Friday Fancies

Now that the holidays are over, who wouldn't like to just curl up with some blankets for a long winter's nap?

Here's what caught my eye during this first back-to-reality week.

(image via Pinterest)

This short (under 10 minute) documentary about Jane Austen. (I actually saw the exhibit this was made for when it was at the Morgan Library and, ironically, I was kind of underwhelmed by it. I like this little film much better.)

I think these simple water color sayings would look so pretty hanging on a wall. I'm tempted to try making some myself as a little DIY for my bedroom.

I'm intrigued by this Century of Books challenge. I don't think I'll intentionally do this myself, but I may try to see how many years I inadvertently hit during the course of my reading this year.

I was so impressed when I saw this thrifted and altered dress. It looks like something Kate Middleton would wear.

And have you discovered which Downton Abbey character you are yet? Apparently I'm most like....Bates, the valet?!? Let me know who you are.

The Pioneer Woman

Do any of you follow The Pioneer Woman's blog? I look at it from time to time, and over the holidays I discovered that she also has a show on the Food Network. I watched a couple of episodes, and between a few yummy looking recipes, Ree Drummond's bubbly personality (she reminds me a little bit of a Midwestern version of Nigella, with some of Paula Deen's liberal butter usage thrown in), and the interesting peeks into life on a ranch, I found myself in the mood to read her memoir, The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

It tells the story of how Ree's life unexpectedly changes when, during a stop in her Oklahoma home town while moving from LA to Chicago, she meets her future husband, a cattle rancher on a rural farm. The writing is funny, approachable, and self-deprecating--exactly what you'd expect from reading a few of her blog posts. The one strike against it was the non-stop descriptions of how she swooned over her husband while they were dating. I'm not one to mind a little gushing, but it gets a little repetitive when she goes weak in the knees in every chapter. Overall, though, it's lighthearted and fun, and if you like her blog, you'll probably like this book.

Two Desserts

I made two desserts for my family's Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations--one new, and one a trusted standby.

The new one was a nutmeg spice cake with rum buttercream frosting from Flour, which has become my go-to baking book. The cake had a very nice, almost Chai-like flavor, and the frosting was very rum-y. This was my first ever attempt at making a multi-layer cake and I found it fairly easy. It may not have looked perfect, but I was pretty pleased with the end result.

The second dessert, the trusted standby, was Giada's panna cotta recipe. I go back to this creamy custard again and again because it's so simple to make (literally just stirring the ingredients in a saucepan for about ten minutes), but the end result seems like something kind of elegant and special. I usually use glass dessert dishes, but this year I filled up some festive mugs to make it easier to enjoy while sitting around the Christmas tree.

Did you try any new desserts this holiday?

Scenes from the Holiday

Anyone feel like staying in holiday mode just a little bit longer? Good, because so do I. Here are some random shots from the past couple of weeks (with a strong emphasis on cute pups).

Tomorrow I'll share a couple of final holiday treats that I made and then, reluctantly, accept that it's time to take down the decorations.

The Family Fang

And my first book of 2012 is...drum roll...The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. It might sound like something about a vampire family, but it's actually closer to The Royal Tenenbaums than Twilight.

Annie and Buster Fang are the adult children of two performance artists. Their childhood was spent traveling to malls to play various parts in the random acts of chaos staged by their parents. As an actress and an author, both siblings are artistic in their own right, but have tried to make a break from their family. Shortly after they both arrive home for the first time in years, their parents disappear. While the police suspect foul play, Annie and Buster are convinced that it's another one of their staged acts and struggle to track down their parents without getting drawn back into their "artistic" web.

With a quirky and interesting premise, darkly funny characters, and some surprising plot twists, I think my reading for the year is off to a good start.