Happy December, everyone! I know preparing for the holidays can be a source of stress – everywhere you look, it seems like friends and family are ahead of the game with decorations, party planning, sending cards… It’s enough to make anyone want to just take a big long nap until January is here. So this year, at almost eight months pregnant, I’ve made the decision to only take on a little bit this holiday season, and so far it’s been the most wonderfully relaxed and stress-free one I can remember! We’re hosting just one holiday party at our house and it’s going to be a casual potluck. We’re sitting out far away family gatherings because long car rides make me queasy, so there won’t be the usual running around. Scaling back leaves me with the time, energy and sanity to actually enjoy the holidays this year, and for me that means lots of leisurely baking while listening to Christmas music!
This gingerbread cake is my first bake of the season, and everything about it says holidays. It’s loaded with rich molasses and lots of wintry spices for a dose of nostalgic gingerbread flavor, then coated in silky Stash Chai Spice Tea-infused buttercream.
There’s a steaming mug of spiced cider and a Christmas movie on TV calling my name, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Searching for gifts is my favorite part of the holiday season (tied with the delicious food, cozy time with my family, pretty lights everywhere and old timey music). I love finding the perfect present for someone I love, wrapping it up and placing it under the tree, then seeing their reaction when they open up a unique, heartfelt and useful gift. Every gift idea in this guide checks those requirements, and every purchase supports independent brands and the talented makers behind them.
If you’re in the market for an easy to make, crowd pleasing dessert this holiday season I’ve got you covered with these fudgy, maple tea-frosted brownies. They’re perfect for Friendsgiving potlucks when you don’t want to be the fourth person to bring 
A lot of the past week has been spent dealing with a water-leaking-through-the-ceiling-and-subsequent-costly-repair situation. Normal me would be a little stressed but calm and collected. Increasingly pregnant and emotional me, however, has a much lower threshold for meltdowns and seeing our 90% remodeled living room torn down to the studs almost pushed me over the edge. Honestly, when Bisou started meowing like crazy to alert us to the indoor rain my first impulse was to lay on the floor and cry. My second impulse was to distract myself with pie, and that’s the one I acted on. Whew! I filled a buttery crust with a mountain of fresh apples, lots of cinnamon and a hefty drizzle of homemade caramel, then baked it to golden, mouth watering perfection. And it was gooooood. So good, in fact, that we temporarily forgot all about the plumbing disaster and that’s saying something!
You may have seen me post about these pink apples a couple weeks back on 
It’s been cold, gray and rainy here in Portland and when dreary weather hits the Northwest, there’s only one thing to do: embrace it, because it’s not going anywhere for the next several months! To me, that means bundling up, staying inside and eating and drinking everything cozy and indulgent – like this rich and silky black forest hot chocolate. If decadent, made-from-scratch hot chocolate isn’t made for this season then nothing is. This one’s a mix of melted chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla and milk that’s been infused with 
This was my first time trying black forest in non-cake form and I’m happy to report it’s just as tasty in a mug! The tea’s chocolate and cherry flavors aren’t overpowered in the hot chocolate–instead, you get a nice, subtle taste of black forest in every sip. It’s a black tea, too, and I very much appreciate the little caffeine kick now that the days are shorter and I have trouble staying awake past 5 pm. This hot chocolate is super rich thanks to the melted chocolate I stir in, so I like to keep the other flavors on the subtle side. But feel free to add a few more tea bags when you infuse the milk for even more black forest flavor! The same goes for the whipped cream–I only used a couple tea bags to infuse the cream because I didn’t want it to turn “tea” colored, but for a stronger flavor you can always use more. The lesson here is that you can’t go wrong with chocolate, cherry and vanilla. Mmm.