The Greatest Christmas Movies!

It's nearly Christmas!!!

I know I have been saying this over and over but I LOVE Christmas! What a spectacular time of year! So full of magic, beauty and giving!

So to celebrate last week I shared a list of holiday reads and this week I've made a list of my all time favorite Christmas movies, the ones I just cant get though a Christmas season without watching. I hope you've already had the chance to watch a few and if not yet perhaps you'll be able to watch a few over the next couple of days! Enjoy!

The Grinch

A Miracle on 34th Street

It's a Wonderful Life

Elf

A Muppet Christmas Carol (I really do love this one)

Love Actually

I hope you enjoy!

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Holiday Reads

One thing I love about winter is that it's a chance to snuggle in with a warm blanket, a cup of cocoa (or egg nog) and a good book. I love to take the winter season to re-read my favorite books. There are so many books that are perfect winter reads. I'll be honest most of them are considered children's books but they impart such a wonderful level of warmth and comfort that they suit the Christmas season beautifully!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I hope you've enjoyed my list of winter reads! what are your favorite books to re-read? Are there any special holiday reads for you?

It's Christmas Time!

It's finally December! This past Sunday we pulled out all our Christmas decorations, poured the egg nog, cranked up the Christmas tunes and munched on some delicious ginger snaps.

It was wonderful!! The house smelt wonderfully of ginger and and warm cookies!! There was the soft glow of Christmas lights and joyful sounds of Christmas songs!!

Let's not forget the added fun of holiday egg nog with a sprinkle of cinnamon!

What about you? Have you been busy decorating, baking and dancing to Christmas music?

Christmas Themes

My friends and I met again this week to continue our holiday bake-fest. This time we made some shortbread cookies, marshmallow roll and nanaimo bars. (All turned out quite lovely!).

But while we were busy making the goodies the subject of everyone's Christmas decorating came up. It's funny how incredibly personal your decorating choices are!

One of the girls loved warm colors like gold and burgundy.

(This lovely example found here)

Another loved the more cutting edge black white & silver.

(Image found here)

(Image found here)

I have always loved blue! It reminds me of cool winters, icicles and frost! But I was fairly alone on this choice as most thought this color scheme made them feel cold.

My husband is a fan of the traditional green and red, and since this is my second favorite this is the one we went with for our house! 

I don't decorate the house until December 1st but when I'm done I'll make sure to post pictures!

What about you? Do you stick to certain themes or colors when you decorate? Is your tree up and ready or do you wait until a certain date before you decorate as well?

Christmas Preparations!

Well it's already November, Christmas is right around the corner and its past time to start getting ready for it!!

I have already been working on Christmas for a while, yes I admit it I start my Christmas prep as soon as fall hits!

Part of that is because a lot of my gifts have a homemade element to them but its also because I hate crowds especially when I'm shopping!!

So the gifts are just about done, hurray!! But now its time to start filling my freezer with holiday sweets and baking!!! 

This year my girlfriends and I decided to meet once a week and knock a couple goodies off the list each time! Which is a splendid idea because otherwise I try to do way to much on my own and become very burnt out!

This way I spread out all the baking fun and have time to socialize with my lovely ladies!!

So far we have made some holiday chocolates:

Otherwise known as cuban lunches don't ask me why cause I have no idea.

Next week we'll be making some shortbread cookies. Shortbread is so Christmas to me! Its the only time of year I eat these and I go a little crazy with them!!

Still on the list to make is:
Divine Toffee Square

This is another of my holiday favorites!! I have no idea where it originally came from, possibly one of those company's coming books.... in any case its delicious, decadent and far too addicting.

Marshmallow Roll & Carmel Corn

These are more childhood favorites of mine! And even though I'm all grown up I still reach for it every year!

Ginger Snaps

These are another of my favorite cookies that I only make around Christmas! I don't know why I don't make them more through the year!

We've only just started with all the baking fun and I can't wait to make the rest! We still have a few good baking and cooking weeks ahead of us!!

