Better to give than to receive

I have been wanting to post more photos of gifts we gave from Christmas because I was really happy with the items we picked out for everyone. Now that Christmas is over and I finally can post them, I realized I forgot to take pictures of a number of them. Oops! Here's a few though:

These adorable coasters were for my mom and came from Little Coaster Gnome on Etsy.

This isn't the exact witch ball I gave my mom, but it's close. Her's had purple in it too. The one I bought is hand blown by local artist. 

The general idea behind the witch ball is to keep bad or evil spirits from your home. There are strands of glass that sort of make a web on the inside, and when the ball is hung in a doorway or window, it traps the bad energy inside instead of letting it get in your home. I have a pretty red, purple and pink one hanging above my kitchen sink, in front of the window.

Another gift for my mom, again not the exact one. It's a red, blown glass hummingbird feeder with metal and glass decorative work. 

We don't get a lot of hummingbirds where we live, but down at my parents' lake house, there are quite a few. Hanging the feeders in the trees off the patio gets them fairly close and they are so interesting to watch.

My dad is a griller and gets really into his seasonings, so we got him the Steak Seasonings Gift Box from Penzey's.

Penzey's is a company out of Wisconsin that has stores in 24 states, but you can shop via their catalogue too. There is a store in Des Moines and it is so cool. The only thing they sell are spices (over 250 spices and seasonings!) and cook books. They have samples of each spice in jars so you can smell them. I could spend all day in there. This gift box, which has seasonings not just for steak but chicken, pork and fish too, includes a recipe book with recipes for each spice. It is packaged so nice with pretty bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. The recipe book even has recipes for those so you don't waste the pretty presentation pieces. They have gift sets for baking, salt-free diets and everything under the sun, or you can build your own set by picking each spice individually. Highly recommend Penzey's to the foodies out there or for gifts for those foodies.

Jim Shore "Wicked Ride" for my MIL. 

Jim Shore "Spellbound" which we got for my MIL last year.

We bought her the "Spellbound" witch for Christmas last year and "Wicked Ride" this year. Halloween was really the first thing I bonded with my mother-in-law on - it's our favorite holiday. I am not a huge Jim Shore fan, but I really do love his Halloween pieces.

There are a few more gifts we gave that I want to show you, but I have to find photos and a couple we haven't given yet, so those will come later.

Pretties

I got this very cute metal water bottle in my stocking from my parents. I think it's from Gordman's.

This beautiful pashmina came from my friend Michelle. It is super soft and warm for days like today, when it's snowing AGAIN!

 There are a couple more gifts I want to take photos of to show you but haven't had a chance yet. Anyone receive a really special gift this year?

Thank you!

Here are some more great gifts I got for Christmas. I must have been good this year! I promise to get some more gifts we gave posted here soon.

Vintage Glam - desert sunset crystal necklace from ERMoriginals on Etsy. It is so stunning in person.

Jack Skellington "head in hand" lamp. 

Wouldn't be Chrimstmas if I didn't receive some Halloween things! I got this book from my sister.

Cable knit scarf in mustard from my brother.

I got the Sookie Stackhouse series of books (1-8) from my in-laws.

Thanks so much to our family and friends who were so generous this year. We love everything!

Bechamel sauce, mmm

We just had an amazing dinner that took us less than 20 minutes - start to finish. None of the Rachel Ray crap, where she says it takes 30 minutes but that's if all your ingredients are pre-chopped and measured and the oven is already heated.

I started with jumbo seafood ravioli from our local Italian grocery store, Graziano Bros. Whenever I hear someone say something like "local Italian grocery store" I immediately think "we don't have a local Italian grocery store." If Des Moines has a local Italian grocery store, then I'd bet your city has one too. We lived here for years not knowing it was there and then for another couple of years knowing about it but never going. We missed out for a long time. But we finally made it there this summer and everything we have bought has been amazing.

Anyway, back to the recipe. We tried a couple of different sauces (some with really terrible results) before I found a recipe for béchamel sauce that goes great with the seafood pasta. Here it is (with my own changes and contributions):

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half (or milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pinch dried thyme
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in the onion. Cook for about a minute then add flour, salt and pepper.
2. Add cold half-and-half (or milk) and COLD chicken broth all at once. Stir well.
3. Cook, stirring frequently, at medium heat until thick. Remove from heat and stir in seasoning.

The great thing is, if you use milk instead of half and half, it is all ingredients you always have on hand. With milk, I found that letting the sauce cool for a bit before serving will help it thicken up. We had breadsticks with the pasta and it was perfect.

I am reading Julie and Julia - about the woman who spends a year cooking all the recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I attribute my eventual success with the french sauce to the book.

The loot

As always, our friends and family spoiled us this year. Here are a few things I have had time to take photos of:

Bat coffee sleeve from my mother-in-law from BatGirl93 on Etsy.

Ampersands necklace from my mother-in-law from Isette on Etsy. 

Owl coasters from my in-laws from QueenBe on Etsy. 

Mittens and necklace, both from Target, from my sweetie. 

Necklace from my best friend.

There are lots more gifts, but I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but I will post them when I have time.

I went to Target this morning around 8:30 thinking I'd beat the return and Sunday morning rush and it really worked. I shopped for about half an hour and only saw one other customer. It was so nice and peaceful, but sort of creepy. When I checked out, the cashier asked me if I knew what was going on and why no one was in the store. I was the first customer she'd check out in the entire hour she'd been there.

While I was there I picked up a few necessities and two fun things. I bought the game Quelf, which I have heard is hilarious. We'll play it on New Year's Eve and I'll let you know if it's fun. The other non-necessity (depending on who you ask!) was a bottle of Seven Deadly Zins wine. We had it a while back at a bar and really loved it. It was on sale so it brought the price down into our normal price per bottle that I am willing to pay. Mmmm.

Gifts, gifts and more gifts

We had friends over last night and exchanged some gifts so I can finally post a few more here. These were all purchased on Etsy. I was really happy with all the gifts!

Ornaments/sun catchers and bookmarks made from computer mother boards from Debby Arem Designs

Mozzarella & Ricotta cheese making kit from Urban Cheesecraft. Yes, I am obsessed with this place!

Tiny leather bound journal necklace from Bandon Hill. 

Purple Rain black borosilicate glass pendant with purple dichroic window from Newman Glass.

Nerdy totes

I made these three totes for my friend who is a social media guru who loves Domo (the bottom tote). He seemed like he really liked them. The fabric on all three of these was a little weird. I think the Facebook dark blue was meant to outdoor fabric because its really waxy-like. The lighter blue for the Twitter bag was super stiff and hard to work with. The Domo tote is made from thick felt. I loved how they turned out but they were a pain! Totally worth it though. Thanks for stopping by tonight C&S.