turkey feathers

No Snow, Just Suds

Aw shucks, and we were having so much fun too.  Well, it's all over for another year.  Time to tidy up.

And cozy up. 

Here's wishing you love, joy, and peace in 2008!

*Twinkles*

These last few days have sure been busy ones, I tell ya.  I'm enjoying a little respite here on this calm and quiet morning before we start preparing our Christmas Eve dinner later today.  We drove up to Portland yesterday (a wild ride up and back as we weathered the first of several storms to hit here this week), for an afternoon of  fun and frolic with our families there.  We had dinner and did a gift exchange afterwards.  The kids really look forward to seeing their cousins and little niece.  Even Jack  (rabbit) was excited to see everyone again.  This fuzzy little fellow is totally house-broken, even uses a litter box, and is very people friendly.  A real heart-breaker. 

Grace and I made candy Truffles to bring, using both dark chocolate and white chocolate, rolled in a variety of things to spice up the party.   In case you aren't familiar with these, Truffles are bite-sized chocolate confections usually made from ganache, a mixture of chocolate and cream.  They can also be dipped in chocolate for a more polished presentation.  There are literally hundreds of recipes or variations for making them, many available on the net.  Here are a few that I like, though I haven't made all of these.  Yet.  (tee hee) I especially like this mocha one though I don't use a microwave. 

Oh, and here's proof that there was more than gnoshing happening around here.  I finished my pillows!  Actually, they were done awhile ago, I just kept forgetting to take a picture.  They are the perfect addition to the hall bench.  I've added a few more pictures here if you want a closer look. 

Well, that's it for now.  Time to run along.  I just wanted to wish everyone Best Wishes for a Peaceful and Merry Holiday Season wherever you are! 

xo xo xo

Spice of Life

Thanks again for your conversations! I do love the feedback, but regret I'm not always able to respond to them all in kind, but I do try.  And just in case anyone has had trouble leaving comments here, or any other TypePad blog, please know that there was an internal error (read about it here). I wasn't even really aware of it until this morning, so if your comments weren't showing up for some reason, that might explain it.  (For the record, I only block pesky nonsense spewing troll-bots and their cousin mischief-makers from crashing my party.) 

Gosh, so, here it is Friday again, and the final countdown weekend until Christmas.   I think I'm ready.  Every once in awhile another detail I've forgotten pops into my head and I'm off and running again before time runs out.  Speaking of time, tomorrow is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.   I think we have something like only 8 hours and 32 minutes of daylight here in the northwest.  I just want to stay inside and hunker down with a blanket and an old-fashioned holiday movie. It's already getting dark around four o'clock.  Rather than blazing all the lights in the house, we have small-wattage lamps and electric candles sprinkled here and there to cast a glow throughout the rooms and to cut down on electricity usage.   It makes the place feel nice and cozy too even when it's barely above freezing outside and icy cold.  Baking yummy things is good for that too.  Grace got her groove going with the gingerbread cookies yesterday.  She's getting pretty good with that pastry bag, I tell ya.  The Hagel Slag was a gift from our friend John.  You have to love the Dutch for their inventive ways with chocolate, especially first thing in the morning.  These little chocolate sprinkles are for shaking on your toast.  Grace used them on her cookies, but I just ate them straight from that crazy-cute box.  My mouth was so happy!  Oh, that reminds me, better get back to the business at hand. 

Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

Short & Sweet

We've been making Christmas sweeties all week.  What merry memories this always stirs up from my own youth.  Yesterday Ginger's friend joined the fun.  We turned up the holiday music and everyone went straight to work. I'd made a basic Sugar Cookie dough ahead of time.  It was chilled and ready to go when they were. Soon my counter tops were covered with dancing shapes and the whole house smelled delicious. While these pretties cooled, I mixed up the icing.  Powder sugar + milk + egg white for a hard shiny glaze.  (Meringue Powder can be used as a substitute for raw egg whites if you don't know your chicken.) We made *peppermint sprinkles* from crushed candy canes.  (To do this, break them into pieces, place in a plastic freezer bag and use a rolling pin.)  I like to use old baby spoons for sprinkling small bits.  Toss any leftovers in your hot cocoa.  Yum! Grace jumped in and decided to make Gingerbread cookies.  (She's going to pipe the icing later today, still determined to master the pastry bag.)  So, while everyone else was busy doing their own thing, I was making "Almond Butter Cups" for the Mister.  He has a sweet tooth, but absolutely refuses to eat anything that contains an artificial ingredient.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention, so here's my take on the traditional peanut butter cup, using all organic ingredients.  I start by s-l-o-w-l-y melting 3/4 cup chocolate chips + 2 T. vegetable shortening over a double-boiler.  While chocolate is melting, combine in a small bowl:  1/3 cup almond butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar.  Set aside. I like to use the foil paper-lined candy cups.  Mini muffin tins work great for this too and help these keep their shape while setting-up in the fridge.  To assemble, use the tip of a regular teaspoon, and put about a half a teaspoon or so of melted chocolate in each of the candy cups, filling about 1/3.  Add a tiny dollop of the sweetened almond butter, filling to 2/3.  Top off with more chocolate, and a nut.  (I use sprouted almonds.)  Makes about 2 dozen.  These little candy morsels are best when devoured at room temperature the next day after the flavors mingle.  The hardest part of all this, of course, is the waiting.