Remember all this baking can be made into fun gifts for your coworkers, friends and relatives as well as great hostess gifts for all those holiday parties!! 

How's your holiday baking/cooking coming?

A Fun Gift for a New Baby

Recently I made a very special gift for a coworker! Her daughter recently returned home after adopting a sweet little boy from Africa!!!
Obviously the whole family is just thrilled and so excited to welcome him into their family!!
Now the family has already gotten tons of fun gifts in the form of clothing and furniture and I really wanted to make something for him.
So I decided to make him a nice cuddly stuffed animal! I let my coworker choose the colors and what kind of animal as she knew what colors the room was going to be and I thought she'd have fun picking the animal!
Guess what she picked??

That's right!!! A sweet little giraffe in grey green and yellow!!!

I think he turned out super cute!!! I love the colors she picked!!! And he's so cuddly!!!

What a fun gift to make and give!!! Here's hoping he likes it as much as I did!!!

What about you? Have you made any fun gifts lately? Or have you welcomed a new little member to the family?

Crochet By Megs Book Club: The Mesmerist

Welcome back to the Crochet By Megs Book Club!! I hope you enjoyed the Mesmerist as much as I did!!

What a unique concept for a book! Set in London in the 1800s The Mesmerist follows the story of Cordelia born in poverty to her actress mother and mesmerist aunt. She works hard to master the acting craft and catch the eye of a wealthy young noble who can save her from a life of struggle and poverty. She is successful and catches the eye of Lord Ellis. 

Most actresses would be happy to be a kept mistress  Cordelia will settle for nothing but marriage. This leads to a dilemma for Lord Ellis, he can't marry Cordelia she is too far below him. Instead he fakes their marriage and hides her in Wales. 

Cordelia is thrilled that she has married Lord Ellis and lives in Wales with their three children until one day she is called to meet Lord Ellis in London where she finds not her husband but a lawyer who informs her that her marriage was a sham and he is keeping the kids. She rushes back to Wales but the children are already gone and she returns to London to live with her Aunt Hester and try to take up acting again. 

But now she has gotten so much older and there is not much work for her or her friend Rillie. After her Aunt Hester passes away Cordelia comes up with a scheme to earn money. She and Rillie will set up shop as mesmerists who council couples before marriage.

This book was so good! I loved how intricate the plot was, all the small twists and turns that lead you to the final big conclusion! The characters were so real and individual. I really enjoyed how the book dealt not only with the individual characters and their drama, but with the idea of what medical treatment was like back then, the difference in standards and practice, how propriety effected the lives of women both medically and in their everyday life, the controversy that mesmerism and all holistic healing was in the medical community and society at large. 

If you read this book along with me I hope you enjoyed it! Share your thoughts in the comments below! If you didn't get a chance to pick this one up yet I'd highly recommend you do! And if you liked this book as much as me, there is a sequel titled The Circus of Ghosts that is I'm told even better than the first one!

And it is time to choose the next book for the Crochet By Megs Book Club to read...............

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Theresa Anne Fowler

Hope you can join us for the next read and I will report back on this lovely book in the new year! Normally we would meet in 6 weeks but as that will be smack dab in the middle of the holidays we'll meet right after! Happy reading!

Pumpkin Carving

There are a few Halloween activities that come around every year that I never tire of: Eating a ridiculous amount of candy, carving pumpkins, and watching classic horror movies! 

I have already been busy eating all the candy I bought for the trick or treaters I like to buy a mix of peanut free and regular candy as there are so many children out there with allergies!

We have also been meeting weekly with friends to watch classic horror movies, so far we have watched King Kong, Psycho, The Night of the Living Dead, The House on Haunted Hill, The Mummy and Dracula. 

On top of all these I've been watching extra classic horror movies at home. Including Dial M for Murder, Rosemary's Baby, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, and Rebecca. So I think I have definitely done the classic horror movie tradition justice!

Last Halloween activity on the list? Carving Pumpkins!!! This past weekend my husband and I finally bought a couple of pumpkins for our front step!

Aren't they lovely?

