‘Tis the season, whether we like it or not. I personally love it! So much fun getting together with old friends, sharing some sparkly, sampling baking made at special times of the year, remembering happy days from years past… and meeting new neighbors! I even love the whole shopping thing, searching out little baubles to put under the tree and surprising the people I love.
That’s why I happily agreed to help my daughter Kristina host an open house at her place this year to launch the holiday season. We are offering all of the above and hope you’ll drop by to say hello and wish one another a merry holiday.
Kris and I will be showing some of our hand-made goodies for guests to look over and sample.
Frame some memories
Kris specializes in creating beautiful memories from sea glass. Her earrings, pendants, necklaces and other accessories are crafted from glass pieces sometimes centuries old, pounded by salt water and sand on our sea coasts into glittery, almost semi-precious stones.
They are nature’s gifts to us, broken bottles repurposed by the waves into wearable jewelry. If we’ve collected the glass ourselves, Kris weaves our own memories into every custom piece she crafts. If we become enchanted with one of Kris’s pieces from glass she’s collected over many years at the seaside, when we wear it, we are honoring the history of the coves where the glass beached.
Many of Kris’s pieces come from the shores of Nova Scotia near where the Titanic was lost, one of many vessels from times past which has cast its glass treasures into the deep.
But she also has glass collected from British Columbia, California, Hawaii, England, New Zealand, and Italy, among others. Every shard has been carefully labeled and preserved in its natural state. Choose a piece from a place you enjoyed visiting and share the memories.
Vinny says: when things go wrong, carry on.
I have a few more copies available of the activity book I wrote, called Cook Up A Story. My collection of six adventures for kids 6-12 years old celebrates the family. Each story comes with recipes so kids can cook what they read. I use healthy ingredients when I can. Vinny Grette, the boy chef who hosts my book, offers his own take on cooking, with tips on the best foods for growing families, basic nutrition, food trivia, and cooking techniques… he even throws in the odd joke.
I’ve been busy sewing aprons and matching chef hats as a bonus for people who buy the book, which is available in different sizes and formats at a range of prices.
Whipped goat cheese with date and cranberry chutney
I’ll be offering samples of Vinny’s favorite recipes to enjoy with a nice glass of bubbly to toast the holidays. Some of the recipes are found only in my book. But many more appear here in Vinny’s blog. If you like them, you can whip them up yourself. Just enter the main ingredient in my search engine at the top of this post. Some treats on hand include:
- Banana pudding cake with raspberries and creme fraiche
- Sweet potato scones with lemon curd
- Melting moments, a chocolate drop cookie sweetened with fruit puree
- Peanut butter cookies with just three ingredients, none of which is flour
- Cranberry and date squares
- Mini chocolate and pear pies
- Turtle candies with no added sugar
- Ice Krispies
Hope to see those of you who live nearby drop in on the 27 November.
Leave me a comment here if you would like the address details.
Even if you don’t like browsing, come anyway…. Just for the fun of it!
Cook Up a Story 