Advent Calendar Round-Up

Remember those crappy cardboard and glitter advent calendars of yester-years?  The doors are officially open to a new age of counting down to Christmas!  These are some of my favorites this year that provide a magical spectacle and really pack a punch.

via Pickles

I especially love this one because it can be used year after year, only takes the tiniest of presents, and can be rolled up and stored away with ease.

via AMerryMishapBlog

Handsome image and idea, though I think the larger gifts should be saved for Christmas itself.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves here....

via TwigandThistle

This is made out of small tins.  They could be magnetized to stick to the refrigerator door...

via CountryLiving

Start saving those matchboxes!  This is adorable.

via DesignCrush

I do like the ones using clothespins.  This minimalist design looks nice with variously wrapped packages, but also with nothing attached.

via MayaMade

A great use for all those cardboard toilet paper rolls.

Finding 25 tiny gifts can be a challenge.  I usually find myself in Chinatown buying some erasers, wind up toys, stickers, candies.  I also try to get some useful items in there like chapstick, samples from Kiehl's, ribbons for wrapping Christmas gifts, little packages of nails, thumbtacks, wire ornament hooks, and tiny Christmas tree ornaments.  Any other ideas?

And now for something Completely Different (i.e. Slightly Different)

Change was in the air this fall as we gathered together to discuss our Thanksgiving menu.  We all agreed we needed to shake things up a bit: we were tired of making the same exact recipes year after year.  My parents go to Santa Fe every fall and return home with incredibly flavorful chile powders and whole dried chiles from the farmers' market there.  We are always struggling to find new uses for these flavors before the next round arrives.  With all these chiles at our fingertips we decided that this year would be a showcase of New Mexican flavors, in other words a Southwest Thanksgiving.  And of course everything would be different....

We sat down together to discuss the menu of new and different dishes we were going to prepare, only to find that every one of us had a dish (or two) that we apparently couldn't live without for our Thanksgiving feast.  Personally, I couldn't give up the cranberry sauce my mom has made for years.  My dad had to have the mashed potatoes.  Gravy was a non-negotiable for my mom.  Making something new and different was going to be harder than we had expected.

We came to the realization that it was our own traditionalist tendencies that kept us in a Thanksgiving "rut", and that really what was so wrong with that?  If we cared so much about keeping particular dishes in the Thanksgiving canon, then we had better embrace our "rut".

Needless to say, we mostly altered traditional Thanksgiving dishes, giving them a twist instead of having something completely different.  We had a lot of fun researching recipes and identifying "Southwestern" ingredients.  We tried to incorporate the "three sisters": squash, corn and beans.  These three grow well together because they help nourish one another, and they are a common combination in  traditional Southwest Indian diets.  We asked friends for their recipe suggestions, and even received in the mail a stack of New Mexican magazines with recipes from friends in Santa Fe.  And, I think we all had a pretty good time arguing about what recipes could and couldn't change.

Ultimately, this was our Southwest Thanksgiving menu:

Nibbles before dinner:

Pecan-Chile Dip

Roasted Chile-Pumpkin Seed Salsa

Tortilla Chips

Fresh Vegetables

Hummus
Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Olives

The dinner:

Butternut Squash Soup with Cayenne and Sauteed Mushrooms

Chile-Rubbed Turkey 

Cornbread Dressing with Poblano Peppers and Chorizo Sausage

Mashed Potatoes with Chicos (smoked and dried corn kernels)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro-Lime Pesto

Gravy

Cranberry Sauce (the usual recipe with orange and walnuts)

Cranberry Sauce with Jalapeno and other earthy peppers

Pickled Red Onions

Desserts:

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Ginger Ice Cream

Chocolate Chile Truffles

Caramel Popcorn

Chocolate Pecan Bark

Hors d'oeuvres

Soup

The bird

The spread: (Clockwise from top left) The Turkey, Cornbread Dressing, Cranberry Sauce, Pickled Onions, Roasted Chile Salsa, Brussels Sprouts, Mashed Potatoes.

My heaping plate

   Desserts!

Chocolate Chile Truffles

Caramel Popcorn and Chocolate Pecan Bark

All gone....

