Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Nest Quest!  I hope you all get to enjoy this holiday season to it's fullest this year! Through all the hustle of the season, remember to take time for your loved ones and to make lots of great memories!  

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Recommended Read

Awesome, awesome, awesome book!  Super quick read!  And even better if the husband reads it, too!  (Mine did.  Thanks, baby daddy! ;)  This is a very straightforward, funny, INSIGHTFUL book on just exactly what to expect once little one comes home.  I stumbled upon it on Amazon when I was looking for other baby books.  It is from the perspective of three couples and the challenges they faced through the course of their different newborns and family lifestyles.  It is not preachy, just some real good homegrown advice.  It really gets you and your significant other thinking and talking about things!  Preferably, read it wayyy before baby arrives!! After all, it's because of your relationship that this baby is coming!

Christmas Baking Extravaganza...Complete!

Day 3/3

The final Christmas baking day has arrived!  Whew!  Two pies to do today and then one tomorrow once I have arrived at my Mom's house!  Its an Eggnog pie so I thought it would be better to wait that way the pie only has to survive one long cooler ride instead of two.

Multi-Fruit Pie

I only used half the amount of pineapple and added in some fresh strawberries.  Also, since I'm not a huge fan of cherry I opted for the blueberry pie filling instead!

A little carried away with the Christmas trees??.... I think NOT!

The finished pies... the crusts are out of The Joy of Cooking.  Just the basic sweetened pie crust.  It is flaky and delicious!!  You can find the Pumpkin Pie recipe here.  I can't wait to dive into these in a couple of days!

Christmas Baking Extravaganza Take Two!

Day 2/3

Today I had so much fun rolling dough, cutting shapes, and decorating cookies!  I had prepped the dough for two of the cookies yesterday which made today a lot easier!  Click on the cookie name to check out the recipe!

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints 

Little army ready to hit the oven!

Drizzled with Almond Glaze

These cookies are buttery and have just a hint of almond contrasted with tangy raspberry.  YUM!

Peppermint Pinwheels

How cute are these guys??

And this last recipe is from a childhood Christmas craft book that I've had since I was about 8 years old. 

Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 c butter

1/2 c powder sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour and butter until dough resembles coarse crumbles. Add remaining ingredients. Chill for 2 hours. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into fun Christmas shapes!  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Ready for some icing and sprinkles!

That's the end of baking day two!  

Christmas Baking Extravaganza

Day 1/3

Tis the Season!... for lots and lots of yummies!  I will be heading to my Grandparent's home in southern Georgia later this week and this year will be contributing to the massive sweets pile that appears there every Christmas.  I love going to my grandparent's home.  Its my mom's side of the family and there are a bunch of us! :)  So, of course, we require ungodly amounts of delicious foods, both sweet and savory.  There are many wonderful cooks in the family, with each contributing in their own way, we always end up with a delicious array of delicacies!

Today involved deciphering between what *ahem* everything I WANT to take and what I SHOULD take.  I have filled my Pinterest with so many holiday treats that I was a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what the best combination would be.  

Eventually I settled on three cookies: Peppermint Pinwheels, Raspberry Almond Thumbprints, and Shortbread Cutouts. The three pies will be: Pumpkin, Eggnog, and a Multi-Fruit Pie (need to decide which fruits!)  I stilll need to bake some biscotti to finish up a couple of people's gifts.  I settled on Peppermint Biscotti since it looks so Christmasy!

Here are a few pictures of the Peppermint Biscotti I found on this sweet blog.  Please, bare with me.  I am in the beginning stages of playing around with my new camera! :)

Ready to pop in the oven!

I added 1/2 tsp. of Peppermint extract into the dough for a little extra kick!

After the first bake, resting, and ready to be sliced!

Deliciousness!

I have only made biscotti once before and they turned out waaaay to hard.  I was nervous this time around and I actually could have let them bake a little longer!  Either way, they turned out so yummy!

Baby Dresser

When we purchased our home 2.5 years ago this chest of drawers was in the downstairs bathroom.  I suppose the owner just didn't want it anymore!  We thought it was pretty nifty and used it in our kitchen for awhile to hold spare dishes.  Eventually we got a cool bakers rack and had to boot this out of the kitchen!  Now it has a new home in the nursery!

The drawers are the perfect size for little baby clothes!  Will probably put in some drawer dividers to make it a little more organized inside.  

I spruced up the white with a new coat of paint.  And then decided to use up the extra green paint from painting the inside of the closet!  

 Helloooo there super adorable dresser!  Oh and here is a shot of the inside of the closet I painted awhile back.  Now things are starting to get all matchy-matchy!!

Boy, I really need to get some window coverings... that light is intense!  That will probably be a project for after the holidays though!