New Year's Eve Plans

We take it easy on New Year's Eve most years - we usually stay at home, play some games and most of us are in bed long before the midnight chimes. This year, we're taking the girls to see a Christmas Light display that is about a mile long - one we've never seen. They are very excited, as Christmas lights are a big deal at their ages.

We'll also sit down with the girls tonight and do some end of the year charitable giving - they like to look through the various "gift" books from World Vision, Samaritan's Purse, Christian Children's Fund and the like. They'll each choose a few items and then we'll help round out any areas where their funds don't quite reach.

Tomorrow we'll have a nice home-cooked meal to ring in the New Year and I'll let the girls cook something they want - either a cake or cookies. They've been wanting to decorate sugar cookies, which we didn't get to for Christmas, so I'm guessing those will be high on their list.

We'll then start taking down our Christmas decorations and tucking them safely away for next year. Toys have already been placed in their rooms and some cleaning out has been done for donating to charity.

We will talk a little about some personal and family goals for the year - I usually start by asking each girl to pray for a few days and pay attention to any goals that might be placed on their hearts - we then spend some time next week writing them down and discussing how we can work through the year to reach the personal and family goals.

How do you spend your time bringing in the New Year?

Tell Me

I worked awhile this evening on a new banner for my blog ~ but I need to know if the wording looks blurry to any of you. It appears somewhat blurry on my computer - but not in my photo editing software.

Either it's my eyes, my computer or the way it uploaded to blogger.

So, please let me know if it seems blurry to you so I can make any fixes needed. Thanks!

Memories Made

I've enjoyed several days of down time with my family during the Christmas holiday - we were very blessed this Christmas with good health, good weather and being surrounded by family! The girls had a wonderful Christmas, we had delicious food and have in all made some terrific memories.

I'm working today to upload photos to share and some delicious recipes you might want to try in the New Year.

In the meantime, if you haven't had a chance to browse through the hottest growing place online to buy or sell anything you might desire - take some time this week to check out Bonanzle.com.

It is a fast-growing community of buyers and sellers taking the time to really communicate with each other. You can actually see when a seller is online and ask them real-time questions about their products. There is a forum for discussion about a variety of topics and there are fun contests and ways to get to know everyone participating in this great new community.

I joined on 11/30/08 and have already had several sales of my handmade cosmetic products, cloth napkins and pillowcases.

Come see me at my booth ~ Capturing Today's Custom Creations ~ and while you're there visit fellow bonanzlers!

See you again soon with some recipes!

Minestrone with Sausage

Wordless Wednesday, with a recipe - this one warms the soul on a cold day:

Minestrone Soup with Sausage

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 - 1 pound of sausage
1 onion, thinly sliced or diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup canned chopped or diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons or more of fresh herbs, such as italian seasoning or parsley, sage, marjoram
1 small red or yellow bell pepper, diced
3-4 cups chicken stock
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup macaroni noodles - your favorite shape
1/2 to 1 cup canned, drained great northern beans or pinto or kidney beans
1 can green peas, drained
Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
French bread or cornbread for serving

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the sausage and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is just colored.

Add the garlic, tomatoes and herbs - cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. Add the bell pepper, cover and cook 5 more minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the macaroni noodles and beans and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, until the macaroni is just tender.

Stir in the peas and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Serve in bowls over french bread or cornbread if desired. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

New Cosmetic Products

This weekend I made a couple of new cosmetic products to add to my Bonanzle shop - two different lotion bars that turned out just fabulous! They are so luxurious and soft - not hard and waxy like many lotion bars I've used in the past.

Here are a couple of photos. The are available in a 1.25 ounce bar with a decorative bee shape on top or in a 2.5 ounce bar shaped like a cow. Both styles are currently available in either Cocoa Butter or Vanilla Delight, although I'll be adding others soon.

If you want to read more about these or look at the other cosmetic products I offer, please visit my Bonanzle booth by clicking this link: Capturing Today's Custom Creations. All products are handmade by me with lots of care and carefully chosen ingredients.

Cocoa Butter or Vanilla Delight - Small:


Cocoa Butter or Vanilla Delight - Large:

Orange Ball Cookies - No Bake

Our Sunday paper ran the recipe for these a few weeks ago - are they ever delicious! They are quick and easy to make for family or for sharing with friends this Christmas season. Recipe makes about 4 dozen no-bake cookies.

