Recently,  our friend Mylinh (who I met through this very blog!) returned from overseas bringing us a delicious marzipan lion to devour. Just a few days later, I saw this post on making marzipan tree decorations for cakes on Oh Happy Day and it was perfect timing because Anouk had been asking for more "lion candy." We decided to have our friends over and give it a try. We also decided to go a little further than the original project though and make our own marzipan instead of using pre-made almond paste. Because how hard can it be, right?

Turns out it isn't hard as much as it is tedious, blanching and peeling all those almonds. But once you've done that (or if you find almonds already blanched), it's pretty much the easiest thing ever.

Homemade Marzipan

Ingredients:

1.5 cups ground blanched almonds
1.5 cups powdered sugar (with extra for dusting)
1 egg white
2 tsp almond extract

NOTE: This recipe calls for raw egg. If you are a little weirded out about eating raw egg, you can use the egg white substitute in the refrigerated section of the grocery store; it is pasteurized. 3 tbsp = 1 egg white.

Directions:

First, blanch the almonds: Bring a pot of water to a boil and dump almonds in for 30 seconds. Drain, and immediately transfer to a bowl of cool water. The skins should pop right off when you pinch the almonds. Dry with a paper towel before grinding.

Grind the almonds in the food processor until they are very fine powder. Mix the almonds with the powdered sugar, add the egg white and almond extract. Mix in a stand mixer until the ingredients come together into a ball (like bread dough). Turn out onto a surface coated in powdered sugar and knead until smooth. The marzipan should not be sticky -- if it is, coat with extra powdered sugar and knead some more.

To make our marzipan Christmas trees, we made cones out of the marzipan and rolled them in green sprinkles and shredded coconut (for snow) before inserting a pretzel stick into the base for the trunk. Oh Happy Day's recipe mentions wetting the marzipan very slightly before adding the sprinkles, to help them stick better. Next time, we'll do that.

We found that letting the trees sit for an hour or two led to a more stable tree but most of them didn't last that long.



 
 We also found that marzipan and pretzel is a combination that is pretty legit. Ritter Sport, why aren't you on this?

EVERYONE has been telling me that I have to go see Bruce Munro's Light installation at the Hermitage Museum and Gardens, and finally, the day after Thanksgiving, we listened and went.

Light is magical -- there's no other word for it. A field of floating colored globes takes up a huge field in front of the Arts and Crafts mansion, spreading out like wildflowers, the lights changing hues slowly from green to orange to purple. A ring of neon towers shine from between the trees like standing stones from another world. Inside the Hermitage, delicate teardrops hang from the intricate ceilings, casting swaying shadows on the paneled wood. Reading about artist Munro's vision for each piece, and how he and his team brought it about, was a treat, a full look inside a concept from beginning to end.

Anouk and her friend T. loved it. Even though they were bundled up in their strollers against the cold with coats and hats and blankets, they took in everything. We all especially enjoyed getting to roam the Hermitage at night -- to see it lit up so dimly was kind of spookily awesome.  The exhibition was tailored specifically for the Hermitage to highlight its spaces and gardens, and the moving, living lights made us notice details that we hadn't really seen before. (We adults were also big fans of the bar set up on the edge of the property -- festive hot toddys FTW!)

Admission was steep -- $15 per adult and $12 per child under 6, but worth it. The Hermitage is a special place at any time of year, but with the ethereal lights everywhere, it was even more so. We highly recommend a visit before Jan. 10 -- the day when Light leaves! It's the perfect way to celebrate a season marked by darkness and experience a new way of seeing an old familiar favorite place.

On a cold rainy morning a few weeks ago, Anne and I slogged over to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens for a bit of colorful cheer in the form of beautiful, tropical flowers. The Winter Orchid show had just started, and we thought it would be the perfect place to retreat from the gray weather and forget that the groundhog had just told us six more weeks of winter were in store.

There were dozens of varieties of orchids on display, from teeny tiny blossoms to large, solitary ones with long fluttery petals. It was a lot to take in all at once -- we had to make several trips around the Tropical House to drink in all of it, and on each pass, we found something new to exclaim over. Anouk's favorites were the Vanilla planifolia -- she thought they smelled like birthday cake. Mine were a bunch of giant hot-pink blooms. (When I got home and looked at the plant list, I saw that they were called Sophrolaeliocattleya Best Friend 'Cathy.' So I think it's fitting they were my faves.)

