~~~~~Merry Christmas to YOU!~~~~~~

Dear Readers,

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope the holiday season brings you many blessings - of pausing to spend to spend time with the ones you hold dear and remembering the "reason for the season".

When I reflect on 2009 I know I will count blogging as one of the best things I did, for me. It was a leap and one that has proven to be well worth it. I thank you all for your support and friendship.

Our family will be leaving our little Forever Cottage tomorrow so that we may spend the holidays with family....I wanted to leave you all with these favorite words of holiday wisdom....from the magnificent Dr. Seuss himself!

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas....perhaps...means a little bit more!"

See you in 2010!

photo courtesy of Country Living

Tis the Season........

I have had a fairly relaxing holiday season...because I made the decision to make it so. Recently I have enjoyed some of my favorite Christmas 'events'.

Our community store hosted it's annual Santa visit. It is a wonderful event for our neighborhood because the kids feel like they really get a private visit with the big guy himself!

My oldest was too cool for time on Santa's lap this year - which broke this mommy's heart but the little one was very eager. I loved this photo of my 'baby' telling Santa she wants a Barbie Glamour Camper....because shouldn't camping be glamourous when you are Barbie? (Excuse the red eye!)



I have spent some quality time with this favorite appliance....



Using lots and lots of this....



To make many yummy treats like this.....



Ricotta Cheese Cookies

For cookie:

4 c. flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

For icing:
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. milk
Red and Green spinkles!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and reserve.

Beat sugar and butter until creamy. Reduce speed to medium, add ricotta cheese, vanilla and eggs and beat until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture mixing until dough forms.

Drop dough by level tablespoons, about 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets. Bake until cookies are very lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 2 minutes on baking sheets before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To prepare icing:
Whisk together powdered sugar and milk until smooth, adding more milk or sugar as necessary. Allow icing to set for 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Giveaway Alert!!!

Go check out my friend Kasey's blog . She is "closing" or "suspending" her online shop and is hosting a giveaway of leftover inventory! Go leave a comment so you have a chance to get the goods!

Sometimes the best gifts.....

are the ones you buy for yourself.

That's not to say that my thoughtful hubby and darling children are not great gift picker-outers.

They are.



But sometimes there are those special, unexplainable, and dare I say quirky, items that a girl can only buy for herself because...well...more than likely she is the only one (with the exceptions of her like-minded friends) who can fully appreciate their wonderful-ness.



I had purchased a french bottle drying rack from Tracey at French Larkspur and was able to pick it up from her when I went to Kasey's event in Illinois.

I had admired these beauties for a long time and knew it would fit perfectly in an ackward spot in my kitchen and serve as a perfect place to display some of my smaller ironstone pitchers.

Merry Christmas...to me!



What can only you buy for you?