Grow

I've never been a big fan of New Year's resolutions, but I have decided to focus on the idea of growth for the coming year. Kind of a four corners approach if you will: Grow spiritually. Grow as a spouse. Grow as a parent. Grow my business.
Grow.
Wishing you health, happiness & growth of your own sort in the coming year.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

Ah, perhaps my favorite day of the year. May you enjoy peace & calm, time with family & friends, and comfort & joy during this magical holiday season.

Easy Hostess Gift

If you're like me, you often find yourself scrambling for last minute hostess gifts as you head out to myriad holiday soirees. Determined to be better prepared this year, I decided to purchase a 2 lb. box of some of the best toffee you'll ever taste from Lowrey's, a gourmet candy shop in my old hometown. The toffee keeps very well in an airtight bag & is at the ready on my kitchen counter when I need to whip up a small gift for a friend. I keep a stash of small boxes on hand in my craft drawer to make the gift giving even easier. Friends always seem to appreciate the tasty treats & I love having a plan in place for easy holiday giving.

My Rock-Star Traveler

We made it back yesterday from a quick trip to Washington DC together. Charlie was an awesome traveler and I learned a lot from his first flight...definitely some things I will do differently next time. I'm working on a post to highlight what worked & what didn't on the trip, but in the meantime, here are a couple of pics of Charlie on the mall - with the Washington Monument & the Capital Building in the background. He was totally zonked out, but it was fun for mommy!

Quote

"The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear." - Socrates

I'm so excited!

We're having our first professional pictures of Charlie done today. Our friend, Neysa Ruhl, is coming today to work her magic on some pics of our family. I met her about a year ago at a photo shoot for Cincy Chic & was immediately struck by her enthusiasm for photography. Later, I had the pleasure of working with her organizing her very busy home office. I can't wait to see the results!

On another note, I laughed out loud when I looked at my calendar this morning. It says "Charlie's blanket done today." Sadly, this is not the case. Not even close. I started this "Hearts & Stars" blanket way back in the spring and worked on it here and there. It's a beautiful pattern written by Zoe Mellor. After Charlie arrived, I wanted to give it to him for his first Christmas. Always of the mindset that it's easiest to eat an elephant one bite at a time, I did a little math to see what I was up against. The blanket totals 332 rows, of which I had 78 done at the time. This left 254 rows to complete, meaning it could be knocked out in 84 more days working 3 rows per day. Ugh. Undaunted, I boldly wrote the goal end date on the calendar to keep me motivated. Well, the 84 days have come and gone and I've only managed to add another 30 rows or so to the blanket. Looks like Charlie will be getting the blanket for his first birthday instead of Christmas!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

One for mommy. One for daddy. And one for Charlie.

Managing Picture Clutter

I'm sure there are many professional organizers out there who bristle at the idea of a fridge full of magnets & pictures. I'm not one of them. I love seeing pictures of friends & family smiling back at me as I reach for my coffee cream in the morning or grab dinner out of the freezer. That being said, the sheer volume & clutter can become overwhelming sometimes, so it's good to have a plan to deal with it. Every December as Christmas card season rolls around, I pull all (ok, most) of last year's pics off the fridge, clip them together and date.

I store the picture packets in the same box in which I display incoming Christmas cards. It looks great sitting under the tree & is large enough to hold pictures from seasons past for years to come. It's fun to leaf through the old packets each year when I get the decorations out. New pictures go on the door where they'll stay for most of the year!

That was fast...

Wow, I'm glad I didn't pay the extra $5 for expedited shipping on the grocery bag order. I decided that I could wait the 5-9 business days it might take for them to arrive and still have time to ship completed gifts to those afar. They arrived today via UPS. The UPS guys were working in a team of two...a drive and a runner. Literally, a runner. He ran down my driveway, knocked & shouted "UPS!" and ran back up to hop in the truck as it sped away. Service that made me smile.

Reusable Grocery Bags

Reusable grocery bags fall under the category of things I think are really great, but haven't ever gotten around to getting for myself. I imagine some family & friends find themselves in the same boat. With that in mind, I ordered a dozen or so of these this morning and will use them as gift bags for some of my presents this year. I'll hang on to a few for myself too.

Consignment

Things are a little tighter financially for many of us right now. Last week I decided to drop a few items off at a local consignment store to see if anything would sell. I went through my closet this morning to see what else I might be able to part with. Turns out, quite a lot. I took 4 skirts, 2 blazers, 4 pairs of slacks & 3 sweaters to the dry cleaners this morning. None of them were particularly dirty, but all were kind of wrinkled from hanging out in a "maybe I'll wear these again someday" bag. Once I have them back from the cleaners, I'll swing them by the consignment store & get an update on my earlier drop offs. Hopefully I can bring in a little extra holiday dough - fingers crossed!

