Christmastime.is.here

It's a very quiet day at work. In fact, right now, I'm the only one in the building. No wonder, finals were over last Friday. The whole university is still, peaceful, empty. All the students are gone for Christmas vacation. Most of the faculty are as well.

But even though everything is so quiet around me, my mind is spinning out of control. We are officially closing on our new house TOMORROW! We have our final walk through this afternoon and a moving party on Friday. I'm so excited, but it's still extremely surreal. We bought a house! What?!?!

Last night, I spent the evening packing. I already have 13 boxes stacked up in the living room and I haven't even started packing the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom closet! Where is all this stuff coming from?

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I've been trying to stay busy and not go crazy thinking about my new house. I've been reading, working on some graphic design projects for church, and looking for some yummy new recipes. Here's a preview of some of the recipes I've found: Puffy Oven Pancakes (sounds good for Christmas morning), Pear Blackberry Crisp, and Mint Fudge. I just might be making that last one on Monday for a Christmas party. Yum! I can't wait to try them all.

And yes, I finally finished The Hunger Games series. I finished the third book, Mockingjay yesterday. I was an emotional wreck. Although it ended the way I wanted it to, I was still unhappy with the way it was executed. I feel like the ending was rushed with no emotion. And there wasn't even time for me to say goodbye to the characters. It just ended. And now my heart has an empty spot where Katniss, Peeta, and Gale once existed in my life. I feel like I knew them; they were my friends. Okay, I'm being a little dramatic. But give me a break, I just finished the book yesterday. I need a chance to recover. But for any of you who haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest you do. These books are amazing!

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I love the Christmas season: Christmas music, yummy treats, lights, and parties. On Sunday evening, our life group went to see some Christmas lights, then had a little Christmas party at Wes' parents house. I wish we would have been moved in our new house, I really wanted to have it there. Anyway, we had lots of finger foods, a white elephant game, and a special round of Christmas pictaphone. To me, Christmas just isn't Christmas without wassail. It tastes so good and makes the whole house smell delicious. It's a tradition in my family. I had to make it.

Summer's Family Tradition: Wassail

4 cups cranberry juice

2 cups orange juice

2 cups apple juice

1/2 cup maple syrup

4-5 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

a few orange slices

whole cloves

Combine all the ingredients except oranges slices and whole cloves in a pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down to  warm. Place as many whole cloves in a few orange slices as you like. Drop the orange slices in the pot. Serve warm.

afghan.crochet.project

I've always loved to crochet. My mom taught me the basics when I was little, and I would crochet scarves, hats, and little clothes for my dolls and my pets. My favorite was the Christmas cape I made for Paxton, my precious little guinea pig. I wish I had a picture.

A few years ago, my mom gave me a crochet book and lots of yarn to make an afghan. It's called a sampler afghan and is comprised of 63 various stitch crocheted squares. When I first got it, I was very eager to begin, but quickly got frustrated with the more advanced stitches. Also, I had never read a pattern before, and the abbreviated crochet lingo was foreign to me. Now that I'm older and wiser (Ha!) I picked it up again and surprised myself. It's definitely not as hard now as I remember it being.

It's all starting to come together now, and I'm starting to feel accomplished. Pretty soon I'll have a brand new afghan to throw on the couch in our brand new house! 24 squares down and 39 to go!

 

giant.cookie.cake

After my obsession with the first book, I immediately went out and bought the second book of The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, by Susanne Collins.

It proved to be equally as good as the first book, and now I'm left empty handed, contemplating buying the third book as well. I knew I should have bought it when I bought the second one. It just seemed like too much money to spend on books all at once. Maybe I can hold off and hope to get it for Christmas. I don't know, though. I'm already sitting here going crazy just thinking about what could possibly happen next.

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On a completely different note, I completed my second Christmas baked goods project on Saturday. Wes and I were invited to a Christmas party at church and I was to bring dessert. I didn't have any particular ideas, so I asked Wes what he would like me to make. His first thought, of course, were the Peanut Butter Truffles that I made for Thanksgiving. I told him I'd think about it, but I wanted something else as well. So he requested a cookie cake. Now anyone who knows Wes know that cookie cake is pretty much his favorite dessert, so it wasn't a surprise to me. I had never made a cookie cake though, we've always just bought them, so I had to do some digging around to find a recipe. This is what I found:

Chef Emeril's Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
• Sweetened cocoa, for garnish
• Sweetened whipped cream, accompaniment

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 14-inch, light colored, round pizza pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, beating well after the addition of each.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix with a whisk. Add to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate, and add the vanilla extract. Fold in the dark and white chips and the nuts. Spread across the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until the edges are golden and the cookie is set but the center is still slightly soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To serve, sift confectioners' sugar and sweetened cocoa over the top, and cut into wedges. Serve sweetened whipped cream on the side.

I used this as my basic guideline, but I didn't add everything it says. I don't really like white chocolate chips or nuts, so I just kept it simple and put 2 1/4 cups of regular chocolate chips instead. This seemed to be a good amount. And I didn't garnish it with confectioner's sugar, cocoa, and whipped cream, although it sound pretty good. Instead, I decorated mine with red, green, and white icing and sifted a little confectioner's sugar on top to look like snow. I didn't even think to take a picture of the finished cake, but I did get this snapshop before it was all gone.

 

 

 

The red letters at the bottom spelled Merry Christmas.

the.hunger.games

I love to read. Everyone knows that about me. But lately, I guess I've just been to busy to drop everything and stay up past my bedtime to read. Reading can definitely have a negative affect on my daily routine. First I don't get enough sleep which makes me grouchy. Then, in the morning, when I'm grouchy and tired, I can't focus, and nothing gets accomplished. And if the book I'm reading is particularly interesting, I become transported to another world for a few days, where I laugh and cry right along with the characters as if I knew them personally. It's a crazy emotional roller coaster, and I love it.

And this week, I was reminded how much I love to read a good book. So that's what I did before I met Wes. I really had forgotten what it's like. I mean, the last time I've had an emotional roller coaster experience with a book was almost 5 years ago when I read Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. Oh, what an amazing book! You'll have to check that one out if you haven't already.

Anyhow, a few days ago, a friend of mine came into the Listening Lab and started talking about a book she had just read, The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins. I had never heard of it, even though apparently, it's a kinda big deal right now. So she let me borrow it, and let me just say you won't be able to put it down. The worst part is, or maybe it's the best part, I haven't decided yet, it's a trilogy. So now I get to read two more books THAT I DON'T HAVE! Christmas list anyone?

Just to give you a heads up on what it's about, here's the summary on the back cover of the book:

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

Now while you go read the first book, I'm going to go hunt down the second. I can't wait any longer!