We won't carve them until Halloween so they are fresh for Halloween night but I have an idea of how I'd like to do mine! My husband is going to a traditional style face but I think I'm going to make mine like this:

(I found this picture on pinterest but it didn't lead anywhere)

Drill different sized holes all over the pumpkin!! Here's hoping it turns out!!

What about you? What are your Halloween traditions? How will you be carving your pumpkins this year?

It's Another Crochet Bobble Blanket!

No I haven't tired of the crochet bobble blanket! If anything I think I've fallen more in love with them! They are just so pretty and warm and unique! And for the novice crocheter out there it is really a very easy pattern to follow!

(See my previous bobble blanket post here)

Isn't she pretty? I love the combination of pinks greens and orange!

This one also comes with a lovable little snuggley pal!

I love how the tiger turned out!!

And what gift set would be complete without a sweet little baby hat and mittens??

I love how the whole set turned out! And if you're looking for a fun gift you can pick it up here.

I know I'm having way too much fun with these lovely blankets! I've actually already started another one!! I may have a bobble blanket addiction!!

What about you? Have you become obsessed with crocheting or making a certain item? Have you given the bobble blanket a try yet?

The Tastes of Fall

One of the most wonderful parts to fall (besides the changing colors of the leaves and the back to school supplies) is all the flavors! I love the taste of pumpkin and cinnamon! They just seem to epitomize fall.

Fall is the time to bake and cook. The weather is getting cooler and you finally don't mind warming the house up by using the oven!

I love seeing the beautiful bins of pumpkins, apples, sweet potatoes and squash piled high in the grocery store. It's a great time to make soup, bake pies, roast turkey and brew special coffees!

It's a fall tradition in my house as the weather gets colder to do all these things! This year I plan on making a couple of pies, an apple crumble pie and a pumpkin pie. The recipe for the Apple Crumble Pie is here and the recipe for the Pumpkin Pie is here.

Doesn't the pumpkin pie look lovely?? It tasted great too! I plan on making the Apple Crumble Pie later this week! Yum!

I also made some lovely carrot muffins one fine evening and enjoyed amazing breakfasts all week! The house smelt so lovely after I baked them! I used the recipe found here with a few small tweaks!

They were so tasty! And a great way to start your day!

I also found a fun recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lattes made in a slow cooker (found here). I'm going to  make this one when I have company as my husband and I really shouldn't be drinking that much Pumpkin Spice Latte on our own. 

It was Thanks giving here in Canada yesterday, I hope all my fellow Canadians had a wonderful holiday and ate plenty of Turkey!! We definitely did! Look at all this! Isn't it lovely?

What about you? What are some of your fall favorites? Have you been doing much cooking/baking?

A Pot of Pickled Peppers!

Gardening is a wonderful past time, a great way to boost your grocery budget and add a little extra health to your diet! But what do you with all those veggies?? You try to eat as much as you can while it's fresh right out of the garden but invariably there is a ton of produce leftover and the last thing you want is for it to go bad and need to be thrown out before you can use it!

One of my favorite ways to use up all that good grub is to pickle it!! I love home made pickles whether it's pickled cucumbers, carrots, asparagus or hot peppers!! So much fun to make and eat in the cold winter months to come!!

  

I love munching on pickles and pickled carrots!

Pickled asparagus is so nice as a garnish in caesars! They add a nice flavor and are so fun to munch on!

This year I also added pickled jalepenos! Honestly I had some pickled jalepenos on a burger at a restaurant and fell in love! I checked the grocery stores but I couldn't find any! And when you can't find it in the grocery store you either pay through the nose at a specialty shop or you make it yourself!

Guess which way I went with it??

Don't you just love the Rhino? Thanks Target!!
What about you? Are you a fan of pickling? How do you take care of all that lovely garden produce?

Fall Delivery!

I love fall! Yes, it's sad to say farewell to summer with it's warm sunny days, trips to the beach, fire pits and popsicles but I have to say fall has a lot going for it too! You have the beauty of the changing leaves, the warmth and comfort of sweaters and blankets, the pumpkin spice latte and of course back to school supplies!!!

