Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2009 ~ A New Year


Happy New Year, everyone!


The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over and we leave behind many wonderful memories of 2008.


This year, however, is starting off on a bit of a sad note. My brother, in Pennsylvania, after a lengthy illness, has taken a turn for the worse and is now being cared for by hospice. He will probably not make it through another year. We will be heading to PA over New Years to spend some time with him. Right now I am wishing for a miracle.


Hopefully the new year will be filled with great blessings, health and happiness. Wishing you all the best in 2009.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Silent night


I want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas filled with happiness.

The next few days will be really busy here at our home. Our daughter from NY will be arriving on Tuesday. We will have our whole family here for Christmas. Lots to do ~ cookies to finish, gifts to wrap, and our holiday dinner to be planned.

I'll see you soon.

Best wishes to all this holiday season.


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Baking

A little bit of baking today.........but not Christmas cookies.


I decided to bake a pie and some sugar-coated pecans. Notice I have the back door open in the kitchen. It's unseasonably warm for December (70 degrees). I love days like this, even though it's overcast and gray.
The house right now smells delicious!

Pumpkin pie.

And "Mary Engelbreit's Sugar-Coated Pecans". They're so yummy.



I bake these sugar-coated pecans every Christmas, and give them as gifts.

Here is the recipe.

Mary Engelbreit's Sugar-Coated Pecans
(makes 3 cups)
1 egg white
3 cups (12 ounces) pecan halves
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. In medium-sized bowl, combine egg white with 1 tablespoon water and whisk until foamy. Add pecans and stir until nuts are coated with egg white. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Pour sugar mixture over moist nuts and stir to coat evenly.

3. In preheated oven, melt butter in jelly roll pan. Remove pan from oven and gently stir nuts into melted butter. Spread nuts out evenly and bake for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch them so they don't burn. Remove from oven and allow to cool directly in the pan.
Easy, and so good!
I put them in clear cellophane bags, and add a little tag.
A nice home made gift for the holidays.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wishing

I wonder.........................if I wish really hard......




maybe the little elves will come in and make all my Christmas cookies for me.



Saturday, December 13, 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Outside decorating

The outside needs decorating as well as the inside.

This is our front door with a wreath and a big red bow.




Our back door.










Let's not forget about our feathered friends.



I make sure all the feeders are filled.











This nandina berry bush is almost a decoration in itself.
The bright red berries are beautiful and also a good source of food for the birds during the cold winter months.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is decorated and now it's feeling more like Christmas.






Here are a few more photos I took early this morning.







A bit more embellishment on the fireplace mantel.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Holiday decorating

We put our Christmas tree up on the weekend, but it's not finished yet. I'll post photos later.


I hung some pretty red sparkly snowflakes from our dining room chandelier




I've also been adding snowflakes to my holiday paintings which I've made into note cards.




A few more holiday cards ~





You can find these cards in my etsy shop. Check out all my holiday items!


By the way, the note cards make wonderful stocking stuffers.








Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Holiday preparations

We'll be moving furniture and making room for our Christmas tree this weekend. The green chair, that Otis is sitting on, and the side table will be moved, and the tree will go in that corner. Not too many places in our small house to put a big tree!


The mantel is decorated and Maddie's stocking is hung.


A few more decorations. I'll be doing most of my decorating when we put the tree up.





The paperwhites grew so tall, I tied them with a big white ribbon to keep them from falling over.


Mmmmmm, Christmas candy.



And a nice cup of cappuccino while I ponder over Christmas cards.



Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Treasure find

I found some wonderful dishes at an antique/junk store a few months ago and now I can finally use them.

Christmas dessert dishes that say ~ "a partridge in a pear tree". I love the gold with the white. It's a set of 6 dessert plates, 6 cups and six saucers and I only paid $8 for all.



The cups have little gold partridges on the inside and around the rim on the outside it reads "on the first day of Christmas". The saucers say "my true love gave to me".




I can't wait to use them. They should look great with my china.


~~~~~~~~


And on an outside note...

I dug up some ivy from the garden and put it in a basket and set it on the garden table for the winter. Ivy is great for displaying in pots during the winter season when not much else is growing.



I think I'll hit the garden center today and buy some ornamental cabbages and maybe some pansies for color.

Have a great day!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Staying warm

We had a wonderful fire going in the fireplace on the weekend. I love curling up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate, just relaxing ~ maybe a bit of a nap.





And speaking of napping, Otis and Riley enjoyed a long afternoon nap on the sofa.


Content as can be.


Have a great day!