Christmas 2009

We're growing!

Six original Denholms, 3 siblings in-law, and 2 new babies provides for one blessed Christmas 2009! This year, instead of celebrating at my parent's house, was our first year celebrating in Virginia at Kelly and Scott's and also our first year with babies! It was crazy, it was short, but boy was it fun.

Highlights of the holiday
(in no particular order):

 1.) Sledding on Christmas Eve with my 26-year-old brother and 31-year-old brother-in-law (except we didn't have sleds, so we had to scrounge up anything and everything sled-able.)

2.) A REAL winter jacket (with down stuffing and all!); warmest thing I've ever put on my body.

3.) ECPLIPSE

4.) This one:

5.) A white christmas thanks to the below-freezing temperatures that kept the snow from melting from 5 days prior.

6.) My 7-lb. nephew dressed up as Santa Claus :)

7.) Happy new families:

8.) Healthy family, all in one place.

9.) Vegan Vacay that allowed me to eat Christmas Eve hors d'ouvres.

10.) Rest.

11.) Cooking class in Philly with a well-known Vegan Chef...so excited.

12.) Spice Rack, complete with over 20 organic spices (Call me silly, but spices are expensive!)

13.) Witnessing my brother-in-law soothe his crying, 4-week-old son by singing Rick Astley.

To say this was a great Christmas would be an understatement. 

Praise God for making that the case.

Cookies with a side of Blizzard 2009

Every Christmas since as far as I can remember, and home videos tell me this was the case even before I can remember, my mom makes a huge platter of Christmas Cookies. Not just boring, everyday cookies; special recipes saved strictly for Christmas.


Some of my favorites in the Momma Denholm Christmas collection: Venetians, Mint Chocolates, Jam Thumbprints, Peanut Butter Kisses


This year, despite our travel to Virginia for the holidays and short (-er than usual) time together, would be no different. Me and mom let traditional Christmas cookies skip a year? You're crazy.


Two loves I inherited from my mother: Baking and Cookies :) 


And so began Cookie Baking Extravaganza 2009:

Ingredients are out and we're ready to bake!

Master Baker

One of the seven final batches -- Jam Thumbprints!

And to top-off our day of cookies, coffee, christmas music and green snowflake flannels......SNOW! 


And lots of it. 


Blizzard 2009; FINALLY!

The backyard, covered in 16 inches

My poor Texas car, she must be so cold...

 Sweet pups and their cute little jackets!

SNOW SNOW SNOW

Weathermen predict it to start tonight and continue ALL weekend!

**FINALLY**

Come on snow, bring it. And maybe a couple snow days next week?

Thanks.

Is this cheating? (Cookie 2 of 3)

As an aspiring baker, is this cheating?

They were just so easy and came out so pretty...See?

That is a lie, not all of them came out pretty. I laughed when these came out and had to document the square of Snickerdoodle...

It took all that I have to convice myself that it was OK to use Break 'N Bake cookies in place of homemade. What constitutes homemade, anyways? I mean, I made them at home...

Just so tired. Didn't have it in me or the time to make another 2 homemade batches of cookies. Plus, girl's gotta save her energy for Saturday's day of Christmas baking with the mom. Christmas music, candles, fresh coffee, green christmas lounge pants, and the lady that taught me everything I know; That's where the good stuff is made! 

Next up: cookie installment 3 of 3.

Popular Demand

from The Joy of Vegan Baking Cookbook - I highly recommend this for everyone.

Now don't be scared. Yes, this is a vegan cookie recipe, but no, it's not disgusting and weird (Kyle).

Everytime I make this cookie, I get requests (from non-vegans, thank you very much! :) ) for the recipe. It's one of the best cookie recipes I've come across thus far and I love it because it doesn't use obscure ingredients like many others do.

So here you are. You should be able to click on the cute recipe card and print it from your browser (I hope).

The original recipe is for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, so feel free to substitute raisins for chocolate. They're delicious either way. And if you're not familiar with them, the Earth Balance butter, vegan chocolate chips, and flaxseed meal can be found at most grocery stores that have a 'specialty section' or Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Disclaimer: Don't be fooled, just because it's vegan, doesn't mean it's half the calories of it's animal-filled counterpart; after all, it is still a cookie. BUT for those of you that are like me and enjoy the cookie dough even more so than the finished product, it does make pre-oven munching much safer. And I'm sure Rudolph will appreciate you saving his furry friends and convice Santa to bring you a few extra surprises... 

