…is visiting an aunt’s house, where you can fall asleep under your grandma’s quilt. Happy holidays to all!

Well, actually, thank you to my friend Allen for being a great Secret Santa. Can’t wait to read it!

Been following the progress of Faythe Levine’s book (now on my Christmas wishlist) Handmade Nation: The Rise Of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, and was thrilled when I found out how well the documentary based on the book was coming along.

Faythe Levine traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. ethos. For “Handmade Nation” (along with the documentary film of the same name, coming in 2009), she and Cortney Heimerl have selected 24 makers and 5 essayists who work within different media and have different methodologies to provide a microcosm of the crafting community. Participants in this community share ideas and encouragement through websites, blogs, boutiques, galleries, and craft fairs. Together they have forged a new economy and lifestyle based on creativity, determination, and networking. Twenty-four artists from Olympia, Washington to Providence, Rhode Island, and everywhere in between show their work and discuss their lives.

“Handmade Nation” features photographs of the makers, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them.

The docu’s stop-animation opening credits was recently released, and watching it just makes me all sorts of happy, because it stars some of my favorite characters: needle and thread, ribbon and rickrack, yarn, fabric, paper and paint!

Hurray for crafters! Can’t wait till this debuts in theaters next year.

Learn all about the movie project on the Handmade Nation blog.

This is the first chance I’m getting to post about all the cooking that happened in my house over Thanksgiving. I love this holiday simply because it’s an excuse to cook. We didn’t have to make a whole lot, but I CAN tell you that I now sport two (somewhat gross) battle burn wounds on my right arm from not being careful as I reached into the oven to test the dishes for doneness. I know, I know, I should be more careful. I sometimes wonder how a klutz like me has survived in the kitchen all these years.

An interesting that happened was that I was actually able to cook with my mom. I’m sort of a cooking recluse/monk, you see. I take this after Lola Pinang, my mom’s mom, who didn’t like people in the kitchen. When I cook (and especially when I bake), it’s just me, the ingredients and maybe Radiohead on my iPod. People know to stay away when the apron makes an appearance. I was anticipating a lot of frustrated sighs and eye-rolling (from me) with having another person in the kitchen, but I actually really enjoyed the whole thing. (Hi, Ma!)

Instead of boring you with how these were made, I’ve decided that this is going to be a massive food post, with images recounting all the flavors that only greet the palette during the holidays. I’m sure these can be made any other day of the year, but they somehow seem that much more festive when they’re made at Thanksgiving!

French Bread Stuffing
French Bread + Celery + Onions + Black and Green Olives + Walnuts + Raisins + Oregano + Thyme

Cranberry Sauce
Fresh Cranberries + Sugar

Kale-Mushroom Bundles
Bella Mushrooms + White Mushrooms + Enoki Mushrooms + Blanched Kale

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Butter + Milk + Cream Cheese (my mom’s trick!) + Salt + Pepper + Fresh Parsely

Sweet Potato Casserole
Vanilla + Cinnamon + Cream + Brown Sugar + Pecans

Creamed Corn
White + Yellow Corn Kernels + Butter + Whole Milk + Parmesan Cheese

And for a post-Thanksgiving Italian dinner with friends:

Chicken Cacciatore with Asparagus-Fennel Risotto (can’t speak for the risotto because it was a yummy treat made by the host, but for the cacciatore…)
Fresh Tomatoes + Thyme + Baby Portobello Mushrooms + Onion + Garlic

Tiramisu
Lady Fingers + Ricotta + Whipped Cream + Coffee Liquer + Cocoa Powder

Seeing all these pics made me hungry. How true that we feast with our eyes first! Happy feasting!

I’m fully aware that it seems like I’ve been kidnapped by vampires (I just had to put in a Twilight reference!), but really, I’ve just been gone because I’ve been held hostage by work. I’ve been channeling Cousteau by trekking from place to place, except that I don’t didn’t do much exploring because I was busy working. I’ve been in a different hotel for the past six weekends (including Thanksgiving)—how crazy is that?

I know I made a promise to blog about holiday goodies, but I only got the chance to do one kind. If I wasn’t busy working, I was busy being sick and exhausted. It hasn’t been the cheeriest month because I’d gotten used to writing posts several times each week and was starting to experience blog withdrawal from “quitting” cold-turkey. I’m just glad and finally writing again!

I’ve decided to stick with this set of edible gifts, because I think it’s novel, and especially because these are fun to make. I first heard about the Cake-In-A-Jar idea while trolling the web for Valentine’s Day gifts.

The concept is fairly simple.

Take sterilized canning jars used for making homemade jams and jellies…

Grease and fill halfway with your favorite cake batter…

Bake as you would any cake/cupcake recipe…

And package in yuletide fabric, ribbon and labels for individual, spoonable/sliceable (they pop right out if you want to slice them up) versions of your baked goodies!

Genius, eh? Thanks to Angry Chicken for this awesome idea!

(I made two versions—one with the fabric tucked under the jar’s outer lid, and another with the fabric covering the entire top of the jar and tied with some ribbon. I prefer the one where you can see the lid because it looks neater.)

You’ll see that I tested this with gingerbread, because nothing quite spells the holidays as this treat. I’m thinking, however, that I may make some with red velvet cake, topped with cream cheese icing (once the cakes have cooled) and sprinkles, for a colorful, festive way to celebrate the season.

Canning jars, by the way, are also called mason jars, available here in the US in grocery stores like Ralph’s and Albertson’s. A popular manufacturer of these jars is the Ball Corporation.

I’ve read that putting the lids on the jars as the cakes cool creates a vacuum seal as the heat dissipates, rendering a treat that will keep and travel well. This way, though, means you can’t top your gift with frosting, so I’m thinking a rich cake like chocolate chip pound cake would be great. One studded with cranberries would be even more apt for the holidays.

And so, I’m back with a post on letting your friends and family eat cake this Christmas. I’m now slowly going to make my way to everyone’s blogs to catch up. I bet everyone’s been busy!

I hope to post pictures of my actual gifts, as I’m devoting a whole day to making these. It’s going to be a curly Christmas, indeed.

I’m glad to be back, and hope everyone is well!

It’s been too long, I know, and I’m actually STILL on the road. Or in the air. Or somewhere in the middle. I know I’ve been travelling longer than normal because this is the second Gourmet issue I’ve picked up in transit! I’m on the last leg of these travels, and hope to be blogging again by early next week. I’ve missed everyone!