A Mom’s Year – Page 8 – Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

January 18, 2019

Seattle / Watson Kennedy and Capitol Hill

Lexie’s doing one of those programs where students take college classes while they’re in high school. Four days a week, she takes the ferry to Seattle and either walks or takes the train up to the Seattle Central campus on Capitol Hill. She’s had fun exploring the shops and cafes on her route and invited Lily and me check out a few of her favorites. The middle schoolers had three days off this week for conferences, so we took the ferry over to Seattle for a little mom-and-daughters time.

I couldn’t resist that bag with the Elizabeth Taylor quotation! It’s such great old-school advice from my grandmas’ era. It’s probably meant to be a makeup bag, but I’m going to use it for all the knitting accoutrements that are currently living in a plastic baggie.

January 16, 2019

Heyday Farm Chocolate Pecan Pie

When we first moved to Bainbridge, we didn’t know a soul. We’d never even visited the island! As part of our exploring, Lily and I took a pie-making class at Heyday Farm. It was the kind of thing we never seemed to have time for before we moved.

As we pulled up to the farm, we were charmed right away by the cheerful yellow 1890s farmhouse. Shari Stoddard, who has the wonderful-sounding job of “farm host,” escorted us into the beautiful dining room where cooking stations were ready and waiting. Our instructor, Tifanie Swolgaard Mitsui, taught us how to make apple pies and then we gathered around the big counter in the kitchen and watched as she demonstrated how to make a chocolate pecan pie. And then we went back to the dining room, where a delicious lunch had been laid out for us. Lily was twelve at the time and I was proud of her for jumping right into the pie making and the lunchtime conversation.

January 10, 2019

Some Thoughts on Cooking. And Soup.

After the holidays, I was craving the healthiest food I could think of. Even though I’d tried not to overdo it on the sugar because I knew I’d pay for it (I swear my fingers get achy if I have too much), the extra cookies and desserts and eating out added up.

And so I made this homemade soup.

January 9, 2019

A Very Hygge New Year

I think it’s safe to say that the Danish word hygge has firmly made its way into our collective consciousness. While the term is associated with coziness and evokes images of candles and woollen socks, I also think of it as another way to pay attention. To yourself, to your family and friends, and to the world around you. How’s everyone doing? Do you have enough to eat? Are you warm enough? Is there anything I can do to help? It’s the exact opposite of self-absorbed hedonism because to be truly content, you can’t just focus on yourself.

And so I was thrilled when I received not one, but two hygge-related presents for Christmas this year! Tim gave me The Hygge Game: Cozy Conversation in Pleasant Company. We read from the cards during Christmas brunch, dinner, New Year’s Eve, and at random times throughout the break. (The secret is to leave the game out on the table so people can pick up a card and toss a question out to whoever happens to be in the room.)

December 5, 2018

Harry Potter Christmas Countdown: Week Four

Day 22: Harry Potter Bookmarks (And a book!)

Since moving to the island two years ago, we needed to come up with new traditions of our own. One of the traditions we adopted is the Icelandic ritual of giving books and chocolate on Christmas Eve. But you could give out books a couple days early. Especially if you have younger kids who need to be kept busy during Christmas break! I think these bookmarks are so cute and you can personalize them for each Hogwarts House.

Day 23: Crepe Balls with Trinkets Inside

It was probably in Victoria magazine that I first came across Christmas Surprise Balls. It’s fun to unwind the balls and find little surprises as you go. And you have to love the riot of crepe paper everywhere when everyone’s done! To make these, you just need some small trinkets (for these, I used Harry Potter stamps and stickers) and some candy if you’d like. And then you just roll it all up into balls and secure each with a piece of tape. The best way to make these is while watching your favorite Christmas movie.