It’s that time of year again! You know, where you make your lists, you check them twice, and then you get home from the grocery store and find out you still forgot some particular spice. And then you have to decide if it's worth braving the store again, because really, when else are you ever going to find yourself using ground clove?*
Or is that just an us problem?
Well anyways, while you wait for your baked goods to come out of the oven — and find out if just adding extra pumpkin pie spice will suffice — come check out some of the things Amy did to make our shop (and home) feel festive this year.
Obligatory hip hop-adjacent festive phrase on our display.
Bonus: Spotify's hip hop holiday playlist on repeat. Pink tree to stay on brand for the shop. Don’t mind its nakedness… we had to use our ornaments for our Charlie Brown tree at home. SIDE NOTE: those gift boxes are 1) empty, and 2) wrapped in the glitteriest wrapping paper ever. If you’ve ordered from us in the last three weeks and found some glitter on your product — this wrapping paper is why.
Holiday card spinner rack.
This might be the funnest thing in our shop. It spins so smoothly, and I genuinely cannot stop myself from spinning it anytime I walk by. Totally makes up for the headache of assembling it.
Holiday-themed candles, because we like warm smells.
Yes, I said "warm smells." Turns out, I don't really know how to talk about candles.
Fun story: A few months ago, Amy and I were looking at candles at a regional trade show. While Amy was doing R&D and other business-owner things, I was talking to the other person in the booth. He asked me, “Do you like candles?” And I do, so I said “yes" — but apparently “uhhhh…” isn’t a good answer to the follow-up question of what types of scents I like most. Fortunately, Amy saved me by interrupting our riveting conversation to ask my opinion on a couple candle options.
And finally, holiday sweaters for the family.
Unfortunately, this image is one from a year ago, and almost all of the sweaters you see in this photo are gone — sacrifices from our move across the country (have I mentioned how tired we are?). But the good news is that Amy and I recently discovered our new favorite sweatshirts from Cold Cream (Amy loves bucatini, so her choice was easy. I had a harder time deciding, but ultimately went with "Gravy"). Even better news? Amy found a "Tator Tot" shirt for Raffy so he can match his mother and father on Christmas Day.
* SOMETHING YOU CAN DO WITH CLOVES (AKA JOE IS SOFT LAUNCHING A NEW RECIPE SERIES)
Make mulled wineor cider!
Bring two cups of apple cider — along with cinnamon sticks, cloves, whole peppercorns if you’re adventurous, and a splash of orange juice— to a boil then reduce to a simmer for ten minutes. If you want a strong flavor, keep the simmer going for twenty minutes. Add in your favorite whiskey** after you’ve turned the heat off, and serve. You can give it a garnish if you want, but let’s be real, it’s just extra fuss for you to have to clean up later, so just drink it.
** If you don’t have a favorite whiskey, or just have straight up bad whiskey, add it to your simmering liquid when you have five minutes left to go so that it gets masked by the spices.
