Christmas in the Lakes

Ok let's get to it.

I took the leaves off of the autumn wreath

To add this ribbon

I got a real three foot tree this year, but you can't tell because of how artsy this is~*

Spice up that vase of sticks with dead flowers and dying pine. My secret santa bought the teapot at Pier 1.

For our company secret santa exchange I decided to go with the theme of familiar fantasies which would lead up to my last gift.

"If there's a key, there must be a door!" Hobbit cookies. I wasn't crazy about the recipe or what I did with the icing, but I made the key out of melted down chocolate from a day in my Trader Joe's advent calendar. 

I made a paper snowflake Alice in Winder Wonderland wreath. I traced some of the Alice in Wonderland characters from the original illustrations and hid them between the snowflakes.

My mom gave me some cookies over Thanksgiving. I cut apart the box, lined it with paper, and turned it inside out to create a new box.

Suddenly we have a box of truffles. Like the Turkish delight from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

Wrapped up in string with a woodsy star ornament made from sticks and twine. 

A jar of honey and dried black-eyed susans remains. Oh bother. 

Swirl

Downtown Books & Coffee helped me find and order a copy perfect for gift giving.

My cast

The Youth Tour company

We ate and drank in socks and ugly Christmas/Chanukkah sweaters and exchanged our final gifts. Then we got caught in the unplowed snow of the North East. They say that once the snow starts up here we won't see grass until March. Luckily everything I need up here is within walking distance.

We went to Skaneateles for snow, lunch, and shopping. 

Inside Imagine

Vermont Green Mountain Specialty Co. has delicious chocolate

Anyela's Vineyard

We also stepped into Creekside Books & Coffee. They have great treats, new books, and trivia on Thursdays.

I went to Scotts to bake and this was playing. It's a set of four records perfect for Christmas time.

Scott does this thing where he writes his recipes on a board before cooking. This is how he avoids getting dough all over his laptop keyboard like me. 

Scott and I made ginger bread apple pies in jars for the casts 

Kirsten and I made vanilla and peppermint macaroons for the office staff

Ornaments for the cast made from a circular cardboard base from A. C. Moore

The lake froze

The tree at Buttonwood Grove winery was decorated with dried flowers and branches from around the estate. I bought a bottle of Blackberry Briar while I was there to bring home for the holidays. For me. 

Thanksgiving is that Time of Year...

I don't think anyone understands how much I love Thanksgiving. There are leaves on the ground, everyone is dressing cute with their scarves and sweaters, pumpkin spice everything is still in season, and everything is warm rusted colors.

Also, I've been away from home for about three months now, which doesn't seem like a lot especially for someone who went "away" to school for four years, but "away" for me was in a familiar city only thirty five minutes from home. I'm excited to see my family and friends back in Philly and Delco. Also, the food. I can't cook, and I try to avoid going out to eat, even though it happens often when we're on the road between shows. I'm looking forward to my mom's pancakes and my dad's chili and butter cookies and my Aunt Julie hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
In the mean time I'm decorating my studio and trying out dessert recipes.

Autumn tints 

Library snails

Fillmore Glen 

An autumn wreath made from leaves I found at Fillmore Glen and a coat hanger. 

New England Cranberry Duff by Martha

Mix the batter.

Put those cranberries and pecans into a pan.

Clare sprinkles sugar to make the pan look like a winter wonderland. 

Pour the batter in and bake it. When it's done it should look like this but maybe better but maybe worse. 

Put your serving tray on top of your cooled duff and then flip it so we see those delicious berries. 

My mom sent a table decoration

Sky-High Apple-Cranberry Pie by Martha

Scott and I had a dough making party the night before the Thanksgiving feast. I intended to make the entire pie that night but halfway through my bottle of Country Porch I fell asleep watching It's a Wonderful Life.

Ok so mix all this together. But actually mix as you add the ingredients.  Spread the lemon juice out as much as possible.

Sky high. 

Pie.

This magically fit into my tiny freezer. 

I'm probably not going to clean that until 2014.

So then we had a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. As national tradition dictates, we started eating before 4PM. Tables were pushed together in the dining apartment, and food was set out in the dinner and dessert apartments. 

I'm thankful to be spending eight months with a group of funny, creative, beautiful people, all of whom are excellent in the kitchen.