Komet

I've eaten komet as long as I can remember ... in fact, I'm not even sure of the accurate spelling. It's a recipe that was handed down from my Mother's parents who immigrated from the former Yugoslavia. They were from a region that would later become known as Macedonia. It's basic ingredients and quite easy to make ... although a little labor intensive with rolling out 24 layers of dough. As with most family heirloom recipes, it was never written down with accurate measurements. I forced my mom to do so a few years ago while she taught me how to make it. I've made a few tweaks over the years and am happy to carry on the family tradition. Every time I make it, I wish my Grandmother could have lived long enough to know this ... and share her version of the recipe.




Crust:
3 c. flour
2 T. oil
1 t. salt
warm water (enough to bring dough to a ball)
Let dough rest 30 minutes

Seperate dough into 24 balls. 12 layers will become the top crust and 12 layers will become the bottom crust. Roll each ball into a 6-8 inch circle. Brush melted butter on each layer before adding the next. Leave the twelfth layer of each stack dry as this will become the top of your bottom layer and top of your top layer. Roll each 12 layer stack into the size needed for your baking sheet (I use a 1/4 sheet pan size).

Filling:
12 eggs
32 oz. cottage cheese
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Whisk together and pour into bottom crust. Add top layer of dough and crimp bottom and top layers together. Brush generously with melted butter. Place in a preheated 450 oven for 15-20 minutes (until top is lightly browned). Reduce oven to 350 and bake until done (approx. 30 min).

Exchange

Every December my friend hosts a "Make, Bake or Create" party. The idea is to make handmade items for a gift exchange. It's really an excuse for a bunch of girls to get together, drink wine and chat. This year I made cookies ... which is a step up from last year when I merely watched the exchange. The little snowman is filled with hot cocoa and marshmallows.

Christmas Trees - The Lazy Version

When I was not in the mood to drag out all my holiday decorations I copied an idea from my in-laws. They placed a tree on their patio decorated with colorful lights. Festive and instant gratification accomplished in under 30 minutes!





This year we have two trees outside ... we're thinking we need three for next year.

Christmas Tree

This is the first time in about 3 years that I've decorated for Christmas. The backstory is that we were in remodel for a while ... then I didn't want glitter all over my new house ... then 'someone' had his hip replaced ... then I didn't want to drag all my stuff out ... then we weren't having any parties ... we don't have kids ... blah, blah, blah.



This year, I put up my fake, 3-ft pre-lit tree the day before Thanksgiving. And I am loving it. For a nod to one of our favorite places on earth, I added this single figurine.

Origami Tree

My sweet niece made me a stock pile of beautiful origami for our tree. She made so many that I put the miniature ones on our dining room tree. So sweet and colorful. They reminded me of Hawaii so I added the hula girl in place of an angel.

Wine Tasting Thanksgiving Weekend

We kicked off our holiday season by going wine tasting Thanksgiving weekend. It's so festive and relaxing. Thanks to black Friday, the wineries tend to be pretty quiet. One of our favorite wineries had the caves open for touring and tasting.



Fun day with good friends ... even if one of them was a little tired ...

Snow and Sand

After the 12 hour (most of them sleeping) cabin experience, we booked a hotel which is way more our speed ... you'll see that someone immediately crashed upon arrival ... (when you're 47 and have a fake hip, futons aren't really your idea of a great sleep).



Imagine our surprise to wake the following morning to snow! This is the view from our balcony.





It was so cool! Especially considering this was the day before ...

Winter Camping

I had a crazy idea about 9 months ago. We would try winter camping ... I guess not really camping considering we would be in a "rustic" cabin ... in a state park. The website looked so appealing. I happily booked this 2 day adventure the early part of Thanksgiving week. How bad can it be? And besides, we love the beach!

We packed up half the house and headed out ... through snow.



Finally, arriving at the cabin ...





You'll see what became the two most invaluable items I packed on the counter ... Lysol wipes and alcohol. We were to be in the cabin 48 hours ... we made it 12. Turns out we're hotel people.

