November {a month in photos}

November ...
- rain, frost and snow ... and a little bit of sunshine every now and then :)
- visiting the Matisse exhibition at the National Gallery
- thinking about Christmas - starting to craft & knit gifts
- a bit flu in the family - serving pots of tea - luckily we got well soon!
- time to find the mittens & the ice scraper
- listening Christmas Carols :)

Linking to

 



Hope

He who breathes into our hearts the heavenly hope, 

will not deceive us or fail us 

when we press forward to its realization. 

Anonymous


Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5

White Chocolate - Cranberry Cookies

I fell for these white chocolate-cranberry cookies when tasting them for the very first time! A colleague of mine had been baking at home and served them in a late afternoon meeting this week.
The piquancy of cranberries and the sweetness of the white chocolate makes a lovely combo! 
As you might guess, everyone was asking her for the recipe - which she so kindly gave us already the next day, so we could bake during the weekend.

These cookies are very easy to make - it took about 15 minutes to make the dough and form the cookies - and another 15 minutes to bake them .
We enjoyed these Cranberry - white chocolate delights with tea and cold milk . . .  Next time I need to bake a double portion - there's only o few cookies left in the jar!

Cranberry and white chocolate cookies (about 12-14 pieces)

Ingredients:

180 g (6,3 oz)  butter or margarine
160 g sugar  (5,6 oz)  - or 80 g sugar + 80 g of a white cane, I used just plain white sugar
1 egg
0.5 teaspoons. vanilla extract (or half a vanilla bean -> cut through the bean, scrape the vanilla paste, mix the paste with about 2 tablespoons of sugar, and add to the dough)
190 g (6,7 oz) of wheat flour
0.5 teaspoons. baking powder
0.5 teaspoons. cinnamon
100 g (3,5 oz) of dried cranberries
60 g (2 oz)  white chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 170 C. degrees C / 340 F. degrees. Cover 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer. Add the egg.
- Mix the flour, cinnamon and baking powder together in a separate bowl and add the mix, little by little,  into the sugar - butter mixture. Add cranberries and white chocolate.
- Roll the dough into walnut-sized dumplings. Leave about 8 cm between the dough dumplings.
- Bake the cookies until golden brown (about 15 - 20 min. in a regular oven -  about 10-12 minutes in a a convection oven, with a bit lower temperature).
- Let the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes, thereafter set them on a rack.

... Wishing you cheerful moments while baking! 

These cookies are suitable to bake with small children as well, 

since the dough is easy to form to small dumplings -  

the form doesn't matter, since they melt a bit in the oven.

PS: If you make a double portion, you can use the other portion as a hostess gift.

I'm linking to these lovely Blog Hops:

Little Homemade Gifts under the Christmas Tree

Greetings from "Santa's Workshop" ~ These fabrics and quilts were hiding in the closet, longing to be used. I keep the pockets of old jeans & leaves of a favorite blouse, if the material is alright, in order to repurpose them one day. Well, that day is today...

I'm gonna sew a few little things ~ to the young and a bit older members of the family. When our boys were toddlers, their favorite Christmas presents one year were the little homemade rise bags with handles! The boys walked around carrying their bags ... Little things can sometimes bring a whole lot of joy.

Let's see what these quilts will turn to in the end of the day ... I look forward to a creative afternoon ~ Well, the sowing machine is calling!

Let it snow

It's been snowing a little every day. The light snow has been piling up to the leaves that haven't fallen off yet. The snow lightens the landscape ...

I captured this sunset on Wednesday afternoon after work.

Driving carefully in the traffic.

This sweet mouse with the Christmas lights decorated the sign by my door at work. We have "secret Christmas elfs" at the school in my area - you are given one person, whom you delight in some way once a week 3 weeks before Christmas - the last day before holidays we get to know, who'se ones secret Christmas elf.

... And this is my gift to my secret Christmas friend (something from the Christmas market :).

Wishing you many good moments this coming weekend!

I'm linking to Five Fact Friday hosted by Reflection of You
, to Rebecca Coopers Simple Things Sunday and to Freedom Fridays.

Confident in Trust

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

 for You, Lord, alone make me 

dwell in safety and confident trust.

Psalm 4:8

Biking to a Christmas Market

 

The sun was setting as I biked through the city to the Craft - and Design Christmas Market.

I grab every opportunity to be outdoors in the weekends, 

since it is already dark when I come home after work.
 

There was a cozy stand for tea, coffee and small snacks at the patio.

My friend has a stand at the market, she makes the most beautiful, simple and classic earrings, rings and other jewellery, designing the models, modelling the clay and burning it to ceramic. 

The tables inside were filled with graphic, design for home, jewellers and clothes.

I found a few things that are wrapped in paper ... more about them after Christmas.

We had tea and small hummus-sandwiches outside - 

as we chatted by the lantern.

The small fires kept us warm ... 

watching flames is relaxing,

the bring about this peaceful feeling.

I biked home in a peaceful tempo, 

enjoying the cold and crispy air -

It is December!