Happy New Year and The Holiday Travel Hangover

Hello everyone!

I'm back...and boy what a Christmas and New Year's we had. We traveled....a. lot. I think that it's quite possible that if we had driven in a strait line we would have driven at least halfway across the United States. Yes...that's how much traveling we did.

And we never left that state we live in...now that's not really saying much as we do live in one of the larger states in the Union. But it did make us decide this was the absolutely last year we are doing this.

Traveling, I mean.

We've been married for eighteen years and for those eighteen years we have lived at least five hours and more away from our immediate families. And for eighteen years we have packed ourselves and our gifts up and traveled to see family.

Now don't get me wrong. We love our family. But friends...I would dearly love to stay home for Christmas. Home. The place where I live. Because after eighteen years home isn't where I or my husband grew up.

I could get all sentimental right now about never being able to go home again, or about home being where the heart is, or home being where my husband and kids are. But this is not a Hallmark moment I'm having. I just don't want to travel that much during the holidays anymore.

And sleep in a variety of beds.

And eat at weird hours.

And eat rich food (which tastes really good but doesn't always settle well).

And go to bed too late.

And get up too early.

Because at forty-three...the recovery time is...errr...shall we say a lot slower than it was at twenty-five.

But having said all that we did have a wonderful time with our families, and were blessed in a myriad of ways, not just with presents. I hope to write a little more about that in the next couple of days...I'm still just letting my thoughts and feelings about our Christmas gel a little before I write about them. God showed me some really neat things this year and I'm still thinking on them and processing them in my heart and mind.

So anyway...Hello again! It's good to be back and I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Day!

I Think I'm Going On Hiatus

Well, as we count down to the big holiday, and Husband, kiddos and I prepare to make our visits to family, I think I am going take a little bloggy break.

I may jump once or twice in the next two weeks to say, "Hi!" if I get the chance.

I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

Wandering Through My Meanderings

Hi there!

I thought I'd just check in and say, "Hi!" We finally finished all the Christmas festivities yesterday. It takes us all week as we have our immediate family Christmas at home and then hop in the car the next day and travel to see family in two seperate locations.

It's exhausting.

I haven't had a decent nights sleep in three nights. We were at my FIL's last night. A little noise, a warmer climate and a noisy bed don't make for a restful night. We are now back at my parents house...I think I might score some Tylenol PM from my Mom tonight.

We'll be here for a few more days...the lure of cable television, a 56" screen and HDTV on New Years Day is keeping us here. Husband murmured something about "awesome football" when he decided we would stay.

Personally, I'm all about HGTV and the Rose Parade.

I love the area that my parents live. Husband and I started out here, but within the first six months of marraige moved to an area five hours away for job reasons. I thought it would be for just a couple of years and then we would move back.

HA!

Seventeen years later we are still in the same faraway place.

This has been a real struggle for me emotionally and spiritually of late. I'm not blooming where I'm planted. I really would like to be transplanted. I want to be in a pot right next to my Mom and Dad. As my parents get older this is getting to be a really deep seated desire.

So I pray.

I yearn.

I Google real estate.

I know God works out His plan for our lives in His time. So how come I get so impatient? How do I know that my desires are His desires for me? Why can't I just be content right where I am? How do I know if this discontent is Godly or not? Am I suffering from the grass is greener syndrom?

I keep praying.

I read my Bible.

I walk faithfully...or at least try to.

Such are the meanderings of my mind this time of year. Which is entirely normal for me, but somehow seems more intense this year. Sigh.

I wish I could think of a nice satisfying way to conclude this entry. I feel like I have been all over the map here...thanks for following along. I'll try to be a little more focused next time I write.

Holiday Par-tay!

Well there's a celebration going on over at Looking Towards Heaven and I thought I would just join in! Karla has some great recipes of her own posted and there are more on the way from others.

Now since I'm West Coast I like a little Mexican food at a party. One of my favorites is this recipe for a Chili Relleno Casserole. It was given to me by a dear friend who received it from her husband's mother I believe. I love it because it involves A LOT of cheese...and well, I like cheese. So here it is:

Chili Relleno Casserole

3 egg whites

3 egg yolks

1 can of evaporated milk

3 Tablespoons of flour

pinch of pepper

1 lg can (or 3 sm. cans) of Ortega Whole Green Chilis

1 - 1lb. brick of cheddar cheese grated

1 - 1lb. brick of Monterey Jack cheese grated

1 - 8 0z. can of tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Take green chilis and slice in half length wise, set aside.

Grate all cheese, set aside.

Grease a 2qt. casserole dish and begin layering chilis and cheese. Chilis first then cheese and so on. End with a layer of cheese on top.

Seperate eggs and beat whites until fluffy. Mix yolks, milk, flour and pepper together. Gently fold in egg whites. Pour mixture over chilis and cheese.

