Holiday Baking
Most of my creative time and energy during the holiday season goes into gift making, wrapping, and baking, and this year was no different. As a result, my sketchbook comes up short. So as the year closes out, I thought I’d devote a page to remembering the recipes I enjoyed making and consuming last week. I do wish I could share my sublime toasted hazelnut coffee cake with you as thanks for following my blog all year long. Alas, it is gone, so I send my favorite wooden spoons and a photo, along with my heartfelt thanks and best wishes for a Happy New Year.
Tips and Techniques– When time is short, or you just need put pen to paper, don’t overlook sketching common household objects. Spoons, silverware, toothbrushes, food, pens and paints, shoes– it’s all fair game. You’ll learn a lot about painting different textures when you choose different types of objects. I enjoyed capturing the patterns on these spoons– you can create wood texture in ink first or directly in watercolor or layer one on the other.
What’s your favorite household item to sketch?
Drawn In 
Great idea!
Each year, my sister-in-law sends an amaryllis. I paint the amaryllis as it progresses through its blooming stages.
That’s really fun to do! They change so quickly!
These spoons look like works of art in their own right, and you captured the wood grain beautifully. I also love the plate your coffee ring is on. I have several mismatched antique pieces from my mom’s collection that I love to bring out. This has given me the idea to sketch some of their patterns.
Happy New Year, Jean! ~Susan
Plate patterns would be great to try! This plate is from my husband’s aunt’s family. The pattern is quite elaborate and fancy, but she used these dishes every day. Now we have the set and enjoy using them for special occasions.
Your spoons look amazing, I had to keep zooming in to look at the deatail, they look detail, The hint of shadow helps them to pop off the page. I have enjoyed painting my gingerbread cookies this year — a first for me. You’ve inspired me to find other kitchen treasures to paint! Wishing you all the best in 2025!
Thank you. Cookies are fun to sketch! I kept my gingerbread very simple this year– just circles instead of stars or gingerbread boys or other fun shapes that might be more worthy of a sketch.
I love the wood patterns on your spoons. I love to sketch vases as I love the shapes and curves.
Good challenge to do vases because of the reflections, patterns, and shapes!
I love how you’ve handled the wood grain in the spoons!I have one of those spoons and a tiny dish that matches! Might have a go at that. Usually I like to do favourite mugs or china teacups and saucers, or tea pots. As my hubby is the baker in the family (making scones, cookies, homemade bread and now Leslie’s Decadent Delicious Toffee), I might include more sketches of the goodies he bakes for us to eat and the kitchen baking utensils, bowls, etc he uses. I could print the recipe on opposite page of the sketchbook. My lettering is terrible, which is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to the Giverny workshop next September! Always looking for inspiration to sketch and paint, so thanks Leslie. New inspiration for 2025!
All those things make good subjects. I sometimes make everyone wait to eat a particular treat or baked good until I sketch it…but not this year. Giverny will be a nice thing to look forward to!
The coffee cake does indeed look sublime! While you cannot share it with us, perhaps you could share the recipe? 😊
It is a rather detailed recipe involving yeasted sweat dough, and lots of ingredients. It’s from Ken Haedrick’s Country Baking– an excellent book if you like hearty bakes. It’s long been a favorite in our house. https://www.amazon.com/Country-Baking-Ken-Haedrich/dp/0553374141
Thank you for sharing the information! I love to bake yeast breads and look forward to making this one and others in the book.
I laughed when you mentioned sketching a toothbrush! A few years ago each family member was tasked to do a painting to send to my son who was living away from home. My sister, a dental assistant at the time, swore she had no artistic talent, so she “drew” dental floss, which of course, was nothing but a white line! Maybe she can’t draw, but she was creative!
That’s a great story! Bravo to your sister!
Beautiful! I can almost feel the smooth olive wood. The beauty of the everyday…such a great topic. Happy new year; I am always please when Drawn In appears in the Inbox.
Jeannie
Thanks Jeanie! Hope your year gets off to a great start!
All the best for the new year, Jean! I’m so glad you’re still sharing on this platform. I’ve decided to dive back into blogging again (after doing very little at my blog in 2024).
Glad to hear it Liz! I appreciate having a connection with New Zealand. Be well!
I’m mesmerized by your swirling wood grain on those stunning spoons! I’d swear they are the real thing, Jean! Wow! And it’s not ever permitted to post photos of baked goods without including the recipes! The “sublime” roasted hazelnut coffee cake looks real enough to gobble up this post! Happy Happy Happy New Year!
Sorry about now posting the recipe, Barb. It’s a detailed one. Look down in the comments if you want to see a link to the book it’s from. There are many excellent go-to recipes in it. The spoons are really just ordinary, but somehow the patterns look quite nice on paper. I always select wooden bowls and spoons for the grain pattern.
Oh how beautiful is this? Absolutely LOVE the complex simplicity. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful work. I enjoy just opening a kitchen drawer and pulling out any utensil to sketch. Such fun!
Hope you find some good things in your kitchen drawer. You may get a lesson in shiny metal unless you’ve got some wooden spoons, interesting wine stoppers or decorative spreaders. Thanks for your comment! I appreciate it!
Thanks so much for your inspiration. I look forward to your posts and share them with like minded friends. Those wooden spoons look real and remind me of my own well used collection that were made by my father.
How nice that you have some made by your father! I’d like to try my hand at making one and looked at a class– but it’s in Maine, so I need to figure out whether I might find something closer to home. Thanks for your support and positive comments!