On Christmas

The Brewer family often does letter gifts for their family. Each year everyone is given a topic to write on and submit. The letters, stories, and/or pictures are compiled and copied and each family receives a set. This year our topic was on Christmas. We REALLY enjoyed reading all of them on Christmas Day from everyone. Carl and I decided to do a little different spin on our letters and write them to our unborn child. Carl wrote all about the tradition of decorating cookies, complete with descriptions of particular cookies from Christmas' past. I wrote a bit more of a traditional letter, a 'reason for the season' type and for posterity's sake thought I'd share it here.

December 2010

Dear Baby Brewer:

During this Christmas season we are full of anticipation and excitement. We are so excited to have you come into our family. We can’t wait to meet you and watch you grow! We are also excited for all the delicious treats that come around at Christmastime. I’ve been anticipating listening to Christmas music since September. There’s always the anticipation and excitement of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I look forward to the tradition of fondue dinner on Christmas Eve and, of course, the presents on Christmas Day. I often look forward to people opening the gifts I got FOR them more than the presents that have my name on it. I love this season! I love sitting by the Christmas tree decorated with twinkling lights, fire ablaze in the fireplace, and a mug of hot chocolate in my hand.

I hope that you’ll come to love and anticipate these traditions with our family too, but most of all, I hope and pray that we can all always remember the true ‘reason for the season’. Amid the anticipation of all the fun things at this time of year I hope we remember the great anticipation the world had of the Savior coming to the Earth. I hope we can remember the excitement of the Son of God making his appearance here to live a life that we could try to emulate, to teach us the importance of love and forgiveness, to give hope to the poor in spirit, and ultimately to die for each one of us so that we could return to our Heavenly Father someday. There is no better gift He could have given us.

As I have been pregnant with you during this holiday time I have thought more and more about Mary. Your father and I have felt so grateful that our Heavenly Father has entrusted us with your care. He is relying on us to teach you the best we can and raise you in righteousness. I can’t imagine the pressures Mary felt knowing that she was being entrusted to bear and raise the Savior of the world. I’m grateful for her faithfulness and example…and grateful I won’t have to cross a desert on a camel when I’m 9 months pregnant!

You’ll see as you grow up in our home that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing to us. We try to base every decision we make on how our Father in Heaven would want us to live. We try to follow our Savior’s perfect example by giving service, loving our neighbors, and giving glory to God. We do our very best everyday to live the gospel. We are not perfect. We falter. And for this reason we are ever grateful for the Atonement. You will mess up too – and we will love you anyway. Someday you’ll have to make your own choice whether to attend church, whether to live the gospel as you’ve been taught, and to gain your own testimony. We hope you’ll choose what we have found to be the greatest joy in our lives. We hope we’ll have been able to show you the tremendous blessings that come from living God’s way. It gives us hope when times are rough, direction when we aren’t sure which way to turn, and the knowledge of our potential eternal family that brings indescribable happiness and comfort. We want nothing less than this happiness for you.

We love the Savior and His gospel. We love our families. Know that we love each other…and we love you already. Merry Christmas, little one.

-Mom

More Freezing

We did another exchange of freezer meals before holiday craziness got too underway. This time around was a much bigger operation with a lot more people and options to choose from. I keep trying to find the time to compile all the things I've learned while doing these freezer meal exchanges in case anyone wants to try them out with some of their friends. I highly recommend it! It's a day or two of mass shopping and cooking frenzy - but still not that bad and in the busy days to come when you can just pull a delicious meal out of the freezer without much thought - those busy days just melt away.

I did marinated chicken this time. You can see all my bowls/containers holding ziplock bags of marinade. I felt like that seemed a little too simple so I also did twice-baked potatoes to go with it. I don't think I'd do this particular marinade again. It wasn't terrible, but I've had better.

I sure have been enjoying these other meals during this busy holiday season!

Ouch

I was looking online at some cactus plants. I'm considering this one. What do you think? Ouch.

Car Cookies

April, at work, has lots of crazy ideas. (ie: put microwave popcorn bags in the freezer to make them pop fluffier and some gross exaggerations of gigantic jumping spiders) So one day she told us that some guy had baked cookies in his car. After a dramatic "IMPOSSIBLE", we started talking about the great advantages if it really worked. Imagine having fresh baked cookies for your drive home. Imagine having your car smell like those delicious fresh baked cookies. So Shannon, April, and I decided to try it.