Table decor included a mix of gourds and cactus pears with a sprinkling of paper cactus cocktail stirrers for good measure.  I managed to ignore the whole "cactus" part of the cactus pears when I bought them.  I picked each one up, rolled it over to check the color on all sides, and then stood in line to check out with them cradled in my arms.  Do NOT follow my lead on this one!  I had very uncomfortable invisible cactus spines in my hands for a few hours.

The cactus cocktail stirrers I bought in Chinatown, cut the wooden pick down to about an inch long, and stuck the ends into rounds of cucumber to stand them up straight on the table.

I'm thinking maybe we'll improve upon the Southwest theme next year.  A few ideas for next time:

- Crumble the cornbread in the dressing in larger chunks

- Write out the menu on a board or mirror for guests to refer to

- Watch your hands on the prickly cactus pears

Gourds, Cactus pears and Cactus cocktail stirrers amidst votive candles

Gourds and cactus: Mixed messages? Perhaps, but we're allowed to on Thanksgiving

The garden

     A few leftover bottles of wine chillin' in the garden

An All Day Affair: Thanksgiving Prep

One thing I love about Thanksgiving is waking up in the morning, turning on the oven, and using it all day.  There are so many dishes to make, the kitchen becomes a stage and the cooks become performers dancing between one another, juggling knives and balancing pans.
This probably sounds absolutely dreadful to some though.  I happen to enjoy cooking, and have prepared Thanksgiving dinner with seasoned cooks who know the kitchen we use together and are organized and thoughtful about sharing the space.  However, I know that preparing the Thanksgiving meal can be a pretty stressful event.  So I like to think of it as a whole day of celebration rather than putting all the focus on the meal.  For me it begins with the preparation: Planning the menu, doing the grocery shopping, assigning tasks, beginning to cook, lots of pots of tea which melt into glasses of wine as the time comes to actually eat.
What are your Thanksgiving traditions besides the eating part?  A walk in the woods?  The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?  A quiet breakfast at your favorite diner?  Whatever you do on Thanksgiving, remember that the meal itself is only a fraction of the occasion and that there are many ways to make it memorable.

Preparations begin with plenty of tea on hand

Caramel popcorn

Rolling the chocolate chile truffles

Two sauces: Pecan-chile sauce and Roasted chile-pumpkin seed salsa

Can you guess what our theme is this year?  .... Southwest Thanksgiving!

   

Back to School

Image via Banana Pancakes Blog

I've got the back to school blues and I'm not even headed back to school.  I confess that even as a non-school-attending adult, it still crushes my heart to see those banners and ads go up every summer's end about your nearest "Back to School Sale".  I'm a firm believer in enjoying every moment given to us, as you know, and the summer season is one of those that is very dear to me.  Especially the end of summer when the evening light is so golden, the grass is parched, and the nights start to get a bit cooler.

That said, I do have a back to school tradition that I love.  I haven't been a student for a number of years now, but L is starting a graduate program today so I have been thinking about "back to school" and my mixed feelings about it.  It is certainly bitter sweet, which is why I like having the following tradition to brighten the moment: The first day of school photo.  My parents insisted on taking one of me every year as I headed out the door with my still empty backpack and brand new blazingly white sneakers.  I hated it then, but somehow by the time I started college I came to love that moment.  So much so that my college roommate and I did whole photo shoots of ourselves headed back to classes each fall.  We made sure to make them really shmaltzy -- since they inherently are.  We often used the autumn-touched lake as a back drop, and clasped our hands under our chins as an homage to the cheezy official class photos we had been forced to take in elementary school.  The difference being that these were fun and goofy and we took them because we wanted to.
Whether by choice or not, these photos now provide me with a cross section of the years as they have passed: the change in fashions, hair length, braces to retainer to perfect smile, backpack to shoulder bag, child to young adult.  Sometimes it is good to reflect on who you were.  It may help you get to who you want to be.
And besides, as an adult who doesn't want to pose in front of the door with a brand new backpack to capture the moment of setting out on a new adventure?

A Childhood Tradition Revisited

Every spring as a girl I used to candy violets with my dad.  Violets are edible, and have a lovely faint floral flavor.  We would pick the best looking ones from the garden, then carefully coat them in egg white and sugar and let them dry.  My dad, ever delicate and dexterous, and me, not so much.  His always looked like they'd been touched by a fairy's wand, and mine ended up a bit more clumpy.
The candying of the violets always coincided with the end of the school year, and to celebrate I would take mini cupcakes to school on the last day, frosted in white, with a candied violet on top.