White Chili

Here is one of my favorite white chili recipes. I usually make it with chicken (rotisserie chicken from the store is perfect!), but I've found it to be a great way to use up leftover turkey too.

• 1 lb. navy beans
• 2 T butter & olive oil
• 1-2 onions
• 1 small can mild green chilies
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground coriander
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb cooked chicken or turkey, cut small
• 5-6 cups chicken stock
• salt/pepper to taste

If using dried beans, soak overnight, drain, rinse & set aside. In soup pot or dutch oven, saute onions in butter/olive oil combination over medium heat until translucent. Add green chilies, oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic & meat and continue to saute for another few minutes. Add beans & chicken stock to pot & bring to boil. Once at a boil, reduce heat & slow simmer covered for 1 1/2 -2 hours until beans are tender. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve with fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla chips & sour cream.

This recipe works great with canned beans too. Substitute 4-5 cans of white beans (navy, great northern, etc). Drain & rinse beans before adding to the pot. You can also adjust the heat level by adding a few dashes of hot sauce, using more chilies, etc. It's a very adaptable recipe!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you all a safe & happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Do Not Iron.

As I was feeding Charlie his bottle this morning, I was reading the tag on his bib. (Feeding a baby can be boring, so a desperate eye craving entertainment will read just about anything.) Standard instructions...machine wash warm, bleach if needed, tumble dry low. Do not iron. Do not iron? Um, ok. One thing that doesn't need to be added to my to-do list, I guess!

Trusted Resources

As I contemplate my holiday menus for the coming weeks, it occurs to me that out of all the cookbooks I have (not a ton, but more than 20, plus magazines), I continually turn to these three as my most-trusted resources.

• The All New, All Purpose, Joy of Cooking



• Baking, from the Williams-Sonoma Best of the Kitchen Library



• Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Matt got me the Joy of Cooking for Christmas 2000, right after we got engaged. I guess I had already gotten to his heart through a route other than his stomach, but perhaps he was trying to lay the foundation for gastric happiness in the years ahead. Actually, I remember him being a bit sheepish about me opening the book in front of my parents. It was (and still is) one of my favorite gifts, but I think he was afraid he might look like a boor for offering a gift seeming to suggest his future wife might want to brush up on her culinary skills prior to gettin' hitched. I don't think they minded a bit.

Anyway, I usually start with it & then refer to similar recipes in both the Baking & Barefoot Contessa books. I like to see how the recipes are alike & how they differ. Sometimes I follow one of the books precisely for a particular dish. Most often, though, it is some combination of the three put together. I think of Joy as more of a textbook - a way to get the best understanding of how a dish came about or has evolved over time. Baking & Contessa provide inspiration through gorgeous photography & sumptuous descriptions of each recipe.

So, wishing you happy cooking & baking this holiday season. I'll let you know how my goodies turn out.

Ta-dah!

Success! After a few hours (and only a handful of words we don't use at Grandma's house) the exer-saucer is up & fully operational. Thanks Grandma & GG!

Oh boy...

Charlie is on the verge of outgrowing his bouncy seat, so I decided to tackle the assembly of the new exer-saucer that Grandma & GG got him during their visit a couple of weeks back. It's proving to be a little more challenging than I'd anticipated, but I'm hopeful to have it all done by the end of the day!

May You Find a Trail Marker Today

I thought I'd take a minute to describe the header picture at the top of my page. I took it one sunny afternoon this summer when my husband and I were hiking in a nearby state park. Those of you who know us might laugh at the idea of us "hiking", but we spent a lovely afternoon on an easy trail and didn't run into any of the local fauna, which made the experience all the better for both of us. Seriously, I think we'd both go hiking all the time if we could be guaranteed no run-ins with snakes, spiders, bees, bears, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, as we moseyed along, we were guided by red dots painted here and there to mark the trail and keep us on the right path. I love how this picture captures the tiniest bit of one such marker on the tree in the foreground and follows the fence posts to points unknown.
So be on the lookout for your own trail marker today. These are uncertain times for many of us, but I do believe that signs abound to guide us if we only pay attention.

A Bottle in the Bag

When we brought our son home from the hospital, we were supplied with all kinds of goodies from the nursery. Formula & diaper samples, coupons, etc. At the time I had no use for these teeny tiny plastic bottles equipped with a screw-on cap that could be replaced with the pre-sterilized nipples the hospital also sent home. Now, however, I find them to be the perfect size to store an 8 oz. bottle's worth of formula powder. I keep a clean bottle & liner and one of these little jobbies at the ready in my diaper bag at all times.

Point A

"Just go out and make yourself useful." Peter Drucker

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Point A...the starting point. It is my belief that we should try to have a reason for all that we do. With that in mind, I'd like to state that the purpose of the Point B & Beyond blog is to first and foremost be useful. Useful to you. Useful to me. Useful.

So check in regularly. You'll find useful information to help you (and me!) along the path to point b & beyond.