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes spread tomato sauce on top of casserole. Bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for about ten minutes before serving. VERY YUMMY!

I thought I would bring along a dessert too. This recipe was given to me by the gal who introduced me to Husband. She is very Swedish...I don't know that the recipe itself is a Swedish recipe but in my mind it is because she is.

I love this dessert for its tart cranberries and the warm, sweet sauce that goes over it.

Cranberry Cake

Cake:

1/2 Cup sugar

dash of salt

I Cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 Cup of fresh cranberries

1 1/2 Tablespoon melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

Sift together dry ingredients. Stir in remaining items. Bake in a greased 8"X8" pan for 30 minutes.

While cake is baking prepare this sauce (you will need a double boiler):

1/2 cup sugar

1 cube of butter

1/2 cup cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash of salt

Combine ingredients and cook in the double boiler for 15 min.

Alow cake to cool a bit, slice and serve with some of the sauce poured over an individual slice. Very yummy! Of course, a good strong cup of Swedish coffee goes well with this.

Well, that's about all I can carry to one party. And since there are more dishes coming I'm sure there will be plenty for everyone. So enjoy the fun and the food!

P.S. Calories don't count in December.

P.P.S. Be sure to join me here on Friday for The Cookie (Recipe) Exchange! Details here.

P.P.P.S. I'm sorry the text is so squished together. I don't know why it does this. WYSIWIG is NOT always what you get! (grrr)

Just A Reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone about The Cookie (Recipe) Exchange I am hosting here this Friday. Click on the highlighted words in my right hand margin for more details!

Compliments Are Funny Things

This has been an interesting weekend.

On Saturday I went to a Ladies Christmas tea. I have to admit that I went half-heartedly. I had plenty to do at home and I was just, flat tired. I had a nice time...nothing to write home about...but nice.

At the tea we listened to a very good teaching about being Marys and not Marthas this time of year. The speaker gave an example of a mythical Christmas lady that we possibly all have in the back of our minds. A sort of Martha Stewart meets the Proverbs 31 lady with the Titus 2:3-5 lady thrown in for good measure. Everyone had a nice chuckle at that, acknowledging that she is indeed lurking in the back of minds this time of year.

On Sunday a dear friend came up to me and whispered in my ear, " You are my mythical Christmas lady." I hope that I appeared to take it well. But in truth I was appalled. I would like to note that this friend meant this in the best way possible, as a compliment.

But compliments can be funny things.

Either I am doing that well, I do have it that together...OR....I'm putting up a better front than I thought. Not that I try to put up a front. Because I don't. What you see is pretty much what you get. I am a work in progress and I am far from perfect. And it is uncomfortable, to say the least, to have someone view me that way.

Husband assured me that I don't come off as perfect. But, you know, he may be too close to the situation.

I am really a little dismayed. I want to be a good example to other women, especially younger women. But I don't want to appear perfect because it implies a sort of unrelatability. Like I couldn't possibly know what it is like to have a messy house, things undone, snotty nosed kids, bills unpaid, etc., etc., etc. The thing is I know all to well about those things. It is only by God's grace and strength that I get through each day. I'm telling you that I can do nothing in my own strength and when I do, it can be very ugly.

So if you know me in real life and you think, for some odd reason, that I am perfect or something, I just want to say that I am not. I am a work of God, still being worked on, still struggling with sin and all that stuff. I am where I am by His grace.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Okay...the first thing I want to say is that I'm having a very hard time getting these photos to be where I want them to be....



Having said that, (and since it made me feel better), I would like to share a couple of my favorite Christmas decorations with you. I have more, but considering the difficulty just getting these two pictures to post I think I'll save the rest for later posts.

The picture above is of my Mom's vintage Woolworth's papier mache Nativity Scene. She bought it in the mid to late 1960's. It has a few little dings and Joseph lost his walking stick somewhere along the way but otherwise they are in remarkably good condition. You'll notice there are only representatives of the shepherd and wise man contingents. Since my Dad was in seminary in the mid to late 1960's that was all she could afford. Mom now has a lovely porcelein Nativity Set but I am glad that she let me have this set. It brings back so many wonderful Christmas memories.

The Nativity Set below is also a gift from my Mom and I do have all three wise men, another shepherd, a camel and several sheep that didn't make it into the picture. She has been giving it to me in smaller sets over the last three or four years.

It is from the Willow Tree Collection by Susan Lordi. I love the simplicity of this design. It feels very soft and gentle. It is the one Christmas decoration I usually leave up well into February each year. It reminds me that the gift of our Heavenly Father is so precious and needs to be remembered each day.

The Cookie (Recipe) Exchange is Here!

