Christmas in the Kitchen….and a favorite recipe!

Welcome to my Christmas kitchen!

Thank you to Kelly from Talk of the House for inviting me to 

participate in her Christmas in the Kitchen blog hop!

As with the rest of our home, I keep the Christmas decor pretty

simple in my kitchen.  I tend to prefer natural elements.  

When my girls were smaller I started a Christmas snow globe

collection for each of them - this year I used them to 

decorate the open shelves on either side of my 

kitchen sink.  They are really the only non-natural element decor.

Our home is in Portland, Oregon.  When we purchased 

this home about four years ago, the cabinets were maple

stained.  We had them sprayed BM White Dove.  I also 

had my contractor remove two doors and convert

two cabinets to the open-storage/plate rack cabinet

you see below.

We also added the subway tile and the BIG Ballard Designs

lantern pictured below.  These pretty simple cosmetic 

changes made the kitchen more 'me'.

I love cooking and baking.

At Christmastime, I love to make homemade

treats and goodies with my two teenage daughters.

Since they were little, we have always made homemade

gifts for their teachers and our neighbors. I want

to instill in them a heart for giving and in my opinion,

homemade gifts are the best gifts!

This weekend we will make a triple batch

of our favorite granola recipe and package it

in jars I purchased at Ikea tied with a ribbon 

and personalized gift tag.  These make great gifts

for the special teachers and office workers 

at each of their schools.

I hope you will take some time to visit my fellow kitchen tour participants:

Jenny Steffens

Nine and Sixteen

Talk of the House

You won't be disappointed!!!

******

Below is our granola recipe.  We add dried cranberries to make it 

more festive but you could add nuts or any dried fruit! Also know, you

don't have to add the flax seed or chia seeds - I sneak them  in because 

they are good for you!  My girls add this granola to yogurt 

for a meal or snack.

** UPDATE - the first recipe I included was WRONG - coconut was omitted

which is very important!!!  This is why I probably never include

recipes on my blog!!!  Ugh!!!  Will Pin this correct version!