All Is Grace

around here, holidays are big time. we have big traditions for our big family: traditional food, traditional ways to do things, traditional traditions. for some reason, the food seems to be my overall focus.

go figure.

i go into list-mode. lists of recipes i want to try. lists of supplies i need, broken down by store. lists of the order in which i need to do things to get it all done in the 24 hours prior to the holiday. the lists are a little insane…but…well, they’re mine, so i guess that stands to reason. they generally get revamped once or twice. i always, always forget something. usually a couple of things. the last run to Wegmans occurs around 10:30 on the holiday eve (except Christmas. because…closed).

this year’s lists included 3 birthday cakes for my niece and nephews. two kinds of cranberry sauce, one paleo, one not. gluten free/paleo pecan pie. apple pie. braided bread. sweet potato casserole. and prep for the weekend’s cakes (work on which starts the day after Thanksgiving). the three birthday cakes made things a little more stressful…i never want my nieces and nephews to feel like their birthday cakes aren’t as awesome as everyone else’s “SweetCakes” because they’re just family or because they’re not on my official books…and I know that sometimes they haven’t gotten my best. i hate that. but…small cakes are still work, so they’re time. i got up Wednesday at 6, worked out, and started baking. and took care of a baby. and asked my kids to help me with dinner. and binge watched Gilmore Girls and Flashpoint. here’s some of the work.

Annelise was with us, so she helped juice the oranges. next time, i will juice without skins. duh.

paleo cranberry/orange sauce. pretty yummy, but again, no skins next time. (don’t worry, we made the traditional stuff too)

this is what the kitchen looks like when making 3 cakes, 2 pies, a sweet potato casserole, 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, and dinner,all at one time (and it doesn’t include what’s to the left…which is my cake work space. ugh.

asked Laine to make quick biscuits for dinner (thank you, Paula Deen for that recipe), and she picked this one up after it baked: “it looks just like a frog!!!”

pie number one baked on Wednesday evening: apple. it dripped all over the inside of the stove, of course. leading to this picture:

can you see the smoke? it FILLED the house. (but from what i hear, the apple pie was worth the smoke that followed.) aaaaand, the cakes: 

i didn’t get a picture of Ethan’s dirt cake until Thanksgiving day, but Cameron asked for a superhero cake, and Leah asked for a panda or an orangutan cake…and all the orangutan models i could find looked a little too life-like…and freaked me out.

frankly, i am grateful i had the whole day to work on prep…even if it was the. whole. day. i am blessed to be able to do this. and my kids were in the kitchen with me most of the day helping or laughing at whatever was on tv or trying to figure out how to make meals around the chaos on every flat surface.

you’d think they’d be used to that by now.