Christmas Glow

My home is quiet and clean; too quiet and too clean. Jay, Briana, Travis, Ashley and Mowgli left this afternoon. We made some very good meals and ran the dishwasher several times. We squished together on the couch and bumped into each other in the kitchen. It was great! Now the sheets are washed the the towels are ready for the next visitor. Our Christmas celebration is done but the Christmas glow remains. This lamp was a gift from all of the kids; a wonderful reminder of the warmth and love that we share. I will probably burn out the light bulbs quickly because I just love the glow! It is a joy to share the holiday season and to have the kids at home. It was a wonderful celebration and the glow continues!

Our Christmas

It's our Christmas! The kids are all here and Mowgli too! Tomorrow will be our Christmas morning. The celebration has begun! Yea!!

Christmas Preparations

Christmas preparation with Ashley has become one of my favorite weekends of the year. As I have mentioned, we bake, shop, wrap, cook and relax. We also play with our cameras and I had a great time playing with Ashley's macro lens. You can look at her blog to see her post about our Christmas prep.

Cookie Time

I could be a cookie monster. I have always loved cookies. When the kids were still at home I made more kinds of cookies for Christmas but have settled on a couple of favorites. I miss the frosted sugar cookies but they were so much work and ended up not being anybody's favorite. My sisters will make some of those. Ashley and I made these two varieties during our Christmas prep weekend.

I love cookie dough as much more more than the cookies but a warm cookie is very good too!

Caramel Day

Although I love chocolate I love caramel even more! Christmas preparation always includes caramel corn and caramels. I don't think my kids would mind if I skipped the caramels but Sandi and I would really miss them. One year I got too busy to make caramels and ended up making them in January and mailing a box to each of my siblings. I would never get tired of the caramel corn. It would taste great to me even if I made it once a month but it's probably a good thing that we only make it at Christmas. My home smells like caramel and vanilla today. . . oh so yummy!

Won Ton Sausage Stars

A family favorite for the holidays is Won Ton Sausage Stars. I got this recipe from my friend, Troyce more than ten years ago. I made them for parties or church gatherings at my house. Then I made them for our Nonnweiler family Christmas. Now I make them when the kids come too. Ashley and I have made a triple batch of the filling and it's safely in the freezer awaiting three parties and even some extra to serve with soup for winter meals. We are half done baking the won ton wrappers and will finish today. We put them together just before baking and serving. The photo was our lunch yesterday. It takes time but it is a favorite! It's cheesy and crunchy. We love that!

First Snow

Today was our first snowfall. Following rain we got some icy snow and I pulled on my snow boots, tightened the belt on my robe and took my camera to my little garden area where the chives and the ornamental cabbage were catching the cold crystals.

Blue Eyelash

At Thanksgiving my sister, Sandi asked if I could make something out of the yarn that she had purchased but never knitted. I said that I would try and she offered me her favorite scarf to use as an example. I guess I could have looked for a similar pattern but since that didn't enter my mind at the time, I just looked closely at the old scarf and made it up as I went along. I have never used this "eyelash" yarn so that was a new experience. It's just a simple scarf knit on large needles with an opening on one end so that you can thread the end of the scarf through the hole. I started the project on a very quiet and cold Sunday and finished it before bedtime. It was a fun challenge!

Question

When God created so many beautiful plants, fruits and vegetables that are full of nutrients and low in calories; why do I still prefer cookies? Why, God, why?

Cotton Dishcloths

This year I have really enjoyed knitting lots of different things. I even joined Ravelry.com to document my knitting projects and get more ideas from other knitters. I started knitting dishcloths because I like to use them. Then I discovered that they were easy projects for long car trips with Dale. I sent some dishcloths to friends, gave them to my kids, took them as hostess gifts and will gladly share more with anyone that wants a couple! I know that knitting dishcloths may seem like an "old lady" thing, but I will risk it! Recently my friend, Kymm was sorting through her yarn and offered me some cotton that she wasn't going to use so I made more dishcloths. Anybody want some hand knit cotton dishcloths?

Relaxing Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was filled with food, family and fun. I drove to Mason City then got back in the car and drove to Cedar Falls/Waterloo before heading back to Des Moines. It was a busy time but it was also very relaxing. I always feel so comfortable just relaxing and hanging out at Ashley and Travis' house. I get settled into "my room" and enjoy the comforts of home. It gets even better when Mowgli snuggles up with me. He never gets on the furniture or beds unless he is invited. I always invite him up with me. He will jump into bed with me when I wake up in the morning and he will curl up with me on the couch too. It's been over twenty years since I had a dog in my house but I just love the comfort, affection and companionship from Mowgli when I visit his home. It's been a wonderful relaxing weekend filled with love and family.

Kris Kringle Trees

Sometimes I wonder if my kids will appreciate the traditions and understand the value that I saw in our family activities. Saturday I had a wonderful opportunity to see Jay convey that appreciation and tradition to Briana. Jay was so excited to go out and cut down a live Christmas tree even though Briana would have enjoyed an artificial tree. I have grown to appreciate the value of an artificial tree but I do love the romance and tradition of the tree cutting.

After direction and instruction from Jay; Briana, Ashley and I set out to find a great tree. Jay started the sawing process then encouraged Briana to finish the sawing and share in his excitement. She did a great job and we all got into the project. Ashley and I were official photographers, passing the camera back and forth.