I offered to bake them in my car which meant I had to park on the top level of the parking structure so the car would be in the sun. It also meant that I couldn't drive to lunch because we needed to keep as much heat as possible in there. I stopped at the grocery store on my way to work to pick up some cookie dough and brought some tin foil, a cookie sheet, and a spatula from home for our experiment.

We decided that we'd use tin foil on the cookie sheet because it might reflect more sunshine and help them cook. Smart right!? Here are the cookie dough balls in the car ready to bake - 10:42 AM.


We went to lunch (in April's car) and we drove up to the roof to check on the cookies before going back into the office. As you can see, they have started to melt down a little. They still looked pretty doughy but at least we were seeing progress. This is approximately 1:28 PM. At this point I turned the car around so it would still be facing the sun.

Even though we had this whole thing planned out, the other two girls said they were leaving early that day. Silly girls, their cookies wouldn't be ready! Shannon left first. I did not document her cookies at 3:51 PM but they were surprisingly a little baked! They were hard on the top but still quite doughy underneath. She ate them anyway.

April was next. She met me at the car bakery at 4:43 PM to take her chances with unbaked cookies. They were, again surprisingly, quite a bit better by the time she got to them. As you can see in the pictures, I could use the spatula to pick up the cookie. You can also see April really excited about the cookies through the windshield. Still a little doughy, but also yummy (if you like cookie dough).


I was staying late that night so it wasn't until 6:36 that I got out to my really expensive easy bake oven. HOLY SHMOLY! THEY WERE COOKED! It was a Thursday miracle! See how excited I am?!

As you can CLEARLY see, the under side is even done. The high temp for the day was between 85-90 degrees. Just imagine if I made these in Arizona - You could have cookies at lunch AND on your way home.


So I enjoyed a couple of extra delicious, warm, chocolate chip cookies as I sat in traffic. When the cookies were gone, I still had the intoxicating smell of fresh baked cookies and the immense satisfaction and sense of accomplishment to keep me company.

Well, April, I stand corrected.

say no more, mon amour

I actually took this picture

All Summer I've been wanting to go to an outdoor movie. There are tons in our area but when Leah saw that Empire Records was playing down in Rosslyn, we HAD to go!


We headed to the park with our chairs, treats, and take out for dinner to meet up with Paul and Leah. It was super hot and humid all night long but it was fun to be outside watching Empire Records on the big screen again. We felt just like we were in High School again (except with husbands) and we remembered every line from the movie. Thanks Leah for finding this and we're sure glad you guys live out here!

Some of my favorite lines (mostly for my high school friends):

Eddie: You forgot your thingy.

A.J.: I don't feel that I need to explain my art to you, Warren.

Lucas: Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.

Lucas: What's with today today? (and pretty much everything else Lucas says)

Gina: Oh now, Debra, don't be bitter, surely with your ever growing collection of flesh mutilating silver appendages and your brand new neo-nazi boot camp makeover the boys will come a-runnin'.

Lucas: Rap... metal... rap... metal... And Whitney Houston.

Rex Manning: Why don't you all just fade away.

Lucas: Joe, I can categorically say that you are not a bigger banana-head.

...that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents...

I deemed this 'The Year of Developing Talents'. I made a list (only mental and verbal to Carl) of all kinds of things I'd like to learn to do or learn how to do better. I'm pleased to say that I'm doing well.

Remember how I got a piano for my birthday? Well, I'm still taking lessons mostly every week and I'm getting better. No concertos in the near future, but I'm playing with both hands and understand a lot more than when I started. Unfortunately my harmonica playing is not coming as well.

We've done a little gardening this year and I've learned a fair amount about that. It's been so exciting to see something you planted actually grow and very satisfying to eat it!

Carl and I have been taking dancing lessons (as per my Valentine's Day gift) the past few weeks as well. You just show up to the beginner classes whenever you want so we've dropped in on Salsa, Swing, Waltz, and Ballroom. We like the teachers and we've done well. Look for us on Dancing with the Stars next season.

I've been learning how to use my new sewing machine - you might remember the bags I made. I've done a few odd jobs here and there but still have a lot to learn. What's next? Maybe curtains? Maybe a quilt? Maybe a pillowcase? We'll see.

