If plane tickets aren’t in your budget this month don’t worry because Little Brown Pen has your perfect Paris fix. There are a few options in their Valentines section, but my favorites are the sets postcards in pink and yellow:

Details: size 4×6 and fit into any standard 4×6 frame, quantity – 4, and paper: heavy, elegant matte

You can snag a set for your self in the Little Brown Pen Etsy shop and see more beautiful photos of Paris on Nicole’s blog.

I won’t pretend to make any resolutions this year, but I will send out a few wishes: I want to write more letters, start and finish and photograph more projects, and spend more time drawing. What ate you hoping 2012 will bring?

1) Cheers Banner  2) The Party Dress  3) A Golden Cake  4) Beautiful Flower Inspiration  5) Golden Film  6) Boom Boom Pow Nail Polish

If I were hosting I’d defiantly want to try this golden stemware how-to out:

Do you have any fun New Year’s Eve plans or traditions?

I think that the number one item on my loves list this week has to be the beautiful wool I received from my sister and brother in-law:

The tan will be a hat for me, the blue socks for Joel, and I haven’t decided what to do with the striped yarn. I think this kind is normally used for socks but I might want to make something less conventional with it. Arm warmers, perhaps?

Moving on, I may have watched the Downton Abbey Christmas special two or three times in the last day or two…

My adorable, new measuring cups. I think we’ll be making sugar cookies tomorrow!

And last but not least, I am loving this wonderful week off of work with lots of sleeping in and eating pancakes for breakfast.

What are you loving this week?

The first recipe, well, I don’t have a good name for it. Growing up we called it “Christmas tea”, but that’s not quite right. It’s almost like a cider. Whatever it is, when I smell it I know it’s Christmastime. Today I’ll call it Cranberry Citrus Amazing Cinnamon Christmas Punch.

Cranberry Citrus Amazing Cinnamon Christmas Punch

8 oz. Whole Cranberries
3 qt. of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of cinnamon imperials
3 cinnamon sticks
24 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
3 oranges – juiced
3 lemons – juiced

Boil the cranberries in 1 qt. of water for about 10 minutes.

Mix 2 quarts of water, sugar, cinnamon imperials, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in a large pot. Heat until the cinnamon imperials melt. Add the orange and lemon juice to the pot. Serve warm.

Strain the cranberry mixture into the pot. Discard the cranberries. Simmer on low for 2 hours.

This next recipe I just tried this year and it tastes like a new tradition. Delicious!

Christmas Day Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

For the pudding:
2 eggs
2 tbls. melted butter
2 tbls. vanilla
1 cup of milk
2 cup sugar
2 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 325.

Beat eggs and add butter vanilla, and mix.

Gradually add the sugar and mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved.

Place bread cubes in the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish.

Pour liquid over bread making sure all the pieces are fully saturated.

Sprinkle pecans over bread and push them down into the bread.

Bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup of whiskey (I use Jameson)

Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan.

Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low rolling boil.

Pour a small amount over the individual servings of bread pudding.

Cors approves of his new bone:

Joel loves his present and I love hearing him play!

I got lots of wonderful new books: Brideshead Revisited, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Northanger Abbey, The Knitter’s Book of Wool, and Pattern Magic 2. There are favorites and lots of new ones that I’m excited to read.

Belgian waffles are our Christmas breakfast tradition. This year our toppings were blackberry compote and homemade whip cream.

One of the sweets gifts I received this year was from my sister. She wrote and illustrated two stories about Cors:

We lazed around the house and Joel read the first book of the Hunger Games series out loud while I knitted. Cors dozed.

Christmas Night we ate fettucine and delicious bread pudding and watched the Doctor Who Christmas special. It was the perfect ending to the most delightful Christmas.

What was the best part of your Christmas?

Christmas Eve we had a little feasting with friends: prime rib, yorkshire puddings, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts.

And cupcakes made by our friend, Katy:

We washed up and then tried to sleep. It was almost Christmas!

Lottie + Doof has a wonderful 12 Days of Cookies series going on and day 5 was a recipe from Matthew Rice for Gooey Butter Cookies. Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis delicacy so I was instantly smitten and knew I had to make them. I tried out the recipe for a Christmas party last week and it was a hit.

Gooey Butter Cookies

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound cream cheese
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Confectioner’s sugar for rolling and dusting

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, butter, vanilla bean seeds, and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract.

Incorporate the flour mixture.  Chill for at least 30 minutes.  Scoop roughly 1-ounce balls and toss in the confectioner’s sugar.  Place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment, a couple of inches apart.  Bake at 325° F until they spread and puff slightly, about 12-16 minutes.  They will be really soft in the center.  If they start to brown, they’ve gone too far.  Cool to room temperature.

Refrigerate cookies on the tray because as the cream cheese and butter get cold, they’re easier to pick up.  Dust with more confectioner’s sugar before serving.  Serve chilled with a mug of hot cider

Reading books and the stack of magazines that have been piling up,  drink coffee slowly, mend a few things, organizing my yarn and sewing things, take lots of photos, bake good things, take Cors for lots of walks and last but not least, sleep in!

I picked out a bunch of lovely things, perfect for filling stockings of making a little beauty kit:

1) Beautiful Pouch by Scout & Catalogue  2) Tiny Locket by The Vamoose  3) Lollia Hand Cream Mini  4) The Perfect Red Nail Polish by Butter London  5) Argan Oil and Wildflower Palette by Josie Maran  6) Pomegranate Kit by Burt’s Bees  7) Nail Kit via Sephora  8) Lulu Organic Hair Powder