Holiday Look Back

The handmade holidays rocked the house this year, at least for me. It really is more enjoyable to give a gift that you put time into rather than money. My sister, however, seriously takes the cake. She not only made me amazing bath salts and a stencilled maternity top but also pulled off making her own perfume with spices including cardomom. It's incredible...I wasn't even aware that one could homemake that! On top of that she gave beer she had brewed herself...not to me, of course. But, really does it get more hardcore than that!?

One thing I didn't share before the holidays was a gift for my sister that I didn't want her to know about. It is actually an idea that I stole from her (she is pretty good at this stuff, no?). I pulled together my favorite recipes, typed them up and printed them on nice paper that I put into a small-sized three ring binder. I covered the binder with a fabric cover and used iron-on letter for the text. I actually intended the title to be sweet, like "oh, little nibbles that constitute love bites" but realized too late it sounds more like death metal music. Thankfully, she forgives my shortcomings. I ended up stealing this idea from her because the cookbook she gave me (which is called 'oven light'...so clever) is actually on my list of things I would grab if the house were on fire. That is how great it is. I use it more than most of the cookbooks I have.