Confession: My recipe cabinet is only semi-organized. The cookbooks stand in a row and there’s a notebook with old cooking magazines inside, but not one of the recipes is computerized or tagged. Random recipes written on loose cards or notes and torn-out magazine pages are stored in a big zip-loc bag. That’s the extent of…
‘Tis the season for extra baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating and entertaining. Starting with the Thanksgiving holiday and ending with New Year’s, the addition of extra activities on top of our regularly scheduled lives can get pretty stressful. Don’t get me wrong—I’m definitely in favor of doing the “extras.” Holidays mark the passing of the year. …
I love Christmas. Something about the hope and the sparkle and the magic, as well as the foundational meaning, touched my heart as a lonely little girl with a broken family life—and it never left me. Even though the holidays have created additional work and stress as our family has grown (and grown), the good…
It’s all too easy to get overwhelmed with thoughts about what is coming up this holiday season. Parties, dress rehearsals, programs, shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking…did you feel your heart rate increase? Let’s take a look at some ways to lessen the holiday stress and stay happy during the season. Manage Stress with a Calendar Plan…
Buttery spritz cookie dough with chocolate inside–how can you go wrong? It’s been so long ago that I don’t remember where we got the idea to tuck a little chocolate bar between the layers of delicate spritz dough, but they’ve been a special occasion favorite for years. At some point our family decided to call…
Let’s face it, not every Christmas is easy and organized. Circumstances change, activities vary from year to year and we have our own personal seasons of coping (or not). The good news is that even during less-organized years you can still benefit from some simple planning. Here are some ideas for ways to prepare a…