Front Porch Christmas Decorations

A deep freeze is headed our way so I started to decorate my front porch yesterday.             

 I started with a plain wreath and added trimmings from my gardens.  I wired on pine cones and added holly and fir.

 Teddy helped.

 I added some silk poinsettias, a few red balls and some red berries.

 I use fake green garlands that I buy at thrift stores for next to nothing.  I wire them together to give them bulk.

 Then I just start adding adornments.  At first it looks sort of weird. I never know where I am going with this until I actually start doing it.

 But slowly it comes together. I added a cardinal and more flowers to the wreath.

 A few more touches and it will be finished.  And another chore will be checked off my list.

Cabbage Bread

I haven't made this in quite some time and I always forget just how good this is.  I thought it was worth posting again in case you didn't try it the last time around.

 You can find the recipe here: http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2011/08/cabbage-bread.html
This is such a nice dough to work with.

 You cut the dough into pieces and wrap it in cabbage leaves.

 Cute little bundles.

 This is simply one of the best breads I make.  They are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

 They really have no cabbage flavor at all.  The moisture in the cabbage leaves sort of steams the dough when it is baked which gives it it's chewy texture.

I made these to go with a new soup recipe that is the current favorite around here ans I will show it to you soon.

My Christmas Tree

I finished the tree.  I use mostly hand blown glass ornaments and icicles to make it look like it is covered in ice.

 Well, it is almost finished.  I have to tuck cords away, pick up needles and add the tree skirt.

 I try to find vintage Victorian ornaments to add to the tree each year.

 I use some woodsy looking ornaments too.

 An angel sits on top.

 I love how the glass ornaments reflect the twinkling lights.

 Some woodsy mushrooms.

 And glass ones too.

 I always put one nice Santa right on the front of the tree.

A bird house.

How do you decorate your tree?

Decorating a Christmas Tree

I've started on my tree.  I am so far behind with my Christmas prep that I hardly know where to start.  All of my Thanksgiving cooking for the shelter broke my cooktop and one of my ovens.  Not a good situation for this type of year and a huge concern about my cooking future concerning the shelter.  The repair person can't get here until next Monday.  So, I have a lot to figure out between then and now. I spent the morning on the phone with a Wolf rep trying to figure it all out.

 I brought the tree in the house and got it in the stand. It looks crooked.

 After years and years of decorating trees, this is how I install mine so I can have peace of mind.  I screwed a tree stand into an old heavy end table.  then I duck taped the stand to the table for added security.  Next, I put two heavy rocks in the bottom to weight down the stand.  Not very attractive at this point but it will all be covered with a tree skirt.

 I straitened it and then turned it over to my husband to add the lights.  I went to bed.

 In the morning, I found this.  Good work husband!  He is great with tree lights. A good tip for lighting your tree is to not waste time wrapping the trunk and branches.  Just stuff handfuls of lights in towards the trunk and then gently spread them out over the branches as you pull your hand out of the tree, you get great distribution and you have a better lit tree. They go on and come off very easily too. A lot of these lights twinkle and the tree looks magical.  Now I have to dive in and finish it.  Hopefully you will get to see the finished tree tomorrow.

Christmas Decorating and Wreath Making

 I started decorating.  I fixed up the bedroom for the Holidays. I like crawling into a Christmas bed.

 These stars will go in my kitchen windows.

 The retro wreathes I've made will decorate the shelter.

 I love making these from thrift shop finds.

 This wreath has vintage glass balls painted with holly from the 60's. Have you started decorating yet?

Thanksgiving Dinner

 I ended up making Thanksgiving dinner.  This is not very attractive but I remembered to take a photo after we had already dug in.  We had planned on having Asian food so I could take a break after all the shelter cooking.  I wanted to be able to make turkey sandwiches so I bought a turkey breast and roasted it.  I decided to make gravy with the carcass.  I had an extra bag of cranberries so I thought, why not make some sauce.  Then I made stuffing. I found a bag of peas in the freezer and made creamed peas and onions. Soon I realized I was actually making Thanksgiving dinner.

So I made some rolls.  I made coiled ones to eat with the main meal.  I used my mother's potato roll recipe.

 I made buns for the sandwiches.

 I make lots of different rolls but I still think these are the best ones.

 I changed the recipe this year.  Though these rolls have a wonderful flavor, they sometimes can get a bit heavy.  So I replaced the crisco  with butter and added more yeast....perfect!  Here is the recipe:

1-1/2 C. of water
2 eggs
2/3 C. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1T. rapid rise yeast
2/3 C. melt butter
1 C. mashed potatoes
7-1/2 C. flour

Pour the water into the bowl of your mixer.  Add the eggs, sugar, salt, yeast, butter and potatoes.  Beat the flour in cup by cup until you have a nice smooth ball of dough.  Place it in a buttered bowl and cover.  let it rise until doubled.  Form into whatever type of rolls you want.  Let rise for 30 minutes.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until they look like the photo above.  Brush with melted butter when you take them out of the oven. 

Everyone seemed very happy that I made Thanksgiving dinner after all.

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

 Teddy and I would like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

 We hope you are up to your nose in turkey and gravy.

And maybe a bit of cranberry sauce too!  30 quarts on it's way to the shelter!