Christmas in my kitchen

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t really feel like it’s really Christmas-time until I have baked some cookies. To be exact there is one cookie and one candy that really make it work for me. I’ve baked cookies a couple of times this month, but I started the serious baking lasst night and I’m sure it will continue for a the next couple of days. First, I cleaned my kitchen, so now you can see it (if you’re still interested from yesterday’s post.)

I have my favorite plates on the cabinet tops. The bowls were out last night for our vegetable soup, which is one of my favorite things to eat. Those bowls are from my Aunt Gayle a few Christmases ago. I still need to add a bowl and mug set for Kameron. I just love the snowmen and how heavy the dishes are! On my small shelf (that Kody hung for me to display things on – yay!) I have the house I’ve had for several years and the platter that I bought this year to take to a Chinese auction and then promptly came home with. I have a towel that matches and bought a second towel to cut in half and make two small aprons. They’ll be perfect for wearing when cooking to wipe hands:) I pretty much feel like I live in the kitchen and when it looks like this I enjoy being in there. BTW – navy, white and gray just make me so happy together and the kitchen is possibly my favorite room in the house all year:)

I also promised cookies yesterday, if you came back later. I have finished 3 kinds so far and have 3 to go. I ruined one batch of candy as well and have one to go…not ruin! The Eastport Sugar cookies make it Christmas to me and hopefully I will get my favorite candy, cream cheese mints, done soon. Here’s what I’ve finished and the recipes to go with them if you want:)

Eastport Sugar Cookies: My mom made these every year (that I remember) and now so do I. They are such a good simple sugar cookie.

1/2 C butter
1 egg
1/3 C milk
1 1/2 C flour
1 C sugar
1/2 t cream of tartar
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg and milk. Sift dry ingredients together and work into the batter. Let stand overnight or 4-6 hours. Roll thin onto a floured board. Cut into shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for about 12 minutes. (I find that my oven finishes them in about 5 minutes though, so be careful!)

Brickle Blond Brownies: I’m not sure where this recipe came from, maybe someone can remind me, but I could eat the whole pan. They are so good and simple!

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
6 oz Bits ‘O Brickle
1 t baking powder
1/2 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar, packed

Cream butter with sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Blend in dry ingredients. Stir in Bits o Brickle. Spread in a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (again, mine needed slightly less time)

Peanut Blossoms: I know everyone makes these or a very similar version, but they are a favorite! How can you not like a crunchy peanut buttery cookie with a bit hershy kiss on top?! I usually make a double batch because if I don’t they don’t last very long…

1 3/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 C butter
1 t vanilla
1/3 C peanut butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 beaten egg

Sift dry ingredients. Cream butter and peanut butter. Add the sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla. Mix all ingredients together well. Shape dough into blls using rounded teaspoon. Roll balls in sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and top each with a hershey kiss (the cookie should crack.) Return them to the oven for 2-5 minutes. With these I find that it helps to le them cool for a long time before trying to stack them in the tin because the chocolate takes a long time to re-harden (is that a word?), but if you don’t care how they look just throw them in as soon as the cookie part is cool!

My Penuche that I’ve never made before didn’t work…it turned out more like caramels and I don’t know what happened. I still have Chocolate iced cookies, Sand Tarts (a family recipe), Iced Sugar cookies and Cream cheese mints to go. I hope to have a good variety for the next couple of weeks!

Usually, I make a coffee cake on Christmas morning, but I think this year I will try to make some homemade cinnamon rolls…can’t remember what recipe I was planning to use though.

Just in case you thought I was baking all alone, let me show you my little helper –

I hope you have a blessed Christmas and that your kitchen is filled with warmth, love, family and wonderful baked goods!

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Welcome!

Welcome to our home. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay!

As you come up our front steps you’ll be greeted by these cute snowmen that my husband’s Aunt Regina painted for us. I just love them and although they saw a rough winter last year they are still standing.

Well, don’t stand there all day! Come inside:) As you walk inside you’ll be greeted by our fireplace. I framed the entryway to the kitchen in tinsel to hang our Christmas cards. I have to have some sparkle!

The living room also houses our Christmas tree. I decided to keep it simple this year and just do lights and my favorite ornaments. No tinsel, no ribbon and no topper… The top of the tree is my favorite; that is where I always put our “First Christmas” ornament and each of our children’s “First Christmas” ornaments. Having our family ornaments up there all together makes me happy.

You’ll also see my “new” decoration of pine cones, twigs & candles that I put together. Simple things make the best decorations sometimes, don’t you think? I put my nativity up on a shelf so that it wouldn’t get broken. I’d been wanting this willow tree one for a while and my mom bought it for my last year. As I was taking it out of the box it said to be very careful with Joseph so his arm would stay intact; I didn’t think my kids needed to be able to reach him!

