Holidazzle 101

Every holiday season leading up to Christmas, Minneapolis features a festive event called the Holidazzle Parade. This is it's 20th season. Here's a rundown of what to expect, including photos and tips for planning your own Holidazzle visit. (The photos are in random order and not at all related to the "Best" and "Worst" labels below. I just wanted to include as many photos as possible.)

The Nutcracker

The beauty of the the Holidazzle Parade is that it begins the day after Thanksgiving and continues every Thursday through Sunday night for four weeks. This year there are fifteen opportunities to see the parade. This is important for a number of reasons:

1. The parade is at night in the December. The parade starts at 6:30. If you've ever been to Minnesota in December, you know it gets COLD. And once the theoretical sun goes down, it gets even colder. So if you have plans to head to the parade and it's snowed 14 inches with -34 windchill, you can stay home, be safe, and go a different night! *Tip: The Holidazzle Parade does occasionally get canceled for bad weather. It's always a good idea to check local broadcast stations for cancellations if it's extra cold, windy, or snowy.
2. Its a fun and FREE event to take any family and friends who may be visiting. We had family visiting from out of state and decided to meet up at the parade. Fun! Free! Festive! *Tip: I talk a lot about the hot seats in this post, because that was our experience this year, but there are plenty of free options for viewing the parade. People do bring a blanket and cozy up outdoors. If you get there early, you can view the parade from above in the skywalk. The parade route spans Nicollet Mall, a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants. You can easily enjoy some pre-parade shopping and view the parade while enjoying a snack or meal by sitting at a window seat.
3. It's not a big commitment. The parade lasts about 20 minutes. Some of you may be wondering if a 20 minute parade is worth it. I'd say it's worth doing at least once. And trust me, you don't want to be out there much longer than 20 minutes. And did I mention it's free?
4. It keeps the crowds down. We went on a Thursday night, so it may be more crowded on a weekend evening or perhaps a milder evening, but I guess the good thing about a parade in December is that no one is anxious to get there early...and it's not necessary.

This was our first year attending the parade. Here's a list of what I considered the best and worse of our Holidazzle experience:

Best: It's a parade at night. The lights are festive and the floats are creative. The parade participants are wonderfully cheerful...or they are just moving as much as possible to stay warm. Many of the costumed characters from the stories are riding on or walking near the floats. The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz was pretty awesome riding her bicycle. And pretty much everything is illuminated, including marching band costumes and choir robes.

Pinocchio

Worst: It's a parade at night in December. I'm hardy, but it's December!

Dancing Christmas lights--There's a person in each one!

Best: Avoiding traffic by taking the light rail. *Tip: This year on December 10 and 17 from 4 to 8 pm, ride Metro Transit buses and light rail FREE or ride the Northstar train FREE after 3 pm on both days to Holidazzle.

Santa's workshop

Worst: Trying to get a squirmy toddler to understand she has to sit during the train ride. "I walk! I walk!"

The Wizard of Oz

Best: Hot seats--a paid seating area in heated tents. *Tip: Buy your hot seat tickets early. They go on sale near the end of October. Check the website often. They sell out quickly. Hot seat tickets for 2011 are sold out. I did see see someone looking to sell/trade tickets on the Holidazzle Facebook page, so it might be worth checking there in a pinch. Adult tickets this year were $9. Kids three and under are free  when sitting on the lap of an adult. I'm not sure of the price for big kids.

Illuminated choir

Worst: Hurriedly walking with two small children six blocks from the light rail station to the hot seats. In full winter gear. And then carrying them in full winter gear so you can get there faster. *Tip: Don't be late. No one is admitted to the hot seat tent after the parade starts (or so the sign said). 

Not sure what this was

Best: Free hot chocolate and hot cider in the hot seats tent. *Tip: Don't tell the kids ahead of time about the hot chocolate in an attempt to make them walk more quickly. It's more trouble than it's worth. If they don't know it's available, they won't be disappointed when you decide not to get some.

Hansel and Gretel

Worst: Scalding my hand three times while waiting for the hot chocolate to cool enough to drink (as the last float was passing by), while holding a squirmy preschooler in full winter gear and taking photos. *Tip: Skip the hot chocolate if possible. It will spill, and you don't need another thing to hold. And don't wear anything nice. Even if you skipped the hot chocolate, the person above you or squished in next to you or walking by you may not have.

Illuminated marching band

Best: The floats are really impressive. This year's theme was A Fairytale for All, and each float had a fairytale theme. I didn't get a photo, but one of my daughter's favorites (and mine!) was a zoo-train themed float (Dumbo, perhaps?) with kids in adorable, vibrant animal costumes in circus rail cars. I also missed a photo of the Little Red Riding Hood Float. I found the scale of the Peter Pan float awesome.

