Christmas Recepie // Kringla

I can picture your face as you read this... "Kringla? Um... What?" Most people have never heard of Kringla. Let me introduce you to it... It's a cross between bread and a cookie (and who doesn't like those things, right?). Not overly sweet and nice and soft. It's a Norwegian thing {coming from my mom's side of the family}. We made big batches of Kringla every single Christmas I can ever remember growing up, and this year I made my first batch in our own home. Here are some pictures and below everything you'll find the recipe. Feel free to print it out if you want. The easiest way to do it is probably in something like a Kitchen Aid Mixer, but I don't have one so I made it in a bowl the old fashioned way and it worked just as well. 

Begin my creaming the butter, sugar and eggs.

Then add the buttermilk (I use a buttermilk substitute like milk and lemon juice) and baking soda. The mixture will look kind of curdled. Tasty right? ;) Then add the vanilla.

Combine all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until it looks something like this. Then cover it and put it in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours. This is a double batch and it chilled for about 4 hours.

    Then roll out pieces of dough on a floured surface. Try to handle them as little as possible so they       don't become dense.

   Place the dough on a greased cookie sheet or stone. Some people make them into other shapes, but I   really don't know what the true traditional Norwegian shape is. But this is what I grew up with and I think I'm emotionally attached to it, so its too late to switch it up. Bake at 400 degrees for 9-10 minutes, depending on your oven, until they are {very} lightly browned. 

Always good with a cup of coffee! Enjoy!

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas with your loved ones! And Happy New Year from the Wine family.

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DIY Pom Poms // Baby Mobile

I don't know about you, but these little pom poms are overtaking my home page on Pinterest. So many people are using them for party and wedding decor and the like. Caleb has been deprived of a baby mobile or something to look at when he is in bed so I thought these might work. He is currently sleeping in our closet {I know it sounds weird but we'll get to that in another post. So much to tell!}. I needed something temporary and small, and not to mention cheap. And trust me, these are cheap with a capital "C."

This is really all it takes: A couple pieces of tissue paper, yarn or string, and sizzors.

Take about four pieces of tissue paper and cut them all the same width. I cut mine about 6". Or maybe it was more like 7." Numbers aren't my forte, but you really can't go wrong. Just know that whatever width you cut them with reflect the size of the pom pom you'll end up with in the end.

Next, fold the pieces accordian style. I found it helpful to try to make all the folds pretty close in size because it helps make the pom pom look cleaner and less like crumpled tissue paper ;)

Then snip the ends into a shape... I gave mine points on the end. But you could round the corners or anything you want! Again, you can't go wrong.

Cut a piece of string or yarn (leave room for hanging and to tie a knot!) and tie it around the middle of your folded paper.

Then FLUFF, FLUFF, FLUFF! Peel back each layer of tissue and separate them. Just be careful because it can rip easily. 

Like I said, I'll try to do a post on Caleb's little corner soon. It's still very much a work in progress. Laying in bed and talking to himself is his latest thing, so hopefully he'll enjoy admiring his little pom poms while he is hanging out!

love being three // family photos 2014

It is super convenient to have a photographer in the family. My sister did our first family photo shoot this year. It was a short and sweet... Perfect for two month old Caleb. He doesn't look super thrilled in most of them, but I still had to share them. Being a family of three is my favorite. 

You can check out her photography blog here. It's loaded with stunning photos :)