Every season has a flavor all its own, and this month is all about warm and spicy cinnamon.

 Here is a yummy cinnamon nut bread that makes the perfect hostess gift when visiting family and friends this weekend for Christmas. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Nut Bread

Makes: 3 loaves (14 servings total)

Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: 45 minutes
Cool: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/3  cups  sugar, divided
• 1/2  cup  finely chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1    egg, lightly beaten
• 1  cup  milk
• 1/3  cup  vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the bottoms and 1/2 inch up the sides of three 5 3/4x3x2-inch loaf pans or a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a small bowl, stir together 1/3 cup of the sugar, the nuts, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

3. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pans. Sprinkle with half of the nut mixture. Top with the remaining batter and the remaining nut mixture. Using a narrow metal spatula or table knife, cut down through batter and pull up in a circular motion to marble.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes for 5 3/4-inch pans (55 to 60 minutes for 9-inch pan) or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Cranberry-Nut Bread: Prepare as directed, except stir 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries into batter.

Blueberry-Nut Bread: Prepare as directed, except stir 3/4 cup fresh blueberries into batter.

Nutrition Facts

• Servings Per Recipe 3 loaves (14 servings total)
• Calories 227

{From Better Homes & Gardens}

This past weekend we had our annual “End of the Lane” Christmas Open House. We invite our neighbors on the street and it’s the one time a year that we all try to get together.

I decided to have a dessert buffet and hot cocoa bar and was inspired by Amy Atlas’ amazing dessert buffets. My color theme was blue and pink – I wanted to do something that was fun and different from traditional red and green.

I made Bakerella’s cakepops (I bought her cookbook and it’s filled with great ideas!) 

Since we have a fireplace in the dining room, I skewered white and pink marshmallows “for roasting” – it was so fun!

I ordered chocolate covered oreos from Sweeties by Kim and they were a favorite!

Mini powder donuts, iced animal crackers, cones of caramel corn and sticks of blue and pink rock candy rounded out the dessert buffet.

Our hot cocoa and coffee bar perfectly complemented the desserts. I kept the cocoa warm in a crock pot and had yummy stir ins like white chocolate chips, candy canes, whip cream, cinnamon, etc.

It was fun pulling together a buffet that looked fun and festive!

As I deck the halls here at our Cottage In the Woods, I’m making the transition from the red color scheme {that went with the furniture we’ve had for the past three seasons} to a pale blue and cream look that goes with the newly painted walls and new furniture we got this year.

Of course, red would go with our new colors but . . . I really wanted to use the soft, romantic palette of  silver, blue, cream and blush pink. It’s all so frosty & icey. 

Our new stockings are wonderfully soft and have a bit of sequin bling  - I got them at Lowes, one of my favorite places to shop for home decor items, believe it or not. I love the little pom at the toe of the stocking – adorable!

My stocking holders go right with my color theme – this pink little bottle of champagne holds my stocking. The blue bottle {which you can see at the far end of the mantel} holds my hubby’s stocking. I thought they were a fun and festive touch!

We’ll be taking these bottles with us to the hotel in downtown Cleveland on New Year’s Eve but until then, I think they make great stocking holders!

I’d love to know what bits of creativity help you create your Christmas & holiday touches this year!

July 4th is always a wonderful time of getting together with friends and entertaining and that’s always a great excuse for making things beautiful. Here are links to help make your holiday festive & fun:

Red, White & Blue Desserts
All American Party

July Fourth Recipes

A Declaration of Desserts

Decorations for July 4th

Decorating Independence Style

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer on my calendar and summer means F-U-N!

We have relatively so few days of good weather here on the North Coast that I like to make the most of them while they are around. This weekend, for example, was one of those rare instances when we had great weather for a holiday weekend. That basically never happens! So over the weekend Mr. DH and I planned an “outdoor movie night”.

We took the flatscreen TV with a build-in DVD player that I bought at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago and hooked it up so we could watch a movie outside under the stars. I  brought out a long outdoor extension cord and sat the TV on a milk crate. Then I inflated a queen-size air matress and we were ready for some hot fun in the summertime!!

Now, I can’t say that Mr. DH was all that keen on the idea at first – he thought it was going to be “so much work. Can’t we just watch a movie inside?” I stuck to my “we are going to have fun” guns and set things up outside and in the end, he was happy I did. Afterwards, we laid on our back and studied the stars. We were surprised to discover the Big Dipper ended at our chimney. Who knew?

I’d love for you to share some of your “hot-fun-in-the-summertime” ideas so we can all make 2010 the best summer ever! (Here’s a link to the song HFITS. Enjoy!)

