Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

 Lia helping me assemble the Hawaiian kabobs!

These were delicious!

Festival of Lights

 We finally made it to the Festival of Lights!  We were so busy with our party that we didn't make it until after Christmas.  But it worked out great, especailly the weather!  Which meant, though, that so many others had our same bright idea!  ;)
It was great to go as a family, usually it's just Lia and I at the zoo (or her and I meeting friends).  It was a treat to have Frank with us!

 Lia loves the Merry Go Round!

 

 And then we went to see the 3 D Polar Express movie!  It was awesome!

 

 

Lia wrote a thank you letter to Santa!

Such a fun night!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a shot of Frank's Gingerbread/Candy house Xmas morning!

Christmas morning!  Lia opening her gifts.  She loves these stamps Aunt Connie!  :) 

So much to open, including all of the gifts Aunt Patti sent.  This took us lots of time because she needed to check out all of her gifts before moving onto the next. 

The one and only thing she asked for from Santa, a CANDY CANE!  And it's a big one! 

Frank, after a long morning, got in a snooze in his new Snoopy pants! 

I asked for help with dinner and showed him how to make his all time FAVORITE potatoes:  Pommes Anna (our twist?  We add a little cheese to the layers!).  He did a great job! 

And, then for the main course (and champagne too because it's Christmas!)....lamb!  Yummmmm!

Christmas Eve

This year, we began our own new tradtion.  We hosted a Christmas Eve Open House, and served Bouillabaise (pictured above), some appetizers and home made cookies.  It's our first Christmas without Jim, and now that Connie and Chris are not in OH for the winter, it was my idea to come up with something special for us at Christmas when family wasn't in town.  It turned out to be a great party with lots of friends (some of whom didn't have family in town either), although I didn't take any photos.  The bouillabaise was a tradition that we used to share with Tommy & Vicky Concannon on NY's Eve, but we've made it our own and will now continue to share this at our Chritmas Eve Open Houses.

Here is Frank's Gingerbread/Candy House.  He added to it this year and it's beautiful.  It even has a miniature Little Lia in the yard!  :)

Lia was allowed to open up 1 gift before the party and she happened to choose her Groovy Girl's Prince & Princess.  She's already gotten several Christmas presents from other friends and family (that she's been able to open before today), including a balance bike from Andy & Colleen  and 1 box from Nana that had seven small gifts in it, 1 for each day the week before Xmas, which she looked forward to every day!  :)  She's having a great Christmas!

Christmas Cutouts

Lia and I had soooo much fun making our Christmas cutouts! 

They are also a favorite cookie to EAT in our home!  :)

Christmas Tree Cookie Pies

I made these last year as leaves but thought I'd put a Christmas twist on them! 

Lia helped me make these and we had so much fun cutting them out and decorating them.

Turner Farm Wreath making 2011

Lia and I went to Turner Farm again this year to make a wreath.  Here she is with Megan and another woman who works at the farm.  They were great and helped keep her happy while I made our wreath (after Lia lost interest). 

This year's wreath!  I love making my wreaths at this farm in a building warmed by a wood burning stove surrounded by other friends and families doing the same thing!

Ruth turns 90!

SURPRISE!  Ruth turns 90 and the Stantons threw her a surprise party!   

 With Frank and Jimmy.

 Frank with nephew Michael and cousin Mary Anne. 

Frank's Aunt Kay and his cousin Kate.

Rochester for Thanksgiving

Here's Lia in Santa's special chair at Crescent Beach on Thanksgiving night.

Love this tree!

This Fall has been gorgeous, and this is one of my favorite colorful trees in Norwood. 
It's red, orange, yellow AND green! 

Music Tonight

Tonight we had some friends over, and that included David and Anne, which meant there was live music!   We all had such a nice time, including Lia. 

Making Pizzas

 Lia helped me make pizzas tonight!  She did a great job!

Dinner with Connie & Chris

 Connie & Chris came for dinner tonight and were so nice to

help Lia with one of her puzzles!  :)

Busy day at the Farms

Today was gorgeous, although it started out pretty chilly.  I started my morning at Gorman Heritage Farm for a Pumpkin Frenzy Cooking Class with a friend, where we made Pumpkin Ravioli topped with crispy farm fresh (directly from their pigs) bacon and sage butter sauce. We also harvested greens and herbs from the farm for a hardy salad complete with a savory and sweet pumpkin vinaigrette. 

After that Lia and I went to Turner Organic Farm for a Black Walnut Workshop.

We harvested, hulled, cracked and extracted these native and plentiful nuts.  

Here's their awesome black walnut cracker!  Lia LOVED cracking (and eating) all of the nuts. 

Here's Ed explaining how his home made machinery works.  It was an awesome way to hull (and clean) these nuts, which if you aren't careful, stain clothes forever and your hands for over a week.  You can see the chute above.  They drop down into a pan of water. 

 Here's a picture of where you put the nuts in, they drop down, turn around inside the tire, shoot out (the water is at the bottom left hand side of the picture).  Somehow this machine hulls these nuts.  The hulls end up on the ground.  It's INCREDIBLE.

Here's Lia with one of her cracked walnuts!

October foods

I made the mixture for Butternut Squash Ravioli and decided to make it into Phyllo triangles.   It was delicious like this! 

 My friend Karla gave me a Venison Tenderloin and I roasted it and served it with

Roasted Kale and Rutabaga Fries.  Such a good meal!

Here's an Italian Sausage and Mushroom Risotto.  It is amazing!!!

I harvested 2 mushrooms from my shitake log this month and they were part of the meal, with some portobellos.