**Post edit: It was a skirt. I went to Relief Society last night and we're working on making 100 dresses for the local women's shelter so... I sewed a skirt. Yippee!

Lastly, my culinary endeavors. I've made quite a few new recipes this year and am enjoying learning how to make different kinds of things. Recently I made Peach Surprise (pictured above) and it was really yummy. We've had it several times since. It's not hard but it was my first time making meringue. We had some friends over the other night for a four-course, candlelit dinner. (That's what I offered as my service for the YW auction/fundraiser). We had steamed artichokes and almond-crusted chicken with fresh green beans and cilantro lime rice. I made rolls and tried out a new twist to them that I made up. And you know what, it turned out great! Off topic: Shall I share a funny picture of Carl? he dressed up for this dinner all in black and slicked his hair back in a ponytail with one lone curl on his forehead. Oh! And the mustache! I love him.

Anyway, back to food. You might remember my sunflower cupcakes from a couple months ago. Well, I've been at it again.

I made these duckie cupcakes for a baby shower.

And these mini hamburgers for a BBQ. These are candy coated cake balls and they are about the size of a golf ball. Not surprisingly more work than I had anticipated but it was still really fun. A huge thanks to Carl for the encouragement when I wanted to quit and the help making them when it turned into a two-person job.

So there's my progress. I'm proud of myself for making such an effort and for being half way through the year and still working on these things. My mom is proud too - I know because I call her the very minute I accomplish anything to get her verbal pat on the back - and she always gives it.

Eclipse

Krista and I have faithfully seen the Twilight movies together thus far and Eclipse was no exception. However, we decided to dress up this time (and kind of dress down since we were in track suits). We hit up the midnight movie dressed in our Team Edward/Team Jacob apparel and it wasn't until we were in line for popcorn that I realized, completely mortified, that we were not actually one of the kids dressed up, but one of the crazy, stupid moms that we make fun of for trying to fit in with the Tweeners. (slap palm to forehead)

But we laughed it off and had fun anyway. This movie was much better than the first two. Kristen Stewart is still the worst actress of all time but the movie as a whole was better. Good job, new director.

For everyone's sake, I'm kind of hoping that they don't make a movie out of the last book but in case they do, Krista and I will probably be there. Maybe we'll wear our regular clothes though.

Cutest Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last week and was quite happy about the way they turned out. I thought they were adorable and they also tasted great. If only my photography skills were better. *sigh

I even made the butterflies!

Just Bag It - A Tutorial

I have some excellent, talented friends. I pulled ideas and help from a couple of said friends to create something that I'm totally proud of. And just in case you want to make your own, I'll put a little tutorial here for you.

Start with a pillowcase, washed and dried. From the bottom, measure the height you want your bag, plus 1/2 of the width you want, plus 1" for the hem. I chose 6 inches wide, 14 inches tall so 14 + (1/2 of 6) + 1 = 18". Mark and cut.

Next decide how far apart you want your straps to be. I chose 7 inches. Fold the pillowcase down the middle and measure half the width from the center and mark lines on both sides.


Sew hem on top. I choose to fold, iron, and then sew the hem because I'm not very good with hems yet.

Turn the pillowcase inside out. Match up bottom seam to side seam (or seam to side fold) to make a triangle. This will make the width of your bag. Pin. Measure six inches (or desired width) and mark the line.


Do this to both sides of the bottom. Sew along the line.

Then flip over and sew along the same line to make a double seam for strength.


If you are adding a pocket, measure and cut pocket from muslin. I cut mine 8" x 8". Seven inches across and 1/2 inch hangover on each side that will be covered by the straps.



Fold, iron, and sew small hem on top. (I used 1/2 inch hem on top and the other 1/2 inch for the bottom of the pocket) Decide where on the bag you want your pocket to go. Measure and mark a line 1/2 inch higher (from the bottom) than the bottom of the pocket.



Line up your muslin square with 1/2 inch hangover each of the side strap lines, and line it up with the new line you just marked with your muslin hanging down towards the bottom. Mark if you want, and sew a line 1/2 inch from the line that will become the bottom of your pocket.

Fold the pocket up along the seam and iron to keep in place. I used pins to keep the pocket in place while I sewed the straps.

