I made a biscuit wreath.

I love biscuits and I love wreaths so this was a ridiculously and easy joyful craft for me!

I first saw the idea on A Semi-Homemade Thanksgiving, but after scouring downtown San Luis Obispo for leaf shaped cookie cutters, I settled on some fun shapes that the Sheean household already had at hand.

The only ingredient needed for this quick n' easy, pretty biscuit wreath is Pillsbury/Trader Joe's pre-made grand biscuits.

I made an Elf Yourself movie.

Its not Christmas without dancing Sheean elves!

I made a cuttlefish!

Dear reader,

If you are not Casey Fay, you may read on.
Otherwise, you are going to have to turn back now because the following post is about the incredible Christmas present your girlfriend got you.
If you stumbled upon me because you were Googling yourself and found your name and illustrations on my blog, then you should be totally embarrassed that I caught you!! And that I'm going to tell Ashleyanne of your narcissistic tendencies.

Love,
Danica

P.S. It's ok for you to look at da pie stuff. But nothing else!

A dear friend from my favorite moments of high school put in a custom order on Etsy with me last month after having shared via facebook our mutual of cephalopods. As it turns out, she - like me -is in cahoots with a super nerdy wonderful illustrator! Casey Fay is the author of the should-be/soon-to-be renowned children's book Wonders of the Sea: Cephalapods (currently sold out - DANG IT) and the illustrator of many awesome quirky, colorful, animal adventure pieces (I want this one so bad!)

For this Christmas, his lovely lady wanted to bestow upon him a gift celebrating his affection for these wonderful invertebrates of the sea. She enlisted my services - seeing as I manifest my own love for cephalopods by crochet hook - with a special request for a brightly colored cuttlefish. I hope my handiwork reflects Mr. Fay's whimsical imagery justly:

Dairy- & Gluten-free Pine Nut Pie

Unbaked pie - bakes into a pretty, marbly surface!
I know that last week I wrote on my Pine Nut Pie recipe and that this week - if anyone was paying attention to the Pie of the Week widget off to the right - I was supposed to write on a made-up recipe for Banana Nutella, but to be honest, my Banana Nutella Pie did not turn out as well as I had hoped whilst my Pine Nut Pie seems to be improving!

This last week I made it for the birthday celebration of Paul Hoppe and then again for the in-laws, some of who cannot eat wheat and/or dairy. I learned some things and made improvements to my recipe, including a version that would not offend the stomachs of my loved ones!

Original ingredients:

(click here for the original recipe)

What I learned the second and third time around:

• Istead of dark brown sugar, light brown sugar! This lends itself to a more fluffy filling and doesn't get quite as dense.
• The flour is only necessary if you want to use dark brown sugar which mixes into a syrup that is thicker than the light brown sugar.
• Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread bakes very well with pies! I hardly noticed the difference between it and regular butter.
• On a similar note, this spread has a higher viscosity than butter when melted and is similar to the heavy cream - 1 Tbsp of this for the missing consistency of 3 Tbsp of heavy cream
• The best alternatives for gluten-free pie crusts are not potato flour ones, but cornmeal and nut based! This is Almond Tart Dough is vegan and wheat-free.
• Trader Joe's new press-in pie crusts are AWESOME. (Not Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-free)

I love Mumford & Sons.

For a long time I have been trying to figure out how to post about Mumford & Sons. I didn't want to merely refer to them or provide only a simple sound clip. When Ashley came to visit for a few weeks from Indonesia, she brought with her this wonderful band. Matt and I have been listening to it almost nonstop since making the deliberate decision to patronize the band!

And now, from a friend of my friend's blog, I have found a take-away-show style video of our favorite song:

I know that lines from their music have been posted as facebook statuses for sometime now, and that many a blog has pondered on their religious affiliation. I am by no means a music critic (or any kind of critic, beyond boisterous, opinionated mediterranean-style family exchanges!), but Mumford & Sons does some wonderful things with their lyrics - in conjunction with some wonderful wailings on their stringed instruments - that warrant some meditation. Below are the lyrics to the song above:

How fickle my heart

and how woozy my eyes

I struggle to find

any truth in your lies

And now my heart stumbles

on things I don't know

This weakness I feel

I must finally show

Lend me your hand

and we'll conquer them all

But lend me your heart

and I'll just let you fall

Lend me your eyes

I can change what you see

But your soul you must keep,

totally free

In these bodies we will live,

in these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love,

you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul

You were made to meet your maker