A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

Craft-a-Day by Sarah Goldschadt

Snowflake cupcake toppers for Snowflake Week

Santa brought Lily a book called Craft-a-Day by Sarah Goldschadt, and I think it’s my favorite gift of all this year. The book is full of simple, handmade crafts for every single day of the year. And I love that each week has its own theme: Gnome Week, Pirate Week, Circle Week, Mittens Week, etc.

The crafts are simple but very stylish (the author is Danish-American, so she’s got that cool Scandinavian-vibe going). Over the course of the year we’ll be making magnets, cupcake toppers, garlands, cards, gift tags, and wall art. [Read more…] about Craft-a-Day by Sarah Goldschadt

Scandinavian Almond Cake

Have you ever had Scandinavian Almond Cake? It’s so delicious, I could eat the entire thing myself in one sitting. The cake has a wonderful texture, soft on the inside and just a little crunchy on the outside, and manages to be rich and light at the same time.

There’s a special pan called a rehrücken that gives the cake its curved shape and ridges. In the past my mom has used my partly-Swedish Grandma’s cake pan, but this year my entirely-Norwegian aunt gave us each our own pan for Christmas. And she did the most amazing presentation: she found beautiful glass plates just the right size, placed a package of almond extract inside the pan, and wrapped the whole thing up in white tulle and ribbons. Gorgeous.

The almond cake would be great for any get-together or—our favorite—with cocoa after coming in from skating or sledding on a cold winter’s day.

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