Many of the orchids on display grow in the NBG's Tropical House year round but many others are on loan and will only be displayed through the end of the winter show. Be sure to go and see them before the end of March! Also check out NBG's class on how to grow and care for orchids in your home, coming up on February 21 (more info here).  

This recipe comes from my local vintage cookbook collection, specifically from one compiled in 1976 by the Members and Friends of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. When I was paging through it and came across this recipe for hot buttered lemonade, I said, "Hmm, weird" out loud while James said, "Oh, that sounds awesome." And then we sort of looked at each other askance for a second.

I whipped up a batch on the second day of last week's snow, when we were getting a little tired of hot chocolate (turns out that can really happen) but still craved a hot drink to hold. And James is right, this drink is pretty awesome, bright and velvety and a little bit like liquid sunshine.

Ingredients:

• 4.5 cups water
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• scant 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel 
• cinnamon sticks for garnish

 A few weekends ago, James, Anne, and I headed up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a little antiquing and snapped these photos on the way. I don't know what it is about January that makes us want to visit the Eastern Shore (last January we visited Kiptopeke State Park and Cape Charles) but I think it must have something to do with how pretty it is there this time of year. This time it was extra-pretty with everything dusted with a thin layer of snow. It was also extra-cold, which explains why there are no people in these photos, both of my subjects refused to leave the safety of the heated car.
The first shop we hit was the Exmore Antique Emporium in Exmore, VA. They had a good selection of jadeite and milk glass, a large collection of paintings, and racks and racks of vintage costume jewelry, from enameled brooches to cocktail rings and hat pins. I fell in love with some Spode china and a vintage barometer (both pictured above). However, everything was priced 15-20% more than I would have liked it to be, so we left empty-handed but it was still fun to browse.

The next place we visited was the Blue Crow Antique Mall in Painter. This is purported to be the second-largest antique mall in Virginia and it definitely felt like it. We tried our best to see as much of the place as we could and spent about two hours browsing but I still think there were a few alcoves we missed. Blue Crow has a little bit of everything but the true standout was the huge selection of nautical items, from fishing floats to nets to a dozen or more antique boat lanterns. They also had a lot of vintage linens and best of all, a heap of what I like to call "church cookbooks" -- you know, those spiral bound books of recipes put together in 1972 or so to raise money for the PTA or local firemen, etc.

The prices at Blue Crow were more reasonable but we still only came home with two things, in the end -- an old oar (I have DIY plans for it) and an '80s-era pink matchbox car (bribe present for A.)

Do you like to go antiquing? Where are your favorite places to go to hunt for treasures?

Are you and your little ones going stir-crazy yet? We are -- at least, we were yesterday. Today it's thankfully warmer, which means we can spend more time outside but when the temps were hovering in the low 20s? Forget about it.

It made for a long day but we did end up having a lot of fun in it. Here are a few of the crafts and activities we've been doing, to beat the homebound feeling.

1. Paint tie-dyed marshmallows.


A tablespoon of milk and 1-2 drops of food coloring made the paint that we used to decorate our marshmallows. Anouk and I had fun coloring them with (clean) paintbrushes and then set them on a paper towel until they dried. They looked lovely floating in our hot chocolate after we came in from the snow.

2. Make colorful ice balls.



A Pinterest idea that worked! We dropped 4-5 drops of food coloring in each balloon, then stretched it over the faucet and began to fill it veeeeeeeery slowly. Tied them off and stuck them in a bowl outside to freeze overnight. In the morning, we snipped the balloons off and had fun rolling our new treasures through the snow. (They took a long time to freeze, so putting them in the freezer might be a good idea to help them along).

3. Bake "snow" cookies.



I found this recipe ages ago by searching for dairy-free cookie recipes. It's actually from Weight Watchers' site (the cookies are 1 point, if you are interested). Anouk calls them "snow" cookies because of the sprinkling of coconut in the dough. I call them delicious. We were mixing up a big batch right as it started snowing on Tuesday, perfect timing. Find the recipe here.