Orange Balls

12 ounces crushed vanilla wafers
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup thawed orange juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
coconut or powdered sugar for coating

Combine cookie crumbs and 1 cup of powdered sugar; blend in butter. Stir in orange juice; add vanilla and nuts. Shape mixture into walnut-sized balls. Coat in coconut or powdered sugar. Place on a shallow baking sheet or other shallow pan in a single layer. Store uncovered in the refrigerator overnight for the best flavor.

Makes 3-4 dozen, depending on how big you make them.

Enjoy!

Spiced Pecans

My husband, my 3 year old and my mom really love these! Another simple and quick recipe to make for the holidays that is perfect for sharing.

Spiced Pecans

1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 egg white, lightly beaten until frothy
1 cup unroasted, shelled nuts - almonds, pecans, walnuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon allspice (I substituted pumpkin pie seasoning)
1 cup sugar

Stir melted butter into beaten egg white. Stir in nuts. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and spices together. Put about 1/4 of the spice mixture into a shallow baking pan, about 10x15 or so. Coat the nuts a few at a time with the remaining spice mixture and arrange in the pan. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the nuts in the pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 300 degrees or until nuts are lightly browned. Remove nuts from the oven. Stir to separate nuts. Cool and store in a tightly closed container.

Christmas Treats

I've done a little baking this afternoon, but am planning more baking for Tuesday. I like to cook a variety of treats for both family and our friends and neighbors. The girls have the greatest time delivering them to neighbors - usually on Christmas Eve or the day before.

Today I made Orange Ball Cookies (no-bake) and Spiced Pecans. Tomorrow I'm planning Cinnamon Rolls, Fudge and some Divinity if I can fit it in. By the New Year, I'll make a Cranberry Orange Steamed Pudding for our family - it is one of our favorites.

I'll post the recipes for this year's treats in separate blog entries, but they'll be here if you are interested in trying any of them.

Merry Christmas!

Show and Tell Friday

Thank you for stopping by during this holiday season! Show and Tell Friday is hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home - be sure to pay her a visit - you'll be glad you did!

Today I wanted to quickly share a photo of the gingerbread house that my oldest daughter put together last weekend, all on her own, when she spent the night with my mom.





The girls have been enjoying looking at it all week, but I don't think it will last long, as it seems little gumdrops keep mysteriously disappearing. Hmmm. . .

Merry Christmas!

Seafood in Mornay Sauce

Seafood in Mornay Sauce is what I made for a special holiday-time dinner this evening. Oh-My-Goodness but this is absolutely divine. It is not that hard to make, but will receive multitudes of oohhs and aahhs. Serve over rice with a simple salad on the side and you have a complete meal that is extra special and makes it look like you spent hours in the kitchen. Here's how I put mine together.

There is a great "fish guy", Mr. Ed, who comes up to our area from the Gulf of Louisiana every couple of weeks from the summer through Christmas. He is here this week with everything super fresh - it is his last trip to town for awhile. My husband was in the area and picked up about 10-12 jumbo shrimp and about a half dozen or so large scallops. This is what I used for my recipe tonight.

You can make this with one seafood ingredient or as many as you desire. I've had it with a combination of lobster, shrimp, scallops and crab - just pick what you like and use it.

It goes together pretty fast, so have everything ready when you get started cooking.

First thing I do is put my rice on to simmer. Use whatever rice you like - a long grain white, an arborio, a basmati - whatever sounds good to you. Tonight I used an arborio rice.

For the 5 of us, I put one cup of rice to two cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer slowly until the rice is soft and the water is gone. The only rule of thumb you need to remember for successful rice is water 2:1 over rice. Bring to a boil, then simmer SLOWLY, uncovered, until the rice is tender.

While the rice cooked, I cleaned my seafood. I quartered the scallops - not too small or they'll cook too quickly and get tough. I peeled, cleaned and de-veined the shrimp, then cut it into bite-size pieces.

I took a large saute pan and melted 1/2 cup of butter. When the butter is completely melted, put in the seafood and cook over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. You don't want to overcook the seafood. Add a dash of salt. Remove the seafood from the pan and place in a bowl. Set seafood aside.

