The Creative Salad

Gingerbread Friday

Another post in our First on Friday series where we share a new activity from the week.

Neither the toddler nor I had ever decorated a gingerbread house before. A friend gifted us this already assembled gingerbread house, so we were all ready to go!

In actuality, David and Miss Leyba decorated this tree. I mainly cheered from the sidelines and photographed the event. (I also may have washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen, if I need to disclose everything. Ahem.)

David squeezed the frosting (with Miss Leyba helping by holding the bag too — she has to be involved with everything) and Miss Leyba applied the candies all by herself (another big concept around here these days!).

The ants (common to Northern California cause our winters aren’t cold enough to kill em!) waited approximately 12 hours before storming the castle, possibly a Spritzer Leyba world record. I was sure they’d find it in an hour or two.

This morning we waved, said, “Goodbye Gingerbread House! See you again next year!” as David dropped the whole thing in the trash bin.

Nevertheless, the experience of decorating the house was SO worth it.

We’re looking forward to doing it again next year!

Last Minute Gluten-Free Holiday Baking

The holidays come around and I start planning dessert (not that I eat processed sugar, but that’s another post). I can’t help it. I married a chocoholic and evidently that’s catching.

As the countdown to Christmas continues, we’ve been busy baking in the kitchen. Here are links to two delicious gluten-free treats that we’ve made to share with friends this holiday season.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Quick, easy (just four ingredients!) and super yummy, we gobbled down these peanut butter cookies and even made a second batch cause they tasted so good. Incredibly delicious (and high calorie), they are dangerous to have around the house. Thank you to David for bringing the rest into work to share with his coworkers. I don’t need the temptation. So. Very. Tasty.

Peppermint Bark

I’ve always been a sucker for the chocolate and mint flavor combination. My favorite childhood treat? York peppermint patties. (Okay, and Entenmann’s crumb donuts! I haven’t eaten one in fifteen years, but my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I love those coffee-cake crumbles.)

In my mind, pairing candy canes with chocolate, whether it be hot chocolate (a great way to infuse mint into your cup as your candy cane melts!) or white and dark chocolate for peppermint bark, makes for the ultimate holiday indulgence.

Thanks to fantastic recipes on the internet, peppermint bark doesn’t have to be pricey or contain synthetic dyes (thanks to more natural candy canes!). In fact, making bark can be simple and downright inexpensive depending on your ingredients. I couldn’t locate peppermint extract in our small town grocery store to make the Bon Appétit version that Amanda loves, so I used a more simplistic recipe instead and it turned out just fine.

Super easy, with just three ingredients, this simple peppermint bark recipe makes for a kid-friendly baking experience that’s fun (hammers are involved!) and each step along the way tastes delicious. (Not that we were sampling. Ahem.)

Plus it looks so fine wrapped up ready to gift!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Holiday Wreaths

Remember the photos from our mama-only wreath making night? Making wreaths ourselves was a new experience for me and I found it to be incredibly simple, creative, gratifying, and such fun, especially when surrounded by friends! We used materials gathered from our properties: eucalyptus, pine, and redwood branches, rosemary, seed pods, redwood cones, and berries.

What an inexpensive, home-made and heartfelt holiday activity!

We’ve hung all our wreaths outside our entryway, greeting and bringing us holiday cheer each time we walk inside. I find myself smiling each and every time I come home.

(Corn angels, above and below, created by our friend, New Mexican artist Harry Benjamin.)

(My aunt made and gave us this beautiful wreath, below, featuring rose hips, pine cones, and bay leaves from her home in Oregon.)

Love all of them!

The experience has inspired me to start a tradition of seasonal wreath making — one for each season! I think the spring one needs grape vines, bird feathers, and eggs. It sounds so good, but we’ll see if it actually happens. Who’s with me?!

Hot Chocolate and Ginger Snaps

When I think of David’s grandma, I immediately remember her love of dessert. Strawberry desserts, chocolate desserts, pretty much any type of dessert.

When eating out, she would purposefully order a small meal in order to leave plenty of room for dessert. We love this about her.

When he was a child, my husband remembers occasionally stopping at his grandma’s house after school during the holiday season and indulging in hot chocolate and gingersnap cookies. To him, chocolate and ginger smell of Christmas.

In her memory, we brought the tradition of hot chocolate and gingersnaps alive this weekend.

Our daughter, who inherited the dessert-loving gene, savored every moment of our special snack.

Cheers to Grandma! We love and miss you.

Remembering Great-Grandma

David’s grandmother passed away on Friday in New Mexico. In the midst of our sadness, we’re focusing on cherishing our memories of her and celebrating her long life.

She was a classy, creative, kind, smart, funny, amazing woman.

With her children:

With David, her first grandchild in 1980:

At our wedding in 2005:

In 2008, meeting her great-granddaughter for the first time:

A year later, in 2009:

Giving Great-Grandma kisses:

Celebrating her 80th birthday:

We shall treasure these photos. Miss you, Grandma.