Guest Post

Hey All,
I was invited to guest post over at High in the Sky.

Here is a recent layout I did for the TSRCC challenge about my internet friend, Sian at High in the Sky.

"The Internet is a Magical Thing!"

The journaling reads:

It’s no secret that I am “smitten with Britain.” Little did I know that the Internet would be responsible for connecting me with a Brit! I met Sian through her blog “High in the Sky” about a year ago. I have had so much fun catching a glimpse into the everyday life of my new friend. Although it is unlikely that we will ever actually meet in person, it’s not impossible. Who knows where our travels may take us. Either which way, I get to know her a little better with each blog post.

Recently she mentioned her Christmas pudding in one of her posts. That led to an email discussion about the ingredients that I did not understand. I had never heard of vegetable suet (which is Crisco here), sultanas (which are golden raisins) and “grease proof paper” (which is parchment paper). I’m still not sure what “mixed spice” and “mixed peel” are. They say “self-raising”, we say “self-rising”. Whereas we “measure” our cups and ounces, they “weigh” theirs.  (Not to mention---minding your “P’s” and “Q’s”---which referred to keeping track of the “pints and quarts” you drank in the olden days of English pubs). We say, “pour” they say “tip”.

It has been so much fun learning the different ways we refer to things. Somehow, the way the British speak, sounds so much more refined. Regardless of how we say stuff, none of this “learnin’” (said in a southern twang) would have been possible without the Internet. It is truly a “magical thing.”

Reality TV

We watch a lot of reality tv. Last night was the finale of Survivor and Ashley and JP's Wedding. We DVR'd both shows. We watched Survivor today. We felt like Malcom made a tactical error by not committing to Lisa. We both agreed that Denise deserved to win, but if Scubin had taken Malcom to the finals, he very well might have pulled it off. I think he would have been respected for taking his toughest competitor.

We are the only ones---along with Walter and Chris---still watching Survivor. We still like it, but this season, just about all of the challenges were puzzles. I think someone must have gotten seriously ill because they no longer make them eat weird stuff. I can't wait for the next season to start. It's going to be another where they bring back some of the fan favorites.

Now for Ashley and JP's Wedding. Butch does not watch any of the bachelor or bachelorette shows. I watch them all. I know they are pretty trashy, but for some reason, I like all that drama. Makes me feel sane!! As far as the wedding is concerned, I fast forwarded through pretty much of it. I did make a few observations.

1. Since when is Chris Harrison allowed to perform wedding ceremonies? I thought you either had to be a judge or a minister. I know that you can get some sort of minister title online. Maybe that's what he did.

2. I loved that version of "Canon in D" that the pianist played while the wedding party processed in. I suggested that for Sandy's wedding---nearly 18 years ago now (hard to believe)---but neither she nor Greg wanted it. That melody is the background for a commercial of an alcohol rehab place here. I get that, but it's still a beautiful tune.

3. I had a "give me a break" moment when Ashley's DOG was escorted down the aisle. Come on! That's just ridiculous!

4. Ashley's dress was gorgeous, but apparently she didn't expect to have to walk in it. Maybe she should have tried that out before picking it. Instead, she walked awkwardly down the very long aisle with baby steps, supported by two men. I'm assuming they were her father and step-father. (I fast forwarded a lot, remember?). It even looked like she might be either stepping on it or tripping on it. Very awkward and ungraceful.

5. I loved her pink shoes with the rhinestone buckle. You couldn't see them when she was walking, but they showed them at her final dress fitting.

6. I thought the song choice while she walked down the aisle was good---"I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." But nobody does it like Elvis. I mean, nobody.

Then, just about the time they were ready for the "I dos"---the taping cut off. UGH!! I hate it when that happens. I forgot there was a football game on before it that ran long. I can only presume that they are now "man and wife." At least for a little while anyway....

I Think I Hate Pinterest!

For those that don't know what Pinterest is----it's a place to store ideas and information on bulletin boards that you create yourself. You can get lost there for hours looking at all of the recipes, decorating ideas, fashion, gifts, crafts---you name it, you can find it there. I don't spend nearly as much time as most people do---exploring. Still, after just a little over a year, I have 35 boards and 1970 pins (OMG! That's the year I graduated from high school---fun coincidence). Here's the problem. People will pin things with labels like---"the BEST cookies you'll ever eat" or "the most delicious biscuits ever" therefore, tempting you to "pin" it for future use.

Weeellll, today was family baking day. It's 5 p.m. and I'm exhausted. My back hurts from standing on hardwood all day---today and 6 hrs. yesterday getting ready for family baking day. I decided to add a couple of new recipes---compliments of Pinterest. I was excited because, I also planned to share those recipes here. Instead, it was a lot of work for mediocre cookies. I threw the recipes away.

