sweets.space.sustenance

***sweets***

baking has commenced.

cranberry bread :: 17 loaves

pumpkin bread :: 14 loaves

russian tea cakes :: by the pallet full

i'm getting the teacake dough ready this afternoon,

beginning with measuring out all the ingredients

and setting the butter out to soften. i measured two-cups

of pecans and set to chopping them using my father's 

nut chopper thingymabob. i bring it out once a year: Christmas.

experiencing a touch of arthritis doesn't make for ease

when grinding through the two-cups of nuts.

adding a food processor to my kitchen is tempting.

but. using this jar grinder contraption has offered

opportunity to think about my dad.

he was quite a cook...featured in taste of home magazine

a few times even. he was famous. wink.

flittering through my recipe papers i found my mother's

meat loaf recipe! i've been searching and found it tucked

away in a safe spot known only to whoever put it there. me.

but i forgot where. thankful to have found it and will

most likely put it to good use this week.

***space***

i kept our Christmas decor simple simon this year, like every year

really but especially so this year. we both love the *bits* of decor.

streamlined almost to minimalism. but not quite.

the roofline is a favorite of the hubs,

being a giant and all. i especially love

the pines in the front and how they're silhouetted

beyond the upper windows.

tommy, my pet teenage deer came by overnight

and used one of our front aspens to remove the velvet

from his antlers. he broke a few branches and carved

the trunk a bit but i don't really mind much.

i saw him in the afternoon and after exchanging

pleasantries he trotted into the woods with his

head held high. gorgeous creature(s).

the squirrels though.

remember a year ago me being tickled by their escapades

and how i'd probably think later they'd be the bane of our existence?

well it's here. chewing through electrical cords for Christmas

lights on our front deck. the nerve! bah! so the hubs placed

a pepper powder along the cord line and into the vintage 

bucket holding the majority of the cord.

so far so good.

the stinkers.

***sustenance***

made pizza dough then parbaked with loads of dried herbs.

didn't have fresh on hand and our tiny market didn't either.

in a bit i'll dress the pizza and the hubs will grill the round

which will leave the sides charred and the bottom crispy.

i cooked up a little bit of italian sausage and onions.

that along with mozzarella will be yUm.

and with a big salad on the side it'll be a feast.

and before i go, i also baked a

loaf of bread and when it was done i brought a buttered

slice out to the shop where the hubs was working on

my cutie pie {golf} cart. i don't golf. but i like toodling

about town. it's an old cart and he's basically 

rebuilding it. i'm sure he's thrilled with this

new project. really. thrilled. wink.

some of my ralph lauren charlotte fabric will find

it's way to pillows or bunting in adorning this cute thing.

*