To the remaining butter in the pan, add 1/2 cup of flour and whisk for about 2 minutes to create a nice roux. You don't want it to get too brown, as the mornay sauce is a creamy white sauce. Once the roux is ready, add 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 cup of heavy cream. Add fresh black pepper to taste. Continue to whisk to keep any lumps from forming. The cream sauce will start to thicken. Continue to stir for about 5 minutes.

Your rice should be done by now - remove it from the heat. Turn the heat off under your cream sauce and add your seafood back into the cream sauce. Stir gently and add 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Your seafood mornay is now ready to serve over the rice. Top with a little freshly grated parmesan. Be careful - it is very filling! We enjoyed ours tonight with freshly made cranberry-pineapple relish and a mixed sprout salad. Lovely and delicious!

Oh yes, after such a filling meal, we took the girls for a walk around the block to look at Christmas lights! Gotta do something to work off all that butter and cream!

Enjoy!

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste
fresh black pepper to taste
Your choice of seafood: shrimp, scallops, lobster, crab

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Lightly saute seafood over medium-low heat, remove from pan and set aside. Whisk flour into remaining butter over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and heavy cream - continue to whisk to prevent lumps and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add seafood back to cream sauce and add in the parmesan cheese. Stir, then serve immediately over rice. Top with additional freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired. Delicious with a simple salad on the side.

Wordless Wednesday

Spared

Whew! We were very, very lucky yesterday and last night that the ice storm warning that was predicted for our area stayed to the north of us. Not so lucky for those north of us, obviously, but we are very glad that we got only the slightest little coating of ice, no closed roads, no downed powerlines and all the power still on. We are very thankful!

Rain is scheduled for the rest of the week, with temperatures into the mid 60s by Thursday before another cold front comes through and puts us with daytime highs in the 30s by Sunday. But no bad weather is forecast at this time!

Decorating

Welcome! If you're here from Boomama's 2008 Christmas Tour of Homes, or even if you aren't, thanks for stopping by for a visit with us this holiday season!

While waiting for our ice storm to hit today, we finally got some of our decorating done at the house. I put lights outside on Saturday - colored lights along the front porch and santa and his sleigh with some packages in the yard. They look really cute and the girls are so excited when we drive up and they see our lights!

The girls helped me put up our indoor tree and a few other decorations today. It's been a busy day!

Here's our tree this year, in the living room by the piano. It is decorated mainly with little girl ornaments - some brass ones, some snowflakes, some candy canes and some old ones from my childhood.



Here's a photo of my girls - ages 9, 6 and 3, after their decorating adventures this year - it was really hard to get them all in a decent shot this year, they were so wiggly!



Here's our front door wreath, the same as last year, although I think this might be the last year for this one. It's one I made myself and I've had it about 12 years or so!



My oldest daughter, age 9, decorated this gingerbread house by herself this weekend when she spent the night with my mom - we'll put it on the table when I finish the table decorations. I think it looks really cute! Now, I just have to keep little hands off!



Here's our entry hall table-top tree, done all in reds:



Here's our living room mantle, stockings in disarray from my 3 year old weaving in and out of them on the fireplace hearth - a game she loves to play:



Here's our Nativity Scene - this year it is on one of our end tables in the living room:



My oldest daughter decorated our piano this year with some of our village items - we didn't have room to get them all out this year:



A few glass Christmas balls help to give a little extra sparkle to the china cabinet:



On the secretary in the living room, I put this porcelain Christmas tree that slowly turns with flickering lights and Christmas music. My mom gave it to me and the girls this year:



Our table setting for our kitchen table, which will probably have the tablecloth and placemats changed a few times between now and New Years, depending on how many spills my 3 year old has!



Thank you very much for coming by to visit our holiday decorations this year. Merry Christmas and many blessings to you in the coming New Year!

Quick Sweet Treat

My best friend shared this quick and easy recipe with me last weekend - these are super easy to make, very tasty and can be shared easily since you can make as little or as much as you want. Here's the recipe:

1 bag Snyder's square pretzels (or any pretzel that is square or round with small holes)
1 bag chocolate kisses (any flavor you desire - we like the hugs and the milk chocolate ones)
1 bag Reeses' pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place your pretzel pieces on a cookie sheet. Unwrap your chocolate kisses and put one in the center of each pretzel. Place cookie sheet in hot oven just long enough to soften the chocolate, but not melt it. This is why you don't want pretzels that have holes that are too big, the chocolate will fall through. Note that the white chocolate kisses don't get quite as soft as the milk chocolate ones - they each impart a different flavor - so try both! Remove tray from oven and place one Reeses' piece in the center of each chocolate kiss. Allow to cool, then enjoy!

