warm fuzzies

when you've had a frustrating weekend, its the little surprises that can make all the difference.
jason took the above picture of chips. it melts my heart.
these beautiful mittens are from one of my customers at work. i waitress at a local restaurant
( the cause of my frustrating weekend) this woman , whose name i could not tell you, made these for me. she says to me," you know certain people in your life become special and you are one of those people." she hands me a little wrapped package, and tellS me to go put them away. she doesn't want to make a big deal about her kindness. i smile, say thank you and tell her she is special too. its moments like these that get you through a day that's been particularly trying. to see the genuine loving and caring of people. its inspiring!

happy fastnacht day!

i had the pleasure of making fastnachts with jason's oma yesterday. fastnachts, typically what these donuts are called here in pennsylvania, is a tradition of emptying your pantry of lard, butter and sugar. things typically fasted during lent. lent starts the day after fastnacht day.
true fastnachts are made with potatoes, making them a little different than your average donut you get at dunkin donuts. so much more tasty.

valentines day + sunday breakfast

what a beautiful day.
i got up a little earlier today to make pink heart pancakes. i don't know what came over me other than i thought it would be ridiculous and wanted to see if i could truly make pink pancakes. being a cake decorator has made me see a world of food in color. foods that probably should never be colored.
we spent our afternoon sledding down this famously big hill, not to far from our house.

it was a thrill. i haven't seriously gone sledding in a long time.
thanks to jason for an amazing afternoon.
for dinner, jason cooked for me.
it was delicious. he is a budding cook and baker. i couldn't have felt more special.
yes valentines day is commercial and yes you should be lovey dovey all year long, but we enjoy a good excuse to make a day a little bit extra special and to do so without all the hoopla.

love love

i was going through some of my pictures recently and happened upon these . while these two photos are very different, they also have a a classic similarity to both of them. marriage doesn't = valentines day, it just made me think of the great love found in each of the relationships and correlating pictures.
going on 40 and 3 + years to be exact.
happy v-day! may you carry with you the love of some great person in your life, today and the many years to come. may it continue to delight, inspire, perplex and refresh you as you go through life together.

paper and yarn heart

whats a girl to do with a blizzard swirling around her? finish and start some new projects? yes!
not much baking going on yesterday. a bit of knitting, crocheting, picture taking, crafting little paper hearts, and cooking. that is what my day was made of. of course there were also a few movies sprinkled in. those lovely little crochet hearts can be found here. although hers look like more pronounced hearts.
something so romantic about old sheet music! i couldn't resist cutting it up into tiny heart bits, and gluing it to some red rick rack. feeling festive.

coffee break snack

almond scones with orange glaze. i made these on a whim yesterday for my friend who was coming over mid afternoon to visit. they are so good you don't even miss the clotted cream.
i seem to be in the baking mood right now. at least my husband seems to think so. we have an arrangement in our house. i make, he cleans up. and he's informed me that he's been cleaning up a whole lot more lately.
more snow on the way... and probably a lot more making.

sunday breakfast week 3

baked oatmeal. a tried and true favorite of ours. the best part is that it makes so darn much, that we eat it for days. we love leftovers.

Baked Oatmeal

1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. applesauce
3/4 c. brown sugar ( i usually use around a 1/2c.)
2 eggs
3 c. oats
2t. baking powder
1t. salt
1t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

mix together. bake at 350 in a 9x13 baking dish for 30 minutes. serve with milk and fresh fruit.

a little more...

from yesterday. besides sleeping in and being a little lazy, yesterday was productive as well. there was a much needed organizing our office space. a lot of making things... smoothies, bread, rolls, dinner, hot cocoa. a snow walk, a couple of runs down the hill on the sled, and a game of monopoly that i killed in!

snow day!

its snowing up a storm, here on the east coast. couldn't be a more perfect day off from work... well it would be perfect if jason wasn't out plowing snow all day. we had a little fun out in the snow last evening as it was beginning to lay on the ground!

sunday breakfast week 2

another blissful sunday with my love. i could get use to this...
this weeks sunday breakfast included a savory little vegetable, sausage and goat cheese tart. recipe courtesy of readymade magazine! love them!
a couple of eggs and a grapefruit made for a great breakfast.