We headed back to the store and enjoyed cider, cookies and Santa while Jay and Briana's tree was shaken and bagged for transport. I am so glad that Jay invited us to go with them. It brought back wonderful memories and warmed my heart to see the tradition alive.

New Traditions

I traveled to the kids after my traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with my sisters. On Friday Jay, Briana, Ashley, Travis and I all gathered for our own holiday. As we discussed the menu possibilities, we decided that an appetizer buffet could be fun and fit our varied taste buds. We found recipes, got groceries and cooked. We ended up grazing the entire afternoon. We would make something then eat as we went. We had many things but the baked brie (Brie en Croute) was the most photogenic. The meatballs were delicious but not as pretty! The garlic dip and the chicken buffalo dip were wonderful too. My camera stayed upstairs most of the day. We really didn't take photos but we did have a nice time just being together and celebrating Thanksgiving in a new way. It could become a tradition.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite days of the year. Traditions have changed but some things remain the same; lots of good food and family. This year I traveled to Mason City to celebrate and eat with my sisters and their families. I got to spend some time with nieces and nephews that I don't get to see often. It was a good day.

This year I made the desserts. I took a chance and found some recipes that were less traditional but more interesting to me. I was pleased with the results and even though we were stuffed from a huge turkey dinner we did sample slivers of pie. I made a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan pie which is so yummy and not quite as sweet as the basic pecan pie. I also made a Walnut Crunch Pumpkin pie that was very delicious too. We ate them on Thursday and are still eating the pies on Friday. They taste just as good today.

Since both pies had lots of nuts I decided to make one more dessert with no nuts. I found these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies and they were a big hit. The truth is that we cut into these brownies before dinner was served. It's not the usual appetizer but they looked to good to risk that we might be too full after dinner! We ate, talked, laughed, cooked, washed dishes and some of us watched football. It was a wonderful holiday. I left in the late afternoon to head to Cedar Falls/Waterloo for the next gathering. The holiday continues!

Soup's On

This time of year I start making soup more often. Soup isn't my favorite but Dale likes it lots and it's a great way to get make a healthy meal and get more vegetables in my diet. I rarely use a recipe. More often I dice up some veggies and decide later what kind of soup it will be in the end. If I keep onion, celery and some bell peppers around, I can always come up with a soup. I ended up adding chicken, black beans, green chilies and tomatoes to this pot on Saturday night.

With holidays coming up it's a good thing that I made some healthy meals this weekend!

Pumpkin Season

In October and November my taste buds turn toward pumpkin. I do have a seasonal palate and it's pumpkin season for me. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake and pumpkin blizzards.

Although I have not been able to locate my waffle iron since I moved five years ago, my cousins gave me one they were no longer using. As I looked that waffle iron I wondered if I could find a recipe for pumpkin waffles. I have never had them but they did sound good. I found several recipes and made the waffles this morning. Drizzled with the fresh honey from my favorite beekeepers, they were pretty good. Next time I think I will just make regular waffles but it was fun to try the pumpkin, since it is pumpkin season!

Beekeepers

We have a couple of beekeepers in the family. Uncle Fred had traveled to Lincoln to assist with my cousin, John's annual honey harvest. Dale and I were lucky enough to get to observe the process and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

As they cut the caps from the honey combs and spin the combs to drain the honey the room is kept very warm to allow an easy flow of honey. It's warm and sticky but it smells really great and chewing on a bit of waxy honeycomb is quite a treat. I learned lots about beekeeping and it was fun to watch Uncle Fred and John enjoy their hobby.

Fire!

I do love a campfire and for five years I have had a stash of firewood in my garage. Tonight I finally loaded the wood, bought some marshmallows and invited Dale to join me for a fire. We had scouted out the fire rings at some nearby parks and knew where we could go. I was able to light the fire with one match. I just love it when that happens. I enjoyed the fire, wine, cheese and marshmallows as well as the peaceful evening and beautiful weather.

Family in Lincoln

This was our sunrise view this morning as John and Mel were making an amazing breakfast for everyone. What a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

This was sunset last night after sitting in my cousin's home watching a friendly football game between Nebraska and ISU. We grazed and visited throughout the game and the evening.

John and Mel are the best hosts and I always feel relaxed and comfortable at their house. John is a great cook but I always have to stop in Lincoln to get a Runza. Why don't we have Runzas in Iowa?

I was so excited that Uncle Fred and Aunt Carol traveled to Lincoln on the same weekend. I never get enough time with them and it was so fun to just hang out together. It was especially nice to see Aunt Betty since she hasn't made the trip to Iowa the last couple of years. We got to visit with her and meet her sweet little dog, Molly! We had amazing weather for November travel and it was great to spend the weekend with Dale and family in Lincoln!

I Love Volunteers

One of the best things about my job is working with volunteers. I am passionate about volunteerism and love the people who choose to volunteer their time to hospice. This week I was privileged to travel to the state hospice conference with three wonderful volunteers who I work with each week. They were honored as "Volunteer of the Year" at their own location. I just love spending time with these ladies. It was even more special because it was Josie's 86th birthday too. Eighty-six years old and still volunteering joyfully and faithfully each week. Volunteers have so much to teach me and I am honored to learn from their examples on a daily basis. I look forward to retiring and being a full time volunteer myself some day!

Weekend Relaxation

I didn't spend the entire weekend enjoying the last of the October weather. It was very relaxing to spend time at home with my knitting too. I have two projects going and I like that. As the weather changes I expect that I will have more cozy knitting time in my near future and that's just fine with me.