Cookies (1 of 3)

Over the next 4 days I will be making well over 6 batches of cookies, that's a good 18+ dozen.

Tonight, in preparation for our first annual Ception Cookie Exchange at work tomorrow, Germie and I teamed up to bake our cookies. Little did we know it would take us over 4 hours to bake two batches each, but we finished.

6 dozen down; 12 more to go. 

Proper Christmas Cookie accessories: Holiday bowls, Christmas music, Pjs

(Note: this is well into our baking and past both of our bedtimes, please excuse our looks.)

G's cookies before...

...and after!

I made some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (delicious!), but forgot to take pictures of them. Germie's sugar cookies were prettier anyways.

Installment 2 of 3 coming thursday... 

A Ception Christmas

My company may be small, but we can party like the big guys! 

This year, probably more than ever before, I'm so thankful for employment. And being able to celebrate the holidays with my company like this is just an awesome extra bonus. 

Co-worker, Dale, and his wife enjoy the indian food. 

I model food; it just comes naturally.

Sweet coworkers Donna and Germie.

Present time!

This is what happens when you're the youngest at your company by a god 10 years...you eat by yourself, dateless, and people take pictures of the single girl. :) I don't hate it.

Left to right: CEO Steve, Janet's BF, Jeffrey's wife (see 2 below), Co-worker Janet.

One of my bosses, Carolyn, and her soon-to-be hubby.

Purple People Eaters! (me and Jeffrey...aka Papa Ception)

The happenin' party; Not too bad for a tiny Pharmaceutical company!

Drinks, sushi bar, thai noodle soup bar, indian main course, dessert, and presents for all! Somehow I won a 19" flat-screen/flat-panel/HD/all that good stuff TV...crazy.  

(Funny side story re: tv - A couple weeks ago I decided to re-arrange my room to bring my hand-me-down mini fridge into my room to put my hand-me-down tv on so I could get it off the floor and actually watch it. Being the stubborn independent that I am, I was determined to move everything by myself. My determination got the best of me when I pulled my lower back trying to lift the billion-pound, old-school tv from the floor to the top of the mini fridge. I just remember specifically thinking, 'man, I really need one of those new flat tvs so I can be stubborn without injuring myself.' And the Lord answers even our silliest, most trivial thought-prayers.)

We were put here with a plan and a purpose

"...Remember, we didn’t just happenstance appear on this planet. We were put here with a plan and purpose. We were given the responsibility to govern the earth as humans.

I totally agree that we need to use caution and judgment and treat what we have been given with dignity and respect.

But this is God’s land. He created it. He understands it. He is in charge.

I am somewhat disgusted when we seem to take the glory for anything this earth has to offer. We are just lucky to be on it."

 

Excerpt taken from NieNie, on 12.2.09

 

So simple, so true.

She inspires me; the way she loves life, loves her family, loves God.

And her blog makes me giggle.

Me and hockey, who knew?

This city is making me quite the sports fan. I even surprise myself sometimes. I've watched more Phillies baseball this season than I think I have in my entire life and a few Sundays ago, I found myself willingly watching Eagles football.

Now one more to add to my list: First Flyers hockey game...in person! Against my sister and brother-in-law's favorite team, the Washington Capitals.

Hockey games are definitely much more exciting in person than on tv, but the fans are brutal! We had a lovely woman behind us that thought she knew how to play hockey better than the players themselves and proceeded to yell it at them, thinking they'd actually be able to hear her from the top section.

Other than that and the fact that we lost 2-8, the game was GREAT! Two awesome knock-outs: one of our players popped a Capital in the side of the head 6 minutes into the game; then in the last period, one of the Refs making horrible calls against the Flyers got hit in the head with the puck and fell flat to the ice. The entire crowd cheered, and I admit I giggled; kind of sad...don't worry, he lived :)

Lil' Kimmel on the way!

These two crazies are havin' a baby and I'm so freakin' excited!

