a belated christmas post

december was a whirlwind with lots of crafting, baking, and cooking in preparation for christmas. we hosted christmas dinner which was a lot of fun. the baking highlights were the loaves of no-knead challah bread i baked for gifts (keeping one loaf for ourselves to munch on), the cherry pie (my first ever cherry pie, made with sour montmorency cherries i canned during the summer), and the Chocolate Cake with Cloudburst Frosting (my attempt to make a cake as beautiful as the cakes on Posie Gets Cozy - my second layer cake ever). i also used my pie bird for the first time. it vents the steam in the pie and prevents it from bubbling over, plus it is really cute!

the knitted basket, acorn baby and jar of jam were a gift to my daughter's amazing preschool teacher. other than that i didn't manage to accomplish very much of my crafting wish list. i did knit my husband half of a scarf. i wrapped it up still on the needles and have been working on it every moment i get. i made strawberry pants for my son and my daughter's doll, but not for my daughter. at the last minute i gave her the doll pants and now her biggest wish for her birthday, in three months, is to get a matching strawberry outfit for her so she can match her doll. ok, i think i can do that. i already have a yard of heather ross' briar rose red strawberries in jersey. wouldn't it be great to make the pants out of that and then a dress or shirt (for her and the new doll - her name is cupcake -) in the lilac strawberry color way?

the dala horse ornament and wooden christmas tree are new this year, purchased at a scandanavian festival. it was wonderful. next year i'm going to buy a bigger dala horse that i can have out year round!