These can be made in advance, cooled and then frozen if desired. Great for a party or sleepover or to give as holiday treats! They have a sweet and salty taste - it is addicting! Enjoy!

Ice On The Way

Well, we've officially had our "freezing rain advisory" changed to an "ice storm warning", with expected ice accumulations between noon today and Tuesday morning of 1/4 inch. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

We are at least well prepared for the inevitable power loss - we have a stocked pantry (with a manual can opener so we can actually open any cans), about 3 methods of backup heat (kerosene heater, Mr. Buddy propane heater and our wood-burning fireplace), ways to cook and heat water via propane cookstoves, extra stored water, fully charged cell phones and emergency radios, oil lamps, kerosene lanterns, flashlights, lots of warm blankets - I can't think of anything we're missing.

Laundry is almost finished from our usual weekend routine of laundry, so everyone will have their favorite warm garments. And today we're doing more Christmas decorating around the house, so there will be plenty to keep little ones occupied. I'll also be making a large pot of stew and or chilli to have on hand. Depending on our power situation, we'll probably make some special holiday goodies as well.

Cows have extra hay, the bees we rescued several weeks ago that are in our backyard have a heating pad in their box to keep them warm, our outside dog has a fleece blanket in his doghouse and his doghouse is protected from the elements. Outside faucets are covered.

So, I'll probably go missing online for awhile if we lose power - how long will depend on how badly powerlines break and how long it takes to get power restored.

Enjoy your Monday!

Bright

This week, Carmi's Thematic Photographic them is BRIGHT. Seems fitting with all of the holiday hustle and bustle and lights all around. To try your hand at this week's theme, just visit his blog at Written, Inc. and leave your link - easy!

Here are the photos I thought of that said "bright" to me this week:

This week I finished sewing a set of six custom-ordered pillowcases for a friend to give as Christmas gifts. Her request was for neon hems with fabric yoyos to accent. Definitely bright.


My middle daughter at swimming lessons this past summer - almost makes you squint just to look at this one!


From my garden last spring - I love this bright pink color of my azalea bushes:


My mom's Christmas tree, all decorated this year:


Thanks for stopping in to see my "bright" photos!

Poster Project

In addition to helping me with sewing and cosmetics orders this week, my oldest daughter was also putting the finishing touches on her poster project for 4-H. Those participating prepare a poster promoting 4-H. The posters from each 4-H club are turned in to the county extension office and 3 from each county in the state can be sent to the state 4-H headquarters for judging. The state office will select the top 10 in the state and those 10 winners will be awarded a rosette and a $50 US Savings Bond.

My daughter chose her topic based on the things she is doing most in 4-H this year; sewing, photography and community service. Here's how her poster turned out - I thought she did a very nice job!

Sewing, Sewing

I've been busy the past couple of days with a couple of custom-order sewing projects and am about to start on a couple of custom-order cosmetic products, which is why I haven't had a lot of time to update my posts here.

I had an order for a dozen Christmas napkins that is going out in today's mail - they turned out very pretty. I also worked on a fun pillowcase project ~ a friend of mine ordered 6 custom pillowcases to give as Christmas presents. She wanted each trimmed in a different neon color hem with coordinating fabric yoyos. I worked on these the past couple of days and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I also made fabric gift bags for them in the same fabric as the yoyos. I think it added a very nice touch. Here are some photos.



Have any of you been working on any Christmas sewing or craft projects this week?

Virtual Snowflakes

Remember this from last year? Make your own gorgeous snowflakes online! My girls love this!

Thank You

I need to send a thank you to Nancy over at Southern Blessings who so very kindly, a couple of weeks ago, sent me a bloggy award! And I've been very tardy about saying thank you and posting it.

She awarded me the "Marie Antoinette A Real Person, A Real Award" and now I'm supposed to nominate 7 other bloggers. This will take a little thinking and I'll update this post with those 7 bloggers soon, so stay tuned.

Thank you, Nancy!!

