december 15: hot chocolate coziness

The Christmas season and the coziest time of year wouldn't be what they are without mugs of hot chocolate...and homemade marshmallows. This weekend, our temps dipped into the teens, which gave me absolute joy. And it was the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of our favorite homemade {pink} marshmallows, which we cut into mini Christmas trees, thanks to an old cookie cutter in our collection. And we curled up on the couch, put on a Christmas movie, and enjoyed hot chocolate in our new Christmas mugs. It was pure bliss! Our Christmas tree was lit and our (electric) wood burning stove was keeping us warm and toasty. Talk about the definition of festive coziness and comforts!

Snoopy was right..."nothing better than hot chocolate to get you through a cold day."

december 11: a very cozy collection ♥ christmas movie edition {vlog}

Hello, readers!

I'm back today with another Christmas video. In this one, I'm sharing my family's most favorite movies for the Christmas season. Many of these are childhood favorites of mine, filled with magical Christmas memories and nostalgia. I'd love for you to come by for a wee visit...I've got the kettle on just for you.

Join me here.

May your day be wonderful and filled with magic!

when you're a christmas cookie elf ♥ my baking diary

 

Welcome, dear readers!

  

 With Christmas baking fully commenced in many kitchens, I wanted to dedicate a post especially for the cookies that we baked two Christmases ago, as I never got round to sharing this. Every year, we have a few cookies that we make without fail. Then we enjoy picking out a few new recipes to try as well. And for the last several years, my sister has wanted to make a cookie box as a gift to our friends. So for the past couple years, she has taken charge and directed us in what needed to be done. I must say that her idea was splendid and the cookie box turned out beautiful!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies...

a yearly standby ever since before I can remember.

My mom grew up with this exact recipe.

These were my dad's all-time favorite cookie, and this was our first time making them since he passed away. It was a weird moment not having him popping in the kitchen just as they were coming out of the oven (he always had impeccable timing with that!) and asking for a few on a plate, hot from the oven, and a tall glass of fresh milk. He liked them on the crispy side...I prefer soft cookies, myself.

 

Madeleines...

My sister made these for the first time two years ago and we loved them. I am obsessed! 

Last year, she coated them in melted dark chocolate and crushed candy canes. 

Christmas is sweeter with the smell of freshly baked cookies.

Gingerbread Spiced Mixed Nuts...

a new-to-us recipe that my sister found.

These smelled divine and tasted wonderful, too!

Chex  Mix...

My mom always makes this at Christmas and New Year's and a few times throughout the winter months. It's one of my favorite snacks!

Gingerbread Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting...

I've tried traditional gingerbread cutout cookies before but have yet to find a recipe that I really love. So last year, I decided to try something different. I found this recipe on Instagram one day and they were a huge hit. I didn't love them myself, but my mom, my sister, our neighbors and friends all loved them.

 

Peppermint Candy Canes...

my sister made these for the first time last year. 

I am obsessed with these! They are so stinkin' cute and they taste scrumptious! I love how nostalgic that look, too.

Chocolate Covered Peanuts...

I make a huge batch of these every Christmas and they last for a long time as we freeze them in small baggies for when we want one or two each after dinner. 

Christmas Cutout Sugar Cookies...

It had been years since I made these and I remembered them last year, and boy, am I glad! I *loved* making these. I sed a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Hope's Table. They were a softer sugar cookie, and the flavor was on point. I made a declaration that this is going to be one of my yearly standbys from now on!

Butter Cookies...

 (far right side)

This recipe has been in my mom's family for decades...probably close to a century. We've made it every year since I was little, and we usually use my grandmother's cookie press. But last year we forgot where we put it after last Christmas. Does that ever happen to you? You think what a great place you're putting something only to forget where you put it. So we simply made cookie balls and added sprinkles and cherries. One of the simplest cookies on the planet, but one of the tastiest, too. Our friend has to guard these whenever we give them to her as her niece loves them and eats them all when she comes to visit. Ha!

Florentines...

my sister made these for the first time and while she said they were a bit temperamental, they tasted marvelous!

 

Cranberry Pepita Buttermilk Bread...

I cannot tell you how amazing this bread was! My sister found this recipe and it was a hit. It was gorgeous and tasted so incredibly good. I really wish I had a piece right now!

 

Meringues...

another first for my sister. Another tricky cookie (maybe because of the humidity in our house?) but yummy all the same. 

People who love to eat are always the best people.

