All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.

Food

How to throw a cookie exchange party

December 11, 2012 hannahviolin 4 Comments

I’ve realized that when I host a party, I am really bad at taking pictures of it. I need to start hiring a photographer to take pictures of parties when I host (Thanksgiving was another blogger photo failure). Oh well!

Here’s the only picture of the party:

That’s me standing in front of a table FULL of amazing and delicious looking cookies and bars and other goodies. My friends are fantastic bakers and everybody brought something made with love.

And I don’t love the way I look in the picture above, but I’m posting it anyway. I am in control of my appearance and I am not hiding. I look like I am having FUN and just because I’ve gained a few pounds doesn’t mean I should be ashamed and hide. Right? *sobs into table of delicious cookies*

Okay, how does the cookie exchange party work?

Basically:

I invited about 20 women (evite), probably a dozen showed up. I told everybody to bring 4 dozen cookies and copies of the recipe. Some people brought a few more, some probably brought a few less, all in all there were TONS of cookies. I provided some ziplock bags and wax paper, some people brought empty containers (I think I forgot to remind people to do this, but most did anyway.)

Since everybody knew ME but not everybody knew each other (most did, but not all) we went around the room, introduced ourselves, everybody told how they knew me, and also about their cookie recipe, or recipes. After that, it was time to swap! Basically everybody just took a few of each recipe until all the cookies were gone. I had to chastise a few people to take more cookies. It was a cookie swap, not a cookie dump!

I’ve read stuff online (on how to throw a cookie swap party) that suggests some people are a lot less generous—swaps that say to bring 10 dozen, all parceled out so nobody takes too many (or too few?). Or that some people are less creative—I read something that suggested you want to make sure everybody doesn’t just bring chocolate chip. Um, as far as my friends are concerned, getting together is an excuse to show off our culinary talents! NO worries about five chocolate chip recipes.

We had some people with allergies in their families: I made little signs and divided up the table into various items: containing nuts, containing almonds, that kind of thing. It’s easy to tell when people remember to bring the recipe, but I’ve found that few bother with this, but you can always ask.

I also like to serve drinks and savory snacks. I made Hot Apple Cider, Poinsettias (Cranberry juice, sparkling wine, triple sec) and had store bought Eggnog available.

I made small holes in an orange with a toothpick and then filled those holes with whole cloves.

Then I took a jug of apple cider, poured it into my crockpot, added the orange and several cinnamon sticks and put it on low for several hours. It was delicious, with or without caramel vodka!

I also made my “famous” cream cheese and olive penguins and Alton Brown’s Spinach Artichoke Dip. (I used canned artichokes though, and it tasted GREAT.)

I’ll have to do a “how to make penguins” post one of these days, with step by step directions 😉

The party was a grand success, I would say. It was my fourth year of throwing it and this was the biggest one yet. I invited more people than before since I knew our new house was better suited to entertaining, but we still completely filled the table with food, even though it was probably three times as big as my old table!

(I made Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies which I already blogged about—not to brag but they are delicious.)

Travel

Is it too soon to plan another trip to paris?

December 10, 2012 hannahviolin Leave a comment

I read a cousin’s Christmas letter today and he mentioned a trip his family took to Rome, Italy as the highlight of their year. I personally did not write a Christmas letter (I feel that this blog probably suffices and everybody I would send a letter to already knows more about my life than they even want to) but I was thinking about what the highlights of MY year would be if I were writing. Two things stand out, of course—our wedding, and our trip to Paris.

I’m not planning to get married again, but I do want to go to Paris again. There are blogs I read now just about living in Paris and sometimes I will do internet research, you know, just in case. I also do this for other destinations and for cruises—I’m not alone in this am I? How many people plan hypothetical trips to destinations they won’t be going to any time soon, just to pretend? (Next on my list is Rome…or London…or Spain…or another cruise…or Russia…)

Eiffel Tower at night

So, if you are planning a real OR hypothetical trip to Paris, where to start?

I think the most important thing to do is to figure out what neighborhood you want to stay in. Until I booked our accommodations for our most recent trip, I was totally overwhelmed by the city, and after I knew where we’d be sleeping, it became somehow more real that we were going, and I was able to better visualize the rest of the trip.

(Note to reader: please do not actually book any rooms unless you are taking an actual trip. I am not responsible for any money you lose planning a hypothetical trip. In fact, I am not responsible for any money of yours at all.)

pariswindow

(view from our window in Paris)

On our most recent trip to Paris (implying there have been many, right?), we wanted to stay somewhere centrally located so that we would have an easy time getting around the city. If you read all my blog posts about Paris you’ll learn that I became a huge fan of the Rick Steves travel book but initially I just talked to a bunch of people and did tons of searching online. I found that the Marais neighborhood was centrally located, near a variety of Metro lines, and came highly recommended by friends. You can find a hotel here and very easily see where on the map you will be.

I think for our next visit (fingers crossed, right?) we would want to stay near the Eiffel Tower since that ended up being our favorite destination. In my “planning stage” I also found this great resource on the NY Times website: all kinds of information and recommendations for a Paris getaway.

eiffel tower

So tell me: do you love to travel? Do you daydream about travel destinations? Where would be your number one place to go?