What have you other snow bunnies been up to? Stay warm out there!

I've always been a little obsessed with the idea of snow candy, ever since I first read Little House in the Big Woods in third grade. There's a scene where Ma pours maple syrup over snow and little Laura and Mary eat it up. Last week, on our third straight day of being cooped up, when the novelty of the snowstorm was wearing off and the day's maximum screen time had been achieved, I decided that we might as well soothe our frustrations with sugar and see if the idea of snow candy translated into our modern age. And good news -- it did! (Only we had to use honey because we had no maple syrup in the house.)

Here's our recipe and instructions, based on the one found here.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)

MacArthur Mall's outdoor skating rink ended its season earlier this week, but that's no reason why you can't keep skating through the rest of the winter season. There are plenty of places in the Hampton Roads area where you can strap on a pair of blades and glide over the ice (or fall all over it, in my case). Here are five great venues to check out if you're looking for a dose of icy fun.

1. Chilled Ponds Ice and Turf Sports Complex (Chesapeake): The ice rink at this sports complex is open to the public for a few hours each day. The hours change by the day but there's usually one session in the AM and one in the PM. Click here to see their daily schedule.

2. Iceland Family Skating Center (Virginia Beach): Free public skating is offered several times a day, including some evening hours on Friday and Saturday. The $9 fee ($8 for 12 and under) includes skate rentals, a great deal (an even greater deal is the Groupon they're offering right now -- thanks Lisa for the heads up!). Here is Iceland's public schedule.

3. Hampton Roads IcePlex (Yorktown): Open skate is offered at this facility in Yorktown in the early afternoon, late afternoon, and evening, most days. Their Facebook page is full of great information and updates, so don't forget to follow them!

4. Norfolk Arena (Norfolk): The Norfolk Arena has both public skate and public hockey hours. Bring your military ID for a discount on admission.

5. Sullivan Square (Williamsburg): The only outdoor rink on our list, the Sullivan Square rink in New Town closes on January 26. So this is the last weekend to enjoy it. What are you waiting for? $7 gets you in and gets you skates, too.

Do you know of any other skating venues around #HRVA? Please share if you do.

Happy weekend!

Photo credit: Life with Zeke. 

One of the perks of living right by the beach is that you get to know it in all types of weather. There's the stormy spring beach-- the summer sunny beach -- the autumn beach, with the goldenrod growing in the dune grass. And the snowy beach in winter, quiet and austere.

When we woke up after last night's snowfall, James and I bundled Anne up, and then bundled ourselves up (we're talking two pairs of fleece leggings here, it was cold) and headed down the dunes to see what we could see. The wind and waves had blown and melted the snow below the tideline, but above it, there was a dusting of white caught on the grasses and the bark of the scrubby beach pines. The sand was frozen where the water had touched it, and heaps of frozen sea foam was mounded up on the jetties (looking a lot like whipped cream). There were little sandpiper tracks all over the white fluff, marking where they'd been.






Before too long we had to go or else we would have frozen solid. But I was awfully glad we went. It was a treat to see our familiar beach with its white cap on for a change.

Since it's so cold outside, I thought it would be a perfect time to share one of my favorite cold-weather recipes. West African Groundnut Stew -- this version, adapted from the More With Less cookbook, probably only slightly resembles whatever the original is supposed to look/taste like, but a recipe book on how to cook on a budget is probably not the most authentic source. Hard to photograph -- all of the oranges kind of blend together -- but one of the easiest dishes I've ever made, ever.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken breasts or thighs (we've also made this with beef but prefer chicken)
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t nutmeg
• 1/2 T crushed red pepper (optional)
• 3/4 cup tomato paste
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter 

Directions:

Cut the chicken into small pieces and saute over medium high heat. When the chicken is almost but not quite done, add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are transparent and the chicken is done. Add the nutmeg and chili powder. Transfer to a stockpot and cover chicken and onions with water, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer until meat is tender.

Stir in the peanut butter. Cook for about 15 minutes more, until the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cooked sweet potatoes or rice.