Starting yesterday, I made 4 cheese balls, a gigantic pot of vegetable soup (for our lunch today) and "the most delicious biscuits ever" (also for today). I made the two new cookie recipes because today we would be focusing on the family favorites. The cookies were Lemon Krinkles and  Cherry Walnut Icebox Cookies. Both were time consuming. They are "okay," but not worth the work.

Every year, I always think I'm so organized and every year, the process turns chaotic. We never have enough cookie sheets or cooling racks. I have 5 cookie sheets and 2 cooling racks. Two years ago, I asked Stephanie to bring her cookie sheets and she brought one 9x13 cake pan. She said that's what she uses for cookies. Last year, I bought her two cookie sheets. She showed up today with one. She said that she didn't know she had two---it must be stored in the wrong place. She did have a set of cooling racks, so that really helped.

Luckily, I have double ovens. The only problem is that I use two timers, but forget which goes for which oven. I ended up burning the Snickerdoodles. That was really the only mishap. We made 7 varieties of cookies (counting the ones I made yesterday),  Iced Sugar Cookies, Pecan Butter Balls, Peppermint Candy Canes, and Chocolate Chip. 

We took a break for lunch before icing the sugar cookies. The soup was delicious and so were the Angel Biscuits. I will share that recipe. I won't be making them very often because not only are they a bit time consuming, but they really require pre-planning.

Overnight Angel Biscuits

1 pkg. active dry yeast

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter, cut in small cubes

2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Using pasty blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles small peas. Mix in buttermilk and yeast just until the dough comes together.

Sprinkle counter with flour and roll or pat dough into a large square (about 18x18). Fold two sides in to make a triple layer of dough (6x18). Cut into 12 square biscuits with a sharp knife or use a 3-inch biscuit cutter. 

Place on lightly greased nonstick cookie sheet. Cover and refrigerate overnight. An hour before baking, remove from refrigerator and set in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush melted butter over the tops. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

I ended up with 15 biscuits and they were HUGE!!

 Here are the teens after we finished the decorating. You can't tell from this picture, but the entire kitchen is a total disaster. It took me well over an hour to clean it all up.

 Carson is always such a good sport. When everyone else got tired of rolling out sugar cookies, he was still working away. Morgan warned me that he didn't like soup. Not only did he like my vegetable soup, he asked if he could take some home!

 I put together a little tin for Margarita. You can see all 7 varieties---the candy canes are a little hidden. They didn't look very pretty.

But they are delicious!! 

Mindy used Pinterest as her inspiration for these little goodies she made for Steph's party on Saturday night.

She loves the Peanut Butter Kisses. Certainly simple enough for her to make. I thought her little santa hat chocolate dipped pretzels turned out really cute. She said that they were a bit of a pain to make. You know how fast that bark hardens? 

On a happy note for Stephanie---it's widely known that she is not a cook. She called me for my recipe to make stuffed artichokes. They were a huge hit. The only bad thing was that she didn't know to cut up the heart when the leaves were gone. Kind of a waste. 

I've hired this little cutie to do a Christmas project for me. Her name is Maddie. She is the granddaughter of my friend, Linda. I'll share the project when she delivers them to me.

One final thing. In my last post, I forgot to put that the "for your entertainment" line was clickable. The explanation doesn't make sense if you don't watch the little video. Sorry about that.

So tell me what successes you've had with Pinterest!

Holiday Decrations

Tuesday was our day group Christmas party. We give each other vintage gifts. I call that the ultimate recycling! Then we have a nice lunch and take our annual pictures. 

I have always loved Nancy's living room. It feels so inviting to me. I'm crazy about those built in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. Of course pink and green are my favorite color combination (along with blue and green, pink and black, blue and black....and the list goes on and on).

 Nancy's farm house is really probably my favorite floor plan with her extra large kitchen and these extra wide halls.

 She used to put her nutcracker collection going up the stairs. This year, she had Katie, her daughter come over and arrange everything. We all agreed that we tend to put things in the same place every year. Katie changed hers up and everything looked lovely!

 I'd love to have a fireplace in my dining room. I'm not sure if it would get used much, but I certainly like to decorate mantles!

Her granddaughters did the artwork that adorns the hearth. I think they will have to come down if they light a fire!

 This terrarium is sort of hard to see. There are glittered reindeer inside.

 This is one of my favorite go to decorating ideas---glass balls in assorted jars.

This is probably my favorite thing that Katie did. It could be all the "blue." I really like using blue in holiday decorating. Nancy has a really nice collection of vintage tablecloths and linens.

