DECEMBER…HOW QUICKLY YOU CAME AND WENT. december is our favorite month, and, of course, being our favorite month, it happened in a flash. wren and i spent way too much time – more than i’d like to admit – being sick and at the doctor’s office. fortunately, many fun activities filled our calendar when we weren’t sick. there were so many activities, we just didn’t have enough time for everything, including taking photos of all our to-do’s {notice only a handful of photos from the month. sad.} but, a few photos were taken, and the important things got done: we cut down our christmas tree; we had an impromptu photo session for our christmas cards at the tree farm, which involved a tripod and me running up and down a hill to take our photo {do i look out of breath in the photo?}; tommy and wren decorated the tree; we had many fun family days together, and a few not-so-fun-disaster-family-days that still keep us chuckling; we made cookies; we watched christmas movies; wren had her first performance in dance class and a musical performance at school; we shopped together for presents for family and friends; and we counted down the days for santa’s arrival. i’m pleased to say that wren was a good girl this year, so santa did make a stop at our home. wren was more than happy with the gifts he left for her.

the holidays are a sweet reminder of the abundant blessings we have, and most importantly, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. this year, more than ever, we were reminded of these blessings and are so grateful for all that God has provided for us this past year. i hope your holidays have been full of love and lots of joy!

no doubt, she’s a free spirit / the dragon and the princesses / uncle fester / blank canvases / wednesday and kitty
pumpkin train / empanadas + a date / sanchez super nougat {a once-a-year halloween treat} / new work for the shop

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HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT HALLOWEEN we sure did! wren dressed as a a kitty cat for a costume party we went to last week, and then as a dragon on halloween night. she was a dragon last year too, and loved being one so much she insisted on doing it again this year.  since i didn’t get a chance to blog about her dragon costume last year, i thought i’d show a then-and-now. she played the part very well by growling at people and then pulling off her hood to shout, “it’s okay! it’s just me, wrennie.” funny girl!

our good friends, the simpsons, love to celebrate halloween too and have inspired us the past few years to dress up. honestly, if it weren’t for them, i’d dress up as a ‘mom’. this year, they decided to dress as morticia, gomez, and pugsly addams, so we joined in on the fun too. i’d say we pulled it off pretty well – especially tommy with the most shocking transformation {he even did his own makeup}.

and because i love looking at halloween past: our first halloween as a family / old school halloween

WE LIKE TO PRETEND THAT IT’S VERY CHILLY when we visit the pumpkin patch this time of year. the truth is, it’s not. ever! it may be breezy {if that}, but that’s about it for the weather here in sunny california. this is how it goes every year before we leave for the pumpkin patch…one of us will stand on the front porch to check the weather, “hey! it’s kind of cold! wear a sweater!” we bundle up. sometimes we stop for a pumpkin latte. then, by the time we make it to the pumpkin patch, we’re ripping off layers of clothes as fast as possible, while searching around the car for bottles of water and our sunglasses. i really shouldn’t complain, but it would be nice to have two cold days during the year – pumpkin patch day and christmas tree day. you know what i’m talking about, californians?!

wren was really excited about the pumpkin patch this year. she finally understands pumpkins, halloween, candy, and dressing up. it’s so much fun! i didn’t think she would be interested in carving a pumpkin, instead i gave her markers to draw a face. silly me for assuming, because when she saw all the other kids carving pumpkins at a halloween party, she tossed the markers and begged tommy to carve a face for her. wren and tommy’s pumpkin is on the left, my bear is on the right. yay for pumpkins!

I’VE NEVER HAD MUCH SUCCESS MAKING RASPBERRY BARS. it’s one of the easiest desserts to make, but for some reason, it always ends up turning into a complete catastrophe. recently, i saw this recipe from ina garten’s new cookbook floating around pinterest and decided to give it a try. i’ve always had great results with ina’s recipes, and this one was no exception. these raspberry bars are incredible! what caught my attention about this particular recipe is that it calls for granola in the crumble topping. i’m obsessed with homemade granola and decided use my favorite recipe. if you would also like to use my granola recipe for these raspberry bars, i would recommend NOT baking the granola first, and do not add any nuts to the granola mixture {you’ll be sprinkling almonds on top of the bars before baking}. the granola should only include oats, honey, coconut oil, and coconut flakes {optional}. the granola will bake on top of the bars for 40-45 minutes and will be perfectly toasted. you will have leftover granola since not all of it will be used on the topping for the bars. just follow the remainder of the granola recipe by adding in the nuts, and bake the granola while you bake the bars. easy!

