1.// Thanksgiving – or as my sister dubbed it this year, Piegiving – was a culinary success! We bucked tradition (not an easy thing to do around here, because some of us – ahem, me – really like those) and skipped the pumpkin pie. My favorite of the non-traditional pies is coming to the blog one day soon!!
2.// We are almost, almost at the point where it’s fun for the whole family to snuggle on the couch and watch TV together. My youngest will sit for a couple of minutes, and so I LOVE – like, love, love, and drool every time – watching Kitchen Vignettes together on PBS. Have you seen these? Each mini-episode is just a couple of minutes long, and shows a farm-to-table recipe. Like, harvesting the corn, grinding it up, roasting the squash, mixing, baking, slicing, and eating roasted squash cornbread. In 3:01. So happy! And I love that the girls get to see where the parts of the recipe actually come from (i.e. not just the grocery store)!
3.// I was all excited to read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee since To Kill a Mockingbird was one of my favorite “required reading” books in school. And I couldn’t even get past the first couple chapters – it didn’t grab my attention at ALL. Such a bummer! Does anyone have a good book to recommend?
4.// This. Yes. Jenny, who writes the blog Dinner: A Love Story, hit the nail on the head with her post about cooking dinner when you don’t feel like cooking. I have laughably enormous cooking mood swings, and they can happen in seasons (where for months getting dinner on the table is a battle) and in the course of a week (where one night I happily putter around making something elaborate, and another I gnash my teeth and whine and serve peanut butter sandwiches). And “aspirtainable” just made me smile. Also it’s my life goal around here.
And definitely, definitely this: The Secret to Managing Toddler Tantrums from Julie at Happy Home Fairy. I’ve had the opportunity to employ this technique twice in the less-than-24 hours since I read her post, and it’s been hugely helpful both times in defusing a spiraling-out-of-control meltdown. Pretty sure this works for grown-up tantrums, too…not that I know anything about THOSE. :o) Don’t miss the cute free printable, too!
I did read both of these articles in December, but whatever, man. I’m, like, a total rule-breaker and it’s fine.
5.// I started my Christmas shopping with some Cyber Monday sale stalking and I LOVE having packages trickle in! Online shopping is my jam. What’s your method? Do you plan your purchases in advance or shop and choose on a whim? Are you already done or will you still be shopping Christmas Eve? What’s the gift you’re most excited to give this year?? Leave your comment below!! :o)
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Thank you for linking to my site! You are just so precious and wonderful and I LOVE your site! :-) I love your thought-filled posts. It is fun to hear your heart. God bless you, sweet sister!
I was really thankful for that article (and your whole "merry" series)! xo
Re. Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, which was supposed to be "the publishing event of the decade", I persevered through the whole thing, but was often confused, frustrated, and bored by it. So disappointing!! The only sections I enjoyed were those where Scout reminisced about her childhood. If it weren't for To Kill o Mockingbird, this book would not have been published.
Re. "Piegiving" (Thankspieing?), I loved All The Pies that you two made!
Re. Christmas shopping...very glad for gift idea lists complete with links to purchase them online!
And at Christmas our focus should be...hmm..pound cakes??