We made a gingerbread house, a new holiday activity. Granted, we bought a kit with the pieces already made. Care of Trader Joe’s. I did have to make the icing, so that counts for something. Decorating left to Miss S. I was curious what it tasted like so broke off the top of the tree one night. Someone noticed.
And the finished product, prior to the tree piece going missing…
I love sending mail. So this time of year, I love to send holiday cards. And I like to go to the mail and get them. My mom always hung them up around the doorway in the kitchen. I’ve taped them up on the wall as you enter our apartment, so I can see them when I come in. Love it.
At about 3 pm on Friday I decided the girls needed to get out. So we ventured up to Bryant Park with the Ergo to check out the holiday festivities. A stop at the Blue Bottle, a stroll through the holiday shops and some views of the ice skaters made for a nice Friday afternoon. What’s next on the list of holiday sights to go see?
When the same Christmas tree truck is parked on 9th Ave. The family comes all the way from the Pacific Northwest and sets up here for the month, and they’ve been coming since we’ve lived here…
When they hang the thousands of strands of lights in Chelsea Market. So many you can feel the heat radiating off them…
When there are Christmas tree displays throughout the city…
And when babies get bundled up for the cold weather…Ok, this is me just including this picture because she’s cute.
It’s official. It’s the Holiday season with a capital “H”. I love everything about it. So there may be more posts than usual this month. You’ll just have to indulge me. I have Michael Buble’s Christmas tunes playing at this very moment.
Let’s start with the Marzipan doughnut at Doughnut Plant. The star yeast doughnut is back, along with other seasonal flavors: gingerbread and panettone.
We also have a very picky bread eater among us. She really likes Eric Keyer seeded breads. Where did this child come from?
I love sending holiday cards, and wish I had gotten my act together to get them out sooner this year. But I also love to cover a wall with the ones that come in. I think I’ve blurred enough so that you can’t identify anyone specifically (to protect the innocent!).
I’m big into pictures to capture the moment…it also helps cut down on the clutter. There will be no flipping through 50 year old cards or childhood drawings in this house when I’m 80.
Last day of 2012 and finishing off the year with a bang dessert wise. Let’s just say it’s been hard to hold back. Mom’s Christmas Cookies for breakfast? Sure! Munson’s chocolates at 11 am? Why not!
There are a few desserts that are here every Christmas. We’ve had our fair share of stories around these…I think the pie didn’t quite make it into the refrigerator one year (landed on the floor) and we’ve used some really nice whiskey for mom’s Whiskey Cake.
The Chocolate Pie: homemade chocolate pie, always made Christmas Eve. And I’m the official chocolate melter. It’s a perfectly timed mixing of ingredients to make one darn good chocolate pie.
And then there is the Whiskey Cake. It’s always made right after Thanksgiving, with plenty of time to sit and let the flavors enhance. It’s a dense cake, with nuts and raisins, and the faint flavor of whiskey. This has been made for years and years and years.
Another great holiday season in NYC and with the family. I know I post quite a bit about food. I enjoy the experience, I love trying new things. And I just like taking pictures of it.
I love Christmas in NYC. How many times can I say that? Walking down the street, bopping along to Christmas music on the iPhone…got to stop and take a picture of the trees.
These cookies from Leckerlee are in my wheelhouse. Lots of spices, nuts….it’s everything I dream about in winter. Mark brought me home a chocolate covered one and I ate it for breakfast last Thursday.
On Saturday we walked to the Lower East Sid to visit the Melt Bakery Shop and Sandy was there baking them. The store smelled WONDERFUL. They had samples out and plenty of tins for purchase. I’ve eaten, I’ve sampled, I may need my own tin. Lebkuchen are a traditional German cookie and Sandy puts her own spin on it. Check out her site here. She bakes them in the Nuremberg style, which is apparently very difficult to make. They come with chocolate or plain.
Stop on by Melt to check them out!
Oh, how I do love it when the tree people come back to New York, when the buildings are lit, and it’s Christmas in the city. It’s officially December and I’m ready for the holidays!
Jillie of All Trades 