Friday, December 12, 2008

These Are A Few,...



I cut a fresh bouquet of cedar, red maple branches and pyracanthus berries.






This little Santa is about 2 inches tall. He may be nearly 100 years old. He came from Denmark and his beard and hair are real mink. I adore it.








































It snowed yesterday.






















These are some of my favorite ornaments. The little nativity scene is old and actually has more parts than is traditional. There were more than 3 kings and they didn't come until much later, but I digress.
We baked today. I made Noble Pigs ginger cookies they are divine. We also made the port balls and they are very subtle and smooth not like my stouter version of brandy or rum. Piglet is back to sewing and whipped up a loaf of banana bread.

See the little mouse in half a walnut shell? "He's so cute!

We also made these almond tortes. They are extremely easy and so fine. They taste like almond heaven. Notice please I found something dirty in the house, the oven needs cleaning. "Mr. Hunny Do?"















Recipe for Almond Torte. makes one.
3/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 tsps real almond extract.

Stir together all ingredients, line pie plate or iron skillet with foil sprinkle with sugar. apply batter and gently spread. Top with generous portion of slivered almonds and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 30 to 40 mins until light golden brown and slightly puffed. This makes a lovely gift.

My Bourbon Balls

8 oz semi sweet chocolate melted. 60 pulverized vanilla wafers, 1 cup chopped pecans, 2/3 c sugar, 1/2 c bourbon, rum, brandy, or port, CHOOSE ONE!
1/4 c light Karo. Mix all together. shape into little one inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Best if left to age a bit.




Almost forgot about the slippers. They are my last pair. Grandma knitted us slippers almost every year until her arthritis got to bad. She made a lot of things and used very unique color combination's. She never wasted any yarn. I learned to crochet but for the life of me the knitting does not come easy. I really wish I knew how to make these. And mustard plasters. Who makes candles? does anyone make soy based scented candles? I think it would be fun to try. Ummm yes I'm almost off of the steroids. I'll be more coherent soon, and much less productive. Hope we get the oven cleaned first.

So what's going on at your house?

14 comments:

Heidi said...

Thank you SO much for the sweet Christmas card my dear friend! You are SO thoughtful!! Your home is so pretty and elegant looking. we are going to be finishing our tree tonight!

farmlady said...

Oh my gosh! I think your post is what I needed to get me motivated. Thank you.

Your house is beautiful> I love the little 100 yr. old ornament..., and I'm going to try some of these recipes.

imbeingheldhostage said...

Yum, fun ornaments (that minky santa one just triggered a childhood memory for me-- thanks!!) and yummy recipes. I think that = perfect post for the day :-)

Anonymous said...

It looks so pur-tee over there! I love it...I bet it smells good too.

Angela said...

"whose house is that?" asked my daugther. "Karen's" I answered as if you are my neighbor down the street from me,,lol. I LOVE those berries.Your tree is REALLY pretty. I like how you change your banner around. I've tried doing that myself, but it didn't work out well,lol. ((Hugs))

Michelle said...

I LOVE that little Santa! Everything looks so beautiful.

MaBunny said...

Pretty ornaments. the almond tarte looks delish. WE got a few snow flurries last week here in Dallas, but no accumulation.

Grandma Tillie's Bakery said...

Believe it or not, but sometimes when I'm feeling blue I sneak over and visit your house and it cheers me up. No Kidding! You have created a beautiful, peaceful place for your gang--good job Grandma on making some pretty sweet forever memories for your girls.

P.S.--love the bear ornament--he looks awful familiar :-)

Big Hair Envy said...

Wait. You have a MINK SANTA ornament?? I LOVE it!!! All of your decorations are just beautiful.

Could I use Franjelico or Kahlua in those Bourbon Balls?

Flea said...

Oh what fun! And thank you for the Christmas card!! I'll have to copy your recipes - they look very yummy!

Karen Deborah said...

BHE use any kind of alcohol you want, it has to mix with chocolate.

Karen Deborah said...

Ladies of the House- that is so sweet of you, someday you'll have to really come and see us! Maybe the bear looks familiar because you gave it to me, silly woman. Your pay it forward was perfect, I love Christmas.

Debbie in CA : ) said...

purtee, purtee, purtee ...

i miss you waaaaaaay more now!!!

what's up here? one-handed everything. tomorrow i lose the splint. (i know it looks like a full cast but it is just a thumb + strip up the forearm to keep the wrist straight -- not broken, just sprained and bruised all plum-puddin' blue.)

good news: matthew appears to have retired from pillow-discus training. hooray!

Unknown said...

The bourbon balls sound to-die-for! OH MY GOSH! I want to bake some right now!

I love your slippers. I love your decorations.