Good morning friends! Guess what? It's snowing here in NYC! Woo hoo!! (Amanda, I wish I could beam you up here right now!). It's kind of perfect timing considering yesterday I finally broke down and startred listening to Christmas music! I love, love, love this time of year. But before I delve into the topic of this blog post, I wanted to share a few quick things.

-Despite my fears, I made it through Monday. All of my meetings went well, I managed to get all the props I needed, and I stayed up late baking cakes and cupcakes for today's shoot with my friend Dana Tanamachi. (So pumped!)

-Yesterday, I tried to focus on staying present, and really enjoy each conversation rather than looking ahead to all I needed to do later. Last night, I had a chance to meet an artist, Rebecca Rebouché, whose work, and perspective on life I really admire. We had corresponded over email, but she was in town so we grabbed a drink. She was just as lovely in person as I imagined, and despite the crazy week I'm so glad we had a chance to meet!

-I also had a really interesting meeting with a cookbook editor, but I'll save that for tomorrow...

Cranberryloaf2

I want to leave you with a recipe for my favorite cranberry orange tea cake with walnut streuesel. I blogged this recipe a couple of years ago, along with Gingerbread and Pumpkin Loaves, as a holiday gift idea. But we re-shot it for the cookbook, so I figured I'd repost the recipe on its own. This is so moist and cinnamon-y, with a nice little crunch from the streusel topping. Since it makes 3 loaves, you can either freeze one or two, or give them away. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea for the perfect afternoon snack.

Photos by Signe Birck

[recipe:best-cranberry-orange-tea-cake-walnut-streusel-recipe]