Random thoughts

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

December 10, 2012 hannahviolin 6 Comments

My cookie exchange party last night was a huge success. Everybody brought great stuff—from chocolate chip cookies, to molasses cookies, to lemon bars, toffee, and fancy cookies with apricots or rosemary or tequila in them! My friends are pretty awesome.

Today I’m going to share the recipe I used, which makes a cookie I call Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies. They are unique and delicious!

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies (From My Baking Addiction):

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut (I used sweetened coconut as that’s all I could find.)
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.

4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.

5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and the coconut.

6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. (I also added some coconut on top)

7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. (I found it took 12 to 13 minutes, so pay attention to the first batch to figure it out! I imagine it depends on the actual size of your cookies. Mine always seem to take longer than recipes say.)

8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

I doubled the batch and made about six dozen. Make these. They are easy and delicious.

Today is one of those days that isn’t going as planned. Poor Chris has been a little sick and that threw a lot of things off, and I haven’t felt great…I may have eaten too many cookies last night. Note to readers: running after eating a ton of cookies, artichoke spinach dip, cheese, and eggnog the night before…is not great. Another note to readers: Caramel vodka with apple cider IS great. Not for running no, but very tasty. I’ll tell you more about the party later, but I’ve got to get ready for work!

Giveaways

Book review and giveaway: The Painted Bridge (Closed!)

December 9, 2012 hannahviolin 35 Comments

As you might notice, I’ve gotten more into book reviews. I’ve always loved reading and I’ve learned that another awesome thing about blogging is that you can get FREE books to read (without going to the library, which I used to do as a child, but I get so lazy about libraries these days) just by promising to review the book for them. And often I get to give YOU a chance to win a free copy as well, which I think is pretty cool, because all you have to do is read my blog 🙂

I was sent “The Painted Bridge” by Wendy Wallace. The book takes place in 1859 outside of London, at Lake House, a private asylum for “genteel women of a delicate nature.”

The main character, Anna, has been locked up in the asylum by her husband for having “hysterics” and “mania.” I found the book difficult to read, not because IT was difficult to read, but because of the idea that a woman could be locked up indefinitely for “hysterics”, in other words, for being emotional or opinionated—if those opinions were different than her husband’s. The author did a wonderful job bringing us into the world of Victorian England and the “psychiatry” of the time. I kept reading the book and then putting it down again. I became very frustrated for Anna, because she seemed to want so badly to prove she was sane, but then things would happen that would seemingly make her seem insane, and it was just very frustrating.

It’s worth reading if you are interested in the way mental health used to be back then, because I can tell it is a very well researched book. It has a lot of minor story lines that were harder to follow, and a few minor characters that weren’t as well fleshed as one might hope, but overall it was an interesting read, and the ending has a few twists that I didn’t see coming but wrapped everything up very nicely. (I often hate a book with loose ends—call me immature, but I want stories to finish and be wrapped up at the end of a book.)

I like to read for a variety of reasons: to be entertained, to learn something new, to learn something I already know, or to be taken to a whole new world. This fell into the second two categories. As an opinionated and emotional woman, it’s frightening to think that 150 years ago I could have been locked up for being myself! (Or more recently that that…or if I lived in a different country than I do now even.) I’m lucky to be where I am and with the man I’m with, and reading The Painted Bridge makes me feel even more so.

Want to win a free copy (may be more than one winner!)? Leave a comment here telling me something that makes you feel lucky. Giveaway runs through 10 pm CST Sunday, December 16. U.S. residents only. Winner(s) will be notified by email.

I was given a free copy of the book but was otherwise not compensated for my review. All opinions are my own.

Random thoughts

Come on ride that train

December 9, 2012 hannahviolin 5 Comments

Yesterday I played on the “Holiday Magic Train” with Jen as part of Chamber Project St Louis.

We were to meet the train at one end of the line (Fairview Heights, Illinois) and we would ride to Shrewsbury (the other end) and back.

We met up with a variety of Metrolink employees and the Marketing Director (I think) who was also the sound guy.

When the train arrived, we got on and then the train pulled off to a track that was off to the side so that we could get set up. We needed to set up our music stands, but they were also setting up microphones, speakers, and all kinds of signs advertising the concert.

After everything was set up, we got ready to move, and we were off! It was very strange at first playing on a moving train, but we got used to it. We played Christmas tunes and light classical music.

Some of our friends got on to ride and listen for a bit. It was a nice to see friendly faces, and to get people to take some pictures.

In Shrewsbury we had a 15 minute break and then the train headed back. I had been riding backwards so I was then riding forwards. It took a little adjustment again, but I was able to use my core strength to really stay upright 😉

Even though it was one of the oddest shows I’ve ever played, it was one of the most fun. Some people got on the train knowing there was a concert—others were surprised, but most, if not all, seemed pleasantly surprised.

I hope we can play again next year!

And a teaser photo: I’m baking cookies right now for the party…

They are turning out great and I’ll share the recipe soon!

Cat, Christmas

Everybody needs a little Caturday

December 8, 2012 hannahviolin 2 Comments

I have a busy day ahead, but I thought I’d pop in for a quick Caturday post, since it’s been awhile.

I know, I know. Regular readers know that technically in my world, every day is Caturday. Some people I meet in real life are surprised to learn I actually only “own” one cat. (Does anyone really “own” a cat?)