They certainly don’t have to be in the shape of gingerbread men.  When I get the urge to make this recipe in the middle of summer, round cookies with plain icing is a good way to go too.

Happy baking!

The post Classic Gingerbread Men appeared first on home is where my story begins....

We have a cute little corner cabinet in our kitchen and I thought it might be the perfect spot.

**Side story… When we bought our house, 13+ years ago, the previous owner had this corner unit.  It was handmade by her grandfather and she loved it, but she had nowhere to put it in their new house.  She asked if I’d like to keep it.  Well, I love unique pieces like this!  It’s so cool that you can see the hand carving.

I bought a bottle of caramel syrup and two different types of caramel.  My favorite type of hot cooca is Nestle Quick, made with milk.  (Ok, my favorite is actually from Williams Sonoma but I can’t afford that all of the time.  Nestle works well for the amount of cocoa I serve at my house.) I put that in the cute jar with the jingle bells.  We also have some snowflake shaped marshmallows from Williams Sonoma, and I added the candy canes at my daughter’s request.

Aren’t those mugs the cutest?  I picked those up at World Market.  I saw them on someone’s Instagram and knew I had to have them!  I’m gradually adding some Scandinavian touches to my house and these are perfect.  They are also very large mugs, which gets two thumbs up from my daughter.

I stopped by downtown Snohomish the other day and spotted this little sign at Cinnamon Stick.  That was a no-brainer.  It needed to be the finishing touch on my hot cocoa station.

So, here’s your shopping list:

1. Hot cocoa mix
2. Flavored syrup
3. Caramel
4. Candy canes
5. Marshmallows
6. Cute mugs
7. A few decorations
8. Empty jars
9. A tray to house all cocoa related items

There you go!  This is all you need for a hot cocoa station.  I usually don’t have to go shopping to create my hot cocoa station.  Most of the time, these items are already in my house, but this year I really needed those mugs.  And who could pass up a tiny little sign that fit perfectly into the tray?

Happy decorating!  And happy cocoa drinking!

The post The New Hot Cocoa Station appeared first on home is where my story begins....

I found that cute little black bag, with picnic items inside, at Thorp Antiques over Labor Day weekend.  I’ve always wanted a small thermos collection and now I have my first two antiques!  For those of you who like my cute little bag, and live near Snohomish, I saw a similar bag upstairs in Joyworks for around $25 over the weekend.  I pictured my plaid bag looking nice near the Christmas tree, fireplace, or even by the coat rack in the entry.  I should almost run out and grab the bag from Joyworks myself!

I realized, as I was typing this, that I forgot to get my old sled out of the rafters in the garage, and I still haven’t been able to find my plaid wool blanket.  I’ll find those next weekend.

That’s the beginning of the of Christmas at my house!  There is so much more to come.  We had a fun weekend of decorating, Hallmark movies, and family.

Merry Christmas!

The post Christmas on the Front Porch appeared first on home is where my story begins....

This year, I made gingerbread cookies, snowflake shaped sugar cookies, spritz, spreads, peanut-butter cup-ish cookie bars, and peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses.

If you are interested in any of these recipes, just type the name of the cookie into the search bar on the blog and they should pop up.

Ok, now I’m really hungry for cookies.  I guess I’ll go chop some veggies for my snack instead.  Boy, I miss the Holidays!

The post Christmas Cookies appeared first on home is where my story begins....

The post Christmas Front Porch appeared first on home is where my story begins....

the first Christmas cookies of the season at our house!

Recipe for Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix butter and powdered sugar.  Add egg yolks and vanilla.  Mix in flour and salt.
Use a cookie press to shape cookie dough on a lined baking sheet. (I use a Silpat liner.)
Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes.
Frost with a powdered sugar and milk glaze.
Add sprinkles.
Let the Christmas baking begin!!!
This is my favorite cookie press. I’ve owned several cookie presses over the years and the Cuisinart Electric is the one I’ve had the best luck with.

I also highly suggest using a Silpat baking mat when you bake cookies. It makes the cookies just slide ride off the pan and have the perfect golden brown tint on the bottom.