Merry Christmas Quiche

The weekend sure went by in a blur, but the last of the shopping is done, most of the presents are wrapped and under the tree, others are packed up and on their way, holiday cards are in their envelopes and ready to mail, I've promised the girls we will start our Christmas baking today, (there was some wishful talk about making gingerbread houses but I'm pushing for fudge) AND..oh yeah, the carpet installer will be here bright and early Wednesday morning, so we need to clear out two bedrooms before he arrives.  No big deal right?  (What was I thinking?!)  So--- in the middle of all this, and probably because of it, the quiche I thought up for M became less extravagant, not more.   Turns out though, it's just perfect and an easy fix for Christmas morning.  In fact, goes perfectly with the apple turnovers and hot cocoa we usually have.  Maybe this will resonate with some of you too. (And yes, that IS a storebought crust. We do what we have to sometimes.) Recipe's in the sidebar under A-Z Quiche.  Enjoy!

Cream Pie & Hot, Hot Chocolate

Our Christmas tree is finally all decorated, and last night I brought out a few presents that I had squirreled away (in secret hiding places) to put under it.  Excitement is running high around here.  We had a chance to slip out and see a movie this week.  I wouldn't mention that, except it was in HD-3D and if you haven't had an opportunity to visit an I-MAX theater, you're missing quite an experience.  We drove for an hour to the nearest one and saw The Polar Express, which I know everyone has already seen, and in fact we went and watched it as soon as it came out and then purchased the DVD to add to our Christmas movie library, so we've seen it quite a few times already.  But, I have to tell you, seeing it come alive dimensionally was truly magical.  The movie is a marvel of technical ingenuity already, but this goes way beyond anything I could ever imagine.  The elves were particularly cute, I just wanted to scoop them up into my pockets and bring them home.  It was just so much fun and we all had a great time. 

So I was serving a little dessert last night, and had just cut the first piece of pie when Ginger piped up and said, "Mom, wait!  You need to take a picture of this beautiful pie for your blog."  I totally cracked up.  But she ran and got the camera, while we sat there drooling.  I don't know how "beautiful" this is, especially in really bad light, but this pie is really good and very easy to make.  Plus it doesn't call for butter or eggs like most chocolate cream pies do.  I did a search for this recipe online and couldn't find it anywhere.  Mine came from dear old mom's recipe box.  She'd clipped it from a box of Pillsbury pie crust years ago.  I use organic ingredients and make my own pie crust, but you can use a pre-made frozen shell or a graham-cracker crust  to save a step if time is an issue.  So basically, you combine the filling in a saucepan, let it cool, and then fold in whipped cream.   You need to allow a few hours for this to set up in the fridge so it's not a last minute type dessert, but you can serve it like chocolate mousse in dessert cups if you want to skip the crust altogether.*Creamy Chocolate Silk PieOne 9" pie-crust shell, pre-baked and cooled.Into a medium saucepan combine:  1/4 cup sugar, 3 T. cornstarch, 1-1/2 cups milk.  Whisk ingredients together until well blended.  Heat just until it starts to thicken, remove from heat and add 1 cup chocolate chips + 1 teas. vanilla.  Allow them to melt into the milk mixture a minute or so before stirring.   Let cool about 10 minutes, cover with a lid and place in the fridge to cool for at least another 30 minutes.   Whip 2 cups of heavy cream + 2 t. powdered sugar until soft peaks form.  Combine half with the cooled chocolate mixture, folding together gently to keep it light.  Fill the pie crust.   Use the remaining whipped cream for the topping, either piped from a bag (if you want to get fancy) or just spread over the top like icing on a cake.  Sprinkle with shaved chocolate or mini-chocolate chips.  Refridgerate 2-3 hours before serving.  Store cold.*When I come back, I'll share the next quiche recipe. . .until then,

. . . have a great weekend!

Old Paper & Tiny Bubbles

The other day, I turned my office upside down in an effort to find a note I'd misplaced, and in the process, I discovered this totally cool vintage wall-paper pack that I won from REDiNSTEAD's blog giveaway back in, um, do I dare say, October!  I am so embarassed.  It was so generous of her to send me a present all the way from Austrailia and I owe Jen a huge and long over-due *THANK YOU*! I love it all and I can hardly wait to have time to actually get these out of their beautiful wrappings and do something with them.  I finally had a chance to visit Jen's blog again too, and love these pillows and bags she's been making.

Speaking of vintage papers, I was happily surprised to find all this in the mailbox recently from my lovely pal Toni at Simple Sparrow.  She picked up this lot at a rummage sale, thinking of me and my growing "hobby" a.k.a. PatternBee.  Well, I was thrilled to get this fabulous bundle and found in here amongst the old treasures, what I believe to be an original Ingall's transfer.  It's the one on top with the blue smears.  These particular transfers were produced in England in the late 1800's, and were perforated with tiny holes along the lines.  A blue powder was purchased and pounced into the holes in a stencil-like fashion, as a means of transferring the pattern to cloth.  It's funny because I was just saying here that I'd never actually seen one of these transfers before, and then, the very next week one just happens to appear in the middle of my desk just like that!  Love when that happens.  Since I've been attempting to reproduce some of these old designs, it helps to know what the originals looked like, their size, the details, etc., and I couldn't be more pleased. Thank you again dear Toni!