Night sky photo from Flickr.

Spring continues to tease us here on the North Coast. Some days are sunny and warm while other days it feels like winter’s back again. I know that as we creep closer to May and June, we will soon be enjoying days that will entice us to live alfresco style. 

Al·fres·co: \al-ˈfres-(ˌ)kō\ adjective or adverb. Italian 1753 - taking place or located in the open air : outdoor, outdoors <an alfresco lunch> <an alfresco café> <dining alfresco>

Living outdoors, enjoying the fresh air and warm days, is such a wonderful treat. Here in NE Ohio, we only have a few precious months to even consider alfresco living. The question is how can we best take advantage of  “Alfresco Season?” I think for me the key is to create designated spaces/rooms.

We have a large deck that runs the length of the back of the house. Mr. DH and I have talked about creating zones on the deck – the grill zone – that’s his space ;o). Then there is the sun soaking zone – that’s where we can lay out and catch the sun. Lastly there is the entertainment zone – that’s where we want to set up some outdoor chairs/sofa. These spaces will help up make the most of the long deck that has pretty much gone unused since we moved to our Cottage In the Woods 2.5 years ago.

This photo from Better Homes & Gardens inspires me. It’s simple but beautiful. I love the muted tones of the setting and the striped table cloth.

We don’t have space for a large 9 or 11-foot umbrella on our deck but I found these great little 5-foot ones at Cost Plus World Market.  I have been buying these for the last couple of summers. The umbrellas are $59.99 each and the stand is $29.99. I typically buy a new umbrella each year because they do fade and can get mold spots {even though they are made of mold-resistant fabric.} For under $100 this umbrella an pull together your alfresco dining area. Love it!

I will admit that the one things I don’t like about alfresco living is the dust and dirt! I swear, my alfresco spaces, take way more effort to keep clean than the ones inside! However, since it’s just for a little while, I think it is worth the effort.

So I’m wondering, any of you out there in cyberspace looking forward to Alfresco Season? What are your plans for taking advantage of living outdoors?

We all know and love Pottery Barn {PB} for their amazingly wonderful and seemingly ubiquitious items for dressing our nests, but did you know PB can also help you plan an awesome party and makes some of their cool props available?

Yes, the “Pottery Barn Prop Shop” is located under the Accessories & Pillows menu. You can get cool things like their jute rope and burlap basket inserts and a whole lot more.

Another neat resouce on the PB website is party planning. Now that the snow and cold have left most of us,  we’ll be hosting gatherings of family and friends over the next many months. You can find some great party planning ideas located under PB’s  Tabletop Menu. Look along the left side under Ideas & Inspiration – you’ll see Party Planner – click that.

There are 10 party themes that PB has created and provided in-depth resources and how to’s. In addition to the wonderful eye candy we always get from PB, each party theme/idea comes with how-to videos, free downloadable invitations, and even an itunes playlist to help ensure the perfect ambiance! PB also has created articles on each of the themes for a simple “how-to guide”. Here’s there step-by-step on how to create a summer BBQ. This link opens a PDF.

Of course, all these ideas showcases PB’s great stuff as they want us to buy it all, but I think they are great spring boards for ideas. Sometimes you need a little inspiration and that’s what I love about these resources. We can use what we have to make our own version of the PB party themes.  Enjoy!

** UPDATE: February 6, 2010: This recipe won first place at our church “souper bowl” soup cook off today! And,  I got 100% of the under age six vote!

Here on the North Coast we are buried in the white stuff {with MORE to come!} It’s January so it’s to be expected. We are just hunkering in. I’m getting lots of snuggle time with hubby!

I thought I’d share one of my favorite soup recipes that’s just perfect for keeping warm on these cold, snowy days – Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup. I served this at our Open House party and it was a huge hit – especially with the little kids!

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1 package (9 ounces) BUITONI Refrigerated Three Cheese Tortellini, {if there is such a thing as mini cheese tortellini, I would use those. Makes it easier for kids to eat.}
1 can (10 3/4 fluid ounces) condensed Cambell’s tomato bisque soup
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 soup cans, half and half
Chopped fresh  basil to taste  (I use one, 2/3 oz. package I buy in the produce department)

COMBINE soup, sauce and half and half in medium saucepan. {If you don’t have half and half, I have used milk and it comes out just fine.} Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat.

Bring a pot of water to boil – add tortellini. Cook until just tender. Drain. Stir tortellini and basil into soup mixture and cook 15 minutes more before serving.  Serve with grilled cheese & sliced apples. Enjoy!