Peter Pan

Worst: Climbing our way up the bleachers in the hots seats. We arrived just minutes before the parade started, and our family had saved us seats on the second row from the bottom. Yet it was so crowded in the hot seats it was still difficult to get us all up that one step. *Tip: There is plenty of room for children to stand at the front of the tent to view the parade. It's expected. There's even a sign to let you know it's a children's viewing area.

Spinning Snowman

Best: Everyone clapping as Santa closes out the parade.

Santa and his reindeer

Worst: Walking the six blocks back to the light rail station with two tired toddlers in full winter gear. *Tip: We considered bringing a stroller to haul at least one kid but were worried about finding a place to stash the stroller while we were in the tent. There is stroller parking in a cordoned area at the tent entrance. Wish I had known that!


Overall my preschooler had a blast. The toddler just soaked it all in. Next year we'll bring a stroller and skip the hot chocolate.

Snow Ice Cream!

I first saw snow ice cream last winter, but I kept forgetting to put a bowl out ahead of time to catch snow. We got six inches of snow Saturday, and in the anticipation of our first "big" snow of the year, I actually remembered and put two big bowls out on our deck.

There are several "recipes" out there for Snow Ice Cream.  I decided to go with Paula Dean's recipe.  I had the sweetened condensed milk in my pantry stocked for fall baking.  Here are the details:

1. Take 8 cups of snow.

2. Add 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk.

3. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla.

4. Mix and serve.

In the photo above I hadn't added all of the snow.  When I first read the recipe, I actually thought it called for 5 cups instead of 8 cups. I ended up adding more snow because it was so soupy.  Then I checked the recipe and realized what had happened.

My girls were thrilled to try snow ice cream.  I thought the flavor was surprisingly comparable to store-bought vanilla ice cream.  After we sampled the vanilla, I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the rest of the batch.  It was really good, reminding me of a Wendy's Frosty. Yum! In fact, scooping this into a cup and drinking it with a straw sounds like a great idea.  Of course the texture is icier rather than creamier, but that's not the point.  The point of snow ice cream is to give your kids yet one more reason to look forward to a large snowfall.  As if they need another reason!

Now if we could only figure out how to make snow ice cream on a hot summer day...

Singing, Baking, and Making Merry: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

After reading this post from my friend Bethany yesterday, I decided I wanted to make a conscious effort to get into the Christmas spirit.  I knew we had snow on the way, and after a relatively snow-free November (I'm not complaining!), I was ready for things to start looking a little less like Thanksgiving and a little more like Christmas.

Funny Thanksgiving story: After a long day of celebrating and no nap to speak of, my almost two-year-old daughter fell asleep on a trampoline WHILE her cousins were jumping on it. I knew exactly how she felt.

Back to Christmas! So I cranked up the Children's Christmas Radio Station on Pandora and decided to bake some cookies. Listening to a new talker sing Jingle Bells: Cutest. Thing. Ever.  This was the first time I had my youngest help out with the cookies (I usually save baking for nap time), and she did a great job.  Somehow sibling rivalry was kept to a minimum and both girls were happy taking turns dumping in ingredients. I modified the Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe subbing in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips for chocolate chips since I'd had a partial bag sitting around.  I used dark brown sugar because for some reason I'm often blinded in the baking aisle and grab dark instead of light.  And I baked them at 350 instead of 375 simply because I turned on the oven and then forgot to check the recipe for the baking temp.  Fortunately the cookies turned out delicious!  For some reason it took me 31+ years to figure out that I like cookies slightly undercooked and to consciously make them this way.  I also liked how the white chocolate chips toned down the sweetness of the cookie without sacrificing chunky goodness.  I have found my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! My husband agreed. He was super curious what I did differently and actually said they were the best he's ever had. I call that a win!

The original recipe yields 5 dozen cookies, or so it says.  I think I ended up with just over 2 dozen.  Where did those other 3 dozen cookies go?  Are the Hershey's people making tiny cookies?  Are they not sampling the cookie dough?

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely or until you can't wait another minute. About 2 dozen cookies.

So as the sun was going down last night, my three-year-old and I shoveled a few inches of snow from our driveway. Someone in our neighborhood was enjoying a fire in their fireplace (thank you wood-burning fireplace-owning neighbors; that smell is home to me), and we are a couple snowy steps closer to Christmas.

