Christmas baking & decorating Minnesota style.

This last weekend I was in Minnesota visiting Mandy. We dedicated the weekend to recharging,  & spending some time baking & decorating her house before Christmas. A couple of days prior to me leaving Iowa City for the Twin Cities, she had given me a run down of the items she was interested in baking. Quite honestly, the list of treats made me nervous because they seemed so fancy compared to what I was used to nibbling on for the holidays. But, that's Mandy, she's fancy & isn't afraid to take risks with cooking.

Saturday afternoon after we stopped for sandwiches at The Cheese Shop & smoothies at Jamba Juice, both of which I had never been to, we headed out to tackle the long grocery list of what was needed to complete this baking adventure of ours. I ordered a chicken salad sandwich & Mandy ordered a Thanksgiving turkey type of sandwich from The Cheese Shop. Hers had brie & cranberry chutney on it. (Side note, the chutney smelled terrible but was so delicious!) Jamba Juice was kind of intense only because there were so many options, but I ended up with Pomegranate Paradise. It was super tart! Mandy got Orange Carrot Karma which she said was fantastic. I tried it & disagreed. Who wants to taste carrots in their smoothies? Not me!

We went at Target in Eden Prairie to pick up some bake ware that Mandy needed before we could start making cookies. She found a lot of great deals on cookie sheets, cooling racks, & a hand mixer. The night before her & I had been discussing if she should splurge & spend the money on a nicer mixer or just suck it up & get a cheaper one. I told her, "I bet a hand mixer would only be, like, 6 dollars. It's not a big deal." I was using my vast knowledge of kitchen items & holiday sales to convince her to save her money. Little did I know...

While I  browsing the Christmas end caps/stocking stuffers & wishing I could buy everything in Target, she was deciding on kitchen items. She walked over with a big smile on her face & held up a hand mixer. She asked, "Guess how much?" I said, "No way! 6 dollars?" She said, "YES!" The celebratory dance I did in the middle of Target was quite extensive. People were staring, but that's what made it even better. We had an in-depth conversation about mixing bowls. Do you get the stack of 3 with handles & a lip for $20 or do you get the stack of 6 regulars bowls for $20? She choose the stack of 3. (I would have chosen the stack of 6.) Before we left Target, Mandy was deciding between a set of flannel sheets that were on sale or a pair of house slippers. I'm not joking, we went back forth between the two for at least 20 minutes. She decided on the slippers.

Knox decided he needed to show his slippers too! 

Just across the street was our next stop: Cub Foods. There were so many items on the list that it seemed like were in there for 10 hours. I was bumbling around testing out different crackers, spreads, & cheeses because it was sample day & in the meantime Mandy was concentrating on buying the right kind of New York strip steak. I'm a great helper! 

How much chocolate do we need?

In the middle of the baking aisle Mandy & I were comparing bars of chocolate to bags of chocolate chips while old ladies & soccer moms bustled around us fretting over their own recipes. I don't care what anyone says, it was really neat to be doing math out loud in the grocery store with someone who makes me feel really happy, not stressed out. My mom called while Mandy was looking for some particular spice & I didn't realize it until the end of the conversation, but I had been "facing" baking items while I was chatting with mom. I worked at Fareway, a grocery store native to Iowa, for almost 4 years so it's kind of instilled in my brain that I need to fix the shelves when they're messy. Facing is where you bring two of an item to the lip of the shelf so that it looks neat & stocked. Now I understand why I was getting weird looks from all of the women walking by me. 

"Do they even make chopped hazelnuts?" 

There were only two items that we couldn't find or buy at Cub foods: Fleur de Sel (Flour of the Salt in French) & Crème de Menthe. Apparently, you can't buy alcohol in grocery stores in Minnesota. Also, you can't buy alcohol on Sundays. When Mandy told me this I threw a fit & shouted, "What about Sunday Funday?" She replied calmly, "That's why you plan ahead, like on Saturday night." Who does that? Who is prepared for Sunday Funday on a Saturday? Ridiculous, I say. 

All stocked up!

Whenever I check out of a grocery store I like to put my groceries on the belt in order of how they should be sacked just out of convenience for those who are sacking my groceries & most importantly, efficiency for the cashier. Mandy let me do this & watched intently, I think maybe she was smirking as I separated cold meats from boxed items. As she was paying, I noticed that all of the groceries were sitting down at the end of the conveyor belt. No one was around to ask "Paper or plastic?" I turned to Mandy, "You have to sack your own groceries?" Quite shocking for someone who worked around groceries all throughout high school. 

The rest of this entry will be dedicated to the decorating we did around her house Sunday evening. My next blog post will feature the first thing we made on Saturday, so just keep reading! 

Sunday afternoon we decided that Mandy needed some sort of holiday tins or bags to put her cookies in to give out as gifts. We hit up Family Dollar for some cheap tins. After that we went to the holy grail of all things Christmas, Michael's. For those that are unfamiliar, Michael's is large arts & crafts store. If you're feeling some what of Scrooge, go walk around Michael's for a hot second. You'll leave the store feeling like you spent time in Santa's workshop spreading Christmas cheer. Mandy was bopping around from aisle to aisle & I couldn't keep track of her so I suggested that we get a cart & take it aisle by aisle. I am turning into my mother, I swear. There were a lot of sales on Christmas tins, holiday wreaths, & tree ornaments. She snagged a very elegant wreath for $20. 

Happy Holidays! 

My mom always has cinnamon pinecones scattered around the house during the winter months so when I saw them at Michael's, I got all sappy & kind of nudged Mandy into buying some for herself. That smells always makes me think of home. It was nice to share that memory with Mandy. Once I'm back home in Des Moines for Christmas, I'm going to Trader Joes to buy my mom a cinnamon broom to sit in the corner just like I did last year. 

Mandy found a vase on sale & added some jingle bells to her pinecones. Great accent piece!

Putting up the Christmas tree together was absolutely warming to my heart. Not only because we were making our own memories & having a blast while doing so, but it made everything else around us feel like Christmas. There isn't any snow on the ground & it's been a very warm winter so far. I put all of the hooks on the bulbs & she hauled up her tree from the basement. She's very organized so we separated the different parts of the tree limbs into piles before attaching them to the base. I appreciate organization in my life so this was just the cherry to my holiday sundae. We tackled stringing the lights like a team & the tree went up in no time at all. 

The finished tree. I think it looks amazing next to her red couch. What do you guys think?

The bear cub ornament we got nestled in lights! 

Even though the shopping was a little tiring the end result was very satisfying. Like I said, the next few entries will be focused on the treats that we made over the weekend. I'm thankful that I not only got to spend time in Minnesota, but that I was able to participate in something so special with someone who means a lot to me.