gift making, gifts and dinner

catching up again

 this week i've been in a chocolate brioche and english breakfast tea phase . . 

 and i finally used up the viennese sugar morgana had brought back from austria. sadly. 

 chanda made a hat for her ballet teacher's son whose birthday it was on october 10th. he's five now.

 and morgana made a ballet bag for one of chanda's friends who had a cooking class party on saturday, october 24th. 

 i was supposed to have pulled out the wider ribbon to fold over the rim of the bag, but i wasn't aware of this difference so the thinner ribbon was used instead . . it doesn't look quite as clean, but i guess it isn't too bad . .

 the finished birthday gifts with the card . . chanda made a pair of fingerless gloves and i picked up a pink flower hair accessory at bigelow pharmacy. everything went into the bag. it looked very pretty, and chanda says her friend is now using the bag for her pointe shoes, which is what it's for . . so that's good!

the cooking class birthday party held at rustico cooking.

 last night morgana made a tyrolian salad. she baked a few carrots and potatoes and diced them with mortadella, egg and apple. she made a fresh mayonnaise to go over it all. it was incredibly delicious!

 it's dinner time for the cats. they're hoping she'll toss them a few tidbits (she didn't) or at least feed them (she didn't . . but i did).

 stirring the mayonnaise into the salad.

 i almost forgot to bring out my cousin's bowls that i inherited. i purposely wanted to make the salad to serve in these bowls. i remember eating delicious salads like these in germany when i was there, and i remember my cousin serving salads in these bowls when i was at her apartment many years ago here in ridgewood, nyc (she was my mom's cousin and much older than me) . . so i wanted to combine the two memories . . and voila! finally . . 

 morgana also made homemade rolls . . 

 it was a very delicious meal.

 now what is she doing?

making brownies for her friend's impromptu birthday celebration today.

 here she's making the gift: a stationery set with homemade envelopes and paper. (chanda is working on her waldorf class lesson).

here's the maison kayser chocolate brioche bread for morning tea . . i've been visiting all the different bakeries in the neighborhood for their different chocolate breads . . chanda prefers the one from "fred" in the top picture.

knitting, sewing and cooking

chanda made an end of year gift for the two girls she babysits for . . 

two knitted bracelets with leftover verdant gryphon yarn . .  (well, i helped and made the purple buttoned one)

 and we listened to one of korrina's christmas gifts while sewing and knitting (c is still working on a costume for janet . . ) 

we listened and watched two lectures from the great courses: history of cooking.

 dinner this evening was lentil burgers . .

the lentils were mixed with peas, an egg, cornmeal, sautéed mushrooms and shallots and garlic, but our mix was too watery.

 i think we didn't drain the lentils well enough. it was difficult to flip them.

we ate them on a bed of lettuce leaves with lemon basil mayonnaise (diced basil leaves and grated lemon rind) . . 

back in the costume shop in the evening . . 

there's always something to add to this dress!

. . . and a snowy day

 it snowed off and on all day. 

the children from the daycare across the street had fun playing in the snow. it was wonderfully cozy at home . . and incredibly nice not to have to run off anywhere.

morgana worked on her gifts for the children she babysits for: homemade cards and window stars. they'll be mailed out in the next few days. chanda worked on her sturbridge application. she's applying for an internship just as morgana did. ummm . . hummm . . she seems to be eating here instead . . i wrote out christmas cards . .

thursday gift making

 i think morgana wrapped these gifts and put them under the tree. i haven't read the tags!!! who knows! one might be for me!

 our license plate is all bent out of shape . . ! after spending the morning at the DMV trying to get new ones, greg decided to fix it with duct tape. now it's back on the car and hopefully will last awhile.

 oops! sorry. i couldn't resist a pic of jack with his enormous paw . . 

where's the gift making? morgana whipped up a doily for grandma. we added a candle from my favorite neighborhood mom and pop pharmacy and put it in a box and i took it to the post office. i also mailed a box to my cousin and my uncle in annapolis, and a box to my cousin in california. finally! all the mailings are finished. they're even supposed to get them on saturday!

 morgana crocheted the doily with yarn spun by korrina. 

 we met our friends at the chocolate bar this afternoon, and exchanged gifts and holiday wishes. 

 chanda also received a birthday gift . . how to make macaroons! she and morgana are big fans of macaroons. however, after reading the instructions, they don't seem that easy to make! but i certainly hope they try . .

the other part of the birthday gift was a book on how to make snowflake origami.

 it even came with it's own scissor.

they created several beautiful snowflakes . .

we went off to dance classes, and sami and her mom went off to meet family for dinner.