Hello, December (Holiday Photo Card Comparison)

I spent the last week creating our Christmas card, something I'm doing myself for the first time.  Usually it's our super-talented photographer friend who does the job, but after a fall season of big expensive (loving our new fence!! and our new giant sectional!!) purchases, we're holding off on a big photo order for now.  That said, I spent the last week exploring a number of photo card sites, customizing cards, and changing my mind at least a dozen times.  I checked out tinyprints.com, Shutterfly.com, iPhoto, Snapfish.com, and PearTreeGreetings.com  They all had positives and negatives, but I did pick a favorite.  Here's a completely subjective and nonscientific rundown of my thoughts on each:

tinyprints

• Great fun, contemporary styles - especially their Rainbow group
• Prices are on the higher side
• Good sorting options
• Easy to make several cards and compare

Shutterfly

• Good mix of classic and contemporary styles
• Prices on the lower side

iPhoto

• High-quality cards & envelopes (based on a card my husband made for me a few months ago)
• Limited styles and and color options
• Prices are moderate to high

Snapfish

• Many standard style options
• Prices are low

Pear Tree Greetings

• Creative designs and shapes
• Prices are moderate
• Awesome color customization options including artwork (LOVED THIS!)

I chose to order my cards from Pear Tree Greetings.  I loved their fun designs, and the color customization options won me over.  The prices are in the middle of pack.  I ordered matching return address labels, but you can have envelopes printed instead for an extra charge.  Some of the companies even offer to address and mail your cards for you.  This can be a great time saver.  I would have considered this option, but I didn't have my addresses in a compatible format, so I decided to address them myself.  

If you're thinking of ordering photo cards online this year, I suggest signing up for the card company mailing list a day or two before you order.  Both tinyprints and Pear Tree Greetings sent me either discount codes or free shipping offers.  A general Google search for a coupon code for the specific company may also work in your favor.  I believe I got 5% off my order by doing so.

This was a really fun project, and I can't wait to see the finished cards!  This is a new experience for me, and I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what I wanted.  Do you send photos cards? What company do you use? Do you go crazy sorting through all of the options, or do you get in and out as quickly as possible?

I should probably note that these opinions are my own, and I was not reimbursed by any of the card companies for my thoughts.

Pumpkin Roundup

photo credit: DrBacchus

Here's a blog post I didn't expect to write. But tis the season. I've been busy pinning pumpkin recipes on Pinterest over the last few weeks. I've stocked up on pumpkin because I always read that it can be hard to find (although that's never been the case for me). Here's a list of pumpkin recipes I've made recently or hope to make soon!

When we carved pumpkins this year my husband was adamant that we roast the pumpkin seeds. Scratch that. He was adamant that I roast the pumpkin seeds. The last time I roasted pumpkin seeds was a project in my kindergarten class. No, I am not a teacher. I was a student in kindergarten. Needless to say, the details were fuzzy. I searched Tasty Kitchen, a great resource for recipes, and found Simple Comfort Food's The Best Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. It looked like a classic recipe, so I gave it a try. Before even eating the roasted seeds, I googled whether you're supposed to eat the "shell." Apparently it's up for debate. After attempting to avoid the shell a few times I gave up and just started tossing the entire seeds in my mouth. They had a salty little burnt cheese meets popcorn flavor that was pretty tasty. We actually have two pumpkins that we painted instead of carved, and I'm considering opening them up just so I can roast some more seeds.

Today my daughter and I made these hearty Pumpkin-Walnut Oatmeal Squares with Cinnamon Glaze from Bake Your Day. Technically I guess mine were Pumpkin-Pecan Oatmeal Squares as that's what I had on hand. They have oats, applesauce, pumpkin, and honey, so I've convinced myself they're totally healthy. I failed on the glaze, however, using three tablespoons of milk instead of teaspoons, which I promptly remedied by dumping in another two cups of powdered sugar. So much for being healthy! I will say as a person who doesn't like the taste of honey, it is noticeable in the finished squares.  But I suspect for most people that wouldn't be a problem.

Before I started baking this morning I considered trying this Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping, but then I realized it had canned pumpkin pie filling instead of pureed pumpkin. I'm a sucker for a streusel topping, however, so I'll have to pick up some pumpkin pie filling and give it a try later. I guess I could try making my own substitute if I get ambitious.

This is the other recipe that caught my eye. These Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting from Sweet Pea's Kitchen look delicious. I probably would have made them, but somehow I convinced myself that with all the Halloween candy I've been eating this week the cream cheese frosting wouldn't do me any favors. And remember the Pumpkin-Walnut Oatmeal Squares are healthy! (right?)

I've never made a trifle, nor do I own a trifle bowl, but if I did and I had to make a fall trifle it would probably be this Low-Fat Pumpkin Trifle from Janelle at Comfy In the Kitchen via Women Living Well Ministries. And can I tell you how excited I am to learn you can buy boxed spice cake? I don't know why, but that excites me.