I've also been keeping in touch with my friend Missy and her family since their move from our neck of the woods back to northern Michegan this past summer, and she tells me they're all settled into their new home and enjoying some real snow.  She's also been busy re-stocking her Etsy shelves and just re-opened her shop,  which is good news if you're in the market for some wonderful handmade soap. Her fiber-wrapped bars are so sweet, and each one is unique.  (If your new to my blog, I posted all about them earlier this year. )

Bits & Pieces

. . and the Christmas Tree decorating continues. . . who knew this would provide so much entertainment for one little girl?   Ginger is having a ball dusting off  some of the old treasures I'd long forgotten about and is eagerly awaiting the next box I pull out of storage.  Half the time, I'm not even sure what we're going to find.  Not all of it ends up hanging on the tree, thankfully, but it has been kind of fun rummaging through all the odds and ends and going down "memory lane" remembering past holidays with her in a thoughtful way. 

This fun pop-up reindeer card is just another of  the crafty things Grace has been working on.  Several years ago, she was selling a few of her handmade cards to family members.  She's not doing that anymore, but she still likes to make them, especially these pop-up varieties.  (This one was featured on Martha recently, the pattern templates can be downloaded here.  The lettering was done using the Susan Branch script alphabet stamps.)  She made this for a friend, and that's all I'm saying, because I don't want to give anything away. 

This website offers quite a few interesting ideas along with free templates.  You can make them as plain or elaborate as you like.  Another good site here, for making custom cards, envelopes, and boxes.   

Pixies If You Please

Most of the decorations (inside and out) are up now, there are lovely packages wrapped and ready to be placed under the tree, and others ready to ship, including contest winnings and patterns (thank you for ordering!) The past weekend was a vortex of activity and before I knew it days had passed, including this one.  Now the dust has settled, and I can see and appreciate just how much we've gotten done.  I say we, because everything around here is a collaborative effort.  There's no way I can possibly manage it all by my lonesome  if the Mister and the girls weren't behind me.  Without their help I wouldn't have any time to craft and cook and create all the things I do, let alone keep this blog alive.  It's the old 'divide and conquer' routine that seems to work for us.  We share the load.

The tree is up!  A straight and sturdy prickly pine, that made the whole house smell like Christmas when they brought it in.  We're not particularly into "theme" trees, but this year Ginger expressed a desire to do one, so *elves and pixies* won out since we already have quite a bit of that happening around here.  Most of the decorations I've collected are old, but I think that's part of their quirky charm.  If you put enough lights and shiny bulbs on a tree though, you really can't go wrong either.  I decided to gather a few for a group portrait and made the new blog banner.

We've been decorating our tree a little bit each evening after dinner.  I just bring out another box to pick through.  Eventually we'll run out of ornaments (or tree branches) and will have to call it 'good'.  We're almost there.  I just want to flop in my cozy chair with a hot cuppa, a warm blanket, and stare at it.  This all reminds me of a couple of other things that had me gazing dreamily recently:  Hey Lucy's ultra-cute pillowcase, and this darling doll quilt from Martha Macgiver.  There was so much more too.  Wish I had the energy (and time) to add all the other links I found, but that will have to wait until another day because right now, I really need to get some food on the table.  My turn to cook.

Silver Bells Are Ringing

And we have a winner for the Dollar Daze Scavenger Hunt contest.  Player #154,  (aka) Calamity Kim, has been plucked from the bonnet!  Not only is she lucky, she's also quite clever.  When you have a few minutes for whimsy,  go read her fairytale and then take a gander at the glittery fairy slipper ornaments that she's so generously shared.  They are so cute!

For her prize, Kim chose the book FOREVER CHRISTMAS Tasha Tudor, but the other two books (shown here) are still up for grabs.  Same deal; $1 + $2.50  s/h via Paypal.  To claim a book, be the first to do so on this post and include your email address on the comment form.  It will not be displayed publicly, but I'll need it to contact you.  Don't forget to say which title you want.  (Just one book per person please.)  Update:  Both books have been claimed.

I want to thank you guys (all 214 entries!), who played my silly game.  Most of you told me it was fun.  Only a few were stumped at finding the clues that lead to the question:  Name the title of the song that has the words silver bells.  Both songs, Silver Bells and Carol of the Bells were correct.  That wasn't so bad, was it?

Well that wraps up another week.  I'll be checking out for a few days to decorate the house and put up the tree.  I also need to wrap & pack presents to be shipped.  I'll have a new quiche recipe to share when I return next week though.  Yes, it's true, I stalled out on this over the summer, but now I'm ready to pick it up again where I left off;  at M I think.    What will it be?  Morels? Mussells?  Hmm...will just have to wait and see now, won't we?  Have a great weekend!