Sew the edge of the belting to keep from fraying. Start at the bottom of the pillowcase and line belting up with the straps line. (The inner edge of the belting will be on the line)

Sew along the edge up the side. When you get to the top, lift the needle but do not sew across the top of the pillowcase. Move the needle to the other side of the belting and sew back down to where you started.
From the top, measure the belting as long as you want your straps (I did mine at 19"). Pin the belting in place at the top of the bag on the same side (sew up one side of the pocket and then down the other). This strap will go all the way down and continue up the other side until you get to the top. Do the same as before - lift the needle and move it but don't sew the top of the bag.

When you meet back up to the place you started, overlap the belting about 1.5-2", sew across the belting to keep it from fraying, and cut.

Now cut small strips of plastic canvas with the small squares to fit inside the straps. This will give the bag more of a structure. I cut mine 12 1/8" long and 5/8" wide. Thread into belting.

Now you can sew up the belting at the top of the bag to keep the plastic canvas inside. Also sew a line at the bottom of the plastic canvas on each strap so that it doesn't fall down the bag either.

Cut a piece of the plastic canvas (small or large squares, colored or white) to fit in the bottom of the bag. You can sew the remaining piece of your pillowcase around this if you want or just leave the plastic canvas.

Ta-da! And it's 100% washable!


I also did freezer paper stencils and fabric paint to decorate the pocket. Since this was a baby gift, I did the initials of the new baby, the number was the day he was born, and filled it with baby supplies. So cute, right!?


Needed: One pillowcase. Thread, bobbin. Muslin for pocket (washed, dried - no fabric softener). One or two sheets of plastic canvas (small squares). Belting (3.5 yards)

Happy sewing and if you make one - take pictures and let me see!

Wedding Bells

Congrats Emily & Aaron! I hope you guys had as much fun as I did today!

While the cat is away, the mice....craft.

While Carl was away on business, I had a few friends over for a craft night. We mostly stenciled and painted various things but we had some good conversation and a few snacks too. I promised I wouldn't post pictures on the internet of actual people, but at least I got a couple of the finished products.

Shauna's amazing train onesie

Karen's artistic flower bag

I only have a picture of Julie's material while she's in it so it won't get posted here, and I can't show you pictures of mine yet because it's a gift...but stay tuned. Thanks for a fun night, ladies!

Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts

I made this ravioli with a recipe from my favorite magazine. It looked good but I was a little nervous. Sounded too simple to be delicious - but it turned out to be a delightful explosion of flavor. You should try it - but make sure to watch those nuts as they're cooking because I burned my first batch (don't tell).

Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 20m Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 crisp apple (such as Braeburn or Gala), cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)

Directions

1. Cook the ravioli according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts and cook, stirring often, until lightly toasted and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the apple, parsley, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper and toss to combine. Spoon over the ravioli and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Here is a picture of mine.
Not bad eh? Maybe it's hard to tell on such a dark plate.

in a jam.

Strawberries were on mega-sale at Safeway which was a little sign from the grocery store gods that I should make that freezer jam that I've been wanting to try for years now. As I was strolling the isles at an un-named grocery store (Safeway), I was talking with my mom on the phone and asking what else I needed to buy to make freezer jam. She did some research on the Internet and basically came up with: "Well, honey, you need a lot of sugar". So sugar I bought (and pectin and cheetos in case I needed them in the process of making jam).

I consulted with some of my more domestic friends who are experienced in the ways of jam, and set off to make our supply of strawberry jam for the year.

Well...it actually took me a couple of days to get around to making it which stressed me out because they are very serious on the instructions about using perfectly ripe fruit. And, as it turns out, there is just a simple recipe included in the box of pectin that calls for strawberries, sugar, and pectin. Easy peasy. And....wah-lah!


Oh, and my year's supply of jam turned out to make exactly two and a half jars...which will last approximately two and a half weeks. I just wanted to leave room for improvement.

Cake Show Cakes

I went to the National Capital Area Cake Show and it was really fun. We mostly looked around at the display cakes, most of which were amazing. We decorated our own delicious cupcake and checked out some cool vendors. Here are a few pics from a couple of our favorite cakes.

Cake #1

I love the butterflies holding up the fondant ribbon

And this string work was incredible. Each string by hand!
Cake #2

This picture just doesn't do it justice. We went back to look at it several times.

I can't even imagine how long it would have taken these people to make these cakes. And I'm sure they weigh hundreds of pounds. It was fun to see the entries from all different divisions from beginner 4-year-olds to master. It was a fun day. Thanks for coming with me, Carl.