Category: BLOGMAS 2015

It’s Christmas Eve and Santa Claus is coming to town tonight. If you have kids, or are just a big kid at heart, you can track Santa’s progress as he travels around the world on NORAD.

and of course:

If you need a good Christmas laugh, check out this Jimmy Kimmel Christmas Prank video.

I saw these on pinterest and had to try them – fun for the kids.

WOW seems like we just started this journey through BLOGMAS 2014 and here we are 3 days until Christmas.  Today and tomorrow are my BIG days for preparing for Christmas.  These are the days that I’m mostly in the kitchen or cleaning the house, wrapping last minute packages or running last minutes errands for ingredients for the BIG DAY.  The only thing on my list that I didn’t accomplish was the cleaning so will spend all day tomorrow doing laundry, vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms.

Remember when I told you I was a list girl?  Well, these help – A LOT!  I couldn’t get very good pictures, but those little presents are battery operated lights that change colors (red, blue and green) that I’m going to include on the plate when I deliver the goodies to the neighbors.  The purple list is accomplished and half the green list is done and will be finished up tomorrow and Wednesday.

This is Cinnamon Roll day too – YUMMY! One of my favorite days of the year.  The recipe originally came from one of my favorite aunts who taught me a lot about art, cooking and just plain being creative.  I have made a few minor updates to suit our tastes, but this recipe was ALL her and a secret that my cousin and I kept until the day she died.

ROLLS OF SHARON aka CINNAMON RAISIN BUNS
ROLLS
2 packages Fleischman’s Rapid Rise Yeast
1/2 cup + 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup WARM water
1 cup scalded milk (2 minutes in the microwave)
1/2 cup Crisco stick
5 cups flour, divided
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon salt

• In a small bowl combine the warm water, 2 teaspoons of sugar and both packages of yeast until well blended. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl combine the scalded milk, Crisco stick, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Blend well.
• Add yeast mixture and blend well.
• Add the well beaten eggs and half the flour. Mix until well blended.
• Add the remaining flour (a little more if too sticky) and mix well until dough leaves the sides of the bowl and is elastic.
• With vegetable oil, wipe the inside of another bowl.
• Place dough in bowl and turn once.
• Cover with wax paper and a towel.
• Let rest in a warm place until double in size.

• Punch down and divide into 2 balls.
• Put one on the pastry board and one back in the bowl.
• Let rest 10 minutes.
• While resting prepare the filling ingredients.

• Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness in a rectangle about 18×24 inches.
• Spread half the melted butter over the dough and sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar.
• Spread half the raisins over that.
• Roll tightly jelly roll style and cut into 18 rolls.
• Place rolls in greased pans 1/4 to 1/2 inches apart.
• Cover with wax paper and a towel.
• Let rise again until double in size.
• Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
• While baking prepare the icing.

• When rolls come out the oven, put globs of icing on each one. Return to the oven for a minute or two to melt icing all over the rolls.

FILLING
1 stick melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
1 cup golden raisins

• Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon until well blended.

ICING
1 stick butter, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered vanilla
4-6 tablespoons milk

• Mix all together until smooth.

When re-heating rolls, put a pad of butter on top of roll before microwaving.
These freeze really well.

As we get to the end of our countdown I have remembered a few more fun anecdotes.

• Every year we received a box of See’s candy and I was ALWAYS on the search for the sprinkle coated ones a.k.a. Milk Bordeauxs YUMMY!
• One year my dad got my mom diamond earrings.  He wrapped them in their original box and then with my brother’s and my help we proceeded to nest these in other boxes (wrapping each box as we went) culminating with a Dishwasher box full of bricks in the bottom – Boy was she surprised and it made for chaotic family fun on Christmas Eve.
• Another year we built an elaborate scavenger hunt all through the house to lead my dad to his ultimate gift in the garage.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc… and on December 18^th they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19th a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc… to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. ‘Pastor,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’ The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.


This true Story was submitted by Pastor Rob Reid.

I’m a Virgo and as such tend to make lists and be over-prepared. So, the only last minute gifts I tend to need are a couple extras for those surprises that come up like a surprise gift from a neighbor.

A few of the “things” I keep on hand (with a festive ribbon already tied to them) for those occasions are:

• Dutch Brothers coffee gift cards
• Homemade applesauce
• Homemade jam
• And closer to the actual day a plate full of homemade goodies

Here are a couple of recipes I made last year that are great to have around and NEVER EVER go to waste.

CARAMEL BUTTERSCOTCH FUDGE
1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup Kraft caramel bits
1 can Eagle-Brand sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup Fisher’s Cinnamon Pecans

• Line a 9×9 pan with heavy duty foil leaving enough foil overhanging the edges to use as handle to lift the foil out of the pan after the fudge has set.
• Using a double boiler over medium heat melt the chips, caramel bits and condensed milk together until smooth.
• Immediately pour into the foil lined pan.
• Top with pecans using a piece of wax paper to press the pecans slightly into the fudge.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 can Eagle-Brand sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup Crushed Honey Roasted Peanuts

• Line a 9×9 pan with heavy duty foil leaving enough foil overhanging the edges to use as handle to lift the foil out of the pan after the fudge has set.
• Using a double boiler over medium heat melt the chips and condensed milk together until smooth.
• Immediately pour into the foil lined pan.
• Top with peanut pieces using a piece of wax paper to press the pecans slightly into the fudge.

