Christmas 2011

Our stockings above the fireplace.   



Our neighbor across the street left us a phone message telling us that this year's yard decor was "simple but elegant."



Trying to decide about outlining the roof with a straight strand of white lights and putting a garland with bows over the front door...

Egg Nog Pancakes

Update - photos of our Christmas pancakes.

 

This is as close of a copycat recipe as we could get to the IHOP Eggnog Pancakes that we ate before Thanksgiving. 

Pancakes
Syrup
Whipped Cream
Eggnog Cream (recipe below)
Nutmeg & Chopped nuts for garnish

Eggnog Cream Recipe
Eggnog
Instant pudding (we used cheesecake flavor, but french vanilla or vanilla might be a little less rich)
Mix the pudding mix with as much eggnong as the mix calls for.  We used 2 cups of eggnog instead of 2 cups of milk for the small package instructions.

Slather the pancakes with the eggnog cream, drizzle with syrup.  Top with whipped cream and garnish with chopped nuts and nutmeg.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 package spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin pie filling
1/4 cup water
2 peeled, cored, diced apples or 1 c. raisins or craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare muffin pan.  Mix ingredients and spoon into pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Makes   2 dozen. 

Blue Christmas

 
 

Tutorial: Make a Cloth Pumpkin

Cute AND easy! Saw these for 10 bucks apiece at a store yesterday. Glad I didn't buy one! Tutorial: Make a Cloth Pumpkin | Mommiedaze

Music of Thanksgiving

I'm really in a holiday mood today.  Here is a Thanksgiving Music playlist made from YouTube videos.

Great Thanksgiving Page

Annie's Thanksgiving Page

 

 

I love Annie's Holiday Pages!  So many ideas and fun things!  Thought I would post a link to the Thanksgiving page since today was my first visit to it this year. 

Rub a Dub Dub

The non-footed clawfoot bathtub we bought for 20 bucks at a yard sale. It has a Halloween theme right now.

Sugar and Spice

The holiday decor went into the kitchen also, this year. I got some pine garland and a few silk poinsettias and put them above the cabinets. There were also a few sprigs of pine tucked here and there along with a poinsettia throw rug by the stove. I later added a couple of cookie cutters tied with bows to the walls. Then I saw the gingerbread men.... I think that next year this room will be poinsettias and gingerbread men. Each room seems to be getting one holiday plant and one holiday symbol theme...

Reindeere Games

I used what I had with reindeer on it and added some holly sprigs that I got at Walmart - and a holly rug. The John Deere bathroom was the Rein Deere bathroom for the holidays! Next year I plan to get some holly fabric and make some hand towels or else find some reindeer hand towels to hang on the towel ring next to the sink.

Red and White Christmas

Here are the beginnings of my laundry room decor for Christmas. The red and white striped curtain over the window opening gave me a good start. I used the leftover velvet bows and hung up all the red plush Santa hats and stockings that we had. I also scavenged the tree skirt (that I didn't think went with the living room deor anyway!) and put it over the deep freezer. The last picture has a good shot of my new screen door that Santa got me!

Grandma Lila's Fruitcake

Merry Christmas! This fruitcake recipe is the one our Grandma Lila used for years. It is famous/infamous enough to be mentioned in the eulogy at her funeral service.  I have "embellished" it with my own observations and experiences.

1 lb. dates (I sometimes use less)
1 lb raisins (Again, sometimes I cut back on these)
1/2 lb candied citron (I usually use more)
1/2 to 1 cup brandy, rum, or other liquor (Grandma sometimes used more.)
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbs milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger

Step 1 Procure the unmentionables. (The way Grandma did it) Send a male relative to the liquor store to buy the brandy or rum while you sit and wait in the car in the parking lot so no one sees you buying it!

Step 2 Prepare the fruit.  Soak fruit in half of the liquor overnight.  This is to plump it up. No other reason.  Never mind that there is scientific evidence to suggest that the alcohol content actually has more astringent properties than hydration properties. Follow the recipe.  Don't judge.