 Linda came dressed as Mrs. Claus in her cute little apron. As you can tell by Nancy, people in Nashville wear flip flops year round---even if the temperature is in the 30's!

Myself and Pam. Linda and I were the only ones dressed in Christmas apparel. I figure you don't get that long to don a Christmas sweater or pins, so why not?

As much as I love my new phone and the Cloud---where when you take a picture, it automatically downloads it to your computer---I think I need to go back to my regular camera. Although the iPhone is supposed to be a great camera, that doesn't say anything for the photographer. I think half of my photos are blurry. I do like the convenience and time saving feature of not having to get out the memory card, put it in the adapter and hook it up to my computer. We'll see.

Butch has been sick with the flu this week. That's put a bit of a damper on our holiday plans. I'm glad I got my flu shot. He didn't. We'll see how well it works if I make it through Christmas. By my calculations, I should get it by mid-next week. I've been taking good care of him. I'm not usually so good with sick people---as the girls will confirm. They like to tell the story that when they stayed home sick from school, I would give them a job list. I never wanted them to think skipping school was fun!! Anyway, I figured I owed Butch. He's been so good to me when I've had my umpteen bouts sick in bed with  hives. (Which, by the way, is going great! No prednisone since April 1---and finally, hive free for the first time in 13 years since October 1. I hope I didn't jinx myself).

Today (Friday), I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done. I have a few other things on my list: try to figure out why two strands of lights in the garland on the banister are out. This will be my first time trying to handle that. Usually I put Butch on it, but since he's sick, I figure I'll cut him a break. I need to pack up the cushions from the porch furniture, run to the bank, make the tags for my Christmas place cards, and make some party favors for Jordan's birthday party next Friday night. Plus we have happy hour at 4 p.m. Connie and I made mushroom crustads this week (recipe to come), so at least I have something good to serve. The jury's still out on whether Butch is up to going to our annual "poker" dinner tonight. I'll have to check with him when he gets up.

I took 12 pictures on 12*12*12. I'll share some of them next.

For your enjoyment...
I would totally have done this when I was younger. Now, I might break something. I can't get over how everyone around him is completely ignoring him. How could you not stop and stare? He made me happy. The only thing that would have made me happier was seeing it in person! Maybe one of these days...

Hope you all are enjoying your holidays!! Take a moment now and then to take a deep breath, stand by your tree and take a long whiff. Really, don't bother if you have a fake one!!

A Laid Back Sunday

The whole reason I like to go to Mass on Saturday is so that we can just chill out on Sundays. I might scrapbook a little, but mostly I spend the day reading or catching up on my blogs. This past Sunday I got up at 4:30 a.m. The only plan I had was to just hang out in front of the fireplace with my tea, computer, Pandora and my Kindle. At least it started that way.

By about 10 a.m. I decided to go to Sam's and get the "stock up for Christmas run" out of the way.

Little did I know I was going to have lunch there. I started with a piece of bacon, sausage, egg and hash brown casserole, orange juice, a slice of salami on a pretzel chip, a ham cube, a shrimp taco, an energy vitamin drink, brownie brittle and a piece of chocolate cake. I could eat like this all the time. A little of this, a little of that---just enough---well, actually, not quite. I wonder how many calories all of those little bites added up to. Anyway, I was full enough.

Sam's is not a good place for me to go. That's why I limit my trips to just when the whole family is going to be together. I am too much of an impulse buyer. Plus, all of those little bites taste good right then in the store, but when you get it home, it's not quite the same and then you're stuck with 50 of whatever it is. With just the two of us, there's quite a waste. I was proud of myself. I only impulse bought 2 things. One for a Christmas gift and the other was Olive Garden salad dressing. Butch says I have a problem with salad dressings (you know, my multiples issues). When we cleaned out the pantry a while back, we ended up throwing quite a few away. That kind of justified my "restocking" with these two very large bottles of Olive Garden dressing. The trade-off was that I had about 5 other items in my cart that I put back. I maintained quite the willpower on this trip.

When I got home, I spent some time with my book. I just finished Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly which I highly recommend. I decided to read a "holiday" book---if you can call Hercule Poirot's Christmas---an Agatha Christie murder mystery a "holiday" book. I haven't read her in years, but have been a fan since my very first book in the 7th grade---The Murder of Roger Acroyd. Back then, I flew through those books. I still love a good mystery. Anyway, after a little reading, I was ready to get back to work.

