Goodbye Christmas

Goodbye Christmas!

Its the day after Christmas and I just took down and put away all my Christmas decorations! I get tired of looking at them and its not like any of my family or even friends visited my house this year to take a look at all the beautiful things we did to make it all Christmasy. We did all the visiting as usual and sometimes I wonder what the point is to even decorate, but then my husband reminds me that its for us to enjoy and not to worry about everyone else seeing it.

Besides the disappointment of no visitors, we did have a wonderful Christmas. I'm pretty sure that everything we got, we had asked for. Only two returns out of all the things my daughter received due to the wrong size. Since Christmas is now over, I'm gonna share with you a few of my Christmas confessions.

• I have never seen the "Grinch". Neither cartoon or movie all the way through.
• I have never watched "A Christmas Story" all the way through.
• I stopped believing in Santa before I stopped believing in reindeer.
• I never once caught my parents being Santa. I was to afraid to get up thinking he wouldn't come.
• I don't know what Figgy pudding is.
• I do not know all the words to the 12 days of Christmas.
• When I hear the word "Frankincense" I think of "Frankenstein".
• I hate the colors Red and Green and together is even worst.
• I only peeked at a present one time in my life and its when I was little. It was a shirt and I felt guilty all Christmas. Never ever have peeked again.

My family will finally visit my home on New Years day. I will do my traditional dinner and then I get to start the new year and look forward to spring and summer. I love spring time! Cant wait to pull out the Easter decorations.

Do you leave up your Christmas deocrations until Janaury? Or do you you take them down in a hurry like me?

Italian Almond Biscotti

Every year at Christmas I make goodies to share. One year it was cheese balls, the other it was pecan cookies, etc....But this year I decided to make some Italian Biscotti. My Husband is from an Italian family and I sure would have loved to get a hold of some of his grandmothers recipes. He will often mention the frittata and sugary pastry twist that were favorites along with other unique and special dishes. Most of the time she would make them without a recipe. She had them all in her head and as far as I know, she took them with her to the grave.

Biscotti is an Italian word that means twice cooked. These cookies were twice cooked (or baked) so they would keep longer and hold up when dipped in coffee.

I got this recipe from learnfromyesterday.com. The only thing I did different was I used almonds instead of walnuts and I used 1 teaspoon of anise and 1 teaspoon of vanilla because she said either one would work and that just meant I had to make a choice and I'm not good a making my mind up so I did both. It turned out delicious!

This recipe makes A LOT of Biscotti. I will have biscotti until Easter! When I was making the dough, I felt like Lucy in one of the "I Love Lucy" shows.

However, It ended up doing just fine and made 4 perfect loafs and about 100 pieces. I didn't actually count them and I would eat the broken ones. But I'm pretty sure It made about that much.

I left most of them plain but I dipped a few of them in some chocolate dip to add extra sweetness to these not so sweet cookies. They are perfectly sweet when dipped in coffee. Perfect for a quick breakfast during this fast pace time of the year. And to my surprise, they do not have a lot of calories.

Ive shared this at:

ladybug-blessings

nifty-thrifty-tuesday at linda-coastalcharm

whatd-you-do-this-weekend at tumbleweedcontessa

full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage

thecraftyblogstalker

showcase-your-talent-thursday at whatscookinglove

freedom-fridays at myturnforus



Boot Cuffs

I have been wanting to make some cute little boot cuffs. Its something you practically have to buy hand made. I cant seem to find them in any of the store around here in North Carolina. But then again, its 70 degrees in December.

I went to Pinterest to find some ideas on a pair. I attempted a couple but just couldn't seem to get them right so I gave up.

Then I got a few request for some and thought Id give it another try. I ended up making up my own pattern and made a couple pairs. I like the way they turned out.

The first pair went to one of my best friends and the other pair went to my daughter. If you would like a pair, you can special request them in my Etsy shop or if you can crochet here is how I did them.

NOTE: I'm not good at writting the patterns. Just hope you can uderstand how I explain the process.

BOOT CUFFS
chain 13
sc across (12)
ch 1 turn, sc in back loop only
   *repeat (ch 1 turn, sc back loop only) until sized to go around your calf. (I did 40rows)
fold and slip stitch together (this is your ribbed cuff).
ch 1, sc in rounds until desired length. ( I did 12).
Tie off and garnish with a button or bow.

Not only are these things stylish and warm, but they will also keep critters out of your boots while your outside playing.



Pecan Brittle

Peanut brittle has always been a favorite during the holiday season. I decided to make my own but all I had was pecans so I'm calling it "Pecan Brittle".