This recipe can also be made in the crockpot -- just brown the onions and garlic and throw the chicken, raw, in with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low and add the peanut butter at the end.

Happy Tuesday! Everybody stay warm out there.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, on Sunday, J., Baby A., and I took the ferry to Portsmouth. We had no particular plans of places to go or things to do. The wonderful museum district was right there, but because of the Redskins game later in the day, we didn't dare do anything too time-consuming that might prevent us from being back home in time for kickoff.

So we just walked for a bit. And ended up discovering some interesting little features about the city that we'd never known about before. In case you ever find yourself in a similar predicament, I give you a recap of our impromptu mini-walking tour of Historic Portsmouth, VA. Here are some of the things we saw and enjoyed.

-The seawall

The Portsmouth seawall stretches along the riverfront and walking it gives a wonderful view of the boats going past. Just on our way between the High Street and North Landings, we saw a couple of tugs (who sounded their horns obligingly -- is there anything more satisfying than the reverberating sound of a tugboat horn on a cloudy day?), a container ship, and a few beautifully painted yachts. Baby A. had a blast waving at them and added the word "boat" to her expanding vocabulary.

-Hog Island Lighthouse Lens

The Hog Island lens stood in a lighthouse on Hog Island (one of the Virginia barrier islands) until the island finally eroded away in the 1940s. Now the lens lives at the Portsmouth waterfront, just by the High Street ferry landing. The lens, dating from 1898, is cut through with tons of prisms, and huge, towering over even James, who towers over me and A. It was fun to walk around the glass pavilion and try and count all of the rainbows (hundreds and thousands of them. We didn't stand a chance).

-Trinity Church

Trinity Church was founded in 1761, served as a British garrison in the Revolutionary War, founded the Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters in the 1890s, and features several beautiful Tiffany windows. It surrounds a gorgeous courtyard, and next to it is a really gloomily spooky old graveyard. Have I mentioned that one of my favorite things is to walk through graveyards and read the old names? My fingers itched for my grave-rubbing supplies.

-The Pass House

Currently, it's a photography studio, but from 1862-1864, the unassuming brick row house at the corners of Crawford and London Streets was a Union Army headquarters. To go outside the city, or across the river to Norfolk, you needed a pass, which you had to get at (you guessed it) the Pass House. We peeked over the gate and saw the door to the old pass office, and we also saw some really beautiful roses blooming by the fence. (We love January roses. Thanks, global warming!)

-Confederate Monument

It's a little unsettling to see the monument 'to our Confederate dead' standing so imposingly at the intersection of Court and High Streets (at least it was for me). From a purely objective standpoint, the monument is finely done, the carving of the soldiers who stand sentry on the four sides of the tall obelisk are super convincing, at least to a toddler -- Anouk kept pointing to them and calling, "Hi! Hi!" It was an experience to see it -- it made me mindful -- but all the same, it's one I'm glad I don't have to have every day.

-The Lightship Portsmouth Museum

The Lightship Portsmouth was built in 1915, kind of a traveling lighthouse used to help ships enter harbor at night. She was retired after almost 50 years of service, and now she's a museum featuring artifacts, photographs, old uniforms, and fitted out seaman's quarters (NONE of which we got to see because the museum itself was closed the day we went -- boo!) But we did get to explore the outside of the ship and pronounced it awesome.

Bonus attractions: The areas next to the High Street and North ferry landings, respectively, feature a red post-box and telephone booth donated by the city of Portsmouth in England. The telephone booth has an actual working pay phone in it, which is notable in and of itself. Definitely something to show the kids. A phone with a cord!

A dial tone! How quaint!

I hope you have enjoyed this brief collection all of the random things we happened to see as we moseyed along Olde Towne (those 'e's are driving me nuts!) Portsmouth. We sure did! I always make James stop when we see one of those old bronze historical marker signs so I can read it and on Sunday I read a dozen to my hearts' content. Hooray!

If you are wondering exactly what route we walked and are interested in recreating it, according to this map, we went up High Street to turn right on Dinwiddie, then right again on London Street all the way back to the ferry landing. Or you could just let the professionals take the lead.