Happy baking, Friends!

The post It’s Almost Baking Time – My Favorite Easy Spritz Cookie Recipe appeared first on home is where my story begins....

For the past 10 years, we’ve hosted friends and family and created the most adorable graham cracker houses.  Lining the table with butcher paper or wrapping paper is a MUST!  It makes clean up super easy. You just fold all of the garbage right into to paper that is on the table and clean up is done!

 

I had a lot of fun with my bokeh pictures too.  (Bokeh is the blurry background that produces the pretty lights from the tree.)

 

I ask every family to bring a candy item to share. My favorite candies for gingerbread house decorating are Lifesavers, Neccos, small candy canes, red hots, red and green M&M’s, Twizzlers Pull Apart licorice, gumdrops, and  pretzel twists. (Pretzel twists make great fences.)

 

 

When the kids were little, I prepared the house bases ahead of time, so all they had to do was add the roof and candy. I still prepare the houses ahead of time for Kindergarten.  (Actually, my parent volunteers prepare them.) Since my kids at home are bigger, we just build and create! Sometimes the candy houses turn into candy fortresses.

Here’s how I build the bases when young kids (first grade and under) are decorating with us.  The only reason I do the base for the kids is that it is very frustrating when you are 4 years old and your house falls apart every time you try to add candy.  Royal icing needs time to dry and harden.  Patience is hard when you’re 4. Building the house bases is really easy.  I start with foil covered cardboard.  They make simple platforms for the kids to create their “yard”. I cut the graham crackers with a bread knife and assemble the house base with royal icing.  I always use the royal icing to “glue” the house base to the platform. This is what an assembled house base looks like when it is ready for the party to start..  I make one for each child and a few extras in case we have an accident. 

I let the kids add the two pieces for the roof and all of the decorations.  Royal icing is best for assembling houses and decorating.  I usually make several batches of Royal icing and put it into individual quart sized freezer bags. (Don’t use sandwich bags because they pop.) When it’s time for decorating, I just snip off a small corner of the bag.

The recipe for Royal Icing is included in the package of Wilton Meringue Powder.  I buy my meringue powder at Michael’s.  If you can’t find meringue powder, I’m sure you can google a recipe for a similar icing that calls for egg whites.  I’ve always used the meringue powder recipe because raw eggs freak me out. (Unless, of course, I’m eating cookie dough.)

3 Tbsp Wilton Meringue Powder
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
5 or 6 Tbsp warm water

Beat all ingredients, with heavy duty mixer, until icing forms peaks. (7-10 minutes)

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

The post Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses appeared first on home is where my story begins....

The post Hot Cocoa Station appeared first on home is where my story begins....

Two days before Christmas, I finally fixed the bottom third of the lights on the tree.  (Our Christmas break didn’t officially start until Christmas Eve this year. I think I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.)   I’m one of those people who LOVES decorating for Christmas, but also can’t wait to get the mess out of my house.  We enjoyed the decorated tree for a few days, but it was undecorated and in the front yard by December 26th.

Maybe next year I’ll be able to enjoy it for a little longer.

Happy Undecorating!

The post The Christmas Tree I Never Showed You appeared first on home is where my story begins....

First up, the melted snowman ornament.  LOVE!

These little candies were delicious.  I wish I could show you what the peanut butter meteorites look like.  They didn’t make it to the end of the school day.  They were very tasty.

One of my girls described how she made soap with her mom and sisters. I’ve never made soap before, but it sounds like fun.

How cute are these little elf shoes?  

In addition to these cute little creations, several parents went in together on a gift, and I also received many cards, treats, and gift cards to a few of my favorite stores. Oh, and my favorite gift of all was an email I received from our assistant superintendent.  She had been sent an email from one of my parents, who just wanted to share a few things about my teaching and our classroom.  I can’t tell you how much it brightened my day teaching career! I have fabulous students and parents! I feel truly blessed.

Happy Holidays! 

The post A Few Favorite Teacher Gifts appeared first on home is where my story begins....