O Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me;

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me;

How often has the Christmas tree

Afforded me the greatest glee!

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me.

A present and a cheesecake.

This year for my birthday, Micah gave me a food processor, something that I've been wanting for a while. I had talked about buying one for over a year, but had always found a reason not too. Good thing I have someone that is willing to indulge me. And, really, sometimes the best presents are presents that you've written off buying for yourself.

Of course with any new kitchen gadget or electronic, it had to be christened with a great recipe. I chose this Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake. Boy, am I glad I did. It was decadent to say the least. I pretty much followed the recipe to a "t," so I'm not going to repost it here. But, I will be honest and tell you that this cheesecake almost came to a fatal end.

I made a ridiculously tragic mistake when I read the directions and pressed the yummy crust into my springform pan. Because instead of pressing the buttery, nutty, gingery crust into the pan itself, I somehow read that the whole pan needed to be covered in foil (Let's not go into the details of what had to be going on for me to have come to this decision).

Suffice it to say, I didn't read the directions carefully or thoughtfully enough

and I baked that beautiful crust in a foil lined pan.

And, oh the drama that commenced when I realized this fatal mistake of mine. This poor, innocent cheesecake filling almost got poured down the drain because I was up in arms that I had ruined the whole thing. Good thing I had Micah to talk me away from the edge and convince me to just re-make and re-bake a new crust. And you know what, it all worked out.

(Here I am fake smiling for the camera.)

After letting it cool in the refrigerator for 8 hours,

it was ready to be decked out with maple caramel sauce and topped with toasted pecans.

This really was great cheesecake. Very flavorful. Incredibly rich. And super creamy.

I'm not sure whether or not Micah would say it was worth all the trouble,

but it definitely was a worthy recipe to christen my new food processor.

It's a Woodstock Thanksgiving, Part II.

Seriously, where does the time go? I swear I just got back from thanksgiving break, and yet the plethora of christmas parties would dictate that the holiday season is in full swing. Sometimes the days just blur together and then all of a sudden two weeks have passed and it's hard to believe.

Well, since I already left you (two readers out there) hanging in suspense over the end of my thanksgiving, I suppose I'll finish that up before moving on to anything more recent.

Thanksgiving day started with a 5k run/walk. The whole family participated. It was cold, as evidenced by our facial expressions in the picture below. Micah and I finished in somewhere around 35 minutes, not too shabby for not training beforehand.

We were all pretty hungry when we got back, so it was a good thing that we didn't have to wait long for the snacking to commence. (If you want a full account of our menu for the day, see the post my sister wrote on it).

Our appetizers:

This year was my first vegan thanksgiving and it was darn good. We even veganized my grandmother's sweet potato casserole, which is an all-time holiday favorite of mine.

We also made this pretty and amazing cocktail: The Floating Star

After dinner, came the desserts.

And after desserts, there was thanksgiving dance offs via the kinect. Unfortunately, there is no photographic proof, but trust me when I say there's is nothing more wonderful than watching family members battle it out through mimicking some killer dance moves.

Lastly, I just want to give a shout out to these cupcakes fully decked out in their houndstooth finest for this year's Iron Bowl. We stayed in Woodstock for most of Saturday so we could all watch the game together. It was definitely worth it given that Alabama won and that these cupcakes were fantastic!

It's a Woodstock Thanksgiving, Part I

This year was the first year for my family to celebrate a holiday at a "kid's house." My sister and brother-in-law hosted in Illinois and we dubbed the occasion "It's a Woodstock Thanksgiving" (sounds like a great title for the next big blockbuster holiday movie).

We started out the festivities with a day in Chicago. We went to lunch at Karyn's on Green. My sister and I split a couple dishes, the BLT sandwich and the sausage and broccoli pizza. In my opinion, the pizza was better than the sandwich, but both were tasty. I also got the Southside cocktail, which was great, sour, but great. I would definitely recommend the restaurant to all those vegan and not.

From Karyn's on Green we headed over to the Willis Tower (formerly Sear's Tower). My sister had 4 free tickets that she had been trying to use for the last 3 years, and we decided to see if they still worked (Spoiler Alert: they did). Thankfully, we didn't have to wait in too much of a line. And, we got this winner of a photo from the lovely employees at the tower.

It was clear skies at the top, which made for great views.

Chicago is a really pretty city, with the lake right there and the river running through it. Whoever was the genius behind, "this looks like a good place to build a city," deserves some major props.

I love how this red building pops.

There are some seriously great views from the top.

We also took the opportunity to take a few family pics.

On the skydeck there are three glass skyboxes that overlook Chicago and if you have a fear of heights they will terrify you to even get close to them.

Micah was the most brave, stepping all the way out for longer than 30 seconds.

You can't tell, but this is Micah.

My sister and I, on the other hand, could only muster up enough courage to step out long enough for a picture to be taken.

As we were leaving, the sun was dropping and light was streaming in.

It was a great visit into Chicago and to the Willis Tower skydeck!
Stay tuned for Part II!

Wine tasting in the fall.

Who knew that vineyards go through such a beautiful process of changing colors in the fall?
New England, eat your heart out.

Thankfully some friends decided to go to Sonoma a couple weekends ago, so Micah and I tagged along and were able to witness first hand the vineyards in the height of fall colors.



It always amazes me when I go up to Sonoma or Napa just how beautiful and rugged and and so-not-city it really is. And, it is SO close. Oh the reasons I love Northern California!

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

The leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

by Robert Frost

Seeing the changing colors makes the changing of seasons more tangible, more believable, more real. Sometimes, being in the city, surrounded by what seems to be a constant shade of green, seasons can all too quickly disappear. It was good for me to see the reds and the golds and the purples, they tell me that the end of the year is near. That colder mornings and darker nights are coming. That the holidays are close and with it more purposeful time spent celebrating with those that we are closest to. These colors tell me of the richness of life and the fleetingness of its moments.

lazy sunday.

Yesterday was P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N.

It started with a whole bunch of pumpkin.

Homemade pumpkin spiced coffee.

And pumpkin cinnamon streusel pancakes.

Then it continued with a walk in Golden Gate Park to enjoy the WARM weather.

Followed by my new favorite!

Nutella yogurt dip (yes, dip is in the title, but if you're like me, you just eat it by the spoonful)

Seriously this stuff is incredible. I used the recipe link above, but I simplified/adjusted it a little. You need one small container greek yogurt (I used Fage, which is by far the most superior greek yogurt) and 2 heaping spoonfuls of nutella. Just combine the two in a bowl and grab a spoon serve with some fruit.

I love lazy days.

painting.

I like to paint. It's not something that I dedicate a lot of time to and it's more accurate to call it doodling with paint instead of painting. But, whatever it is, I enjoy it. And, given that I have a new space to decorate, I thought it appropriate to try to make something myself.

So this past weekend, while Micah was out of town reminiscing the good 'ol college days at his 5-yr reunion, I spent some time nurturing my creative process.

And this is what I came up with, it's a tree if you can't tell (which I wouldn't fault you for). I began by drawing in pencil on the canvas, allowing myself the freedom to erase when needed. Then, I painted over the sketch with black acrylic paint.



Afterwards, I realized I wanted to go a little more bold, so I painted over the whole canvas in red, progressively using lighter shades as I moved towards the center.



Then, I chose to add a few more colors to the mix, mostly different shades of gold. One of the things I love most about painting is the ability to mix paints. I love that adding just a little or a lot of one color to another creates a whole new palette. The color spectrum is truly incredible!



And now this piece has a home in my office. I like how it turned out. It adds a little bit of happy to a very beige room that is in desperate need of more decorating!