RASPBERRY CRUMBLE BARS
from barefoot contessa foolproof by ina garten
makes 12-16 squares

½ pound {2 sticks} unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour {i used whole wheat pastry flour}
½ teaspoon kosher salt
10 to 12 ounces good raspberry jam
2/3 cup good granola without dried fruit {see note above about using my granola recipe}
1/4 cup sliced almonds

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper {see how to do that here}

place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until combined {a hand mixer works just fine}.  with the mixer on low, add the vanilla.

sift the flour and salt together and, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the butter mixture, mixing until it almost comes together in a ball.  turn the dough out on a board.  lightly pat two-thirds of the dough evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan and about ¼ inch up the sides.  spread with the jam, leaving a ¼-inch border.  mix the granola into the remaining dough with your hands.  break the dough into small bits, and distribute it on top of the jam, covering most of the surface.  sprinkle the almonds on top.  bake the bars for 40-45 minutes, until lightly browned.

cool completely and cut into 12-16 bars.

LAST SATURDAY WE HAD PLANNED ON DRIVING into the city to see the cindy sherman exhibit at moma, but our plans changed when we found out over 1 million extra people were expected to be in san francisco over the weekend. there were two giants game, a 49ers game, the hardly strictly bluegrass festival, fleet week, and the america’s cup. so we decided to save ourselves the gas {hello $5+/gallon}, the pain of traffic, and stayed local by having lunch in downtown san jose at san pedro square market. have you been there? it’s a food lover’s paradise. there was live music and lots of room for wren to run around and burn off energy after inhaling a giant ice cream sandwich from treatbot. nice weather, great food, zero traffic – the makings for a perfect day – except for the parking ticket we later found on our car. oops!

LAST WEEK WE SPENT THREE DAYS AT THE BEACH for our annual church retreat. i believe it’s been our 11th or 12th year doing this, and we have so much fun every year. it was gloomy and cold the first two days – just how i like it – and a relief since it’s been very hot at home. the sun finally made an appearance on our last day, just in time for the kids to dig in the sand and play in the ocean. i mostly took photographs of waves and scenery, and virtually zero detailed shots of the weekend. i wish i had taken more. i suppose it just shows, with honesty, how i spent most of my time – looking at the horizon.

WE’RE IN JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SHOCK THAT FALL HAS ARRIVED with 80+ degrees lingering around lately it’s hard to truly believe the calendar. i’ve been pinning away fall-themed recipes in anticipation of cooler weather. tommy recently joined pinterest, and he’s started a very helpful habit of ‘liking’ my food pins. it’s a great system because then i know which recipes to try out. the other day a recipe for pumpkin donuts popped up on my feed – i repinned, he liked, i had all the ingredients – and then you know what happened? the most spectacular dessert happened! these little donut bites are AMAZING! i’m a huge donut lover, and these taste like the real thing, but better because they are baked, not fried. yay! i did make a few adjustments to the fantastic original recipe and i think my version is a bit lighter, fluffier, and has just the right amount of pumpkin spice. i’d like to play around with the recipe some more and make a few substitutions – whole wheat flour, coconut oil, possibly even other flavors like chocolate or maple glaze. i’m looking forward to experimenting. i hope you enjoy this recipe. it’s a great way to welcome fall!

PUMPKIN DONUT BITES
makes about 48 donuts

DONUTS
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin {not pumpkin pie filling}
1/2 cup low-fat milk

COATING
1 stick of salted butter, melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

preheat oven 350°F. grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin with baking spray.

in a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. in a large bowl whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined – do not over mix!

divide batter evenly with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. one scoop of dough in each muffin cup. bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

cool donuts on a wire rack for a few minutes. melt butter in one bowl and combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. dip each donut in melted butter, then lightly roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

wren’s first day of dance class / swinging {on the coolest tire swing} with a new friend / feeding tortoises / fun at paper source / dinner at our new house church gathering / painting campbell historical museum / the little organist

IT HAS BEEN A GREAT SUMMER the best i can remember. the hot days were few and far between and we had many fun adventures. it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to such a fun summer, but i’m looking forward to fall and all the exciting things the cooler months ahead have in store for us.