Teeny Tiny Toms

Today we got to babysit my cousin's baby, the little Analee. She is just the most cutest little gal! My cousin Felicita had her dressed in this adorable pink plaid shirt and skinny jeans.We also gave her her Christmas present early, little pink corduroy Tiny Toms!

We got to spend most the day with her playing with blocks and crayons and books. She's a year and a half and still talks in that adorable little baby language. It was a fun mess of chaos and cute!

~HM~

Glitter Attack!

Today at the Museum we did an adorable Reindeer craft...WITH GLITTER! You would think I learned my lesson about doing crafts with glitter from my ingenious idea this past summer for our Harry Potter Party at the Library. I had set up these rockawesome wand decorating stations. And we had all kinds of ribbon and beads and twine and feathers. And glitter. Oh so much glitter. We seriously had piles of glitter in the carpet. It was crazy. And oh so sparkly.

It's a pretty busy week at the Library and Museum. We have our 2nd Annual Fundraiser for the Museum this Friday and just getting all the stuff together is keeping us super busy. I volunteered to do a photo booth setup so I still have to get that ready. It'll be the kick off party to the holiday season! I think we should definitely do luminarias as well! Luminarias definitely signal its Christmas in New Mexico!

Hope you're all having a fantabulous week so far!

~HM~

Teeny Tiny Things - Biscochito-itos

My Grandma Lady came home from her visit to Washington with a little present from my Aunt Shannon's antique and thrift shop.

I knew exactly what I want to feature in these teeny tiny little bowls...

Teeny tiny little biscochitos! Or as we dubbed them: biscochito-itos. My sister Melanie had the genius idea to use an icing nozzle as a tiny little cookie cutter. Worked perfect! These came out as little fat biscuit-chitos.

Here is the recipe we use from Cocinas De New Mexico (and NOT CocHinas De New Mexico..as that would be an ENTIRELY different book! >.<) 

The alterations we use for this recipe are in bold.

BISCOCHITOS {Anise Seed Cookies}

Yield: 5 Dozen

Temperature: 350'F

Baking Time: 10-12 minutes

Freeze Well

1 pound lard {we use Crisco}

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons anise seed {my mom adds a bit more for taste}

2 eggs, beaten

6 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brandy*

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Cream lard/Crisco, sugar, and anise seed in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat well.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3. Alternately add flour and brandy to creamed mixture until stiff dough has been formed.

4. Knead dough slightly and pat or roll to a 1/4-inch to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut dough into desired shapes. {We use a cookie press}.

5. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned.

6. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Dust each cookie with a small amount of mixture.

{Many biscochito recipes do step 6: of dusting each cookie before baking-step 5. We dust them after they come out of the oven after a few seconds of cooling. Don't let them get too cool cause they need to be warm for the sugar and cinnamon to stick.} 

*Varied amounts may be used. Bourbon or sherry may be substituted.

NOTE: the fleur-de-lis shape is traditional for these cookies.

Happy cookie making! 

~HM~

Snow and Sugar

Yesterday as I was leaving work, the town was getting ready for the Christmas Light Parade down main street. I had really wanted to go and take pics since I haven't been since high school. But as I was leaving work it started to rain and then snow and it was just so cold. It also was an extremely long and trying week. And I got sick on top of everything. But it was quite lovely to see the town get covered in snow and see all the families out ready for the holiday festivities.

When I woke up this morning from my standard one hour of sleep..we still had snow! So, still in my pj's, I grabbed my snow boots, jacket and camera and took some pictures before it all melted.

And sure enough, by 1pm most the snow was gone. That's New Mexico weather for ya!

We also made our first batch of biscochitos. We did a triple batch (which makes about 15 dozen..I think) My sister Melly is a pro at them so I mostly just helped her press out the cookies.

Random Cookie Note: We're on like our 5th cookie press! We finally found a great brand that works beyond amazing with minimal hand strain. We make lots of biscochitos during Christmas time. :)

Wow! Sorry for the photo explosion. I'm gonna do my Teeny Tiny Things post tomorrow since I kind of overloaded this one with pics already. I'll also post the biscochito recipe. Hope you had a lovely weekend!


~HM~

Are You There Weekend? It's me, Heather.

Hello, hello.

So. It's 3am. And I'm awake. Stupid insomnia. It's been such a tough, tough week. I am most definitely ready for the weekend.

One super happy thing is that its December! Which means my sister Angelica and her husband will be home for the holidays in 4 days!

We have a family of teachers, so they all get a nice 2 week-3 week break. I really need to get me an academic schedule back. The long winter break is probably the #3 thing I miss most about college. (#1: Being in a creative, challenging environment and learning. #2: Being surrounded by my wonderful friends).

I did manage to get our library Christmas decorations and tree up. I try and incorporate my book page decorations into every possible display possible! While I was in the back by periodicals decorating, one of my favorite little patron dudes, age 1, walked over and helped me decorate. He was absolutely enamored with the tree and lights.

Fun Library Fact: The patron who volunteers and dresses as Santa for the library is Jewish! :)

Any fun plans for the weekend?

I'm gonna try and get over this cold and hopefully get a tiny things post (*fingers crossed* documentary) up by Sunday night. I haven't done one of those posts in ages!

PS-Oh! I auditioned for The Box Performance Space house improv teams with one of my best friends Jennae. We had about a half hour audition with 4 other people, playing improv games. It was so much fun! I so miss being on the stage. Its just so magical to be in a room with other actors creating. Hopefully I get a call back!

~HM~

Thanks

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! We had family over at my parents house. For some reason it took ages to eat this year. We were all very hungry by the time we finally ate (6pm!). And some of us (me) were a little buzzed off Sangria! :)

Below are some Instagram pics from the weekend. I had two days off of work and spent much of it being super lazy. (Except for the part where I helped prep all the food for Thanksgiving dinner!) 

Hope you were all able to spend the holiday with family and friends and the ones you love!

~HM~

New Mexico Thanksgiving: red chile+mashed potatoes= the best!

My sister Melanie's Super Nintendo. Fun Fact: She spent part of her First Holy Communion money on this. :)

Got Melanie some nerd-books for the long weekend. :)

Made some yummy hot chocolate in my Casita Tacita (Little House Cup).

The Kids Come Home

This weekend we made a super short, but super awesome trip back to Portales, NM.

We went to see the show Three Kids Coming Home: Three New Plays by New Mexican Playwrights at Eastern New Mexico University. The three playwrights are the amazing and talented Leonard Madrid, Claire Rice, and Jamie Barnes. Felipe Macias directed all three plays and they were amazing!

We hadn't been back to ENMU in about 3 years! It was definitely nice to see old friends again and a couple of professors. We were getting all nostalgic for the good ol' days of college.

Watching these wonderful shows and being back at the theatre really made us all want to do something together. A movie, a theatre show, something!! I miss that collaboration with fellow artists so much. We've all gotten the theatre bug again, so hopefully this time we'll finally do something! :)

This pic came out a bit blurry but it's one of my favorites of the weekend. That's me in the orange cords on the left, Jami Witt in the middle and Jamie Barnes (one of the playwrights!) on the right.  Jami Witt's sister Morgan and my twin sister Hilary were laughing at us cause we were all acting like we hadn't seen each other in like 20 years..but man, 3 years still feels like ages and ages. :)

We were also laughing cause Barnes and I are wearing like 4 inch heels and Witt is still that much taller than us! I think she grew 5 more inches since we graduated! :)

It was a truly great weekend!

~HM~