Christmas Donuts {A New Nielson Tradition}

If I'm being honest, there is nothing inheritantly "Christmas-y" about these donuts, as you'll soon realize. There was just something so fun about turning on the Christmas tunes a few days after thanksgiving, opening all the windows and doors and trying out this new recipe with Marcus in the kitchen while Simon and his cousin Lucy played and laughed on the back porch. It made me want to make them at least once a year (although they were so good we already talked about opening up our own gourmet doughnut shop on Main St, so maybe it will be more often than that--haha). Hopefully I remember that beautiful morning memory forever and keep this tradition going.

Here's the recipe, give it a go!

Ashley Nielson's Christmas Doughnuts//

1/4 cup scalded milk
1 cup room temperature water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast
--set this mixture aside for about 7 minutes

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
--sift together and cut in 1/4 cup cold butter with a pastry blender or fork
--add liquid yeast mix

Roll out, cut into donut shapes and let rise for about 20 minutes under a tea towel
Fry the donuts on each side until lightly golden in a cast iron skillet using coconut oil

Glaze//
Melt butter and add powdered sugar to taste, dip or brush on donuts while warm

These are best fresh and hot!

(We tried cinnamon donuts and powdered sugar donuts, but everyone's favorite were the glazed)

What are some of you fondest Holiday Memories?

A Betty of a Cookie!

Reason's I love this cookie--just cooled from the oven they have this very thin layer of crisp, like a perfectly toasted marshmallow,  that up until now has been very hard for me to achieve without the use of Crisco, which I refuse to use. The inside is still a little but gooey while they're still warm, which is delicious, but also rich, so it keeps you from eating the whole patch right away. Because of said gooeyness, they are still perfect the next day and if you can resist the following day after that. They no longer have that crisp skin, but they're still soft and satisfying and now way too easy to eat 3...4 at a time. I also recently tried this Guittard brand chocolate chip after having some troubles with my normal Tollhouse choice and really like them a lot more!

Both this recipe (a vintage Betty Crocker recipe and that choc. chip brand were recommended to me by friends on SnapChat! Woot woot--love that app more and more each day :))


Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet Guittard brand chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°
Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in mixer
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl
Mix in flour mixture to sugar mixture, Stir in chocolate chips.
Place rounded Tablespoon sized balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Centers will be soft. Cool on pan slightly, then cool on rack.







*This is my take on this original recipe found here

Day Two//Loveless Cafe

After a yummy local breakfast at Barista Parlor, we packed up and said goodbye to The Foxhouse in the woods. It was sad to leave (have i convinced you yet to book a trip to this treehouse?!), but we were excited to start the rest of our trip.

Before getting out of town, we popped into Nisolo Shoes Warehouse to see those IG beauties in the flesh and we even got to meet their new pup! Oh man, he was so cute and fluffy! The shoes weren't bad either *HEART EYES*

Then we headed down the road to drive through the historic and breathtaking Percy Warner Park. We rolled down all the windows and took in the crisp Autumn air. It was there that we really found the Fall colors for the first time. Pictures couldn't do this place justice, but it was so peaceful and gorgeous, I kept saying to Marcus, "I mean, no one would really notice if we just built ourselves a tiny house back there in the woods, would they?!" My mom called while we were driving through those windy roads. They had just gotten to their mission in Arkansas and I was trying to describe how beautiful it was where we were and see if Mountain View, AR was similar.

We then found ourselves in the Belle Meade neighborhoods--which is maybe the most insanely enviable neighborhoods in all the world? Have you been? I seriously couldn't contain myself. Those estates were oozing with charm. I couldn't even believe it was real life. We were too busy dying to snap any pictures--which I truly regret, but I guess it just means we need to go back!

It was getting late and we had a bit of a drive back to our next airBNB, so we hurried over to get a bite to eat at the famous Loveless Cafe. Our waiter was hilarious and our food was two thumbs up! It's so fun being in the South and getting to try all these things you've only ever heard about in books and country songs! Everywhere we went, if collard greens were on the menu--they were soon on our plate! I will say that the mac 'n cheese at Arnold's was far superior to that of Loveless, but THE CREAMED CORN at Loveless was, BOOM! MIND-BLOWING! I feel like it would worth the plane ticket over, just for that creamed corn. OH EM GEE! Tennessee does NOT mess around when it comes to comfort food, let me tell you.

We ended up hitting up a health food grocery store that night for some fresh produce, to make ourselves feel better about what we'd been eating, but really, it was all worth it. Good food is ALWAYS worth it.

Flowerchild.

OUTFIT DEETS: Orbit Stroller//here, Boater Hat//similar here, Acid wash tee//similar here or here, buffalo check flannel//here, Lace up booties//similar here, Jeans//here, Midi Rings//here, Hidden Crown Hair Extensions//here, Simon's onesie//here, Marcus' linen top//here

So about a month and half ago, I won a dinner feast at Flowerchild through IG and I think I screamed out loud when I saw my name announced. Marcus and I are HUGE fans of all the Fox Restaurant Concepts here in the Phoenix area (let's face it, he's a genius) and had recently discovered the wonderful magic of Flowerchild thanks to an event the generously sponsored for The Shine Project. It's unfortunately a bit of a drive from Mesa, so we only head out there when Marcus has the day off and we're feeling fancy at lunch time ;). Usually when we go, we get the avocado hummus with pita and fresh veggies, and it's insanely good and I highly recommend it. The prize was to choose a protein and three sides, so we were 'forced' to branch out. The only thing I was set on was the corn and quinoa side, because I had had that before and craved it for a straight month after. OH EM GEE, it's yummy. I actually told Marcus we should get two sides of it so I didn't have to share, not realizing that the dinner sides are way bigger than the usual side--luckily he talked me out of that plan. For the rest of our choices, we basically asked the staff what we should try and left it up to them. The beet salad was rich and creamy and really good. The indian spiced cauliflower was for Marcus' sake--I don't like indian food, but he liked it. And the tomato, watermelon basil salad was really unique and quite refreshing. The steak was great, but again, huge portions, so we had it for like three meals after this. Also, be sure and get their daily lemonade--we've tried about 6 of their flavors and everyone has been a treat! 

Here's my final top recommendations {based on this trip and prior ones}: Avocado Hummus, Corn & Quinoa, Lemon Olive Oil Cake,  Flying Avocado Wrap, Any flavor of Lemonade, and the Beet, Avocado & Citrus Salad

Have you tried any of the Fox Spots? What's your fave?

You can check out how we spent our whole day on @orbitbaby --I took over their IG account yesterday :)