Lauren, the best friend from college, and her husband, Cody, are expecting their first baby! Lauren is one of the most encouraging, patient, uplifiting and faithful women I know; partnered with Cody's sense of humor and strength in the Lord, they are going to make wonderful parents. And that little bun in the oven is going to be one blessed baby.

Congratulation Cody and Lauren, I can't wait to meet the little one!   

Meet Ryan

He's cute, he's tiny, he's cuddly, and I love him.

The day after Thanksgiving, Dad and I made the trek down to VA so I could meet my nephew. At 5 days old and just about 6 lbs, I think he was the tiniest person I've ever held; fit in one of my arms like a little football and in the less than 24 hours that we were there I think I saw Ryan's eyes for maybe 8 minutes total, the boy sleeps like a champ (...during the day. He still thinks he's nocturnal).

The trip was too short, but work calls. By Saturday night, in an effort to dodge Sunday traffic, we were back home. Until Christmas...

Thanksgiving with the Pops

This Thanksgiving found the Denholm family all scattered around. Brother and wife in North Carolina; brother and wife with family in Richmond; sister, husband, new baby and grandma (my mom) in Northern Virginia; which leaves me and Pops in PA to fend for ourselves.


Which actually worked out perfect. You see, this year I was planning a completely Vegan Thanksgiving and if anyone knows my Dad, he'll try just about any food (seriously). So not only did I get to spend some quality time with the Pops, I had someone to try and most-likely enjoy my animal-free meal. :)

Cheers!

The meal; you can't see everything, but we had Tofurkey and vegetables, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Gravy, Corn, Squash, Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie for dessert (all vegan! I couldn't believe it either)

My plate before...

...and after :)

I'm thankful for you, Dad, you and you're daring tastebuds.

Ryan Michael Emerick

Born on November 22, 2009 at 3:00am

to Kelly (my sister) and her husband Scott

6lbs. 13oz. and perfect.

Loving this whole Aunt thing...

Dinner Parties

They're my favorite. Absolutely love them. What better way to share community than with good food, great conversation and wonderful people?

The evolution of this dinner group is a story for the memory books. A little lengthy and possibly confusing, but stay with me here, it'll pull together.

Rewind to January 2009. I know no one in this new city I had just moved to, but ventured out with my roommate at the time, Joe, to a little hole-in-the-wall bar known as Flat Rock. Thursday night, live music, hipsters; felt like I was in Austin :). It's here that I randomly meet Todd (next to me in group picture), a mutual friend of Joe's. Todd and I realize we both love poker, start going to the weekly poker club, and become good freinds.

Through Todd I meet Matt (other boy in picture). He's great, plays live music and is about to move to New York...we're gonna miss him :(

Jump ahead 6 months to July-ish. Random Sunday night after an encouraging chat with the bff, I google churches. I look into 3 that come up and decide on one to try the following Sunday, Grace Bible Church.

Three days later, on Wednesday, I go to a running store to get fitted for shoes after my stress fractures. The store is closed because of a 'Running Club' they have on tuesdays and wednesdays. I was already in my running gear so despite my nervousness and lowsy running level, I decide to go. It's here that I meet Rachel (pictured in the white shirt.) She just started going to this new church the previous Sunday, 'it's wonderful,' she tells me...it's called Grace Bible Church.

I wept on my way home, happy tears. That God was moving in my life and he didn't have to, but he let me see it. And he didn't stop here.

I then meet Kara (not me, there's another!...only girl left in picture not named), Rachel's roommate who also goes to Grace, but it's not until September when Rachel and Kara were talking about going to see their friend 'Matt' play in Manayunk (where I live) that we realized we had these mutual friends.

It was decided a story like this calls for a dinner group...and the rest is history :)

(crazy eyes!)

This was only our second dinner (hosted at yours truly's house!), but the pot-luck style menu was that of a pro:

Split-Pea Curry Soup

Homemade Honey-Wheat Bread

Brisket

Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

Honeyed Carrots

Thai Green Beans

Insane Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese's Cake

David Crowder Band

Burlington, New Jersey. Who would think a little ol' band from Waco, Texas would come all the way out to Burlington, NJ. Not I, but so glad they did.

