i enjoy baking sugar cookie cut-outs, even though it is a messy process and i never have enough counter space. (i dream of having marble counters for baking.) i have been the official sugar cookie baker for the family since high school.  so much that if i skip an occasion, i may hear about it from my uncle.

my favorite recipe is from the joy of cooking, rich rolled sugar cookies and i basically stick to it for every occasion. this past week however, i made some alterations for a special treat. my youngest son has severe food allergies since birth (another post and then some). with the new addition of egg to his diet, i altered the traditional sugar cookie recipe for him.  i substituted in rice flour, rice milk and olive oil. so no dairy, no wheat, barley, oats, corn or rye. i also used india tree sugars for decorating, great if you are concerned about allergies. they contain no corn syrup or any other fillers. you can also download each product’s information online to check. and the cookies- they turned out! (as good as rice cookies can)

for his homemade cookie session i found an adorable basic baking set from ikea, that is perfectly sized for small hands. as a montessori child myself and with my children in montessori, i really try and have them participate in as many  practical life activities as possible. how did they taste out of the oven? he was so excited that he ate all the cookies in one afternoon. and if you are wondering why there is a gingerbread man cutout for valentine’s day baking… my four year old is in love with the gingerbread shape after reading the jan brett book, gingerbread baby, over and over in the months prior. plus he said “mommy he has a heart… see?”

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT OF JOYABABY 2010.

a holiday grey soiree: a simple invitation, a group of friends, a decorated home and a menu of savory appetizers.  i designed the invites to reflect the simple color scheme of the home and holiday decor, in shades of grey and off-white. the invite simply stated: eat, drink and be merry, which is how we celebrated!

an eclectic group of santas  served as the mantel focal point. they actually have never looked so good, with such a neutral backdrop as grey walls. for a small, vintage dining room, we wheeled out a kitchen cart for extra space for serving guests. its small enough to not be in the way of guests mingling and functional enough to serve drinks. i dressed this one up with a monogrammed towel, decorative bottle opener, wine bottles and a festive candle. the wine glasses for guests to serve themselves were stored on the lower shelf. oh and there was also champagne, plenty of champagne.

with saffron yellow being the other color in the home,  we used a few festive accents to incorporate into the table design. organza wine bags on a wine bottle, a mix of napkins in yellow damask print and a vintage grey holiday scene,  my own limoge porcelain cheese plates (an absolute favorite of mine)  and a perfect teacup candle with a lovely winter scent.

the menu included a variety of hot hors d’oeuvres like mushroom empanadas, chicken curry puffs and ham gruyere gougeres. i made a trio of cheese balls, a layered salmon cake, prosciutto and melon skewers, served alongside crackers, olives and fresh crudites. for dessert we had individual chocolate ganache gingerbread cakes.

i like incorporating a variety of foods and mostly small plate size. many of the recipes are found on marthastewart.com and the dessert from her baking handbook. the chicken curry puffs are my own recipe. the salmon layered cake above was a show stopper for presentation and divine in taste.

other must haves for any winter holiday party: fresh greenery, preferably a mix of pine, spruce, cedar and evergreen. this is rather inexpensive, provides a natural scent and you can use it with flowers as a centerpiece. I enjoy lots of candle light, a good mix of tunes on your ipod and special touches in the powder room. starting from the front door, i like the ambiance to be festive and the guests to feel warm, invited and celebrated.

a tribute to red, part four

you have decorated the home, celebrated the meal, shared the traditions and what will you have to show for it? the memories of course, and the photographs.

again, i am a product of my family and my father was never caught without a camera around his neck. he photographed everything, i mean everything. there is even a super 8 silent film of my homecoming from the hospital after i was born. in 1976. when nurses wore fancy hats, YEARS ago.

above are some memorable shots from my own collection. there was the year we coordinated our photograph around a certain infamous plaid check print, the year of holiday pajamas, the family portrait in our Sunday best and the playful shots in between.

capturing my children each year at Christmas has become a tradition for myself and many families. awaiting photographs of family and friends with holiday cards is one of the simple joys of the season. again, it doesn’t have to be a well thought out studio shot, just something that makes time stand still for a moment. some of the best photographs of our families happen spontaneously. and there is only so many pieces of candy you can give the little ones to stop moving, stand still and smile.

my family growing up was VERY into traditions around the holidays. my father was all about the video camera, or in earlier years the super 8. this included his “still shots” of the family home in the snow outside, the weather update that day and the procession down the stairs with four daughters in birth order. i have vivid memories of having my mom trim my bangs right before the procession down the stairs and fixing bows in our hair. “it was a must” she said to have your hair combed and looking your best even in the early morning hours because “you will look at these photos and videos for years to come”. we had many traditions of decorating the children’s tree, icing cookies, attending church on Christmas eve and a special morning breakfast of cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa, which led into a full out breakfast in the dining room together. the evening concluded with a holiday dinner with family and neighbors of all religions.

with my own children, we have followed many of these holiday traditions and added ones of our own. i don’t believe it is what you do or how much you do, but that however you celebrate and whatever your religion may be, you realize how special traditions can be for everyone, adults and children alike.

i mentioned in part one of my tribute to decorating red for the holidays, that i was in fact the proud owner of rolls and rolls of toile wrapping paper which you can see above. because i love real ribbon on gifts, i am known in my family to ask for it back after they open the gifts! it’s a great way to conserve and reuse, especially if you invest in quality wrappings. i actually even have them hand back the gift tags, i figure i will most likely gift them the following year -if they’ve been good that is.  recycle recycle!

red, as your normal decorating color in your home, makes a beautiful and full backdrop for Christmas. my stylish grey christmas actually needs several months to prepare for, and i did not leave much time to make this transformation. i’m working on it as we speak.

a tribute to red, part one

this is a sampling of photos of my holiday table outfitted for our holiday parties or Christmas morning breakfast with family, from over the last ten years. everyone who knows me knows that the color red is part of my life, or has been for so long. not just for the obvious holidays and my wedding, but nine years ago i searched high and low to find red french toile wallpaper for my kitchen and scoured antique stores for vintage red finds. when i found rolls and rolls of red toile wrapping paper, you can imagine how excited i was. i finally used up ALL the red toile paper two years ago.  and now the red era is over. and so i pay tribute to this vibrant, rich color and step over to the other side…. to the color grey. wish me luck.