Come into the kitchen – I’m not going to show you the whole thing, because it’s messy! I’ve got more baking to do today on the bottom half, but look up at my favorite plates:) I’m so excited that in this house I can put things up on my cabinets and hang garland there. I’ve not been able to do that in our other homes.

The only place I had for my old but cute wreath is on the door to our sunroom. Go on out there…

This is my current workspace (one of them – I’m sure Kody thinks the whole house is my workspace). I had to decorate it a little bit too:)

If you go upstairs, you’ll be in the kids domain. They have decorations all over their rooms, but here is the tree that they set up and decorated themselves. Kody did help a little with the tree set up, but we didn’t give other instruction. They had a lot of fun decorating:) The books under the tree are all of our Christmas books – really most of them are just winter books, I guess we need a few good ones. And of course no home with children would be complete without a few Christmas-y stuffed animals!

I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. :) Our decorations are simple, but make us happy. There are many small things you didn’t see, but I thought it best not to take pictures of everything. If you stop back by later, I’ll have some cookies for you!

From our home to yours – Have a Very Merry Christmas!

*This post if linked to on The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes. Go there to see many more blogs with inspiration for your decorations! Also, please excuse all our unfinished bits that you see in the photos – our home is a work in progress and we have much more to do before it is “finished.”

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God speaking

Lately, I feel like God has been speaking to me through everyday things. I don’t mean that Jesus appears on the face of an iron* or anything like that. (to me that’s just a little crazy and made up) However, I’ve found that when I go about my everyday tasks God will use them as teaching resources. Take yesterday afternoon, for example. I had been walking by the dishwasher all day, avoiding unloading it, because I didn’t want to have to put all the dishes away and reload the dishwasher. I really don’t like putting everything away and would much rather just load and reload it. So, finally I just had to do it so that I could free up some sink space (this wasn’t very long since there are so many people here using dishes!) and I opened the dishwasher to find that it was already empty. I didn’t have to unload it and put everything away. Instead of putting it off I could have gotten it started and freed my mind for other thoughts. How often do we do this to God. We just keep telling Him that we aren’t ready or we don’t really want to do that or even we don’t like to do that. Usually, when I find myself doing this, I can’t get the idea or command out of my head and I feel guilty. The bible tells us over and over again not to procrastinate in spreading the gospel or in being saved, because we do not know what tomorrow holds for us. Proverbs 12:24 tells us that “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.” (NKJV) Had the dishwasher been full I still should have just done it instead of putting it off. There are some ministry opportunities in front of me (as there are everyday, yet these are bigger) and I am trying to remember this as I pray about them. Are the reasons that I have not to do these things real reasons or am I simply procrastinating and telling God no? I’m going to be praying a lot about the things in front of me and I pray that each one of you will stop putting off the things in your life that you need to take care of. God will help you if you are in His will!

*I understand that God speaks to people in different ways and not all are the same. I just don’t believe that His face showing up on material objects is a way He chooses. And…I’m not real sure what that would tell you anyway…

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The JOY of Christmas

Kameron & his beautiful smile, Tasting an ornament, “Hanging an ornament”, looking at another ornament

I have been watching Kameron closely this year while we decorate our house for Christmas and go to other’s houses. There is really nothing quite like seeing things through a baby’s (or 15 month old’s) eyes. The way they light up when he sees something he likes. I am so excited about watching him open his gifts this year because of the wonder and excitement I am sure to see on his face. The older kids will be excited for sure, but Kameron is the one I will be watching. I know I used to be like that – filled with excitement and wonder and joy at Christmastime, but as the years have gone by and I have grown up some of that has escaped. I do love to decorate and seeing old ornaments or bringing out the nativity give me great happiness, but oh to see it all with new eyes every year! To experience all the lights and view each thing as something great is what I desire. I feel this same way about Jesus. Sometimes in the day to day I lose sight of what’s important and lose track of what I need to be doing. But, Jesus is the reason…not only for the season (sorry)…but for life itself and as we aproach this Christmas I want to see Jesus with the eyes of a child. I want to be passionate about him and I want my eyes to be filled with indescribable joy each time I “spread the good news.” I want Him to feel the way I feel, when I see Kameron’s eyes light up at each Christmas thing, when He sees me. I don’t want to get lost this Christmas in all the many things the world offers us to get lost in; I just want to give honor and glory and praise to Jesus, because if it’s not about Jesus, it just isn’t worth it.

Watch your very young children this year. Just watch the joy on their faces. And then…get some of that joy for yourself – He’s there waiting:)

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