David Crowder Band.

Came to Burlington on Thursday night so a group of us from church made the drive to catch their show. I've always heard they're a great concert, but know I'm sure of it. Such a blessing. If you ever have a chance to see them, GO, you won't regret it.

Eleven on the 11th

I've been challenged. By my sweet friend Shannon; it is as follows:
I’m commenting to challenge you to a blog throw down of sorts (if you don’t watch Food Network, this reference will be meaningless). Anyways, on November 11th I will be posting a collection of 11 random things about myself (facts, pet peeves, sayings, hobbies, hopes, dreams, etc.). I challenge (invite) you to join me in doing the same on Nov. 11th, and then we can link to each others’ blogs and it will be awesome. This is a random idea of mine, but I thought it would be fun to have some community with blog friends. I’m challenging others, and feel free to invite other to participate. So, what say you? Do you accept this challenge?


I accept. And in true Food Network fashion, "A La Blog!"

1. I'm an introvert. Almost to a T. It took me a while to admit this, I always thought it was negative. But it's not, it's me. So there you go,  and boy, it feels good!
2. I made a pact with my (boy) next door neighbor when I was 12 years old that if we both weren't married by 30, we'd marry each other...we're both almost 24 and still single. :|
3. Ever heard about the Legend of Bloody Mary? A 5th grade boy told me about it on the bus home from kindergarten when I was 5 and I'm still too afraid to look into a mirror in the dark.
4. I fear the future. That sounds funny. Not my own future (God's got that under control), but the future around me I guess. The future of America. The future of cars. The future of electronics. I feel like we're already so advanced in so many ways, it freaks me out to think about where we'll be in 10, 20, 50 years.
5. I'm listening to Christmas music right now. And not afraid to admit it.
6. People that can't finish something absolutely drive me nuts. For example: Let's say you're going to take the last handful of pretzels out of a bag, but feel bad so you put two single pretzels back in to be nice; NEWS FLASH it's not nice, it's a tease. Who really wants two pretzels? Then not only are the pretzels gone, the victim has to dispose of the bag for you too!
7. I really wish I knew how to play the guitar. The idea of just being able to grab a guitar and sing and worship with people or for people is so amazing to me.
8. I can bend my left index finger back and touch the top of my hand. But only the left.
9. Sick, my favorite sandwich to make when I was younger was mayonnaise and craft singles inside a pita pocket, in the microwave for 30 seconds...and now I'm a vegan, go figure.
10. I can't say 'pancake,' it comes out 'paincake' and 'enchilada' comes out 'ahnchilada.' I'm not sure why or when it happened, but I think it's safe to blame that one on the Mom :)
11. It's Denholm tradition that you get to pick your birthday cake, any cake, and Mom would make it. For a good 17 out of 23 birthdays I requested the same cake, Mom's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cake. Chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing, all from scratch, all delicious. 


So there you have it. Challenge complete.
Craving more Eleven on the 11th? Check out:
Shannon
Lauren
James
Kelli
Camille

Girl's gotta get reading!

The movie comes out in 10 DAYS and I'm only on chapter 2. There's no way I'll watch the movie before reading the book, but there's also no way I'll be able to wait past the 22nd (tops) to see the movie. 

Hence, the dilemma. 

If only work would understand me calling in sick to hole myself up in my room and read all day. I mean, after all, this is an emergency.

I cook, you eat, we serve.

This morning we had a pancake breakfast at work in an effort to raise money for Makarios in time for the holidays. It's chilly outside and work's getting busier and busier so what better way to warm up and reconnect with coworkers than through Pancakes?

So we set up shop; electric griddle, Pancake batter, butter, syrup, OJ, photo album, donation jar. And with that, the first annual 'Pancakes for Poverty' was held on November 9, 2009. Good food with great community all for a wonderful cause. Can't beat it.

The expectations for this were nonexistent since it was the first one of it's kind. But as always, the Lord completely overwhelmed me by the turnout and the outcome. Almost 30 (of my only 40) coworkers enjoyed Pancakes and we collected over $600.00!! Just typing that number overjoys me. I have no words. Just a big smile on my face and remembering:
Trust in Him and He will provide.