Getting crafty !

 Winter time - it's a slow season, days are getting  dark and long blending into the nights. It's a indoor season when  family time gets nourished from every side and angle, and one of the best ways to stay close, content and happy is to share moments of creative adventures. My kids like to sum this up in a great line: " Mom,don't worry it's cold outside. Lets get crafty ! " I have been hearing this every day, so we craft ...a lot :).

  Here is our new little obsession cover buttons. Yes, we have been making those for last few days and every single new button brings out smiles and amazement. I have been saving my precious fabrics scraps from all my sewing projects from my store, so now girls have a huge selection of patterns and colors to play with.

 


  These cute and sweet cover buttons bring tons of possibilities. They can be used to fancy up pony holder or headbands, so I got tons of those as well, just because girls can't stick to one color . Threddies is a great  Etsy store with great supplies when you have too many favorite colors.  You can also make endless amounts of button covered magnet collections using unique patterns and colors. The process of making button is pretty easy and very satisfying , kids 6 and up should be able to do it with a little bit of guidance . Honestly, I was holding myself back from taking over this craft, it is really a lot of fun. At this crafting speed most likely I will have to order more supplies next week, so far we liked this Basil and Fluffy for our supplier.

  

 And when the late night comes and all the kids are in bed, yes, mama instead of working sneaks few button cover projects here and  there. I will be posting those shortly. Happy Crafting everyone. Stay warm, happy and creative during these long days.

Happy New Beginnings !

It's been a while since my last post. This Holiday season was definitely the busiest ever. It looks like every year we have more ideas to bring to life and more friends to bake cookies for. Additional twist to this year's Holiday rush was  my 'Stitchinnetka' store that is growing so beautifully. To my surprise I got many orders to be filled, so I had no choice but to become a very busy Mama Elf for a month .So much making, baking and parting was happening .

  The Holiday rush was started once the Advent Banner was strung across the room ...every morning kids were jumping out of beds waiting for a new surprise and getting ready for a new holiday adventure .

 
  The most festive of all parties was Winter Solstice Celebration. It was extra special this year ,because we had whole families coming together for the night walk and happy gathering. House was filled with delicious food, cookies,laughter and heart warming conversations. It is such a empowering and beautiful experience to be surrounded by great friends during new beginnings .

   After weeks of  baking and making came Christmas Eve, the day when in our family we exchange the gifts For kids, definitely the most anticipated day of the year.  Apart form broken leg incident, Gavin was overloaded with excitement, it was a pretty happy evening .Kids stayed up late testing toys and new goodies, giving me the best gift next morning - sleeping in :). For busy Mama Elf Christmas Day is the day when mama become human again , and a big pancake breakfast usually brings me back to normal life. Festive and slow day is  filled with more gifts giving and receiving .

 


During Christmas break we had a day trip to NYC...only girls this time . It feels so wonderful to visit old paths during this time of the year. Bryant Park, as usual was wonderful  and charming, a bit crowed , but that is the beauty of the city as well.

   

  And yes, of course we were totally spoiled with the yummiest foods of all , starting at Eataly with glorious Italian coffee and heavenly dessert Diabella at 11am ! Through out the city, we were  tasting little and big treats, like gourmet pretzels at Bryant Park or accidental delightful sushi dinner on Upper West Side.To finish off the day we had many pots of tea accompanied by huge and delish  cupcakes at 'Alice's Tea Cup' .Yes, we do love adventures in NYC and it always becomes something to remember for sometime .
  And the last big event for the year was the New Year's Party. It was big and spectacular, filled with fabulous decorations, balloons, games,attempts to fly wishing lights and tons of confetti, that I will be finding around the house for many week to follow. Again the house was filled with friends, laughter and few wild dances.

  
 The new beginnings were celebrated with love and laughter sending us into the new year with open hearts. Thank you dear friends for sharing that joy!

Thanksgiving - Harvest Feast

 I'm pretty new to the idea of Thanksgiving. It has been 10 years of learning this tradition , and still very is so much to discover. As a vegetarian I do have a little bit different approach to that day. No pressure on perfect turkey that day in my kitchen.

 The most essential part that I so adore the most about that day is mandatory rule for all family members to help out with cooking.  So far I didn't even have to ask for help, kids just flee the kitchen with joyful heartwarming need to help mama with preparation of the FEAST.  Oliver and Maya are pro potato peelers and really wish for bigger gatherings and more potato dishes. So far we are stuck with sweet potato fries, baked mini potatoes and mashed potatoes...they said that next year we should have two more variations.

  Amelie is definitely my pro chopper, she actually manged to make Waldorf  salad all by herself !

