Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't know if it's from having an Irish grandmother or simply being American, but St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated in my house.  Off to get this year's preparations, I leave you with pictures from last year's St. Patrick's Day tea.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time to visit Paris.  The city of light becomes even more aglow in the twinkling holiday decorations all over the city.  There's nothing better than grabbing a vin chaud at the Christmas stalls along the Champs-Elysées and enjoying the beautiful white lights on all the trees.  Here are some pictures from my first Christmastime visit to Paris in 2006.  Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone.

James Beard Baking Powder Biscuits

The holidays are a great time to give a homemade gift to friends and family.  There's nothing like homemade biscuits, fresh from the oven and slathered with butter and raspberry freezer jam.  I grew up on James Beard's baking powder biscuits, which are so easy that there is really no excuse for the frozen break-off kind from the store.  When I was younger, my mom would always give us a little bit of dough to play with ourselves and bake in the oven.  If you're still looking for gift ideas, you won't be disappointed by this classic recipe.

Thanksgiving Reflections

This year's Thanksgiving was very low-key and small but special.  It was the first year where I contributed a significant amount of cooking to the meal and it felt great.  I started the day before by preparing a gluten-free stuffing for M.  We didn't want him to miss out on all the traditional dishes.  The moment I smell celery and onion being cooked in butter, it feels like the holidays.  We had all our traditional foods this year--turkey and gravy of course, cranberry sauce AND cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, garlicky green beans, sweet potatoes, Pepperidge Farm stuffing, gluten-free stuffing made from Udi's bread, crackers and garlic & herb cheese, sparkling cider, and wine.  I made a gluten-free apple pie (using a store-bought crust) and a pumpkin pie from scratch.  After dinner, we ate pie around the fireplace in the living room while the rain poured in buckets on the roof.

Easter Decorations

{Easter egg wreath}

Easter in our house is always used an expression of spring and new life.  Here are some of this year's decorations brightening up our home.

{Left- Homemade Easter egg tree

Right- Edible Easter eggs and decorative hollow bunny eggs from Paris}

{Easter egg, rabbit, and carrot lights}

{Spring flowers in flower pot purchased in Bruges, Belgium}