There is a lot to catch up on here.

For now, I’ll start with the smell of cinnamon and sugar and the pumpkin pie just now deposited into the warm oven.

It’s quiet here except for the halting sounds of my young neighbor practicing the piano. He’s started learning some Christmas songs now, although I’ve heard him sneaking them into his practice sessions since July. Do you know that song “Up on the Rooftop”?

Up on the rooftop reindeer pause
Out jumps good ol’ Santa Clause

I’m convinced it’s not a real Christmas song – just one that was written for new piano students. I can’t imagine a choir or a Christmas caroler breaking that out at a holiday event. In fact, I’m sure that it never goes on anyone’s list of favorite Christmas songs, but it’s easy to play and seems to find its way in to every child’s anthology of easy Christmas piano tunes. He’s moved on to a shaky version of “Deck the Halls,” and I’m feeling grateful.

I have until noon to bake my pie, sip some coffee, and enjoy the morning. I do like baking, but I rarely leave enough time to actually enjoy the experience. It’s usually done at a manic pace that leaves flour on my shoes (yes, it happens regularly!) and a ruin of dishes, measuring cups, and other assorted supplies towering precariously in the sink. It is not usually done meditatively -- where one has a chance to savor the smell of spices, ponder thoughts of thankfulness and shared hospitality, or most importantly -- stir at a gradual pace that does not leave bits of mixed ingredients flying through the air and deposited on fronts of cabinets and floors. This methodical state allowed me to catch a most grievous error in the creation of this pie, my first pumpkin pie ever. Perhaps I was reflective almost to the point of sedation, because I nearly added one tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon. Mayhem was avoided, but it was a close call and some spices had to be sacrificed down the drain although I did take a moment to inhale their delicious aroma before washing them away.

It is almost time to go and wake my husband(!) who doesn’t have the same affinity for leisurely, early mornings. And here is where we arrive at the explanation for my long absence. (I am supposed to apologize profusely here for being away – aren’t I? It seems to be a rule.)

I have been on a whirlwind since August, when Mr. Bunny Slippers and I started planning to get married. I think we did everything just slightly out of order and at a brisk pace that left some of our unsuspecting friends a little startled. There is a lot to tell about planning a wedding in just a couple of months while working a very full-time job. Despite our abbreviated schedule and intimate scale (families only), we did not skimp on details. There really hasn’t been space in my head to hold a single other task or thought.
So here it is November, on Thanksgiving, and I feel I am waking from a very long sleep in which I had some panicked nightmares and some of the most beautiful, lovely dreams I’ve ever had.

I return here excited (and a little nervous), but ready to embark on the holiday festivities. I feel v-e-r-y, very behind. It may not be sane, but I usually begin my Christmas planning in August. I’m realizing that this year I’ll have to scale back quite a bit on my “to do” list as well as my expectations. But I’m starting this morning, and I’m going to try to enjoy the things I can do – like making a pumpkin pie and recording these thoughts.

I hope you’ll come back and indulge me while I share some Christmas projects (some old, some new) as well as some details from our wedding day. I want to get them down mostly for myself and my family, but we did do a lot of the design and decoration ourselves. I think there might be something craft-related in there worth sharing.

So here’s to making space for the little touches and pies. Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The birthday and the triple chocolate mousse cakes were a success! Unfortunately, the birthday guy had to step in and help me in a couple of places which is certainly not ideal. I think not having a stand alone mixer can make a difference in these recipes since a couple of things needed to happen all at the same time. Any recipe that uses the phrase “meanwhile” more than once is probably above my skill level. However, we had a pretty good time making it, and I finally had a chance to use my sieve. Next time, I’ve promised him that we’ll take a break between rounds of mousse making. We did the milk chocolate and bittersweet mousses back to back, and I was a little bit of a task master there at the end.

I also would like to get bigger pastry bag tips like Martha suggested. I grabbed the All-Purpose Disposable Decorating Bag & Tips Set from Wilton while I was stocking up on extra ramekins. I loved the fact that I could just throw away the pastry bags at the end (my other set is not like that), but the tips still could have been bigger. I ended up using the star tip, and there’s a noticeable ridged pattern in the sides of the mousse cakes.

Everyone was pretty stuffed from dinner, and our favorite waitress brought us extra desserts since it was Mr. Slippers’ birthday. By the time we all got back to our mousse cakes, we could barely move let alone eat another dessert. Everyone stuffed in as many bites as they could handle, and let’s just say there were plenty of left over mousse cakes waiting in the fridge. They really are yummy. The mousses are very creamy and smooth with just the right blend of flavors.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Does anyone else subscribe to this magazine? This is a freebie from Kraft Foods, and yes, sometimes it does read like one big advertisement for Cool Whip. But they also have some clever presentation ideas and recipes. And did you see the part where I mentioned that it was free? I'm not a great cook. When I was a kid, my mom told me that the oven could burn me. Well, I took her very literally and have always had a healthy fear of cooking. I'm pretty good at desserts now. I think the lure of the sweet stuff is enough for me to get over my apprehensions. That and I just adore really cute looking desserts. But with actual cooking, I only know how to make –oh- maybe five dinners. It's kind of odd, but they're all pretty good (except the spaghetti – I mean, it's good, but I can't really call boiling pasta and warming up some Paul Newman's sauce real cooking, can I?)

Anyway, I really enjoy Food and Family because it's very seasonal. They always have a nice one at Christmas with lots of cookie recipes and packaging ideas. Here in Los Angeles, it's hard to remember seasons. Except for a couple of weeks where it's very, very hot, I can completely forget about summer. I'd like to plan ahead and, you know, sit around drinking watermelon juice and making sun tea. I'm a real fanatic for seasonal beverages. Sometimes I'll just drink them year round because they're that good.

Coming soon: pictures of the triple chocolate mousse cakes with details!

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)