Thank you so much for coming to my little party! I hope you all enjoy yourselves. There should be some very yummy cookie recipes and some great stories. As you look around be sure to leave some comments (because really, don't they just make your day?). You might also want to stop by more than once as this is a bit of an open house sort of party, and you never know when folks are going to show up.

So get yourself a cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair. It's time for the good stuff!

Here are two of my favorite cookie/candy recipes. The first one is for Coconut Bon Bons. This recipe was given to me when I was but a blushing bride. We had recently moved to the area we live now and had no family or friends within five hours of us. I was a little lonely (although not too much because, remember, I was a new bride) and had asked God to send a friend into my life who might be a sort of mentor to me. He was faithful to answer and sent along a woman a little older than myself with four beautiful children and a love for homemaking. That first Christmas season she invited me over to help with her baking, which I was more than happy to do. This was one of the treats she made that day. She sent me home with some of the goodies and the recipe which I have faithfully made every year since.

Coconut Bon Bons

1 large bag of Angel Flake Coconut

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 - 2lb. bag of powdered sugar

1 Cup of margarine

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 Cups of chocolate chips ( I use Nestle Semi-Sweet)

1/3 cube of kitchen parafin (The kind used for sealing jelly sometimes. It can usually be found where canning supplies are in your grocery store.)

In a large mixer, cream together milk and margarine. Add vanilla and coconut. Now slowly add powdered sugar (This can be tedious and messy, I frequently end up mixing in the last of the powdered sugar by hand.) When thoroughly mixed together, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

The next day cover some cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper. Form coconut mixture into small walnut sized balls and place on cookie sheets. When finished filling a cookie sheet cover and put back into the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Next comes the dipping. In a double boiler put chocolate chips and parafin. Heat until melted. Prepare surface next to stove top by laying foil or wax paper down. (I use foil.) Now it's time to dip the coconut balls. Plop them gently in the melted chocolate one at a time and use a dinner fork to lift them out and put them on your prepared surface. Allow the bon bons to cool and firm up for several hours. When they are firm, enjoy! Give to your friends to enjoy because this recipe makes about 120 of them!

And my favorite cookies. Snickerdoodles. I know they aren't really, necesarily considered Christmas cookies. But I make them at Christmastime every year and they do have that obligitory Christmas ingredient...cinnamon. They also contain that exotic ingredient that I don't use for anything else except biscuits...Cream of Tartar.

These are the first cookies I remember making with my Mom. That's why they are special to me. I remember being so excited when she got out her Betty Crocker Good - n - Easy Cookbook and said, "Let's make some cookies!" These are what we made and this is the recipe from that book.

Snickerdoodles

1 Cup vegetable shortening (I have modified and half of this is butter, the real stuff)

1 1/2 Cup sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 Cup flour

2 tsp Cream of Tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

In large mixing bowl cream together shortening/butter and sugar. Add eggs. In smaller bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet until dough is formed.

Mix together 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 3 Tablespoons of cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

Using a tea spoon (as in a spoon you stir your tea with), scoop out portions of dough and form into walnut sized balls. Roll balls in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in oven for 8 - 10 minutes. (If you have Airbake cookie sheets like I do, it's more like 11 - 12 minutes.) Remove cookies to a rack or paper towels to cool. Enjoy. Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies.

Just stopped by and want to join all this cookie fun? Then go ahead and link up with Mr. Linky below. Please remember to use your permalink, leave a little comment next to your name letting us know what you have baking and link yourself back over here.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the goodies and the stories.

A Cookie (Recipe) Exchange

I got to thinking about cookie exchanges the other day. I've only participated in one real one and I can't even remember when that was exactly but I do remember that it was a lot of fun.

I liked it not only because I got to take home lots of yummy cookies that I didn't have to make, but I also got to hear some of the stories behind the recipes. I think I enjoyed the stories the most.

So I got to wondering if I could host a bloggy cookie exchange. Then I thought, "Why not?" And now I'm doing it. My idea is that anyone who would like to participate will share a recipe(or two) of their favorite Christmas cookie or candy and a story about it. The story can be about how you got the recipe, why you like it so much, something funny that happened while making it...well you get the idea.

On December 14th (mark that on your calendars!) I will put Mr. Linky in place. Write a post on your blog with your recipe and story. Come back over and add your post to Mr. Linky.

A couple of requests as you link:

1. Link to your recipe post and not to the front page of your blog. This makes browsing a snap.


2. When you enter your name on Mr. Linky include a short (3-4 word) description in parentheses.


3. Tell your friends! I love cookies and I love stories and I know there must be lots and lots of them out there to be shared.

I have an banner/button and you can copy that from above on the right. I wish I could say for sure that it can be used as a button but I'm a real newby at buttons and I'm not sure if it will or not (my tech adviser is currently Down Under). I think that if you follow instructions here that it will work. Just in case it doesn't please link to my blog in your post so that everyone can enjoy cookies and stories.