Christmas Tour

I don't remember ever feeling reluctant to take down my Fall decorations, but this year I actually was. Maybe it's because I spent so much energy focusing on Thanksgiving.

But our Christmas decorations were itching to come out, especially after spending last year in storage. {I'm still searching for my Muppets Christmas Carol DVD...} For some reason, though, all the stuff that seemed to crowd our house before just doesn't seem to have the same impact now that we have some elbow room. But it is a definite improvement from last year, so I'm not complaining!

Have you ever tied the perfect bow?? I apparently did on this one. No idea how. Probably won't be able to do it again. Just wanted to show the world that it is possible.

My mother in law gave us an extra tree. So we have one by the front window and one in the family room. I noticed I need to stock up on ornaments at this year's after Christmas clearance. So we have pretty much all the ornaments on the tree in the family room. But a certain 5 year old decided that this garland must be on the front tree. She keeps putting it there. I keep putting it back...

And speaking of a certain 5 year old, after seeing the Barbie Nutcracker movie a few years ago, she decided that her Barbie needed her own Nutcracker companion. And I needed to replace mine. Thankfully I got a great deal yesterday at Rite Aid of all places where I was picking up some candy for our stockings {MnMs are $2 this week}

I tried to pull together some decorations with other stuff I had. Like some old grapevine wreaths. I had sprayed them in a metallic color for another project that didn't quite turn out, but then I took some garlands from the dollar store and just wrapped them around. I think it worked. But can anyone tell me why wreaths are so expensive??

See where those ornaments are hanging from? Doesn't seem very high until you actually try and climb up there to hang stuff...

muffin recipe

I used to get Family Fun Magazine for a few years. {Recently I check it out from the library for free} and I have to tell you that they have some really great recipes.

I was thinking about these muffins I made a few years ago, and just checked their website for the recipe. They taste like donuts. I'm thinking breakfast for tomorrow!

In the middle

I was in the middle of putting a ponytail in Easy's hair. Cuddles was in the other room. He hollered that he needed me. I hollered back, "I'm in the middle of something right now." He hollered back, "Well, I'm in the middle of needing something." Well, in that case...

Recovered

My ironing board was getting pretty grimy. Stuff I ironed would actually be dirtier after it was ironed. Not a good thing. And since I don't need any extra reasons not to iron, I thought I would try and spiff it up. I found this tutorial and got to work.

Here's a "Before" shot. Nice, huh?

I looked for a while for some fabric that would match what's in the laundry room so I could stand to look at it if it were hanging on the wall. After a few trips to the fabric store, I decided to bag that idea.

Here is what I ended up with.

I was almost to the end of the process, trying to actually put the new cover onto the ironing board and I had to resist the urge to hurl it into space, because it was a pretty tight fit. But I really didn't want to have to start over, so I kept adjusting and tightening and adjusting and made. it. fit. {phew.} And so, my advice to anyone with a mind to attempt this project, it would be to your advantage, it seems, to err on the side of too big rather than too small when measuring/cutting/sewing the cover. Other than that it went pretty quickly. I think it took me a couple hours.

Oh, the other thing that took a while was threading the super long string {which I saved from the original cover} into the hem. I always dread that part.

And speaking of ironing boards, here is a hilarious commentary on them. For some reason I couldn't get it to post to my blog, so you'll have to click over. But its worth it.

While we dream by the fire

It's been snowing basically since Sunday. This little girl can hardly contain herself. But sledding sure takes it out of you.

And here's one of my favorites from our Holiday menu:


Brownie + Peppermint ice cream + whipped cream + chocolate syrup + crushed candy canes =
pure holiday dessert satisfaction. Goes great with your favorite Christmas movie for Family Night!

The Book

Ever since I can remember we have faithfully used our Entertainment Book coupons. But I have to tell ya, this year I was disappointed. We tried really hard to use the coupons, but for whatever reason, somehow a lot of the coupons suddenly were no good. Sometimes we would drive all the way to a restaurant to use the coupon, only to find that the restuarant no longer exists. Or we would get through our meal and then they would announce they no longer honor those coupons. {That made us real happy and was reflected in our tip.} Or even just the fact that so many of the coupons now stipulate that you have to buy two drinks or something extra. It used to just be a straight buy one, get one free.
I have decided to give it one more chance. This year, we will buy the book and I will closely monitor how much actual money we save as a result. And it helps that they are $10 off with free shipping here. {Until December 15}

The Bird is the word

For as much as I cook, you would think by now I would have posted some recipes. It’s probably the perfectionist side of me, knowing I could never compete with some of the amazing chefs out there. However, everyone must have at least a few things worth sharing, including me.
So, I’ll start with the low-down on our Thanksgiving feast. I went to a Relief Society Fantastic Friday last month, and my sweet next door neighbor had prepared all kinds of Holiday foods, including turkey and stuffing. After tasting it, I knew that I must know how she did it. These are her instructions as I followed them:
Have you ever done a brine for your turkey? Well, she uses Coke. So my defrosted turkeys spent the night in a coke bath. Then in the morning I blended together a paste of these spices and spread that underneath the turkey’s skin.

I was pretty excited that our new oven has a built in thermometer. I slow cooked {and basted} the turkeys and it took almost precisely twenty four hours. Then I pulled all the meat off and kept it in the crockpot until Show Time. I wanted it to be ready early, because it has been known to happen that the turkey wasn't ready on time...

I might as well mention that I knew the recommendations are 1 to 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. We were planning on twenty people, so I was looking for a twenty pound turkey. However, Walmart only had 12 and 13 pound turkeys, so I brought home two, and counted on having some leftovers. No problem-o. EXCEPT my gigantic crockpot was practically overflowing with turkey and by the time dinner was over, we had barely gotten down to the rim. Lesson learned: Don’t count children when figuring how many servings you need. Since half of our guests were kids, I would have been just fine with one twelve pounder. But in this case, everyone got to bring home a pan full of turkey leftovers, which as we all know is the one drawback of not hosting Thanksgiving: no leftovers. And at 40 cents a pound, no harm done.

Okie dokie. On to the stuffing. Usually I just spruce up my Stove Top with some celery, onions, and craisins. But this is the recipe I used this year:
1 bag {15 oz} herb-seasoned stuffing {I used Stove Top}
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh sage {I didn’t use quite that much}
Bacon, cooked and cut into 1” pieces, or crumbled
2 cups chopped onion
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced peeled apples and/or pears
1 can {14 oz} chicken broth
1 ¼ cups apple cider
Heat oven to 350. Prepare shallow 3 quart baking dish
Combine stuffing mix and parsley in large bowl.
Melt butter in skillet and sauté onion, celery, apple/pear 10 minutes or until tender. Add broth and cider. Combine with stuffing mix in large bowl. Gently toss to mix.
Spoon into baking dish and cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes.

I also made this cheesecake {I didn’t use a water bath and it was still scrumptious} and this key lime pie which was quite easy and super tasty.

Another fun snack we had out on the buffet was this Blessings Mix. Everything has a meaning, and they actually taste surprisingly good together. But I will warn you that the bowl was laden with just the craisins and peanuts by evening…
Bugles {obviously little cornucopias}
Pretzels {arms folded in prayer}
Candy corn {representing the 5 kernels of corn the pilgrims had rationed}
Dried fruits {celebration of the harvest}
Peanuts or sunflower seeds {potential harvest}

Incidentally, if I ever started a cooking blog it would be called “Mel’s Kitchen.”

And that's a wrap!