 Delicious Waldorf Salad was one of my finest discoveries of culinary adventures during  my very first Thanksgiving dinner.Simple recipe : celery, apples, raisins,walnuts, lettuce and yummy dressing mayo/ yogurt/ honey with a little bit of chives totally blends beautify with potato dishes or succotash.

Apple Waldorf salad recipe. 

• 3 or 4 apples, unpeeled, cut from the core, and chopped into bite size pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1 cup celery, cut in long sticks
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted taste better
• 1/3 cup yougurt 
• 2 table spoons of mayo
•  honey, splash or 2 
• pinch of salt
• chives, as much as you wish 
• lettuce , about 2 cups, shredded or chopped

Don’t bother peeling the apples unless their skins are really unattractive. Cut up 3 or 4 of them, until you get about 2-1/2 or 3 cups of chopped apples. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples. The acid in the lemon juice prevents the apples from turning brown. The raisins will taste best if you plump them first. Do this by measuring them into a cereal bowl and adding enough warm tap water to cover them completely. Allow them to sit for a few minutes, absorbing the water, and softening up. Drain them very well when you need them. I actually squeeze them to make sure they are very dry. Chop up the celery, it should take about 2 stalks or so.Toast walnuts in the oven on 350F for about 7 min. Mix everything together in a medium sized bowl with the mayonnaise, yogurt , honey and salt, coating all of the ingredients with the dressing. It is now ready to serve, or you can chill it overnight and serve it tomorrow instead. This is so crunchy and chewy, perfect sweet and tangy salad.

  Another  great family tradition for that day is baking those delicious Rolls Baked in a Jar . Kids skip the rosemary part, but it still tastes pretty awesome, and they love the idea of many little steps of baking that goodness ...of course with grand finally of pulling out the rolls from the jars.

  
 And yes, those yummy rolls go fantastically well  with cranberry sauce, that  kids make. Super easy recipe, fresh orange juice, cinnamon sticks, maple syrup , stir it here and very and hear it pop .

 One of my favorite foods for that day is fantastic succotash , traditional Native American food dish made with primarily of corn  and lima beans or other shell beans. The very first step is very important - blanching onions with butter ! that gives the whole dish a little bit of sweetness. After that add peppers, red or green, saute a little bit, add beans and corn, cook about 15 minutes. I like adding herbs as well, sage, thyme and oregano bring a nice earthy flavors of harvest season.

  We also have mushroom spinach tart, baked brussel sprouts with almonds ( yum), vegetarian gravy made with mushroom stock and nutritional yeast ( yes, that is super yum ).

   The grand finally for the evening is the glorious pumpkin pie made with assistance of Oliver -my sweet pastry chef  and Maya -dough rolling girl .
 

 Making vegetarian Thanksgiving feast is totally possible, it happens every year in my house. We celebrate our family with delicious foods giving thanks for a delightful harvest . And we let one turkey run wild.

Adventures in Smorgasburg

 I do LOVE food, that is definitely one of my big passions, making it and eating it, and sharing that joy with my friends is the way I would spend the rest of my life I only could. Last weekend I was lucky enough to go for super exciting trip to my old neighborhood Williamsburg. The main reason was to experience the wonderful foods of Brooklyn's Flea Food Market - Smorgasburg  filled with local, fresh goods and  food/ health consciousness chefs, cooks, bakers. And yes, that was a very successful trip indeed. I'm so grateful to have a fantastic friend that shares the same love for food, she was my witness that all that amazing and delicious food was actually real, and it wasn't only my dream. It was truly difficult to taste all the goodness with only one stomach, but I must say we did manage to do a lot of tasting.

  My favorite food of all was homemade tempeh, absolutely amazing , I had to take extra home. Of course my little Maya the Sweet Tooth Princess was in heaven with the mini cupcakes and cookies that now I have to figure out how to make at home. This little sweet wheat free goodies called sandcastles are  on my 'baking challenge list'. Ingredient list is pretty simple : organic whole rye flour, organic extra virgin coconut oil , arrowroot , organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, organic pumpkin seeds, organic Vermont maple sugar, organic cardamom, guar gum...adjusting proportion will be fun :). If anyone has an idea how to mix it all up , please let me know.
  Also kids had a great opportunity to taste fresh homemade kambucha.Yes, the face expressions were unforgettable, now we will be trying to grow some yummy tea at home. One of my friends has started his little production already, can't wait to taste it . I will be brewing my kambucha after holiday madness. Yes, it is pretty exciting for sure.

   Now we have to wait till spring for more adventures in Smorgasburg. The market is shutting down for the winter season. And during long winter afternoons I will try to replicate some of the greatest foods I have eaten .