This year I was at my parents' house when the violets were in full bloom.  I tried my hand again at carefully coating the violets in a thin layer of egg white, then sprinkling them all over in sugar and leaving them to dry for a few days.  They turned out well: I have much better hand-eye coordination now than I did when I was six, though this project made me remember that feeling of anticipation for the end of school and the start of the long summer holidays.

I didn't make mini cupcakes for my classmates this time, but I did make a cheesecake for Liam's birthday and arranged the candied violets on top and blackberries around the edges.

To make candied violets:

You will need:

Very fresh violets, with enough stem to hold them by

an egg white, lightly beaten in a small bowl

white sugar, in a small bowl

two forks

a baking sheet with a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on top

Holding the violet by the stem, very carefully submerge it in the egg white.  Using the fork, smooth egg white over every surface (the sugar will only stick to areas moistened by egg white).  Holding the violet  at the side of the bowl to steady it, use the fork to open up the petals and smooth off excess egg white.

Using a dry fork, sprinkle sugar over all the surfaces of the flower.  I find using my fingers instead of a fork works best to control the amount of sugar I put on.  Don't put too much as it will clump and weigh down the petals.

Carefully place, stem side down, on the waxed or parchment paper baking sheet.  Allow to dry in a cool, dry place for at least two days.  Then carefully peel the violets off the paper and store in an airtight container.  They should be used as soon as possible after they have dried because they will begin to lose their beautiful color after about a week.

The Annual Peeps Diorama Contest

The winners of the sixth annual Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest were announced today! This is one of the most hilarious Easter traditions I know of. Every year the Post gets hundreds of entries to their diorama contest centered around Peeps. Anyone can submit a diorama, but there are a few rules: one person must be able to carry the scene by themselves to the Post offices, and only residents of D.C., Maryland or Virginia can be selected as finalists. The dioramas are usually based on news-worthy events of the previous year or well-known images, and are full of peeps related puns. For a slideshow of this year's Washington Post winners click here.

A lot of newspapers and arts centers have started holding Peeps Diorama contests. Here are some past favorites.

Image via The Fire Wire

Image via The Washington Post

Image via Miss TWA

For more curious and crazy Peeps projects, check out this Washington Post piece, "Eat Them, Craft Them... Kill Them?" -- including a video by 100 Ways to Kill A Peep (Warning: This is not for the faint of heart).

A Breakable Work of Art

Image via DesignSponge

Recently my dreams have been peppered with piñatas. They are everywhere: in shop window displays, for purchase on Etsy, and as ideas for wedding activities and favors. People are making absolutely gigantic ones, and tiny pocket sized ones. You can find more classic styles, incredibly artistic sculptures, and How-To tutorials. DesignSponge has a DIY tutorial to make piñata-inspired party lanterns.

Comprised of inexpensive materials, piñatas are an ephemeral piece of art. One moment it's there, and the next it's bashed to bits on the floor.

It is also a tradition dating back to the 14th century (as best I can tell). Piñatas can be traced to China, where they were filled with seeds in the hopes of a fertile agricultural season, and burned in celebration of the New Year. From there piñatas made their way to Europe and onward, through the Spanish, to Latin America. It seems that the Mesoamericans also had similar traditions of their own, filling clay vessels with fruits and treats and breaking them at the foot of an idol as an offering. In fact, one of the coolest things about the tradition of piñatas is that there seem to be so many similar traditions all over the world!

Breaking them is really the best part. It brings out the kid in all of us. Being blindfolded, swinging madly with a bat, the exclamations of the crowd, that satisfaction that comes with contact, and of course the delight of tiny treats cascading from the demolished carcass....

The Current Piñata Spectrum

The Classic Party Piñata:

Romeo Gilberto Osorio crafts piñatas at his studio, Pinata Art, in San Francisco. I know I've passed by his storefront on Mission Street in the past, but next time I will definitely have to go inside. He sells both pre-made and custom piñatas: you can find dogs, princesses, and even order up your own Michael Jackson! He's also designed theatre props and parade floats. NPR did a three minute piece on Osorio.

