An assortment of recipes, books, blog posts, or other things that inspired me this week.

Light ‘Em Up — An idea for the new year

Savory Spinach Bites

New Year’s resolution: Drink more water … with lemon/lime ice cubes!

The Best Broccoli of Your Life

How to make Resolution Subway Art — notice the “Eat More Vegetables!”

What is inspiring you this week? Please tell us about it in the comments below!

We are having a lovely, leisurely week here — lots of times for good books, new puzzles and of course, games.

Our family loves board games, and we love cooperative games best — the kind that encourage working together. 

If you haven’t played a cooperative game, the basic idea is that players work together toward an end goal. Individual players may experience successes and failures throughout the game, but the games are less about winning or losing and more about working together.

Or in our case, just being together.

In the past few months, we have discovered some new favorites like The Secret Door and The Jigsaw Mystery Pack.

We were so excited to receive Snowstorm this holiday from my mom.

And of course, there are our favorites, which never sem to get old. Our first cooperative game was Harvest Time. In this game, players work together to harvest crops before winter comes. Some years are better than others. But a “farmer” who is having a lot of luck with the harvest can help the other farmers so that everyone succeeds.

Max soon followed. And Max is a regular cult hero in our house because around that time we also discovered this book. So Max, the game character, has taken on some of Max the book character’s personality traits in our family.

Just ask Ellery: “Max chases mice and rabbits and squirrels. Not a pretty sight.”

In Max the game, players work together to save small animals from big, bad tomcat Max by tempting him with treats like catnip and milk.

Wildcraft teaches about medicinal herbs while players hunt for berries to bring home to grandma.

Other games, we’ve found, can be made cooperative, like The Storybook Game, which encourages players to work together to craft a story. We also like to work together to keep Pandabo from toppling, and we like to play Dinner Games during our evening meal.

We still play competitive games sometimes. We like Farkle, Uno and Blink especially.

We all take our wins and losses and know that if it gets to be too much, Max in right there in the cabinet waiting to chase some wildlife.

As my grandma used to say “You’re not going to win every time, kid.”

But that doesn’t mean that you should ever stop playing.

Does your family have a favorite game?

You know how I know that we are rushed — when we don’t eat a good breakfast.

I say a good breakfast can be anything from a bowl of oatmeal, to waffles, to breakfast burritos to smoothies, to a bowl of nutritious cereal with milk and bananas but no marshmallows.

But when we start grabbing granola bars on the way out the door, that’s when I know we are rushing around too much.

This week is a slow week for us. It is deliberately planned that way, as we enjoy time together.

So today we are making a batch of homemade English muffins. Yes, they take a while. But hopefully, we wil take a while to eat them too, as we spend a morning in our PJs with a stack of books, and maybe a few board games.

Dairy-Free English Muffins from Scratch

(adapted from Country Living)

1/2 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (warmed)

2 teaspoons cornmeal

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a small bowl mix water, sugar and yeast and let stand until bubbly or foamy.

Meanwhile, in an oven-proof bowl, mix flours and salt. Heat in the oven for 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a food processor mix flour mixture and yeast/water mixture. Pulse until combined. With the motor going, slowly pour in warm milk.

Continue to mix until thoroughly combined.

Place dough in a well-oiled bowl and let rise for an hour.

Remove dough and knead for three minutes. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide into 8 equal pieces, and form muffin shapes. Dip both sides in cornmeal and let rest for another 30 minutes.

Warm a skillet over medium-low heat. (The original recipe says a cast iron skillet, but I don’t have one, so I used a regular skillet and it worked fine over slightly lower heat.)

Toast muffins for 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until golden brown, making sure they are done in the middle.

Split with a fork and toast, or not.

Almost authentic, dairy-free, homemade English muffins — super fun!

Last week, I talked about family traditions — one of my favorites is the post-Christmas knitting.

I used to try to knit things for Christmas, but knitting on deadline takes the joy out of it for me. It makes it all seem so rushed and hurried, and I stop being able to infuse whatever I am knitting with goodness and happiness.

And so, as I pick up my needles this week, I am reminded of the sweater I knit for my son last year, and always, of my grandmother …

My grandma was a knitter, I have heard. I didn’t remember that about her.

She crocheted me a Barbie dress once when I was really little, but I had forgotten, I guess, about the knitting. Even when my mom gave me a knitted baby outfit at my baby shower for Owen, with the tag: “From Nanny” on it (she had knitted it for me when I was born), the dots didn’t fully connect.

Until I saw some old knitting needles at my neighborhood knit shop — they were great big aluminum ones with button-shaped tops. “The really old kind,” I was told.

And then I asked my mom, and she told me that my grandmother and great-grandmother had spent the years of World War II knitting sweaters “for the boys overseas.”

I realized then maybe where this knitting impulse had come from. I had wanted to learn to knit for years, and struggled to teach myself.

Finally, on my brithday two years ago, I asked for a knitting class as a gift, and my mom gave me just that. I sat at a big table with my teacher and she showed me the absolute basics, and I finally created a hat. All I had wanted was to knit hats for my kids.

Of course, after a while I got a little bored with the hats, and wanted to make sweaters. So I made a few of those.

Sometimes, when I am working on a project, I pause for a second and wonder if my grandmother had favorite patterns, if like me, she prefered wool in muted colors, if she wrapped her yarn the way I do.