While our squares were baking in the oven, I remembered reading once that a dump cake can be made with almost any canned fruit (or vegetable in this case...I think). That led to some googling and to this recipe for Pumpkin Dump Cake from Cookies and Cups. Note to self: buy evaporated milk ASAP! 

And finally, this list wouldn't be complete without Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter Dessert Squares.  Hands down they are my favorite pumpkin dessert.  You may have been lucky enough to taste these if you've been in a Williams-Sonoma store this time of year.  They sell the Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter called for in the recipe and generously had out free samples of the squares (knowing full well the samples will lead to big sales).  It's one of the few reasons I will venture up to the Mall of America.  Totally worth it, I might add.  I did attempt this recipe one year with pumpkin butter from a local orchard and mixed with crushed pecans.  It was passable, but I recommend the real thing if for no other reason than avoiding having to figure out the correct amount based on different jar sizes.

My daughter would like to add: "What about Pumpkin Pie Pancakes?" That sounds brilliant. Google, don't fail me now!

And for today's trivia: Did you know allspice comes from the allspice plant? It's not some spice mix along the lines of pumpkin pie spice. I didn't know that. My mom didn't know that. My aunt didn't know that. We discovered this last spring in the spice room of the Como Park Conservatory. It kind of blew our minds. But you probably knew that.

Odds and Ends

Well I shared some happy news in my last post, but now I have sad news.  A few weeks ago I had a miscarriage.  Unfortunately it's a surprisingly common occurrence.  It was a strange experience.  Not nearly as dramatic as you often see in movies or read in books (for me).  In the end, everything happened naturally, and I think that helped me to accept it.  We're all doing fine, and things around here have returned to a relatively normal level of craziness.  It's like I explained to our three-year-old.  We were wrong.  It's not time for us to have a baby yet.  We'll have to wait a while longer than we thought.

And perhaps in a bout of stress-induced madness I attempted to start potty-training my youngest last week.  The attempt only lasted two days.  It was pretty clear early on that she doesn't yet sense the urge to go potty.  I seem to recall a similar attempt with her older sister.  I'm totally in the get-it-and-get-out camp of potty-training.  No pull-ups.  Bring the potty to you.  Living room, kitchen, wherever you are.  Give it a solid try for two days.  If there are no signs of progress, wait.  Then try it again the next time there appears to be a real interest.  Her older sister was potty-trained in a week, before she turned two, and when her sister was a month old.  I can already tell there will be new challenges with this one.  Gone is our pee-resistant leather sofa.  And here is the older sister to provide constant distractions.  And they are constant.  But I'm still confident that when the time comes it will work out.  Until then, I will just have to be patient and continue buying diapers.  Already I can tell she's one step closer.  Now instead of saying "potty" after soaking a diaper, she tells me after what seems to be a little trickle or occaisionally even before it happens.  I think I'll give it another try in a couple of weeks.

This past week of work has been perfect.  Just enough to keep me feeling productive but not enough to take over my life.  I've been able to get and more importantly keep the house picked up, and I've had time to spend with my husband at night after the kids are in bed.  We wrapped up season four of Breaking Bad last night.  Brilliant show.

This morning I whipped up a batch of spicy tortellini soup for a mom who just had a baby.  I'll be delivering it along with salad, garlic bread, and chocolate zucchini bread this afternoon.  I think it's impossible to understand just how awesome it is to have a meal delivered until you've had a baby and you're not getting any sleep and you're ravenous because you're breast-feeding every two or three hours.  It's such a blessing.  And there just happened to be a little left over for me.  Bonus!

And since I actually thought of it, I started a beef stew in the crock pot this morning.  Two meals banged out before 9:30 a.m.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

So that's what's up around here.  A belated Happy Halloween to you all.  I hope you have a generous Spiderman in your family who is happy to share candy.  I swear sometimes my daughter sounds like she's pushing dope.  Mom!  Don't you want some candy.  Here, it's really good.  You should have some.  Do you like this kind? Try it, Mom.  Mom, would you like some candy? She's very persuasive.  And I don't mind it a bit!

One, Two, Three!

I'm working away at the computer in the kitchen while my husband is in the living room watching Scary Movie 4.  I overheard the scene below and had a good chuckle.  We've all been there, haven't we?  Or maybe it's just me.

Speaking of three, I'm expecting number three!  Shhh.  Don't tell my sister.  Knowing she never reads my blog, I threatened to share the news here first.  And I am.  I'm not totally rotten.  I'll hound her to read my blog until she does.  Until then, it's our little secret.