Holiday Prep

I don't go big into holiday decoration, but a little bit here and there is nice. Last weekend I made a wreath from yard clippings and a few leftover apples. Next year I'll definitely make two, because the gates would look better if they each had one. I meant to make two this year, but it took longer than I thought to make the one, so one it is. Those are the other two dogs of the Four Dog Fig Farm. Little cuties, wondering why I'm leaving them behind on my way off to work.

For a celebration of a different sort, last Monday I put together a pre-wedding package for one of my best friends who is getting married at the courthouse today! With the last minute planning there was no time for travel or a bridal shower, so I put together a little set of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence for her shoe. I wrapped it with a set of vintage Catalina Island postcards, because they might spend a night or two there as a honeymoon. It turned out super cute, especially because there were a few cards left over that I taped to the outside of the box as well.

And finally, last weekend, in an unprecedented two-weeks before Christmas timeframe, my Mom and I, and my friend Elise made the annual povitica. This is a Croatian strudel like bread that my grandmother and her mother before her always made. Its time consuming because you have to stretch the dough out parchment thin and as wide as a big dining room table before filling and rolling it back up to bake, but its fun and one of the few ethnic traditions that has made it down through the generations. (Extreme stubbornness and hot tempers don't count as traditions). We made two this year, one with a walnut and honey filling, which is what my grandmother usually made and therefore most of the family prefers, and one cheese and onion filling, the one I prefer and usually doesn't get made because I have no seniority in the family and I get out-voted. I like the walnut, but only in small doses as sweet breads are just not my thing.

Any holiday baking traditions in your family?