I bought 2 bouquets from Sam's---both white mums, one tipped in green. I love all flowers, but am partial to white ones for my arrangements. At Christmas time, I love to have an arrangement on the dining room table all season long. I usually put it together right after Thanksgiving. But this year, I wasn't doing any entertaining, so decided to wait. Mums last forever. When I make my arrangements after Thanksgiving, all I have to do is swap out the flowers one time during the season. The greens stay fine. They might dry out a little but that's okay.

I get all of the greens from my garden. I like to get a good variety of colors and textures. Remember the milk bottles in the carrier I bought at an antique shop and used last year? Well, I start with putting one of each type of green in every bottle. I tuck in the flowers last. I am no expert flower arranger, but you can't go wrong with this method.

 The red berries of the foster hollies look nice with the vintage cherry tablecloth. Since it's so close to Christmas now, I won't have to replace the flowers. I won't even have to add water. I'll take another picture on Christmas to let you see how it held up.

A friend of mine (Beth Ann) gave me this test tube set years ago for my birthday. I like to keep flowers in it year round. I've gotten kind of lazy about it this year due to all of our traveling. But I usually have something in the garden to put in it. These are just leftovers from my arrangement.

 I like having this view from my kitchen sink.

When I was finished with the arrangements, I put together a few simple hostess gifts. I like to think of things that are useful.

An easy idea is to add some pretty, wired Christmas ribbon to a pair of candles. Everybody loves candles.

 I cut rosemary from the garden and tied up a few spring with some pretty, wired Christmas ribbon. It smells so good. You can leave it on the window sill all winter long. It will dry out, but you can still use it for cooking.

I heap them all up in a basket so they are easy to grab and go for any holiday event. I should probably add a tag, but then I'd have to take the time to make some. I need to do that ahead for next year.

Morgan just got her first job. She is hostessing at The Corner Pub. Right off we were worried about how that would interfere with all of our holiday festivities---ornament exchange, Jordan's birthday party, family trivia, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She's off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we don't know about the other days. Carson (her boyfriend) asked if he could still come even if she has to work. She wasn't too happy to think that her boyfriend would also be having fun without her! I think it's so cute that he wants to hang with us whether she's there or not. Who does that?? We love that boy!!

One last thing that will do your heart good. My brother, Matt is not on facebook, but his wife, Sharon is. She just posted this. I’m so proud of him that I had to post it on my blog!!! Way to go Matt, I love you!!

"While standing in line at the grocery store my hubby looks at me and says how about if I pay for that elderly lady's groceries. I told him to do what he wanted. Yes he followed the voice inside. We left a stunned yet thankful elderly woman and teary eyed checker. Listen to your inner voice."

Next up----holiday decor from my friend, Nancy's house.

It's the Holiday Season...

...but that's no reason for me to fall behind with my blogging! I'm usually on top of everything. Here are a few things that have been going on around here. Just a lot of nonsense, but fun.

During my final Christmas shopping day, I stopped for lunch at Fifth and Pine---the restaurant inside Nordstrums. I had the best salad with chicken, pistachios, dried cherries and a cherry viniagarette dressing. I couldn't resist this to go along with it. I've never seen this on a restaurant menu before. Diet at that---heavenly lunch.

On Friday, I took some friends to the club for a ladies luncheon, Christmas concert and fashion show. I had to have a picture of Mr. Billy looking all festive.

Nancy here with me. Linda was in the bathroom---sorry. You could say that Mr. Billy is the Santa at the club---jolly and cheerful.

 Through the course of decorating, I moved mom's silverware chest that I keep in my hall closet. It was all moldy and did this to the carpet. Does anyone know why or how that happened? It's not like it's wet in there. I keep a lot of stuff in that closet and nothing like this has happened before.

Here's the culprit. I've now moved it to the pantry. I can't imagine why it was moldy. The box cleaned up just fine. The carpet, not so much.

I was not happy to see this ugly thing crawling around the entry. I think it might be a "stink bug" so I didn't kill it. I scooped it up with a kleenex and flushed it. Then I saw another one in the kitchen. That one I think I carried in with fresh greenery cut from my bushes. At least I hope so. If I see another one, you can be sure I'll have my bug man out here before you can say "holy bed bugs Batman."

 Nicky surprised me with this beautiful poinsettia at happy hour on Friday. My first red one of the season. Huge too. Very thoughtful of him!

 I just love this old house. There's a sign on it that says "Welch Library". It's near a college, but I don't think the college is in business anymore. For you locals, it's near 440 on Harding Rd.

 I think the roof is some sort of tile. I'd love to have it and the color too. The texture is so striking. Can you tell I never waste a moment---even at a stop light??!!

 My little nephew, Travis is pulling himself up now. He looks like a little half pint!! If I remember correctly, I think he's about 8 1/2 months old now.

