It dumped about 3 feet of snow in our neighborhood over the weekend. Over 24 hours, Chris and my brother-in-law shoveled our driveway 4 times. It sure makes me grateful we got a snow blower back in August. While they were outside clearing paths, I was inside making hibernation-worthy foods. I really don't cook much, but when I go all-out I make sure everyone on
Instagram knows about it. I had a few requests for recipes, so here they are.
Hootenannies are an old family favorite. We have them yearly for our Thanksgiving sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa Newton's, and I make them whenever I need to warm up the house in the morning. The recipe is so easy, you'll have it memorized in no time.
Hootenannies (or German Pancakes)
Serves 4-6
- 1/4 cup butter*
- 1 cup milk
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup flour
Preheat your oven to 425F. While preheating place your 9x13 pan (I use metal) with butter in the oven. Blend milk, eggs and flour in a blender. Once butter is melted, pour the batter into the pan and back in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sides are browned and puffy. It's always fun to get Penelope to help me take the hootenannies out of the oven, the batter gets HUGE and deflates as it cools. Serve with cream and syrup. I served mine with
buttermilk caramel syrup using this recipe. It was divine.
When Chris and I traveled to Brazil 5 years ago, we were in Iguaçu Falls in May and it was freezing!! No one down there ever turned on the heat and since we were just backpacking through the country, we didn't have room to buy or pack socks and sweaters. I was cold to the bone. We walked past a little cafe one night and enjoyed the best hot chocolate I had ever had. It was melted chocolate that coated my entire insides and warmed me up instantly. Later, I found a place in Salt Lake that delivers the same kind of gourmand experience:
Hatch Family Chocolates. Starbucks's caramel hot chocolate tastes like hot water compared to Hatch's. Problem is, I can't make the 40 minute drive whenever I'm feeling a chill and chocolate craving coming on. So I made up my own recipe. This is for dark hot chocolate, but you can lighten it up by adding more milk.
Dark Hot Chocolate (the REAL stuff)
serves 2-4
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder, dutch process is best
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbs butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon OR chipotle chili powder (optional)
The biggest mistake people make when cooking hot chocolate form scratch, is not melting the chocolate properly. It takes a little bit longer this way, but the texture is smooth and amazing. Melt butter and heat milk in a small sauce pan over med-high heat. Turn down heat to medium and add sugar and cocoa. Constantly stir with a
wooden spoon until smooth. This will create a thick syrup. Once it's perfectly smooth, add milk a few tablespoons at a time until incorporated. I usually have a cluster of tasting spoons to test the flavor and temperature. I've usually added about 2 cups of milk by the time I'm done, then I continue to stir it until it's hot enough. Add flavorings and serve. Do not let it sit on the stove or get too hot, or else a milky film will form on the top. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
If you happen to have GOOD chocolate on hand, I use about a 1/2 a bag of Guittard/Ghirardelli's dark chips instead of cocoa sugar and butter.
I've had my jewelry in piles for months. Last Saturday, I finally took the time to sort out the giant ball of necklaces (Chris and I call it a necklace king), pair up all of my earrings and get everything out of reach of Penelope and Felix.
It's a shame I didn't do this earlier, this little corner of our bedroom looks so lovely now. It just so happens to be the first corner I see when I wake up in the morning, so it's nice to have that decorated and organized.
I used stuff I had around the house, save for the hooks I bought to hang all of my jewelry. Not bad, right? Check out all the handy DIY details and photos at Make and Takes.
Now on to hanging artwork and twinkle lights!
I was curious to see how the 
The top leather is a lambskin and the bottom is a cheap decorative suede that I found for 99¢ per square foot. It's pretty ugly as a hide, but after making it into a bow, I'm liking this a lot more. I love how the gold peeks out of the inside of the bow.
With the one die cut I made a pin, a hair clip, a fascinator and a pony holder. I'm pretty stoked about using these. Penelope is, too.
I was unsure how a necklace would work or if the bow would stay in place, but because it's made out of a heavier leather, it lays quite nicely. I made 7 bow-related accessories in about an hour. A great bang for your time/buck if you're doing gift swaps this year, or planning out a bunch of girlfriend gifts.
I couldn't resist putting this bow in Penelope's hair this morning. She loves it. She also loves her new thrifted "saved by the bell" glasses.
Or is that an Erkel reference? I can't quite remember. But they're hilarious and awesome.
Now to figure out how to make my own custom dies.
*This post is not sponsored. Product provided by 
The 
The Calligraphy Kit and Workshop is what I'm most excited about. My idea was to cut the stress of thoughtful handmade-oriented gift-giving. In the kit you'll get everything you need to give your loved one the gift of lettering, gift packaging and a hand-lettered personal note included. More specifically, here's what's inside:
Isn't that pencil cute? 
Write out a heartfelt thank you to someone tomorrow. Heck, write out 10.
