kiss cookies

I love hershey kiss cookies. I think I will be making them over the holiday break.

pedigree

I fell in love with genealogical fan charts when I saw Martha Stewart's template. Unfortunately her template only covers seven generations and I really want a 9 or 10 generation chart. I found some reasonable 9 and 10 generation charts online.

While searching for the charts I came across the Genealogy Fans blog. You can send Hilary your pedigree chart and she will fill in the fan with her beautiful hand writing.

Genealogy Fans uses this Misbach nine generation chart.

This is a ten generation chart, you can get it without the family crests, which would be my personal preference.

I think this is my favorite chart. In the picture that accompanies Martha Stewart's template, she uses a chart like this.

You can also download a free eight generation chart here.

quick pizza dough

photo via flickr

I found this recipe, from just cook already, for pizza dough a few months ago. It calls for a mere twenty minutes of rising time, which means we can have homemade pizza on work days. Fantastic.

rapid-rise pizza dough recipe:

3- 3 1/2 cups flour

1 tbsp. yeast

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup very warm water

2 tbsp. olive oil

corn meal

in a large bowl combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. stir very warm water and oil into dry ingredients. stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dought. knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. cover and lest rest for 10 min (i let mine rest for 20 just because i like it that way). lightly oil round pizza pans. sprinkle with corn meal, roll dough to fit pans, bake 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. time depends on thickness of crust, size, and toppings.

chrismas gift

I have been trying to figure out co-worker Christmas gifts, one of the most awkward in my mind. What do you give a coworker? I found this homemade hot chocolate recipe at Taste of Home. Perhaps the perfect solution?

lovely

I have a friend who works for Gap. She helps decide what they will sell on Baby Gap online. The big time. Every so often, I like to check out what kind of loveliness she blesses the online world with. This one takes the cake. Perfect for the holidays. If only I had a baby to put it on!

the ultimate coat

photo found here
I know I live too far north. Every year when the bitter cold hits, I check out North Face and inevitably am drawn to this coat. Maybe it could protect me from the low temperatures. For now, I'll dream of Texas.

photos of the decade

Reuters put together 91 photos that they are calling the photos of the decade. There are a lot of heart wrenching pictures. These were some of my favorites.





all photos via reuters

finals

Finals are here. I am anxiously anticipating the end of next week! I do have a silver lining, instead of writing a paper comparing two books on Constitutional History, I now get to compare Jane Austen's characters and themes to those of an American equivalent in Coquette. Much more interesting.