Same baby, same age. Looks like the cart can swallow him up. If this is what they're selling at Target now, I want one!! Only kidding!

One thing I know for sure. If you think you are getting a bargain by buying Yankee Candles from anyplace but the Yankee Candle store, you aren't. They simply don't "smell." I'm so disappointed in the ones I bought from Target. Not worth the hassle of taking them back. Lesson learned.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll tell you about my Sunday---even if it's Wednesday. Then maybe by the end of the week I can catch up with everything else. 

It's that happy, crazy, busy, never enough time for everything, time of the year!! Happy to you!!

Everything's a Tradition!

I've said it before, but when you do something once in this family, it becomes a tradition without me even realizing it. I'll get to that part of the story, but first, the "lead-up."

Last night, we celebrated Mindy's birthday. Butch and I went to 4:30 Mass then we all met at Mindy's for cocktails before dinner and to let her open her gifts. Her place is beautiful at night---on the 10th floor overlooking the city, plus her Christmas decorations---made for a festive setting.

The wreath she made looked really nice on her front door. The hallway is all sleek and modern, so this was a warm touch.

Butch bought her tree after Thanksgiving, set it up and put the lights on. (By the way, Mindy, you still owe us). She decorated it with all of her childhood ornaments. I miss all her ornaments we used to have on our tree---the ones I made from her Care Bears crib mobile from when she was a baby and even the tin can painted with the wise men she made in first grade. One of my favorites---that I haven't given her yet, is the kleenex angel dipped in wax she made in kindergarten. They are all so precious to me. I felt like that when I gave Sandy and Stephanie their childhood ornaments too---little pieces of memories from Christmases past.

 Mindy had been telling us how nice she was keeping her place. Apparently, home ownership was just what she needed to take pride in her surroundings. Everything sparkled, shined and smelled good!

 It's hard to take photos through the glass in the dark, so you can't really get a good feel for the view.

This was the biggest shocker. Her bed was made. I have NEVER seen that!! She did admit that she hadn't vacuumed. In fact, she didn't even know---until we told her on Friday at happy hour---that she HAD a vacuum cleaner! Remember the can opener she had in her car for 8 months and didn't know it? Typical Mindy. When we moved her in, we put the vacuum in the utility closet with the furnace. Still, if it was my place, I would have looked in every closet just to see what was there---especially if my parents moved me while I was at work.

She has a cleaning lady that comes in every other week. She was due this day, but went to someone else instead. That left Mindy to clean. She did a really good job considering that all through college she only used Windex wipes for everything---and only every 3 or 4 months at that. I could never live with her---as we discussed at dinner, but that's another story.

I have to fess up here. From the time she was born, we had a cleaning lady. She never learned how to clean. I'm not saying that's a good thing, just a fact. Without a doubt, we spoiled her (and still do). She was the baby and we were all "smitten"---Sandy and Stephanie too---and we still are. She's a good kind of spoiled, sweet, charming and all around delightful to have around. Not one of those whiny, bratty type of spoiled! We must have done something right because she's grown in to a responsible, capable young woman. She even keeps her closet nice---that's simply amazing!! She's always been a mess, but I guess that's finally over now---or at least until she comes "home." She's still a mess here---like the wake of a tornado. Again, another story.

We wouldn't tell anyone where we were taking them for dinner. Jimmy Kelly's is the place---an old family owned, upscale restaurant known for their steaks---and southern corn cakes.

 Nicky and Stephanie before the fried oysters,  crab cakes and salad arrived.

 Barb and Butch

Jordan and Mindy

This is where the tradition part comes in. At dinner, everyone decided that going to Jimmy Kelly's at Christmas was going to be a new family tradition---well, except for Butch---he just has to go along with the gang and is a pretty good sport about it. Still, I finally said to him, "stop!" He kept going on and on about how we ordered too much food. Nicky was right along agreeing with him. Just what we need---another guy in the family that only eats once a week!! I kept saying that if we had leftovers, we could take them home. 

The poor guy just can't help himself---I know he sees dollar signs. As it turned out, Jordan took home half of her cheeseburger (yes, she passed up steak for a burger---and it was unbelievably huge---at least a half pound). Mindy took home half of her steak and half of mine along with part of a baked potato and some of the corn cakes (those are complimentary). The only thing we "wasted" was the broccoli with cheese. I knew it would be too crunchy for my taste, so I didn't have any. The only way I eat crunchy veggies is with dip. The family said the cheese tasted like Cheez Whiz. Other than that, there was no waste. And the best part of all---since we ALL ordered the "half" filets, the bill wasn't as bad as Butch expected! So now he's agreed that we will go back next December. 

Another family tradition is born!!