After taking a long overdue break to refresh, renew and reflect on the year that was, I’m back.
Let me catch you up. I enjoyed THREE advent kits this year. One from River City Yarns which had a theme of Stars and contained multiple little yarn kits for a variety of crafting fun and tools to accompany such as a tassel maker, knitting needles, crochet hook, recipes, patterns and treats. This was not at all what I was expecting but it was a delight to open a gift a day. I also purchased a traditional advent kit (24 mini skeins) from Traveling Yarn Co in Arizona. I have been working on the Habitation Throw from Helen Stewart. My final advent kit was a gift from my friend, designer LJ Stone. She hand dyed 24 minis, a full size skein in 100% baby alpaca and (what I suspect is skein) a surprise to open on January 15 along with goodies like a Fringe mini bag and a hand embroidered coaster for my desk. This is a true blue friend who knows me so well.
We also welcomed a new member to our pack in December. Speckman FrizzBae (known as Speck) is a 15 mo old Chorkie rescued through Snooty Giggles in Thompson Station, TN. He’s both a blessing and a curse. Imagine 6 lbs of energy who has the mobility of a cat. He plays from first thing in the morning until he finally crashes about 8pm in my lap. I cannot wait to start his training on the agility equipment this spring.
Baking continues. I tested out a new cinnamon roll recipe for Christmas. The secret is the heavy cream. I also was gifted Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads from my husband. I am planning to spend this year working through it – bread, then sweets. My first recipes was a display bread (intentionally inedible) of a Wheat-sheaf. It came out beautifully. However, it was not intended to rise, therefore has the consistency of a pretzel (and about as salty too) but the book recommended it as a first try in order to learn a variety of bread making techniques. I was also sent a recipe for a Panera lookalike Cranberry Orange Muffin. OMG, these were soooo good (and I’ve definitely been missing my muffins from Panera on Wednesday nights).
Listening: Where I Come From – Life Lessons from a Latin Chef by Aaròn Sanchez (Audible)
Watching: Bridgerton (Netflix)
In the kitchen: Cranberry Orange Muffins
On the needles: too many things – I need to finish some before I start more!
Off the needles: Fringed Bandana
New to me: 100 Great Breads: The Original Bestseller by Paul Hollywood (Amazon)
Old Dog, New Tricks 