 

This is the first time I've tried this. For some reason, I had a recipe for brittle that only called for sugar and butter.???....Yea, I know, right?. I got it from my mom... I think. I knew this could not be right. I must have started writing a recipe and never finished or my mom knew some magic trick to it. She can always come up with the best recipes and most are in her head.

By now the craving for some brittle was getting more intense. What do I do? I logged quickly onto Pinterest and found a recipe, or should I say, "many recipes".

I didn't use only one recipe but got ideas from several and made my own. Well, mainly because I didn't have all of the ingredients to complete any single one so I scrapped it, and to my surprise, it turned out really good! The best part is that I did it in the microwave! Worst part? I had to chisel the remaining mess off my glass bowl! That was a job in itself!

Pecan Brittle

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Karo syrup( light corn syrup)

1/4 Tbs salt

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1 cup pecans (or any nut)

In a glass bowl, combine: nuts, sugar, syrup & salt.

Microwave 4 minutes. ( mixture will be bubbly).
Stir in butter and vanilla and cook another 4 minutes.

Quickly pour onto a greased baking sheet. (Be careful not to get any one you because it will blister you like a glue gun on steroids). 

Cool about 15 minutes then break into pieces and enjoy.



Ive shared this at:
inspire-me-monday at create-with-joy
full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage
kitchen-fun-crafty-friday at kitchenfunwithmy3sons
ladybug-blessings.

Christmas Parade

Great Day for a parade! Not exactly! Our towns Christmas parade was this past weekend. It was so cold...wait....let me go back a day, Saturday it was 56 degrees. Sunday (parade day) it was 34 degrees. It was very cold with a misty rain. That did not stop us for going to the parade. I don't go every year but I was free, and hey, a parade is something you don't see every day.

It was a rather nice parade but I noticed a lot of the regulars were not participating and I'm sure it was due to the forecast.

After church, me and my daughter eat a bite of lunch and headed to the parade. We knew it would be cold so we piled on the jackets and scarves and then made hot chocolate to take with us. I'm fixing to get to  the parade but first let me tell you about the hot chocolate we made. We had just finished talking about peppermint mochas at a local coffee shop when the idea hit me to make our own. We used just regular packs of cocoa mix from the grocery store that you just add water to. We added the water but we also added a peppermint Hershey kiss and a spoon of cool whip to it. It tasted just like a creamy peppermint drink you would buy in a fancy coffee shop. It was delicious and just hit the spot while we waited on the parade to start.

Now, here are a few pictures I took of the Christmas parade. I did the best I could considering the rainy weather and frozen finger tips. Enjoy.

 waiting

 Our police department color guard always leads the parade.

 Our fire department loaded with children on top.

Its Frosty on a tractor! A tractor that was also on a tractor.

Gotta love the cotton candy man!

Hunter Huss High school marching band and the Huskey mascot



We all know who this is!!

"Who ya gonna call? Ghost busters!!"

Liberty Tax balloon.

Ronald McDonald. He was so funny.

The Grinch again.

The parade always ends with Santa. This Santa was hold a little baby. ???

After I got home and thawed my toes, I wrote Christmas cards to mail. I normally mail about 30 each year. I sometimes think I will not send any cards out, but then I do. We look forward to sending them out every year. We make it part of our tradition. So what if we don't get many back. Its sharing our Christmas cheer and love to everyone dear.



What I love (and hate) about Christmas

Its that time of year we Celebrate the birth of Jesus. I love Christmas time. I will not say its my favorite holiday because actually my favorite is Easter. I'm a spring time person.

There is things I love about Christmas time:

I love that's its all about Christ. His name is spoken of every time someone wishes me a merry Christmas.
I love the smell of Christmas trees and pine.
The excitement I see in children everywhere I go.
Shopping for others. I love buying gifts if I know its something they really want or need.
The smell of Christmas candles.
Special church services.
Time with Family.
Christmas Cards.
Downtown.
Baking delicious goodies
and Christmas songs.

On the other hand. There are things I hate about Christmas time:

I hate when someone puts an "x" in front of "mas" as a short cut. I don't care what it could also mean in Greek or that's its just easier. It does not need to be there.
Black Friday and the stories about it.( I stay out of this whole ordeal).
I hurt when I see or read about needy people (especially kids).
I hate Green and Red! and the two together is just tacky!
Tinsel
and Glitter!

Now its time for me to get with it and start my baking. I'm a little behind on the decorations too. I still have to decorate my bathroom for Christmas! And I just actually thought of that. eeesh!

I also cant wait to share some new recipes I've dug up! Just trying to find the time to get to them.

What are some things you love (or hate) about Christmas time? Go ahead, just spill it out here.

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Stay tuned. More post to come!