Step 3 Get ready.  Play the Elvis Blue Christmas album for festive background music.  Argue with a random grandchild that he is not really dead.  After the third time through, pretty much everyone will get tired of it and get out of the kitchen so you can work in peace. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. That is not a typo - you want these to bake slow so that they are moist on their own... but then we're fixin' to pour liquor all over them to moisten them, too, so - whatever.  (I do like to think that this is roughly the temperature of an Easy-Bake Oven, thus taking me back to my childhood, when unsafe burning hazard toys like light-bulb powered cooking appliances were perfectly acceptable gifts to give to small children!)  Grease and flour loaf pans or bundt pan. Or even a sawed off cleaned out Folger's can (The way Grandma did it.) Put on an apron now that you've spilled flour all over your black holiday sweater and stupidly wiped it trying to get it off, since you just weren't thinking clearly because you were "tasting" the soaked fruit.

Step 4 Make and bake.  Cream butter and sugar in a big ol' Mixmaster. Beat in eggs and milk. Sift flour, soda, and spices and stir into fruit. Add fruit to creamed mixture. Pour into prepared pans and decorate the tops with candied cherries and pecan halves. Then bake 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours depending on size of pans and/or cans. This is enough time to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street" AND "Wheel of Fortune."

Step 5 Liquid Decoration.  (Optional, but it IS the way Grandma made it): Splash what might be left of the rum or brandy over fruitcake after baking and wrap in foil for a few days before serving.  Store in a dark corner of the cupboard to aid in the "moistening" process.  Hide one of them for yourself. 

Step 6 Serve.  Ignore the comments about the fumes when the foil is opened.  They'll eat it.

Toyland

We got a great idea while we were out antiquing today: Next year's Christmas decor is going to be antique and vintage toys!

The nativity set and few other knick-knacks that we have can probably all fit in the curio shelves or be relocated to other rooms or given away or tossed. Then we'll get a little greenery and set stuff like old teddy bears, my Raggedy Ann dolls, old sled, wooden letter blocks, etc. on top of the piano, hutch and around on the tea cart and fireplace. Maybe a toy train at the base of the tree.

I'm already looking forward to next Christmas and this one hasn't even got here yet!

Holiday Cooking Schedule

Here is the cooking schedule I use when I am preparing the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday dinners at our house:

7:00 a.m. - preheat oven to 500 degrees (this is NOT a typo!) & prep turkey with butter

7:15 a.m. - put turkey in oven on bottom rack

7:30 a.m. - boil 6 eggs (for deviled eggs, gravy, and dressing)

7:45 a.m. - make breakfast, coffee, & tea

8:00 a.m. - turn oven down to 325 degrees, tent turkey with foil; devil eggs & put into fridge

8:15 a.m. - Set out veggies, etc. to be prepped

8:30 a.m. - Set out rolls to thaw and rise; put fresh sweet potatoes in crock pot

8:45 a.m. - Wrap bacon/water chestnuts

9:00 a.m. - Put bacon/water chestnuts in oven; prep cranberry sauce

9:15 a.m. - Make bacon/water chestnut sauce

9:30 a.m. - Put pies in oven

9:45 a.m. - Boil carrots & celery

10:00 a.m. - Boil corn; prep green beans & green bean casserole

10:15 a.m. - Crush dressing breadcrumbs

10:30 a.m. - Take pies out of oven; check salt & pepper shakers

10:45 a.m. - Prep canned sweet potatoes & marshmallows; prep butter dish

11:00 a.m. - Put sweet potatoes in oven; cook peas & carrots

11:15 a.m. - Take sweet potatoes out of oven; cook mashed potatoes

11:30 a.m. - Put rolls in oven; cook green bean casserole; make gravy

11:45 a.m. - Take rolls out of oven; cook green beans

12:00 p.m. - Take turkey out of oven; make dressing

12:15 p.m. - Set table; put ice in glasses

12:30 p.m. - Carve turkey & eat!