Chocolate Cafe

Back in February Abigail participated in the Chocolate Cafe. I love the snow falling down picture in front of Town Hall with her sweet friend. 

Oh gosh I was not a good picture taker that night. I wish I had taken more -- even if it was just my phone. 

But they are memories and I just have to have them here. 

 

The Cutest Little Dorm Room in the World

I love when I come across a picture of what my childhood bedroom looked like (although in my memory forever, it's fun to see the flowered wallpaper and what I had on my desk). And it's fun to find a photo of one of my years at college - what did I have on my desk then? What was hanging on the walls? It transports me right back in time. Suddenly I'm 9 again or 19 again. Even finding a picture of our first married home is a treat - suddenly I'm 23 again. 

So naturally I take pictures of Anna's dorm room and I'll plop them here so she can look back one day. 

After spring break, mid March she moved back in and together we picked out all of these sweet little spring things: 

Love this little "hello sunshine" mat that greets her after classes

She has the sunniest, happy room. On the left is her "couch" all cozy with a quilt and pillows. I didn't take a picture of her bed since she was just bringing back her bedding all fresh and clean after break. 
 

A little vignette for spring to make her room cheerful

Even a sweet Easter egg garland! 

So glad Anna is in the right place. We so love Holy Cross. And still once in a while pinch ourselves that she is there! 

Next time I go I'll be sure to take a quick picture of her bed and how it all ties in with the colors of her couch. Home away from home! 

The 65th Pops n Jazz

One year ago, almost to the day, Abigail asked if she could go to the concert at her school called Pops -n-Jazz. There were a lot of people she knew in it and some of her friends. 

Sure, we said. We got online to get her a ticket and there was only one ticket for one of the 5 shows. We bought her a ticket and that was it - sold out. Her one ticket sold out the show. 

So in 2022 she came home (late) that night (I couldn't believe that it didn't end until 10pm) and she told us, "I'm doing that next year." Solid. Just like that. 

Pops -n- Jazz is difficult to explain. It is a concert. It is a musical. It is dancing. And she wanted to dance. Oh boy did she. 

She talked about it since attending last year over and over. 

Scott and I weren't sure of the time commitment or sure if we would allow her. 

But when September rolled around she worked with a friend to record a dance audition. And she got in! 

Still hesitant, she presented us with a slideshow of the details, her promises, how it could work. 

But she was already committed to viola both in school and privately. She had a very full sophomore year class schedule ahead of her, her health concerns were a concern as well. 

But she wanted this more than anything we'd ever seen so we made some 'rules' and decided for this year to give it a try. 

And the last two weekends were the show. 

Here is a little "what it's about" video that was made before opening night: 

And honestly, when she walked onto that stage with the biggest smile we'd ever seen we knew that she had found a passion in herself, one that we didn't foster, one that just came from her. And that made it such a treat to experience as parents. So here are few pictures of those shows: 

Holy Cross Concert

First time Scott and I went up just the two of us for our girls orchestra concert.  It was lovely, a date. And sometimes we can't believe she is there -- she is playing -- that orchestra is hers. Swoon... 

 

In case you'd like other posts like this, you can check out: 

Click HERE to see the concert from Freshman year in the fall

Click HERE to see the concert Freshman year spring semester

Click HERE to see the Freshman year April concert including the choir

Click HERE to see the Sophomore year concert in the fall 

Snowflakes

Well our first snowstorm of the winter and it's almost March! That is unheard of in Connecticut!  I was getting so used to no snow that I was already moving on to spring in my heart. Little did I know that winter was not over with -- and that's quite okay. 

Because today was a S N O W  D A Y !!! We got the 'no school email' around dinner time (although we all kind of knew it was coming). Perfect timing for this soup hot off the stove. Bubbling, spicy, warm, savory, and the cutest name in the word: Cowboy Stew! 

Here' the recipe - so easy, so cozy! 

I decided after dinner we needed a pie tomorrow on our snow day to nibble on throughout the afternoon of being snowed in. So Scott offered to run to the store just before the snow got bad. I needed a few things for this pie recipe -- I wanted to try a new one. This one is called Country Fair Candy Apple Pie -- the name had me swooning already. It's a pie that had promise of tasting like the candy apples you get a a fair! Oh boy! 

I made the pie dough and pie crust at night and froze it -- I always fill and bake my pie with my crust frozen. It comes out so much better that way. 

Late in the evening I could hear the snowplows scarping along (one of my favorite sounds of winter). There's nothing cozier than the dark of night, pajamas, hot tea, and the sound of the snowplow. Bliss. 

When we woke up in the morning after sleeping soundly under heavy down comforters, it was a wonderland of snow. 

There are two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

~Albert Einstein

As much as I love seeing all that pretty snow I wanted to spend my day in my country kitchen, although we did go for a walk in the afternoon! 

As soon as the weather calls for something that might possibly be a snow day we plan out a really fun breakfast. This year we prepared the evening before an egg casserole and boy was it good! And it was fun to slide it in the oven early in the morning while Scott and Abigail were sleeping. 

We had a lovely roast for dinner and then P I E for dessert. Among all of that were lots of cups of tea, homework for Abigail, and just some rest. 

I was thinking today how blessed I am to be a homemaker - a full time classroom teacher I am too - but I still consider myself a homemaker. I might not be in my home the whole day but in my heart I am. There are just some things that make it lovely. And when I'm making a new recipe like today's Candy Apple Pie there are a few things I like to do to make it easier on me: 

Tip One: If you can with a new recipe, try to have one part that you've done a million times. For example, if you are making a new soup, have the rolls/salad/bread/whatever that you've made before so many times you don't even have to think about it. For me, I used the same pie dough recipe I always do and the crumb topping too - so the only new part was the filling. 

Tip Two: Clean up your kitchen before you start a new recipe. Make space for making something new. Especially since you've never made it, you just don't know how much room you'll need

Tip Three: Whether it's baking or cooking or anything new in the kitchen, let other's in your family know, "mama is making a new recipe today -- I think you're gonna love this candy apple pie, but I need to measure, and think" If I'm not interrupted with a new recipe I don't get frustrated. 

Tip Four: Get out all of your ingredients first. This is great for any cooking, but to be honest when I whip up my muffins, or cook what we call, "Abigail Soup" I don't need to gather my ingredients first... I can just go, go, go.

Tip Five: Put on a cute apron, some music that you like that is relaxing and not distracting - you'll be in the mood for cooking/baking more with an apron tied on. 

Here is the pie dough getting ready to come together. All that flour is mixing with the fat. 

And here is the pie dough about to head to the refrigerator for an hour to chill. 

And my favorite part-- rolling out the pie dough and fluting the edges! Rolling it out and getting into into a pie pan used to intimidate me. Oh the pies I messed up before I could really get it in there good! Like anything in the world, it just took practice, practice, practice (and luckily my hubby didn't mind my first 100 pie crusts not being pretty - he said, "doesn't matter to me, still tastes the same!) But now they are so easy and I feel sooooooo good! There is nothing like the feeling right here. 

I always freeze my pie dough overnight. I only add filling into a frozen crust. It bakes up so much prettier that way! It really holds it's shape. 

So that Country Fair, Candy Apple Pie??? How did it come out? Well it came out bubbling with candy apple glaze, it did! And it was so so so so good.

Well that's it - I hope this post warmed you up and got you ready to fix up something good and yummy on a cold and blustery day in your neck of the woods! It sure was a yummy snow day!