Progresso Winners

Thanks to everyone who signed up for a chance to win a Progresso Perfect Recipe Gift Basket. Don't forget the coupon that is good for $1.25 off progresso broths that is still good until December 17th! Here's the link: Progress Broth Coupon

I enjoyed reading what you all like to give as gifts from your kitchen. We usually make a variety of items - some gift baskets and some gift bags or platters - often with something I've canned like a jam or jelly, homemade cookies or candy, sometimes homemade scones or cinnamon rolls. The girls love getting in the kitchen with me and helping to pull it all together.

And the winners of the Progresso Baskets are:

Jaydee ~ ntiveheart [at] cfl [dot] rr [dot] com

Bebemiqui ~ bebemiqui [at] hotmail [dot] com

Jennie ~ email not enabled on your profile - please get in touch so I can get you info about your basket.

I need to hear from each of the winners by the end of the day on Monday, 08 December or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Thanks for playing! MORE GIVEAWAYS START NEXT WEEK - so tell your friends!

Fabulous Laundry Detergent

As regular readers know, we do as much as we can at our house to keep things environmentally friendly and frugal. I use a very basic cleaner for most all of my household cleaning - vinegar and water. I've made my own dishwasher powder and had mixed results with it - it gets the dishes clean, but sometimes a little dull.

I've always intended to make my own laundry detergent as well, but never seem to get it done. Well, now I don't even have to worry about it at all.

I found someone who just happens to be local to me who makes homemade regular and cloth diaper laundry detergent - Crunchy Clean. I first saw her listing on Etsy and she had over 1000 sales and 100% positive feedback. I knew it must be good and worth trying. She's also listed on Hyena Cart where she has a larger variety available and excellent descriptions of her products.

When I emailed her to see if she would meet me locally instead of shipping, I was thrilled when she said yes. I met her Tuesday and purchased 2 of her large bags of regular detergent. Each will do 136 loads in a regular machine or double that in a HE washer. The bags were $14.50 each. She also has a smaller bag that will do 68 loads (double in an HE washer) for only $8.00.

Price-wise, the $14.50 bags are a fabulous savings compared to the Shaklee that I usually buy which is about $18.00 for 88 loads. I've been very happy with Shaklee though, so the last trial was to see if the detergent really worked well.

Well, the detergent is completely environmentally-friendly and best yet, IT WORKS! And works very well. I've done 4 loads of laundry with it already and I am now a dedicated customer!

I ordered mine in unscented, but she has a ton of essential oil or other fragrances also available. She also has sample bags available if you want to give it a try before committing to a full order. She's been making her own laundry detergent for about 4 years and has a patent-pending on her cloth diaper formula.

Here's her link again - Crunchy Clean - if you have been wanting to use a great, environmentally friendly detergent that is pennies on the dollar and works in all temperatures, I urge you to give this a try, as you won't be disappointed!

Glad to have found and met you, Crunchy Clean!

Grocery Store Math

A couple of weeks ago I let the girls set up a grocery store on the kitchen table for their homeschool math work. They were so excited and spent about 2 hours from beginning to end.

The pulled about 3 dozen or so items out of our pantry and organized them on the table, then went to work deciding prices for each item.


My oldest daughter spends many weekends with my mom, who lives about 10 minutes away. Every weekend my mom goes to the commissary and my oldest usually goes with her. She also shops with me whenever I grocery shop, even though I tend to do mine just once monthly.

Anyway, she has a really good concept of pricing. I offered no assistance, but was very pleased to see that her prices were very close to current ones in the store today!


Once everything was priced and organized, I gave them assignments. For example, one of the assignments for my 6 year old was to spend as close to $5 as she could without going over. She spent $4.91. Another assignment for her was to find all the least expensive items and another was to find all the most expensive items.


For my oldest daughter, she was the cashier and also had several assignments in spending, including practice with rounding and then seeing how close she was against the actual numbers.


For my 3 year old, she just shopped and had great fun taking her items to the "checkout chair".


A fun day of math, indeed!

Sale Today!

I'm having a sale today, Cyber-Monday, at my shop over on Bonanzle. From Noon to 3:00 p.m. Central Time, everything in the store is 10% off.

Come find just the thing you need for your holiday shopping list this year! I have gifts that are perfect for anyone on your list - lip balms, skin creams, celebration pillowcases, cloth napkins, beaded bookmarks and more!

Just click on the picture to come and shop for awhile! I'll be there in person, well, via instant message, to answer any questions or just say hello!

Oh yes, be sure to tell your friends!