A quick search for piñatas on Etsy revealed a highly saturated handmade Piñata market. Here are my favorites.

DalePinatas's detailed and playful animals:

Image Via Etsy

Image Via Etsy

PinataQueen crafts beautifully detailed replications of Strawberry Shortcake and a box of Crayons, among other things:

Image Via Etsy

Image Via Etsy

The Piñata as Art Inspiration and Decoration:

On the opposite end of the piñata style spectrum is Confettisystem, a duo who designs art installations inspired by confetti, piñatas, fringes and more. These creations are so imaginative and so beyond a basic piñata. And the best part is: all we have to do is poke around some shops to find Confettisystem's inspirational pieces. Opening Ceremony had these incredible exotic bird heads mounted on their mannequin bodies. And J. Crew and Urban Outfitters have featured their work as well.

Image via Tumblr

Image via Tumblr

The Piñata as Fine Art:

The Andy Warhol piñata was made by Jennifer Rubell for the Brooklyn Museum's Brooklyn Ball in 2010. There were a lot of whispers leading up to the Ball as to what she would put inside of it. The guests beat Andy up and were rewarded with "classic" American dessert treats such as the DingDong.

Image Via FlavorWire

The Wedding Piñata:

I saw a pair of bride and groom piñatas that a friend had made of the couple for their fiesta-themed wedding on Green Wedding Shoes. Throw caution and tradition to the wind and bash the newly weds into oblivion!

Wack! Pinataria sells these Bridezilla and Groomzilla piñatas on Etsy.

Image Via Etsy

The Sandra Snowflake Party

My friend Kate and I invented Sandra Snowflake Day in 10^th grade. It is a winter holiday that brings smiles to my friends’ faces. And, I'll be honest, questioning looks from friends who are wondering about my sanity.

Here are the basics:

Sandra Snowflake Day is the last Monday of January.

Celebrating this holiday requires lots of paper snowflakes, yummy sweet treats, and the realization that there is always something to celebrate.

Sandra Snowflake Day was founded on the understanding that the end of January (particularly the last Monday of the month) desperately needs an occasion: A reason to have a party, celebrate the winter, and share some good cheer with friends.

I admit it is a little insane to invent one's own holiday. However, finding reasons to celebrate, and taking the time to do so is the crux of The Occasionist. And Sandra Snowflake Day is an excellent experiment in starting traditions from scratch. This year there seemed to be a whole lot of people who needed convincing that Sandra Snowflake Day was indeed a holiday (if only in my world), and that it required celebrating. So I decided to throw a big old party, and hopefully make some new Sandra Snowflake traditions.

This year’s party had a little bit of arts and crafts, and a lot of white!

The White Menu:

Cauliflower Crostini

Ricotta Crostini

Fresh White Winter Veggies and Buttermilk and Mint Dressing

A Selection of White Cheeses and Baguette

Popcorn

White Bean and Sausage Soup

Homemade Grissini (bread sticks)

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Coconut Macaroons

Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses

Spanish Cava

Most of my dishware is white. White goes with anything, and can be used for any color scheme your occasion requires. Seeing as this party’s theme was white, I had my pick of most of my dishes and tried to use different shapes and sizes.

I used some more inventive containers as well. The grissini are in a metal urn, spray painted white. And the fresh vegetables are lined up in square glass flower vases. You can use any container for food (just make sure its surfaces are food safe): vases, baskets, lunch boxes. So be creative in displaying your food.

I have a set of nesting snowflake cookie cutters that I used for the sugar cookies. The nesting cookie cutters take up less space so they can be stored away more easily. A few friends came over the day before the party to decorate cookies, drink tea and catch up.

For our Winter Wonderland I hung snowflakes by fishing line over the farm table, and attached them to our front door.

The farm table was set up with white paper and scissors for snowflake cutting. Guests taped their snowflakes to our living room windows for added effect. Snowflake making turned out to be a more popular activity than I had expected. Nearly everyone took their turn with the scissors. For a party with a lot of people who didn’t know one another very well, snowflake cutting was a good icebreaker. (Although I think I’ll be finding tiny bits of paper around my apartment for months!)