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Recipe: lychee martini

It’s the 18th. One week until Christmas. But I’m not stressing because we don’t celebrate Christmas. It’s not that I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas, because in my non-religious family’s house - we celebrated the hell out of Christmas. My mother always made a phenomenal spread for dinner with lots of snacks sprinkled throughout the day to keep us out of the kitchen. As I’ve said before, my family does not have a baking tradition - *I* am the baker. But I do remember that my mom would make cookies once a year: puffy hearts and rings. I think it was a kind of cream puff dough, shaped into… hearts and rings, and spread with pink and green frosting and sprinkled with almond slivers. That frosting contained almond extract, which I looooooooved. I thought my mom was the best baker in the world! Kind of like when I thought my paternal grandmother had really stumbled onto something when she made me my first piece of toast :)

a snapshot from christmas past

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Recipe: wassail

I’m in California now, wrestling with the suckiness of what hotels claim to be “wireless” connections… my ass. I can’t transfer any of the photos I shot today (yet). But I need to get this post off because I’m blogging each day for NaBloWriMo! Luckily, I planned ahead and have a recipe ready.

[Edit: With the help of my remarkable guy, we have photo-age! Thanks, Jeremy!!]

at denver international

puffy clouds between colorado and california

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Recipe: spiced apple cider

Alas, Alack. Today, the last day of summer, is near an end. Such a bummer, eh? Maybe for you… I think the majority of the people I know will name summer as their favorite season. Not this girl. No way. I’m sure most folks would peg me for a winter lover, but my favorite season is autumn. Honestly. Truly.

it has begun

I quite enjoy all of the seasons, but autumn has always been my favorite. It’s not just the fall colors, the cooler temperatures, and that softer light. It meant the start of the academic year, women’s volleyball season, September birthdays, Halloween, apple picking, chili cook offs. Now it means switching to flannel sheets, getting in those final hikes before the big snow storms, tuning my tele skis, gearing up for the fall shoot (camera, not rifle), hearing elk bugle in the morning mist, Kaweah’s thicker winter coat, more baking, dusting off the crock pot, watching Orion rising earlier and earlier in the East.

mingling of seasons

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