Merry Christmas - This n That

Yuck - look at our weather today. And tomorrow will be 80% rain but the weatherman is calling for a slight chance of rain for our Christmas day (that is so far - subject to change). It is rather warm for this time of year but the cold front is coming down to cool us down over the next day or so.

I hope you all are having a nice day even if the weather is nasty where ever you are. Are you ready for the holiday? This is a busy time of year and with it often comes stress due to just trying to so much. I used to worry about making sure my kids had enough presents of the things they asked for and things I thought they needed. Always thinking are they equal. Wouldn't want to do more for one than the other. My stress consisted of getting dinner on the table. Trying to see everyone I needed to. Since the children are grown I don't worry so much. It is what it is and that is all I can do. And that is how I see it now.

I was thinking of doing something different than the traditional Christmas dinner we ALWAYS have. Was thinking of grilling steaks and all the fixins. Maybe.

I stopped in the local Goodwill and I was happy to find these plates. They will be perfect in my red kitchen when I get it done. I am going to hang them on the wall.

I ended up with lots of pecans this year. Roasted these and they are very good. Melted 1/2 stick of butter, mixed in 1 tea of sugar and poured over the nuts. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 225 for about 30 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Increase the heat to 250 and bake for 40 more minutes stirring every 10 - 15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.

I have done lots of baking and candy making this year. Loving the memories that is coming with the baking this year. Haven't done this much since my kids were home and my kids would get in the kitchen and help me out. My butter cookies with the icing on it - well let me say they taste way better than they look. Butter cookies, shortbread and PNB cookies. Butter cookies here http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/the-neelys-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html  - Gina and Pat Neely's recipe. Of course Gina has these cute little piggy cut-outs. I sliced mine. Gina loves her little piggys I tell ya. The icing on the cookies is a first for me. The cookies turned out ugly with absolutely not color so I decided to add some. Needless to say it didn't turn out the way I wanted but they taste super good. I flavored each of the three icings with lemon and butternut and third with caramel flavoring. The shortbread cookies here http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/shortbread-cookies-recipe/index.html and Ina makes some good cookies. I added butter flavorings to all my cookies in addition to the vanilla.

 Fudge, Martha Washington Balls, PNB fudge, Snowballs.

 Took this sky pic last week and just wanted to share a prettier sky pic than the one at the beginning of this post.

I just had to share my house babies. Sorry about the poor pic quality. These two don't sit nicely for photos. In fact Buddy will hang his head when he sees the camera. go figure.

 This one still doesn't have a name but I think Kitty will do. She answers to Kitty and nothing else - well she does answer when I shake the cat food bag. She is running toward me.

Wishing each and eveyone of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Hope you have the best family time this year. Be safe out there. I will be traveling on Friday and Saturday and I'll be watching my speed. (got pulled over for speeding yesterday and talked my way out of a ticket and got a warning. I was doing some smooth talking too and pleading for him not to spoil my perfect record).

My Christmas Tree and a Recipe

 My Tree.

Martha Washington Balls.

2# conf sugar

1 can sweetened cond milk

1 stick butter

4 c finely chopped pecans

1 pkg of semi sweet choc chips

1/4 block of parafin wax

Mix butter and milk and add sugar - mix and add nuts. Roll into balls. Melt choc and wax together in a double boiler. Using toothpicks dip balls into choc and set on wax paper to cool.

Scrumptious Peanut Butter Fudge

2 c sugar

1 sm can of evap milk

1 tbl butter

1 tea vanilla

1 tea caramel flav

3 heaping tbs of smooth peanut butter

combine sugar and milk in saucepan and stiring constantly and bring to boil. Boil for 4 minutes or till therm reaches 234 degrees. remove from heat and add margarine and flavorings and peanut butter. Stir till combined and pour into a buttered square pan. 

Fantasy Fudge (oh and the crumbs you see well they will not go to waste. just saying) recipe on marshallow creme jar.

Have a great day. Only 11 days to go till the big fat jolly man pays a visit to the children. Oh the magic of Christmas in the eyes of those little ones.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS BLOGGING BUDDIES!

Wreath's I Made

I enjoyed doing these wreaths this weekend. So easy and inexpensive. The main expense is the balls  and the wreath. I picked this one up at the Goodwill. It cost me about $7.00 to make.