I wish I had thought to ask her when I was younger.

When my grandma died, my grandpa asked me to take some things that reminded me of her. And one of the items I took was her button box.

I’m not sure why it made me think of her– she wasn’t much of a crafter in her later years, but the old cookie tin filled with buttons saved for decades somehow spoke to me.

As I finished up my most recent project, a hooded sweater for Owen, I needed some buttons. I planned on using 8 matching burgandy ones, but then I thought of that button box.

I was suddenly overcome with wanting to use my grandmother’s buttons on his sweater.

And so, as we drove down the highway toward St. Louis, I sewed 8 vintage buttons that didn’t match at all onto his brand new sweater.

I held those buttons in my hand for just a moment and pictured years before, my grandmother’s hands, soft and translucent skin, always cold, touching those same buttons.

I can’t help but picure those hands now, wrapping yarn around the needles.

I wish I would have thought to ask my grandmother about knitting all those years ago, but I have something almost as good now. I have the image of her knitting too, and I feel a deep connection, one that made me who I am, and that I can pass on to my own children.

Now is the time for slow days and a cozy treat. The house is calm again, and we are happy together.

Hot Cocoa and Snowballs

Cocoa

Prepare 2 mugs buy putting 1 1/2 tablespoons of chocolate chips in the bottom of each cup. In a medium saucepan bring 3 cups sweetened regular or vanilla almond milk and 2 tbsp coconut milk to a boil. Pour half of milk mixture into each cup and stir to combine. Sprinkle each mug with powdered sugar “snow.”

Snowballs

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup white spelt flour (or unbleached four)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped pecans

In a stand-up mixer cream butter and powdered sugar. Mix in vanilla and blend thoroughly. Add flour and salt and mix until fully incorporated. Add pecans and blend again until just combined. Chill dough for 20 minutes. Roll into balls and place on parchment-lined sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. While cookies are slightly warm, roll in powdered sugar.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

This Monday morning …

We are focusing on rest and family time. Did Christmas wipe you out too? Join us as we …

• Cuddle up together and indulge in some seasonal favorites — cocoa and snowballs.
• Begin knitting again. I am no longer a deadline knitter, but I love to knit all winter long!
• Whip up some homemade goodies for breakfast. This recipe will help you embrace the slowness of these in-between days.
• Gather around the table for some cooperative games. We’ll tell you about our favorites including a few newly discovered ones!

Stop by and say hi this week! I love to hear from you!!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.  ~Burton Hillis

An assortment of recipes, books, blog posts, or other things that inspired me this week.

Felt Candy Cane Tutorial

Hanging Paper Trees

Tiny perching gingerbread houses!

Cinnamon Glazed Almonds

Next Year!! Advent Calendar

What is inspiring you this week? Please tell us about it in the comments below!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my sister lately.

My younger sibling, whom I adore (despite early indications to the contrary) loves coffee almost as much as I dislike it.

This week, with my sibling on my mind, I decided to do a little experimenting with our family’s favorite banana bread recipe. I gave our traditional loaf a younger, hipper, more interesting sister.

The recipe calls for lots of chocolate, a bit of coffee and a dash of cayenne pepper. I call it Hot Mocha Banana Bread, but I could have called it, I’m Going To Miss That Kid This Christmas Bread.

Usually this time of year, we are quintupling our banana bread recipe to give out mini loaves for the holidays. This year, half of those loaves will have a few secret ingredients, including a bit of one of these, which my mom often leaves at our house after a visit.

See how much I dislike coffee? My poor mother has to bring her own. No wonder she ‘s always liked my sister better …

Traditional Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 /2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup extra light olive oil

the scrapings of one vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients until combined. In a separate bowl, blend bananas, sugars, egg, applesauce, vanilla bean and oil. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake in a well-oiled pan for 55 minutes to one hour, or in a cupcake tin for about 22 minutes.

Hot Mocha Banana Bread

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 /2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp instant coffee

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup extra light olive oil

the scrapings of one vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients until combined. In a separate bowl, blend bananas, sugars, egg, applesauce, vanilla bean and oil. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Bake in a well-oiled pan for 55 minutes to one hour, or in a cupcake tin for about 22 minutes.

Merry Christmas to my Nashville family. Love you guys!!

I know what you are thinking. That is some headline.

But I had to choose something that showed my excitement at discovering the BEST recipe ever for colorful and festive natural decorating icing.

Until now, I have been at a loss when it comes to cool icing for holiday cookies. The only products out there have trans fat or artificial colors … it’s an organic nightmare.

But recently, I tried the simplest recipe ever — just three ingredients. Ready?

• Organic confectioner’s sugar
• Organic cream
• Natural food coloring (this product always seemed a little pricey to me, but you need such small amounts, that it lasts a long time. Also, the colors are MUCH more vibrant that other natural food colorings I have used!)

And guess what?! We have bright green trees, pink snowmen, and all sorts of other fun cookies. The icing tastes great and “dries,” so the cookies can be stored and shared.

I start with two cups of sugar and add a few tablespoons of cream. I keep adding cream until it gets thin enough that all the sugar is incorporated, and it is easily spreadable. I then separate small amounts into small bowls and add coloring according to package directions to make lots of beautiful colors!

Happy Decorating!!