Orchid

This is the second time in two years that I've managed to get my orchid to bloom. I don't want to mess with a good thing but feel like maybe I should fertilize him once in a while. To water, I give him 4-5 ice cubes every week. Pssst ... the blooms in the back with the yellow throat are the "real" blooms ... the blooms in front with the purple throat are fake. No one can ever tell the difference and I never have to look at bare sticks when the real blooms fade.

Butternut Squash Salad

This fall salad is one of my favorites from one of my all time favorite cookbook authors. It's easy enough for a weeknight dinner yet feels totally gourmet. We've eaten it four times since October!

Origami

Last Christmas my niece decorated their family tree with an assortment of origami that she had made. I was swooning over the originality and how completely adorable it was. On the spot, I commissioned her to create an assortment of ornaments for my tree ... she delivered this weekend and I can't wait to decorate our tree.

Sunday Morning v.2

I find Sunday morning to be one of my favorite parts of the weekend. It's such a lazy and carefree day. I tend to cram all my errands in on Saturday just so I can kick back on Sunday and read my stock pile of magazines ... while my husband watches football. It always seems a bit of a downer to have the same-o, same-o breakfast on Sunday so I decided to test out some berry muffins from my newest cookbook. The recipe called for the flour to be barely mixed in as you can see in the photo ...





They were delicious. Not too sweet and the perfect partner to a steaming cup of coffee.

Sunday Morning

Our backyard meets up to the church property behind us. In the summer, we can hear the choir singing hymns while we sit on our deck ... drinking mimosas. It's nice. This past Sunday, the fall sun was low and streaming through the trees so beautifully.

Road Trips

On our recent road trip we decided to keep a loose itinerary and were reminded how indulgent it feels to never look at your watch for a time check. In route to Walla Walla, we decided to take the longer more scenic highways to reach each of our destinations. This waterfall is in the Rogue River National Forest ...


Quick lunch at Diamond Lake ... it was 38 degrees!



Central Oregon ... see, it's not all green ...



A relaxing evening after a long day of driving ...

Walla Walla Walla

Our wine tasting trip was to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary. GO US!
We visited 12 wineries in two days. GO US! My favorite was North Star where we ended up purchasing a mixed case. I literally loved every wine we tasted and can't wait to share the bottles with friends.

My other new favorite was Olive. We had an amazing lunch ...


and then proceeded to go back the following morning for breakfast ...



I can't wait to go back to Walla Walla ... or as my husband said, "Walla Walla Walla."

Wine Tasting, Walla Walla Style

Who knew Walla Walla was becoming quite the wine tour destination? We've heard so many great things the past few years, we decided to check it out for ourselves and loved it. LOVED IT.

We had a beautiful place to stay.


Our gorgeous view made it difficult to leave ...



And so did our comfy room ...

WTF?

I am very fond of the saying, WTF. I know I have a potty mouth but sometimes there is no other appropriate phrase that fits the situation. We were out of town last week celebrating our anniversary ... 15 yrs! woot woot. We came home to these lovelies (not!) on our completely private back deck (you know, the deck that is rotting away) ...





Creepy, right? There were four of them made to look like they were walking out my French doors to the deck. (Sorry, my photos are not loading correctly).




I thought it was the cleaning gals ... no dice ... and I am quite sure they think I am insane as they kept asking, "What do you mean? Shoes with flowers?"

I know it was you Cupcake. And just because my deck is rotting, does not mean I also need Ms. Phoenix's rotting shoes out there as well. We do have some standards. And oh ... that's right ... you are leaving to Hawaii soon ... hummmm

Chicken & Dumplings

Before the Northwest weather decided to be summer again, I was totally info fall comfort foods. I was going to be home all day on Sunday so decided to make a batch of stock which only increased the home-y, comfy feeling of a perfect Sunday night dinner. I insisted that my husband call me "Martha" the entire day ... He rolled his eyes instead.