I recently scored a ton of awesome envelopes, so I have no excuses for not sending out some heartfelt thank yous. I really hope you do the same. Let's remember what we're thankful for.
This printable is sized to fit a standard #9 envelope, a fold-over card for a standard A2 envelope or a simple postcard. Print this with a laserprinter on kraft paper and watercolor the graphic for a more hand-drawn look! If this doesn't float your Thanks boat, check out all these other Thank You printables:
This top is my new favorite, it's pleated with a peterpan colar and bishop sleeve. If it's not on my body, it's in the laundry.
I got these shoes on super sale at Target. They don't match much in my wardrobe, but they're darling!
I made this bracelet at 
I designed her celebrations logo for the videos (you can see it on opening credits). The process was really fun, working outside my very 2D graphic realm to create something with texture and depth. Color me addicted to experimenting like this.
Blair's latest video about the Thanksgiving table has got me thinking about my Thanksgiving traditions. Every other year we do a "Newton Family" Thanksgiving; we'll go over to my grandparents on my mom's side and eat like kings. Grandma always sets the kids' table with fun china. It's her "cheaper" stuff, but it's better than anything I have. She also has these brass goblets and flatware that she's busted out on occasion, too. The brass goblets are my personal favorite. More than table settings and food, however, is our painting tradition. I feel like I've mentioned this a few times. My grandpa sets out canvases and paints (and has since I can remember - I think my first painting was at 3 or 4), and we paint something. It doesn't matter what it is, or how it turns out, Grandpa is proud of our creations. He lacquers and frames each one and gives them to us around Christmas. We also sleep over (usually watch old family videos of Christmas parties past) and my grandma makes us 
I eventually came across 
The only problem with these cans was that they were not labeled accordingly. Items would usually get mis-categorized when company was over, but that's easy enough to remedy. I designed and cut out some vinyl stickers to attach to the bin. BAM! DONE.
I'm sure grubby waste and messy hands will gum up these stickers sometime in the future, but they're not too hard to replace.
How do you manage your recycling if you're not taking every recycle item outside to the large bin?
And precise I was! I had about 10 square inches of leftover fabric after making Penelope's sweater. That made me feel pretty awesome about my math skills.
And Penelope loves this sweater (despite her expression here). I have no idea what this facial expression is about. Maybe she's channeling a tortured artist vibe.
We had plenty of left over supplies, so we made a print transfer onto fabric and I embellished one of her shirts with it. Another very simple project, but she won't take this shirt off. She knows how to make this mama proud.
"Mommy! I told you, you can only take ONE picture!" She got so mad at me for snapping about 10 photos in this little mini photoshoot. She cracks me up. My sister cut bangs on Penelope last weekend, and I love them. It's been a little strange for me to get used to the look - for some reason she looks so much older!! Where did my little girl go?
Now that she is growing up and getting at an age where she takes direction well, we decided to collaborate on a fun (and easy) project together. Head over to 
Mine turned out really fluffy, but more directional than other coffee filter wreaths I've seen. I like that.
I didn't feel the need to take any process photos because this tutorial has been made a million and a half times, so here are a few coffee filter projects (and the like) below:
I came across these lyrics found in a song off of Fleet Foxes early E.P.s and these words just spoke to me and here they are. I hope you like these words as much as I do.
I nixed the pocket, nixed the cowl, shortened the sleeves, took in the bust and lengthened the skirt. I also sewed the drawstring on the outside, I thought showcasing the plaid on the bias was cool.
It took just over 3 hours to make, going slowly. It was a pretty easy pattern; nice not to think and just sew.
The plaid and yellow is a bit sweet, but it's all about styling. I'll be adding a chunky grandpa sweater with boots for fall/winter and gladiator flats in the summer.
I used twill tape for the waistband, but my tape was a bit too small for the casing, so 
We live in a very trick-or-treat friendly neighborhood and the weather was dreamy; which helped lift my sour mood. Chris offered stayed home with Felix and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. And we ran out of candy! That's never happened to us before!
I didn't do anything for the kids' costumes this year.
Felix was a race car driver (Ricky Bobby?) - I had almost forgotten about 
Penelope was so cute trick-or-treating! We went to a house that had full-sized candy bars with licorice ropes and giant pixie sticks. Of course Penelope chose the pixie stick. Then she insisted on making me carry the bucket while she went door to door telling all the neighbors about her "UGE" (she doesn't pronounce the h, it's cute) pixie stick!
The best part was when we got home and she tried to eat it. She dumped a bunch of pixie stick sugar in her mouth and started screaming for water. She was not a fan.
Another personal side-note: I took Felix to an audiologist earlier today. Since he's 20 months and still not walking or talking, I've been concerned that there may be something up with his ears affecting his hearing and balance. Well, we found out his ears are perfect. I'm thrilled, but still curious why he's taking his time with these major milestones. It's just a reminder that I need to be patient and enjoy this phase with him (and keep up the PT).
We had a great time this year. We went to a couple parties, had fun with our no-stress costumes and I even