This one was fun as well. I bought the wreath at the Dollar Store for about $3.00. This one is smaller than the blue one so it was a little less expensive. Total cost $5.00.

We have heard the 'S' word in our weather forecast this morning. But it isn't and hasn't snowed yet today. It is warming up into the mid 40's today so that is not likely. But I am hoping for some white stuff again this year. Here in the south along the Gulf Coast it is a holiday if we get snow.

Check out the blooms in the next post. Probably the last till spring.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.



My Christmas Tree

Have a wonderful day.

Pecans

Look at the pecans on the ground. There are opened pecans all over the ground. The squirrels are having a pecan eat out. There is no where to walk that you don't step on at least 3 or 4 nuts with each step. With so many green and black ones falling it's anybody's guess if there'll be nuts this year. The extreme heat and drought has effected them. Last year I didn't think there would be any but I was surprised so we'll see. My mom makes the best divinity candy. Melts in your mouth. And those Martha Washington candy balls - scrumpious. None are complete without pecans. (Too bad I can't eat the nuts though. sad face)

Not much going on in my world. I have lost interest in the gardens for a while. I think about the end of the month I'll be ready to plant some new fall plants.

It's that time of year when I begin to think of getting some Christmas shopping started. I've already begun to make those decisions about what each will get this year.  The grandkids are usually easy to buy for. But things change - I'll add to or take away trying to make sure no one gets more than the other. When the kids were little, I made sure that one didn't get more than the other, trying to spend equally.

Sky at noon today taken when I was driving down the highway.

I love how these old oak trees hang over the roads making a tree tunnel.

Getting that time of year when festivals are about to kick off everywhere. Time for cotton candy and candy apples. Shrimp Festival at Gulf Shores Alabama is a big one and hopefully will be big this year. Hoping there aren't any lingering effects on tourism caused by the oil spill for the festival. People around here are talking less and less about the oil spill.

I've babbled enough. Just writing today. Babbling. Hope you all have a great day and lovely weather.

PS send some rain and cooler temps you friends up north

Merry Christmas

I just want to wish everyone in blogland a very Merry Christmas. I'll be taking a break till Mon the 28th. Can't wait to see all your family pictures and lovelies.

A Charlie Brown Tree

I did some more decorating this weekend just because I had stuff left I hadn't used. I saw this idea for this sort of Charlie Brown tree. I picked up a couple of the 100's of sticks laying on the ground. I spray painted the sticks white, cut some fresh red berries ( i forget their proper name), cut up some Walmart bags being careful not to cut the parts with writing. This made my snowflakes. This was so easy to put together - just minutes actually. Of course it is placed in one of my Mikasa pieces.

I'll be catching up with you today on your blogs. Have a great day and stay warm.

This and That Weekend

Little Buddy didn't know what to think when his favorite spot by the window was filled in with what looks like a tree. Santa will leave you something Buddy.

Just a few photos of my Christmas tree and a few of my favorite ornaments. Most of my photos were blurred so I only have a few that turned out good enough to share.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday. Countdown to Christmas is on. I began my shopping 2 weeks ago and did not go to any of the Black-Friday sales. Instead I put up my tree. I enjoyed the long 4 day weekend just relaxing at home accomplishing some chores - oh and watching Christmas movies. If you haven't seen Reese Witherspoon in the Four Christmas's it is a must see. It came on Starz on demand this week. I watched the movie 3 times in the 2 day rental.

I have gotten over my fears of last week. I am planning on purchasing me a handgun and yes ladies I can shoot a gun and have real good aim too. I am not afraid of pulling the trigger. Could it have prevented this bad guy from attacking me - maybe not. I didn't know how to shoot one then either. I am just being very cautious as we all should be. Always be aware of your surroundings and the people that are around you when out in a public place epecially after dark. Be extremely cautious this time of year always looking. Someone could be lurking in the shadows just waiting for someone not paying attention. Those cell phones can distract you too but also be a lifeline in case you encounter a less than pleasant situation. It would be helpful to be talking to someone who knows you are walking to your car at night. Keep you car keys in your hand not in your purse when walking outside. Don't go out the door without keys in hand and holding one key like it is a weapon. I also have a switchblade I carry everywhere.

Anyone else have any safety tips?