~ Julia Child ~

Keep your Christmas diet balanced...

a cookie in each hand.

Even though she was a grown woman,  

she believed in elves and Santa Claus

and flying reindeer and sacks with an endless capacity for toys.

Furthermore, she believed that believing in these

things was the chief reason that she had

more fun in life than others.

~ Unknown ~

(It's rare when I find a quote that so perfectly describes me, and this is one of them. Because, yes, I still believe. Perhaps even more that I did as a little girl, and I believed so strongly back then.)

Seeing isn't believing.

Believing is seeing.

~ Charlie, The Santa Clause ~

I found the most beautiful, perfect box at Target for my sister's cookie box idea. And while we knew it wouldn't fit all the cookies we made, it held quite a lot. My sister arranged everything, and then I made a little "menu" so our friend would know what everything was.

The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood.

~ Richard Paul Evans ~

 

My sister made a bunch of these paper origami stars last December. We used some on our tree and then we attached one to the spiced nuts that she packaged in this cute jar.

And I wrapped the loaf of bread in plastic wrap and decorated with a piece of plain parchment around the entire loaf and finished with one of the origami stars and a label.

And, finally, whatever cookies didn't fit in the box, we made into a cookie platter. We always give our friend LOTS of cookies as she has extended family come visit her at the holidays and while she loves home-baked Christmas cookies, she doesn't bake herself. So we get to bake as much as we want and then give lots of it away to her and her family, as well as our neighbors. It's the best of both worlds because it allows us to bake all we want and try new recipes and such without having to keep tons of cookies in our house. We keep enough for ourselves and then the rest is out of our house.

One of the best, most fun, and certainly one of the most magical parts of Christmas is spending time in the kitchen getting to be a Christmas cookie baking elf...and of course, the result is delicious, too!

Thank you for joining me today as I shared this little baking diary...

I am so excited to begin baking for this Christmas season. Our baking this year is going to be quite different from years past as we've changed our standards with baking and such. We now only use dates, maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar and sucanat as our sweeteners, so we're going to be tweaking our old favorite recipes, as well as baking some newfound favorites. And perhaps, trying a new recipe or two, as well, because that's tons of fun. Ah! I can't wait!

What are you baking for the Christmas season? I'd love to hear!

december 4: a very cozy collection ♥ christmas book edition {vlog}

Hello, lovely readers! You are warmly invited to come visit me over at my little corner of YouTube for a cozy bookish chat in which I share my Christmas collection of favorites. Pour yourself a cup of something comforting, get comfy, and let's have a festive chat...

come visit me here.

May your day be a beauty!

december 1: small domestic liturgies

small domestic liturgies: 

tangible acts that integrate what we believe with what we do.

(Lanier Ivester, Glad and Golden Hours) 

🕯️🫖🪡🍶🧺📝

preparing for a cozy christmas & wintertime 🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️

The fires burn and the kettles sing, 

and the earth sinks to rest until next spring.

~ Clyde Watson~

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Warm greetings, lovely readers!

We have made it to the end of October, which also means that today is the final post in my 2024 Autumn Notes from Home series. And I wanted to end this year's series with a little something different. Today, I want to point to all things Christmasy and wintry...with the hopes and dreams and wishes for the coming months and inspire you towards the same.

Christmas is a favorite time of year for me. It holds many, many fond memories for me from my childhood and little girl years, as well as sweet memories of years not too far in the past as well as many hopes and dreams and wishes for Christmases in the future. I believe Christmas to be a magical time and a time to really let your inner child have some fun and delight. It's a time for whimsy and reindeer on the roof and a jolly white bearded man coming down the chimney. It's the time for cookie baking and carol singing and cozying up with hot chocolate in hand as you drive around town to admire the lights and decorations. It's the time for comforting movies and pulling out those old records and of candy canes hanging on the tree and stockings on the mantle. It's a time of peace on earth and goodwill towards others, not forgetting kindness towards ourselves, too. It's the time to believe in those little girl (or little boy) imaginings and knowing they're as real as they were when you were five years old. Christmastime. I just love it so much.

In our home, Christmas begins trickling in around the start of November. I begin playing Christmas songs sometime during the first week or two of the month, and we also start watching Christmas movies then, as well. We decorate our house, inside and out, on the weekend after Thanksgiving. That has been our family tradition as far as I can remember. Today I want to share some thoughts on preparing for Christmas and wintertime.

