December 2011

2011: A Look Back

by Lisa on December 30, 2011

A year ago today Jeromy and I were about to get on a plane to go tell my parents that I was pregnant. It’s amazing how much can happen in a year!

We bought a house.

We had a baby.

We celebrated our first anniversary.

And we have settled into life as a family of three.

Four, if you count Dixie.

Top 10 most popular recipes in 2011

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Quick & Easy {Chocolate Cake}
Something Sweet {Nutella Banana Milkshake}
Flavors of Fall {Pumpkin Whoopie Pies}
A Guest Post {Sea Scallops with Bacon Vinaigrette}
Baked {Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake}
Something Sweet {Chai Spice Cookies}
Pomegranate Champagne Punch
Baked {Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts}
Summer Soup {Gazpacho}

We will be ringing in 2012 with friends, full of thanks for what has passed and hope for what the next year will bring.

Happy New Year!

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My mom has been making this snack mix for as long as I can remember. She used to make it with Corn Bran, in fact, the cereal box is where this recipe came from, but they stopped selling Corn Bran in Massachusetts. She now uses Rice and Corn Chex but I think another good substitute would be Barbara’s Puffins.

Among our family and friends, this is a favorite at the holidays. We don’t go anywhere without at least one container to leave behind.

This recipe can easily be adapted to accommodate dietary needs. Instead of butter, substitute Earth Balance to make it dairy-free. Rice and Corn Chex are both gluten free so the only change that would need to be made is to use gluten-free oats instead of traditional oats.

Mom’s Snack Mix

Makes about 7 cups

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Rice Chex
1 1/2 cups Corn Chex
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the Chex, oats, walnuts, cinnamon and salt.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, honey and brown sugar. Heat over a low flame until the butter has melted and the ingredients are well combined; stir often.

Pour over the cereal mixture and stir until well coated.

Spread evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Stir, then bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. Be sure to keep your eye on it—you don’t want the bottom or edges to burn! Remove from the oven and spread onto wax paper. Mix in the raisins.

Allow to cool completely.

Store in an air tight container. It will last for at least a week, but I doubt you can resist eating it all in a couple of days.

I had to go and eat some snack mix while writing this post. True story.

Enjoy!

A very special thank you to my mom, who not only made this for me but also took the pictures Thanks, Mom!

Mom’s Snack Mix

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (about 7 cups)

1 1/2 cups Rice Chex
1 1/2 cups Corn Chex
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the Chex, oats, walnuts, cinnamon and salt.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, honey and brown sugar. Heat over a low flame until the butter has melted and the ingredients are well combined; stir often.

Pour over the cereal mixture and stir until well coated.

Spread evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Allow to cool completely.

Store in an air tight container. It will last for at least a week, but I doubt you can resist eating it all in a couple of days.

Dietary Adaptations

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Caroline’s First Christmas

by Lisa on December 28, 2011

Caroline’s first Christmas was a huge success. It’s true, she had no idea what was going on the whole time, but we sure had a lot of fun pretending she did!

The first thing we do on Christmas morning is put Baby Jesus in the manger. This year, Caroline took over doing it for us. With a little help from mama.

Then we opened presents. Somehow this little girl ended up being very spoiled by Santa, her grandparents and her auntie.

She was way more interested in eating the paper than what was under it.

Until she opened a toy. Then her eyes lit up. I think it was the bright colors .

Baby’s first monogrammed bag!

The presents just kept coming for this lucky little girl.

Mommy and Daddy received some great gifts too—Jeromy gave me a first edition, first printing of both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking! I am so excited to try out some of these recipes.

If you can’t tell from many of our pictures, we’re huge Red Sox fans. This year, the team is selling bricks at Fenway Park to commemorate it’s 100th anniversary. The brick can be engraved with whatever you want. So this is Jeromy’s!

Next time we go to Fenway we’ll be able to find our brick. This was the closest I could get to his ultimate gift—Red Sox season tickets.

Caroline had so much fun opening presents with her auntie!

After presents it was time for breakfast.

My mom makes cinnamon rolls every year for Christmas and this batch was her best yet. I’ll share the recipe soon!

Caroline wore her special Christmas dress for dinner with our family. And I just loved the little headband!

Caroline kept herself busy while the rest of us ate a delicious dinner.

Just to add to the fun of Christmas, that night, she found her feet!

Naturally, whatever she can grab goes directly into her mouth.

All in all, a wonderful Christmas spent with family. Even though Caroline is still little, having her added so much magic to the holiday.

Here’s to many, many, many more to come.

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May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

by Lisa on December 25, 2011

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Happy Holidays!

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On the First Day of Christmas…Vacation!

by Lisa on December 23, 2011

I cannot believe it’s already December 23! I only have one more present to wrap—unheard of for me. It must be this maternity leave thing

For Caroline’s first Christmas we flew up to my parents’ house in Massachusetts. Caroline is an old pro at flying, she did so well! She slept through take off, woke up, ate and then played with Jeromy and I the rest of the way. As always she made a few friends and got a lot of smiles!

My dad picked us up at the airport and Caroline promptly fell asleep on the way to my mom’s office for lunch. Those cheeks! They kill me.

Caroline was excited to meet her Sitoo’s work friends! Especially Tracey, Kristen and Michelle {thanks for reading, ladies!!}

Since we’re spending 10 day at my parents house, my parents decided to spoil their grandchild just a little bit more and get a jumperoo not just for our house {her Christmas present} but for theirs too. They’re crazy but we love them for it.

My dad is many things but a cook, he is not. Or at least, he wasn’t until he retired! Since he’s now at home and my mom is still working, my dad has taken over dinner duty every night. On our first night here he made dinner for us! Moo shu pork. Check out the mise en place.

The cook at work.

And dinner! It was delicious. I’m so proud of my dad for learning how to cook!

After dinner my parents and Caroline hung Caroline’s first Christmas ornament on the tree. This will live at our house but since it’s her first Christmas we thought we should have it here.

I have called Caroline Sweet Pea since she was born, which is strange because I’ve never called any baby Sweet Pea before, so it’s stuck as my nickname for her. Which is why my mom picked out this ornament for my sweet pea.