A Christmas Treat

A (potentially) healthy lunch idea! (That's fruit, yogurt, and breakfast cereal.)

Oh, Christmas Tree

Yesterday (before the ICE STORM) we made our traditional visit to Lenderink Tree Farms. Much fun! Probably the most fun we've had since our pre-kid visits. It is so nice to have two of the three largely independent. No frantic, "Stay near us!" as one disappears into the back 40 of the farm (or rather, no worries if they disappear because the oldest is now old enough to come back); no balancing baby and toddler and Christmas tree all at once. That was the year before last when Mud Pie wasn't walking (6 months old), Fish wasn't walking well (reeeely bunchy snowsuit) and my parents were chasing St. Nick through the back 40!



The farm is such a fun place! They have free greens, lots of them, so many they need a forklift!



And a sledding hill! With sleds! But below is a rare shot of Mud Pie walking.



Usually this is what she wanted to do:



Grandma got a good workout! Pie isn't as light as she used to be. Grandma also got a little surprise ...



"Hey! How'd that snow get in my hood!?!"



I have no idea, Grandma! ::flaps angel wings::

Of course, we DID get a tree.



There's proof! But the highlight? The bonfire with roasted ...



Oooey gooey stickiness! Oh, and the lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at Arby's. The perfect end to a busy morning.



This is why I love the holidays (it's also why I'm tired today!). Merry First Sunday of Advent! Here are the rest of the Tree Farm photos.

Holiday Surprises

#1 Stuffed Pumpkins!

I tried this recipe on a whim a few weeks ago and it immediately became a favorite. Adapted (as always) from Taste of Home, this brought oooohs and aaaaahhhhs from everyone around the table - and more - once all had been served and were tasting the delightful sausage-rice stuffing within, they were ooooohing even more! There's nothing I love more than to share something I find absolutely delectable with others (who are appreciative, i.e., not my kids, unless the pumpkin is stuffed with SUGAR)!

Here is the recipe:
Prep: 50 minutes (really true)
Bake: 1 1/4 hours (true there too)
Yield: 8 servings (as a side); 4 servings (as a main dish)

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 teaspoons bullion (I use beef)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Mix spices into water with rice and boil for 40-50 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 cups chopped celery
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 tablespoons dried currants
1/4 cup vegetable broth (or water)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

In a large skillet (VERY large) cook sausage until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, sauté the celery, onion, garlic until tender (3 mins). Reduce heat and add currants, broth, and seasonings. Return sausage and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the rice.

2 medium pie pumpkins (2 - 2 1/2 pounds each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Wash pumpkins and cut opening in the top, reserving the tops (for lids). Remove and discard the loose fibers (save the seeds for roasting, if desired). Prick inside of each pumpkin with a fork and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Stuff with rice mixture, pressing down firmly; replace tops. Tip: use a small and very sharp knife for the pumpkins!

Place in a 13x9 inch baking dish and add about 1/2 inch of water. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake another 50 minutes longer or until tender. Cut each pumpkin into four wedges to serve.

I'm so glad the only pie pumpkins I could find were unusually small. I have half a bowl full of stuffing left and two acorn squash just begging to be stuffed!

#2 A Wonderful Time of Fellowship

I am truly blessed that all in my family are walking in faith.

#3 Fellowship even for the kids!

They had a blast! Mud Pie wore herself out and slept for an hour of the ride home (blissful silence!), and the boys both slept late this morning (more bliss!). They adore their new cousin and already planning misdeeds for our gathering at Christmas.

#4 A New Thanksgiving Tradition

I'd read of having a holiday tablecloth, with fabric markers for guests to sign, but that always sounded ... like a bad prescient. I really don't want to encourage the kids to write on anything but paper (for good reason! I now know how to get marker off sofa, wall, window, rug, woodwork, skin, and hard wood flooring. Thank you, Mud Pie!). But my sister-in-law began a Thanksgiving journal for themselves and guests. What a great idea!

#5 No Post-Holiday Aftermath

I didn't have the same "morning after" sensation - tired, dishes left from the previous night, spots on the rug, piles of linens needing to be laundered. The festivities were at my brother's house, despite my sister-in-law just having had surgery last week. It was her choice - she'd rather bake a ham than ride in the car for six hours in one day. I can see her point, though I have to say, though I love hostessing, this time around I was very thankful that I got to ride in the car!

Ahhhh, so nice coming home.

Leaves of Thanks

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!

This year throughout the month of November we added Thanksgiving Leaves to a large vase on the dining room table. Today's task? String them all together into a garland of thanks.