Before I begin, though, I wanted to mention that last Christmas I shared a home tour, so if you like that sort of thing, you can check it out here. The photos in this post are a little taste of that blog post...and video.

For we need a little Christmas, right this very minute
Candles in the window, carols at the spinet
Yes, we need a little Christmas, right this very minute
Hasn't snowed a single flurry, but Santa dear we're in a hurry

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Preparing for a cozy Christmas...

~ Select a stack of Christmas books that you hope to read during the season. It's especially fun to choose a stack of picture books, as the Christmas stories are so magical and oftentimes have the most gorgeous illustrations.

~ Make a playlist of all your family's favorite Christmas songs. I created a cozy Christmas playlist here if you'd like to check it out for some festive fun music.

~ Make a CD case just for your Christmas CDs...yes, we're old school and still prefer CDs. I love having a designated case just for our Christmas music. It goes from the car to the house regularly and gets used a lot.

~ Make a list of Christmas movies you want to watch during the season. 

~ Make a list of all the goodies you want to bake during December.

~ And also, make a list of anyone you want to gift those goodies to, as well as any ingredients and wrapping or packaging supplies you may need to pick up.

~ Give a tidy up to the area where your Christmas tree will go. We have two places in our home that we love putting our Christmas tree and each year, it just depends on what we're feeling for that Christmas. We sometimes need to rearrange or move some furniture as well. Tidying up the space ahead of time makes it a lot easier when we carry our tree in.

~ Make a list of any crafts or projects you want to accomplish during the season. I love doing a little something creative every December, even if it's just adding a few homemade ornaments to our tree.

~ Check your gift-wrapping supply stash and see if you need anything before the stores sell out of everything. We've been reusing the same gift bags for most of my life, but each year we do purchase some new wrapping paper. We also reuse bows and ribbons year after year, but it's nice to get them all organized into a bag or bin. And while we do reuse most of our wrapping supplies year after year, we also find it fun adding a couple of bits each year...nothing too crazy and we do make sure it can be used again and again. Wrapping supplies can get expensive, and it's honestly unnecessary to get rid of most of it each year. Simply reuse what you can. And as a little fun side note, it's really nostalgic and full of happy holiday memories to see the same bags and ribbons each year.

~ Make a meal plan for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ahead of time. In our home, the meals are always the same...for us, it's a beloved tradition. But we do like to make sure we don't forget anything, and we make a big grocery list of ingredients and then collect them throughout the months of November and December, instead of having to purchase a bunch of extra things in one go.

~ Check around your local area and see if there are any fun, festive activities going on that appeal to you. If so, make arrangements to attend...mark your calendar, purchase tickets, make fun plans.

~ Assemble or purchase an Advent calendar for your family. We have bought ones in the past that have those little pieces of chocolate behind doors to be opened each day of December. But, this year, I think we're going to make our own and put our favorite chocolates in to be enjoyed each day. This is fun for any age...at Christmastime, I think it's good and important to remember that you don't stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing. (George Bernard Shaw)

~ In our home, we enjoy and love celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, which take us to January 5th. To make these days special, we choose one special thing to enjoy or do each day. For example, one day we may go to a favorite restaurant or take hot chocolate in the car to drive around and see the lights one last time until next Christmas or we may have a game night and play board games and have a snacky dinner. Most of the things we do don't cost any money...but they're still so much fun. Last year, one of our celebrations was going to the theater and watching the new Wonka movie, which was a blast.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth,

for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:

it is the time for home.

~ Edith Sitwell~ 

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Preparing for a cozy wintertime...

~ Select a stack of books that you want to read during the colder months when you may find yourself indoors more often and settling in for earlier evenings. I enjoy choosing a few seasonal books with lots of snowy scenes, cozy vibes, or stories that take place in the wintertime.

~ And regardless of your age, choose some children's books or picture books to enjoy during these months, too. There's nothing as cozy as a really good and beautifully illustrated children's story.

~ Make your home as cozy as possible. I've shared so much about this on my blog, so if you need some inspiration, just have a peek around.

~ Pull out your seasonal mugs and place them in the front of your cupboard so they're easy to grab.

~ And while you're at it, make sure you keep ingredients on hand to make hot chocolate and pull out any seasonal tea blends and flavors. If coffee is your thing, make sure you have things on hand to make your favorite brew.

~ Make a list of recipes and meals that you want to cook for dinner during the colder months. I am never more inspired to cook than when it gets chilly outside and all my favorite things to cook are best during the autumn and winter months.