Stuffing stockings is one of my favorite things to do.  I’m always on the look out for special little items that I tuck away all year long waiting for just this day. Since the kids are grown hubby gets my full attention and he hates it (sort of) because he isn’t as good at it, but he tries hard and is getting better every year.

This was last year:

• 2 new Wii U games (Amazon had an awesome Black Friday sale I could do from home in my PJ’s)
• fun snacks – M&Ms, cashews, pistachios and DILL peanuts.
• some camo carbiners
• some camo notepads
• an Army magnet
• new winter gloves
• Mason jar shot glasses so he’ll quit using my REAL mason jars
• a couple of additional watchband choices to accessorize one of his gifts from mom
• .50 caliber pocket knife
• lottery tickets

This year I still have to find the stockings, but his will be full of ALL sorts of fun stuff again including some of his new favorite flavors of Dr. McGullicuddys!

I thought about this category a lot and decided that since we are still in transition our “local” traditions are still fluid so instead I am going to tell you about a holiday tradition of the locals. I have to say that these are from last year.  I have just been so busy with 14-16 hour days since we go here and hit the ground running that I haven’t been able to much in the new community.  We did go see the “Messiah” by Handle at a local church and it was wonderful.  I have noticed that the pageantry seems more a norm here in the city than when we lived in the country.

The Festival of Lights is now 20 years old and a great way to kick off the holiday season. It’s ALL Volunteer and NON-Profit.  It began as a fundraiser sponsored by the Rotary Club to help get the city out of debt and then took on a life of its own and now helps with scholarships and special projects. The festival runs every night from Thanksgiving to New Years.  You can drive your own car or take a horse drawn carriage ride through the displays.  They have also coordinated a local radio station to listen to as you view the displays.  The night we went through the fog was moving in early so a few of the pictures look a bit “smoky”.

As of this year they have the world’s tallest (41 feet, 16,000 pounds with  working jaw) nutcracker built by a local company, 500,00 lights, 90 animated displays, 3D displays, horse drawn carriage rides through the displays and a Holiday Village with Santa, hot cider with a bake sale and a synchronized light show in the courtyard.  The displays depict fairy tales, the military, patriotism, the local logging industry, local vineyards, local fishing and the traditional Christmas songs and scenes.  People come from all over to see it. Unfortunately for locals, it doesn’t change much, but is still fun every few years.

Three of my favorite munchkins from next door were coincidentally there the same night we were so had to snap a few pictures of the discussions with Santa.

Even the lights with errors turned out cute.  It was difficult to get great pictures or continuous pictures of the animated scenes since there were so many cars behind us.

This snowman is on a corner in our neighborhood hugging a light standard.

Before I show you my tree, let me just say

A neighboring town always does their tree right in the middle of main street. My granddaughters dwarf next to it.

 Our tree LAST year – not our best, but it is homey and growing on us.

This year we are just happy to have a Charley Brown tree.

One of these years I REALLY want to try this:

How I decorate each year changes based on my mood, weather, etc… so it will never be the same twice! EXCEPT for the 1st picture the other pictures are Christmases past.  The remodel on the new old house this year is really putting a crimp in our style.

We made the candle yule logs for Advent craft night at church one year and they were a HUGE success and soooooooo easy to do.

These are a few of my new favorites from 2014.

My cousin that passed away in 2014 made this ornament for me.  From now it will always be hung by my shooting stars in her honor. That is after I get done being mad at her for leaving me this mess to deal with.

And our new handmade ornament by the Design Chick.  I can show you this now that both DIL’s have received theirs in the mail.

And of course the Christmas cacti decorate themselves.

WOW there are so many! My very first personal desk when I was 9, my aunt coming to visit from Texas around that same time and sitting on the floor in a leather dress playing Barrel of Monkeys with the younger kids or maybe the year I got my first bike, whoops wait that was the birthday before Christmas.

My grandfather worked for General Electric as an X-ray technician of sorts (he oversaw the installation and calibration of X-ray equipment) and one year he brought home a GE Snow tree and ornaments (I still don’t know the correlation between between being an X-ray technician and Christmas trees). Anyway this tree had a HUGE cardboard base and once the tree was up and decorated you filled this base with thousands of tiny Styrofoam balls and when you turned the switch on the tree would make it’s own snow.  As a kid I thought it was pretty cool, but as an adult I look back and realize what a MESS it made!! Especially when the wind was blowing and static electricity was high – those damn balls stuck to EVERYTHING!

But wait, that is not my favorite memory.  It turns out that my favorite memory is of trying to stump my dad each year with his gift – it became a mission of sorts to be the first to stump him.  I swear the man was Carnac when it came to knowing what was inside a box. We tried EVERY year to stump him and I don’t remember ever being able to do it.  We tried adding bricks, taping a silver dollar with duct tape to the bottom so it would flip back and forth to make noise when you shook it, adding a pair of shoes… but he ALWAYS guessed!  I don’t know how he did it.