Last year I vowed that I would prepare everything for Christmas ahead of time and be done with Christmas shopping, addressing Christmas cards and everything else before December even started. But this year, all I want is to keep things simple. So instead of trying to get everything done, I am trying to just do the things that feel easy and natural and simple. Like these easy sugar-frosted lanterns and apple candle holders, that bring a Christmas feeling to your table, and take only a few minutes to make. Alec made a sugar-frosted lantern in kindergarten last winter and I loved it so much. Th ..read more

This morning, while I was working, A Cup of Jo‘s newsletter popped up in my inbox and sent me on to read My son, the zebra. I find this passage all kinds of moving, and a little bit haunting: “…Sometimes there truly is no light at the end of the tunnel, nor will there ever be. The lesson that my zebra has taught me is that if it’s only going to get worse from here, then the best moment of our lives is now. When I am lying with him in the hospital bed, I do everything I can to be with him completely. I feel his heartbeat, and I watch the particles in the air move when he breathes. When I ..read more

I made this as a quick lunch on Saturday. The children had it with soy dogs and Sumit and I with veggie burger patties and a feta/yoghurt dip. It would make a great side to grilled meat, but it’s also a great lunch – just add bread and cheese or a some kind of dip. Parmesan-tossed Potatoes with Kalamon Olives and Spinach Ingredients Potatoes – halved (or whole small new potatoes) Olive Oil Sea salt Greek Kalamon Olives Capers Grated Parmesan Baby leaf spinach Chopped fresh basil Instructions Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees C. Halve the potatoes (or even quarter them) if they aren’t almo ..read more

Since we were all out with the flu leading up to Christmas, the children never gave their pre-school teachers a Christmas gift. So we thought it would be fun to put together a little Valentines Day treat instead. When we got home yesterday afternoon Louis and Léonie put on smocks and got to work on these sweet wine bottle gift tags. We kept things really simple and in line with our process-focused way of creating together. I had prepared the wine tags (cut card stock into thirds, round the corners if you wish, and cut out a round hole at the top), and a tray of simple supplies to use: red ..read more

I’m thinking pink for Valentines Day this year and whipped up some quick and easy pink heart meringues to top a cake or give away as pops. These are quick and easy and you can do so much with them. I’d love for you to try! And if you’re curious about the cake – check back in later for the recipe! Pink Heart Meringues Ingredients 4 egg whites 300 ml sugar 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract a few drops of food colouring Instructions Heat your oven to 130 degrees C. Mix the egg whites, sugar and lemon juice in a stainless steel bowl. Use the bowl as a bain marie (place ..read more

It’s Friday y’all! I hope you’ve had a good week and have a great weekend ahead of you. I’m not going to lie – I find this time of year pretty rough. Anybody have any great tips for just feeling a little bit more awake and alive in January? We are going to have a pretty chill weekend, I’m hoping to find a way to re-boot a little. Also to work on my new project – knitting! The Netherlands killed it with this video. And apparently – they also raise the happiest children. And how about the joyful, illiterate kindergarteners of Finland! How great is this sweatshirt? I don’t usually buy kids cloth ..read more

The easiest way to remember to give your make-up bag a once-over and replace (pretty much everything) is to just make it a new years ritual. New year, new make-up. Usually I just buy the same stuff but new and fresh, but this year I shook it up a bit. Clearly I’m not 25 anymore (or 35 for that matter) and whereas it didn’t really matter a whole lot what foundation I was using a few years ago – it’s all catching up to me a little bit and I’ve realised that it’s time to start investing a bit in better products. So I asked my hair guy – who also happens to know a bit about make-up what foundatio ..read more

We hardly ever go a week without hummus on our menu – it’s a great source of protein and iron, which is great for us vegetarians, and the children love it. When we’re in Italy and usually have easy lunches that are a mishmash of whatever we have around – a wedge of good pecorino, crisp paper thin Sardinian flat bread (“carta music”), fresh tomatos, a slice of melon, olives – the children usually fill up on hummus. We often bring it to the beach as an afternoon snack. And for the rest of the year, hummus, pita bread, cous cous, grilled halloumi and veggies is a dinner we often enjoy. The othe ..read more

For Alec’s 6th birthday recently, he finally a Lego-themed party. It’s a super easy theme to work with – I highly recommend it if you have a Lego-crazy kid. Here’s what we did: Invitations I made an invitation in Photoshop that was meant to look like the packaging for a lego base, complete with Alec’s name written in a LEGO font. I included a little lego figure Alec, with a “6” on his shirt and all the details where written where the product information usually is. We sent the invitations by email. We actually had Alec’s party on a Saturday morning between 10-12. Mostly because mid-Dec ..read more

It’s Day 22 of The Creative Collective’s Scandinavian Christmas calendar, and I’m so happy to share this easy recipe for a beautiful golden saffron cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. Saffron buns (“lussekatter”) are one of those things that make a Swedish Christmas a Swedish Christmas. I think it’s fun to find new ways to present the classic taste, scent and colour of saffron, and this cheesecake is one of my favourite ways to do it. It’s fresh and a little tangy which makes it the perfect finish to our rather heavy, and salty, Swedish Christmas dinners. Click past the break for the recipe ..read more