Project 365: 2

Every year during the holidays, I put away our normal mugs and bring out the Christmas tree ones. They sit so beautifully in my hutch, reminding me with every morning cup of coffee that the holidays have arrived. They are a charming accent to my favorite time of year. They remind me that the time for relaxing and enjoying family has come. They make me happy. Trouble is, they really, really bug my husband. No, he doesn't have a personal vendetta against Christmas or Christmas mugs. He even agrees that they're cute. His issue, however, is that they're too small. You see, our regular mugs are HUGE. They hold 10 steaming ounces of caffeine. He's so used to having a truck load of coffee from a single mug poured down his gullet every morning that it is incredibly difficult for him to adjust when the holidays arrive- I mean, you guys, for the same effect with the small mugs, he has to get up and pour himself another cup! (Oh, the humanity!) So yesterday, when I packed up the adorable Christmas mugs and brought back out the old faithfuls, the hubbster rejoiced. (Literally- he breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed his excitement to have them back.) But for me, it was bittersweet. Putting away the holiday mugs means no more more baking cookies every week. It means no more wrapping presents, no more holiday music, no more warm fuzzies with the kiddos watching The Grinch as the tree glows softly in the background. Bringing out the big mugs means we're back to normal, back to work, and back to the necessity of 10 ounces of coffee every morning. It means I've got a whole 'nother year until my favorite time of year. Boo. (Is there a "bah humbug" exclamation for the non-holiday season?) But you know, it's not all bad. There are little glints of joy along the way to Christmas again. For example, my normal mug has pictures of my darling son on it, making for a lovey-dovey-caffeine-rush like no other. I guess getting back to normal isn't so bad.

2/365: Back to Normal
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Project 365: 1

I'm starting the P365 project this year. Every day, I'll post a photo. Let's roll. :)

1/365: New Year's Morning
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New Layout: Waiting on a Blessing

And a whole lotta waiting it was...

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What We're Eating: Triple Berry Turnovers

Recently I purchased a huge bag of frozen raspberries because I had this amazing idea to make about a million raspberry cream cheese muffins and send them to people as "I'm thinking of you" gifts. It was a sweet idea, wasn't it? Yeah, it was! But all the sweet ideas in the world are just frozen raspberries if they're never made into muffins.

Last week, I bought ANOTHER bag of frozen berries, this time a raspberry-blueberry-blackberry mix, for Thanksgiving. The hubbster doesn't like pumpkin pie or pecan pie (the two kinds of pies being provided by my mother-in-law) so I decided to earn some pie-points and bake him his own non-Thanksgiving-themed pie.

So I went to my freezer last night, and I had two half-eaten large bags of frozen berries. I was running out of room for all of my other freezer stuff (like the 10 boxes of Weight Watchers frozen desserts I've got in there). Something had to be done- and fast.

I did my normal problem-solver: www.foodnetwork.com, of course. And that's when I found heaven in the form of Triple Berry Turnovers- adapted from this recipe by the Neeley's.

WARNING: This recipe makes WAY too much filling for just 8 turnovers. We were happy about it, because we like berry stuff to accompany our vanilla ice cream once in a while. If you don't want extra, cut first six ingredients in half.

Triple Berry Turnovers

Servings: 8
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value per serving: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) frozen raspberries
• 4 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) frozen mixed berry blend (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium pot, combine the first 6 ingredients and mix well.
3. Cook on medium heat until berries are thawed and mixture is syrupy.
4. Allow to cool in refrigerator for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle on a well-floured surface and cut into 8 squares.
6. Place onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the edges of the square with the beaten egg.
7. Place about 2 1/2 tablespoons of filling in the center of the square, leaving 1-inch on all sides clear.
8. Repeat until all the puff pastry is used.
9. Fold the turnover into a triangle, seal edges with fingers.
10. Brush egg wash on top of each triangle.
11. Bake the turnovers until puffy and golden brown, about 16-20 minutes.
12. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

New Layout: From Smiles to Snark

I swear, when Aaron turned 3, he turned snarky. No lie.

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New Layout: Meeting Big Brother

We got some adorable photos when the kids met for the first time.

I made this layout for this Two Peas in a Bucket challenge.

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A New Baby = A New Scrapbook

Abby was born in August- that means I get to start her scrapbook! Here's the first layout:

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