~ Add a layer to your bed for extra warmth and coziness.

~ Bring out throw blankets to keep on your sofas and chairs so you can easily grab one when you want it.

~ Hang some fairy lights in your home. Add a seasonally scented candle to your home as well. And if you love essential oils like we do, make sure you have warming scents on hand and look up some blends online to try something new.

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That's just some of the ways we prepare for a cozy Christmas and wintertime in our home. I hope it inspired you to do some fun preparation for coziness in your own home. Do let me know some of the ways you enjoy preparing for Christmas and winter!

✨🎄✨🎄✨ a cozy homey christmas at shady cottage ✨🎄✨🎄✨

Dearest kindred spirits,

I am ever so excited to finally share my 2023 Christmas Home Tour with you. I apologize for it taking so long to get finished. But I am quite pleased with how it all turned out and, even though there are Christmas decorations in this post, just think of this as a cozy, wintry home tour, as well. Though, to be honest, I love watching Christmas videos and movies all winter long. So I hope you enjoy...

This post contains quite a few photos, but if I may, I would recommend watching the vlog I made first. Then you can come back and see close up photos of different spaces in our home. I did not share all of our decorations, but I did share the main parts as well as some of our favorites. Also, you will notice that some of the shelves are a bit full of decorations and that is because we have cats. We have to be very strategic and careful in how we decorate, and no matter how careful we are, we always end up having to move a few things here and there. You will also notice one of the bookshelves has cat toys on it instead of decorations. That is done in hopes of distracting our kitty babies with their own toys and hopefully to maybe leave the decorations alone. Does it work? Sometimes. Ha!

So without any further waiting...

I am pleased to present to you my 2023 Christmas Home Tour video. I warmly invite you (and highly recommend) getting a nice cup of hot tea or cocoa and settling in your coziest spot with a blanket and a lit candle, and perhaps a cookie or two, and just getting really comfy, and consider yourself a welcomed friend into our home for a bit of wintry (& Christmas!) cheer...

You can watch my home tour HERE.

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 our home

Welcome to Shady Cottage, lovelies! 

A funny little side note about our garland on the front door...

this garland is from my grandparents' old house. They've been gone for nearly a decade and hadn't lived in that house for about five years prior to that. It was sitting in a box in our attic all that time, with lights attached and all. This year, we decided to pull it out just to look at it for old time's sake and lo and behold, it worked! How crazy is that?!?! Who even knows how long those lights have been on there! My Grandpa probably put them on there so long ago...we were so giddy with how pretty it made our front door.

O Christmas tree

the kitchen

Our kitchen doesn't have the best lightning, so do please excuse the lighting in some of these pictures.

This year we made clove oranges for the first time and it was a real highlight of the season for us.

We also finally succeeded in making dried orange slices! I had tried a few times before only to have them all turn black once and then not dry out at all another time. This year we discovered a secret! Our dehydrator! I'm quite literally obsessed with them!

the living room

Fun fact: My Grandpa made this shelf from a picture frame probably nearly 60 or 70 years ago. Those candle holders on the wall were also from my grandparents' house.

Do excuse the lighting in these living room pictures. This room gets literally no natural light and has terrible overhead lighting. It makes for a cozy feel, but hard to get good pictures.

Do you see the kitty toys on the bottom right shelf?

We love having a cozy seasonal ambiance on in the background with nature sounds when we're just going about our day. They're so cozy, peaceful, and beautiful. 

  I dearly love decorating the mantle for each season and holiday...

this weekend I'll be decorating a winter mantle.

(Oh, and the gnomes will be sticking around all winter long!)

my bedroom

I made this star out of wooden beads a few years back, and boy, did it test my patience. I do love how it turned out, though.

My Christmas bookshelf...

I love keeping a few small decorations out on it all year long. 

{{smiles}}

 a New Year's song for you

To end this post, I can think of no other way than to send you off with one of the most beautiful renditions of Auld Lang Syne that I've ever heard. I love the simplicity and subtlety of this version and it just gives me all the feels. Not to mention, it's from one of my favorite musicians, Emmet Cahill. 

Do take a few quiet moments and give it a listen here.

Thank you ever so much, dear kindred spirits, for joining me for this Christmas home tour. I'm delighted that you came along!

May your day be filled with beautiful small moments, dearest ones...

Until next time,

E 

♥