Here's what everyone is thankful for, grouped by individual:

St. Nick
-Mom and Dad
-fun and books
-leaves to jump in
-winter
-chemistry and good stuff
-hearts
-tacos and my mom that makes them
-love

Little Fish
-lava inside a volcano
-giant bats
-spiders
-slippers
-his house and cheese
-bacon and ghosts
-juice at church
-candy

Mud Pie
-"I'm fankful!"
-giants
-our house
-"ME!"
-"Pwetty Dwess!"
-smiles
-kisses

Dr. D
-God's provision
-good food
-warm food
-my wife
-that we can rake leaves together
-home, wife, and family
-health

Mommy
-Christmas and Advent and Jesus' birthday
-my husband and the many ways he blesses and leads
-hope
-beautiful music
-my wonderful children
-that my family is together and safe and happy
-pizza and baked goods and taste buds

General
-church to learn about God
-Mud Pie
-delicious French Toast
-the color brown
-forgiveness
-Little Fish
-St. Nick
-slippers (again. I guess we really like slippers)

All of these make me smile. And despite a few outbursts of, "NO! That's TOO MUCH GLUE!" I know the kids had a lot of fun and are all proud of their beautiful garland. Me, too!

Time to toss the table cloth in the wash (before the glue dries!).

Winter, Christmas, Advent Activities

A bunch of links at CatholicMom.com (how funny!). Some look great, but I haven't explored them much yet.

A fun link from that list on making old fashioned gum drops! (Refrigerated.)
Recipe: Old Fashioned Gumdrops

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 6-oz. package any flavor fruit-flavored gelatin
2 envelopes un-flavored gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice

Additional granulated sugar for coating

Directions

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

2. Spray a 9 x 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Pour the gelatin mixture into the pan and refrigerate for 3 hours.

4. Cut the set mixture into 1-inch squares and carefully remove them from the pan.

5. Roll the candies in sugar until coated.
Your candies will be sticky. Keep a wet rag handy.

Refrigerate to store.

A link to other projects HERE.

Christmas Cookie recipes HERE.

All sorts of ornaments HERE.

And a recipe for Christmas Ornaments from Salt Dough.
Why link to it when I can copy it here? (I would probably not microwave them. I wonder what the directions for baking are? "Bake at 200 until hard. Huh. Ok, another link that says 250 for 2 hours.)

Oooh, but cool instructions for different kinds of salt dough ornaments, beyond cut-outs! Look HERE.

What you Need

4 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of Salt
1 1/2 Cups of Hot Water
Holiday Cookie Cutters
Decorations, Glitter, Paint, Beads, Etc.

Knead the dough and roll it out to cut out shapes with cookie cutters (just like if you were making sugar cookies). Place them on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Paint and decorate as desired. Most of all, be creative and have a lot of fun!

An alternate:
Salt Dough for Christmas ornaments

Salt dough ornaments have been made by generations of children, they are so much fun to create, and oh so easy for you to whip up a batch of dough. You can even experiments by adding food coloring to the dough before baking.

1 cup salt
1 1/4 cup water
3 cups flour
drinking straw
cookie cutters
string

Dissolve salt into water, then slowly add flower, stirring until mixed. Knead and roll, then cut out with shaped Christmas cookie cutters. Use a straw to poke a hole in each near the top. Bake at 200 degrees until hard. Add string to hang.

These can be painted with regular paint, and glue adheres well for decorating.

Fall and Thanksgiving Craft Links

I just found this fantastic website with a Freedom Feast program - telling this history of the first Thanksgiving, the constitution, and more. It turns Thanksgiving into a true celebration of American heritage and an educational event! I don't know how my relatives would take to it, so maybe I'll save it for a year when we're on our own. But it is such a good idea!!

Here is the link to Freedom Feast.

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A must-do Thanksgiving craft, a Turkey Hat! And in case the link breaks, here are the instructions:

CRAFT MATERIALS:
	Scissors
	Brown paper bags
	Cardboard (cereal box)
	Glue stick
	Colored construction paper
	2 small white pom-poms
	Black permanent marker
Time needed: Under 1 Hour

1. From the brown paper bags, cut a circle 3 1/2 inches in diameter for the turkey's head. Next, cut a 3-inch-wide band to fit around your child's head.

2. From the cardboard, cut a strip 5 by 1 1/2 inches to use for a neck. Fold it three times accordion style, then glue one end to the back of the paper circle.

3. For a beak, fold yellow construction paper and cut out a small double triangle (1 1/2 inches along the fold). Cut a rounded L from red paper for the turkey's wattle.

4. To create eyes, draw a black circle on each pom-pom with the marker. Glue the eyes, wattle and one side of the beak to the head. Let them dry. Then, glue the loose end of the neck to the center of the headband.

5. Now, wrap the headband around your child's head; mark where the ends overlap, then remove the band and glue the ends. Finally, glue on construction paper feathers and wings.

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A leaf garland. Make two dozen or more leaves and write something for which we give thanks on each as added. Each person should add one each evening.

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Carmel apples! Yummy!
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
6 tbsp. water
Popsicle sticks
8 to 10 apples (McIntoshes work well)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and water. Stir until it has a smooth consistency. Gently bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 3 minutes, until the pan's sides get steamy and the mixture is thin but somewhat sticky. Remove from heat. Pierce the center of each apple with a Popsicle stick, then swirl in the caramel syrup until coated. Place apples on a greased cookie sheet to harden. Refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours. Serves 8 to 10.