Happy new year almost!!!
I’m sitting on my couch, surrounded by leftover Christmas mess, watching my kiddies play together through the abundance of windows that look out into the backyard, listening to chill music that my hubby put on as cooking background music while he makes his grandmother’s lasagna recipe for our dinner. I’m feeling pretty good about life today. It’s a perfect day to reflect on the year.
I’ve compiled a selection of the new things I’ve tried/done/made this year for you below. Many of these have been mentioned before in previous posts. I didn’t want the text to be flashy blue all over the place, so I haven’t linked them, but feel free to search around or ask me for something specific in the comments. Some are new news, too. Enjoy!
Baking
Sourdough! A friend in Kansas City gave me a cup of mature sourdough starter when I was up there while “homeless,” and I am so pleased to report that it not only survived the trip down here, but also has successfully leavened and flavorized a bunch of things in the past couple of months. My favorite applications so far have been this pancake recipe, this naan recipe, and this sourdough loaf recipe. The latter is perhaps my proudest baking accomplishment of the entire year: it used no yeast but the starter, and it actually tasted appropriately sour. I went through a few other recipes before taking on this one. I am totally hooked. Leave me your very favorite recipe that uses sourdough starter (ripe or discard), in the comments!
I worked with puff pastry for the first time, helping Justin make turkey wellington for our Christmas dinner.
I finally mastered the whole wheat sandwich bread recipe that I’ve mentioned before. It’s from this cookbook. I took a break from it when we were getting our house ready to sell / selling / moving / getting settled; but I’m back in the groove of home-making all our bread again, switching between white (Miryam’s favorite) and whole wheat (Justin’s favorite) each time.
Super bowl cookies: adapted from this recipe. It was convenient that both teams had the same color scheme, so I didn’t look biased at the party, but I was rooting for the Chiefs all along. Go, KC!
Miryam’s Elsa-inspired birthday cake. More of a feat in decorating than actual baking, but hey! I don’t remember which cake base I was using (probably something vanilla-ish from here), but I used the same frosting from the Italian cream cake (below).
Hot cross buns. These are for sure going to become an Easter weekend tradition in our home.
Creme brulee. The creme was perfect. The brulee could use more practice.
Italian cream cake. This cake smelled SO GOOD when it came out of the oven. And the whipped-cream cream-cheese frosting was astonishingly delightful.
Reading
Fiction:
Wuthering Heights (Loved the book, hated pretty much all of the characters. Anyone else?)
Sanctuary (Extremely interesting–but kind of terrifying–storyline. Overall not really my style.)
Non-fiction:
Searching for and Maintaining Peace (I think I’ve mentioned it before, because: “highly recommend.”)
Life of Christ (This year’s favorite!! So insightful! And bonus: so easy to put down and pick back up throughout the year, as the thread of the story–from the gospels–is already so familiar.)
The Read-Aloud Family (Practical insight into how to go about reading more with one’s children at any ages, as well as reminders about why it’s worth it, for the whole family, to keep prioritizing it.)
Resisting Happiness (Another of Matthew Kelly’s short and sweet books. Nothing I hadn’t heard before, but always a good reminder to revisit some areas of my prayer life and habits.)
I’m really hoping to sprinkle in more fiction next year! Tell me in the comments below: what was your favorite read this year, and/or what single book (classic or new, fiction or non) would you recommend for me to pick up next year?
Life Events
Cecily can walk and is starting to talk. Luke can write his name and remember everything. Miryam can read a decent bit and has become quite the helpful big sis. Miryam and Luke both can ride a bike.
My newest nephew was born. Several friends who had been struggling with infertility or miscarriages announced pregnancies and gave birth to healthy babies—my vicarious excitement for them is legit.
Justin working from home was an upgrade for us. The spring was the nicest I’ve lived through in years—perfect weather. The big kids had their magical “we are best friends” time during the shelter-in-place, which was perfect timing. I got really close with my North Texas best friend, because we were barely seeing anyone else and our kids get along so well and we didn’t mind each other’s messes or sharing peanut butter and maybe rum, too, although the latter was not-with-the-kids.
I did some major decluttering. We made a nice profit on our house, and moved at the perfect moment in the interest rate cycle. We took an overdue family vacation to Corpus Christi for a weekend, and it was so much fun that I’m considering selling half our stuff and moving (again!) to a tiny beach house (lol, mostly joking…) (like 99% joking) (probably).
How’s that for a roundup and send-off of 2020? There’s another year of unknowns on the horizon. Your reaction to it will be up to you. Stay positive, y’all.
Seems like you made the most of 2020! Thanks for making my cookies part of it!
Oh hi! They are my FAVORITE chocolate chip cookies. I found them on Pinterest ages ago and have made them dozens of times. Thanks for the great recipe! (:
I love this! The book recommendation I have is Untamed by Glennon Doyle. It has SO MANY tidbits and great quotes and insight. Loved it so much I’ve read it once and listened to the audiobook TWICE!
Thank you! Just added it to my list!