I don't know what it is about back to school supplies but I LOVE them!!! I wander from aisle to aisle oggling all the goodies. I really want to buy them but I have absolutely no reason to. I did buy a pack of pencils one year and it still sits in my office ready to use if I should ever require a pencil. Truth is I'm a pen girl but I loved the quote from You've Got Mail, "bouquets of sharpened pencils" and although I haven't used a single pencil I still love looking at them. They are like flowers that never wilt... 

Anyway! I was once again walking down the aisles and looking at the school supplies when I thought how fun it would be to send a fall themed care package to my sisters who live far away! And what I ask is more fall than school supplies?? 

I picked up just a few small things to put in the care packages that I think are super cute!

What do you think? Who wouldn't love to get a fun fall care package?

The Crochet By Megs Book Club!

I thought it would be fun to start a book club! A chance to share some of the incredible reads out there with you! If you are anything like me you are a voracious reader! Once one book is done you are reaching for the next unable to quench your need for the written word!

Seriously I have a pile of about 10-15 books on loan from the library at any one time... And I had so much fun during my summer of mysteries and being able to share them with you I thought this would be a great opportunity to keep it going!

So here's how it'll work out! I will let you know what the book club pick is and we'll check back here in six weeks to see what everyone thought! You can read along with me (6 weeks is a pretty easy timeline right?) or you can just use this as a lovely place to get book recommendations for future reads!

The first book to be selected is....... (I feel like there should be a drumroll here)...........

The Mesmerist by Barbara Ewing

A friend recommended this book to me and promised I wouldn't be disappointed!

So here's hoping it's as good as she says! 

(I'm sure it will be as her recommendations are always awesome!)

What do you think? Will you be joining in on the book club fun or do you have a stack of books already calling your name? 

Mmmmm Muffins!

If you are anything like me the trickiest meal of the day is breakfast!

Seriously, If I don't plan breakfast in advance I'm stumped! I like cereal but I find I'm starving in a half hour, and I'm not a huge fan of eggs or oatmeal. 

One of my breakfast fail safe's is muffins!! I know a few recipes that are simple enough I can make them the night before of in the morning before work and voila! A perfect breakfast for the week!

I recently found this recipe for Pumpkin Banana muffins!

Don't they look yummy!

Nice and healthy and very tasty! Although I'm thinking of adding some pumpkin pie spices to give them a little more flavor.

I also love making Banana Graham Muffins!

These are muffins my mom used to make for us when we were kids! And they are still one of my favorites!!

Here is the recipe:

1 Cup Graham Wafer Crumbs

3/4 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Beaten Egg

1/2 Cup Oil

3/4 Cup Mashed Bananas

Stir together dry ingredients. Combine liquid ingredients and add all at once to dry ingredients, stirring as little as possible. 

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as I do!

Have you done any baking lately?

Harvest Time

Summer is winding down, I know it makes me sad too... But I hope you had a wonderful season and you were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine as much as possible!!

As summer comes to a close it's time to head back out to the garden and harvest all the goodies that grew throughout the summer!! I didn't plant a ton of stuff this year, just a few of our favorites. But the veggies I did plant grew incredibly well! 

We had a ton of cucumbers! I used this bowl full to make some cucumber salad, greek salad and of course just for munching!

We also had a great crop of cherry tomatoes! I'm not a huge tomato fan (gasp!) I like tomatoes in things like brushetta or pasta sauce or salsa but you will never see me eating a tomato on it's own. However my husband is a big fan of tomatoes so the cherry tomatoes were grown just for him to enjoy! And he has been loving them! Picking handfuls here and there to add to salads or just to munch on for a healthy snack!

And here are my lovely roma tomatoes! These beauties were used for sandwiches, bruschetta and all sorts of fun recipes!!

These are my lovely beets! I was able to make a lovely borscht with them and some potatoes from my garden!

My flowers looked wonderful all summer long as well! Although I did have to be very vigilant in my dead heading!

How did your garden turn out this year? Any of your plants do exceptionally well?