Merry Christmas and happy holiday wishes

Merry Christmas everyone! I’m feeling so grateful right now for my family and friends and time spent with them during the holidays. In my family we have some fun holiday traditions, like roasting chestnuts over an open fire on Christmas Eve and our annual cookie baking day with my mom, sister, aunt and cousins. A few weeks ago the first big snowstorm of the season blanketed my neighborhood with more than a foot of snow, which was so beautiful.
The snowy weather put me in the mood to decorate for Christmas, so we bought an “organic, free-range” balsam fir from Amelia Flower & Garden Shoppe. The trees, from northern Minnesota, are cut from the undergrowth of an old white pine forest to protect the larger trees from wildfires. I love being able to see the ornaments through the branches.

I tried a new gluten free cookie recipe with chocolate, quinoa and pistachio from Aran Goyoaga’s “Small Plates and Sweet Treats” cookbook. This fall I was so lucky to attend Aran’s amazing food photography workshop in the Dordogne region of France. (Check out some of my previous posts for photos.)

My favorite gifts to give are homemade, like this cowl I knit for my sister. It’s made from Star Thrower Farm’s Icelandic lopi yarn. The buttons are homemade, too; my dad cut them from a stick in his backyard for me.
Warm wishes and happy holiday to everyone! Thanks for following my blog.