Leave a Comment

We tried my homebrewed beer over Thanksgiving. It was very carbonated–Bryan said it reminded him of champagne. (“The champagne of beers?” I said. “No,” he replied.)

I was pleased to have a real expert on the tasting committee.

And it’s good!

Well, not really, but it was drinkable, if you don’t count the pounding headache that came 30 minutes later–something about homebrews, I guess. I was the only one it bothered–how’s that for karma? Even Gramma, who is not a beer drinker, was kind enough to try it.

Dave wondered why there was a need to improve upon the perfection that is Old Mil Light.

He has a point–I can drink at least a few of those before I get a headache.

21 Dec

(Easy) Christmas candy

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 4 Comments

Last year, I baked 10 batches of Christmas coookies in advance of the holiday. I shared them with coworkers, friends, neighbors and family.

This year, the number on that list has grown to 24, and I seem to have found I have less time on my hands than while on maternity leave last year.

So, I decided to pare down a bit, switching over to candy instead of cookies. I made six recipes–all very easy and surprisingly fast. It probably took more time to construct the two dozen boxes then it did to finish the contents.

These are all recipes from the Martha Stewart Homemade Holiday Candy collection. Clockwise, from top left: Walnut fudge, peppermint bark, fleur de sel toffee, sour cream and bourbon praline, peanut butter cup and a Chambord truffle.

The toffee was my favorite–I love anything that’s both salty and sweet–though I did overcook it a bit. The peanut butter cups were very easy and very good, too. My pralines looked nothing like Martha’s, though I guess by now that shouldn’t surprise me!