Vintage Christmas things

I know I downsized the amount of Christmas decorations last year and even with that smaller stash, I only used a fraction of them this year
But I do have some very favorite vintage Christmas things that I hope I always can use.

I baked a big batch of butter spritz cookies with my mom's Mirro cooky press.  She thinks she got it when I was very little,  with S&H green stamps.  That cooky press has been used a lot but it still works as good as ever.

Our elf on the shelf belonged to my husband's grandmother.  My grandson tells me that if we give that elf a name,  then he will come alive and move around at night when we are asleep.  His school classroom has an elf on a shelf named Ralph and Gavin says he is lots of fun. 
I think our vintage elf is also called a tree hugger.  But he is going to remain nameless,  there are enough messes at my house,  I don't want more mischief from an elf   :)

This green tree is decorated with Chrismon ornaments,  all hand stitched by my mom. 

the stockings are doubled up on some of the holders.  I think we have 13 stockings for ourselves and all our children but I only have 9 holders.  One thing new this year is a just sewn stocking for youngest grandson. 

our nativity set,  the brown ceramic pieces were made by a longtime family friend.
The blue ceramic piece was made by son Bobby at a Sunday School party, probably 20 years ago. 

That is all the decorating for this year.  Many of the gift are bought or made but not one a single one is wrapped. 

I am thinking I may have to look for some gift bags on sale or at the Dollar Tree, that would be simpler than wrapping, don't you think? 

Do you all wrap or bag?

My brother does stuff too

I have 2 bachelor brothers, they are both great guys but very different.
The professor brother took up wreath making several years ago and here are this years Christmas wreaths. 

this one is on our front door,  and when I took the picture, I did not have it hung up right.  The snow is supposed to be right on the top to look like snow fell on it 
If you look in the window reflection, you can see our real snow in the yard.
Ours has a little red bird on it.


He lives about an hour away and when he came to our house this week, he brought our wreath as well as 3 others.

this one,  with a pretty white cross, is for our daughters home.
oh, dear, this photograph is not turned right either, but if you read my blog much, you know photography is not my strong suit. 

Grandson Gavin admiring the wreath that is for his home
Yes, he has goggles on his head and No,  we have not been swimming.  He is fun little guy that likes to pretend.  I just noticed that behind Gavin's head,  you can see his brother Braeden's head.  Braeden is back there where the pecans are,  he likesd moving them from one bucket to another.

This one will go to my parents house- can you see the little gold and silver birds on it?

Gavin and Granddaughter Elizabeth looking at the wreaths and checking out the ones that go to their homes. 

The grands like the wreaths and they were especially happy to see their great uncle. 

down the memory lane of wreaths

2011 Christmas wreath this one had apple green trim

2010 Christmas wreath

2008 Christmas wreath

2008 Fall Wreath

2009 Easter Wreath

for me, a wreath is not just a pretty decoration.  To Christians, they are a powerful symbol of our faith.

The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end.  The evergreen symbolizes the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life.

making the most of bananas that ripened so fast

I bought bananas Monday and they seemed a tad green in the store but by the next morning, they looked 5 days older instead of just 1.   It was a lot of bananas,  9 of them I think. 
I've been following a Pinterest tip that breaking apart the bananas makes them ripen slower,  and it was working, until this most recent bunch anyway. 
There is no way were could eat this many ripe bananas so I came up with a plan. 

Little JJ was here today, so I hung him up in the kitchen doorway while I mixed up a triple recipe of banana bread.  No, he is not really hanging- he can jump and bounce and turn around,  the jumper keeps him happy about 10 minutes or so, just long enough.....

 

 

3 loaves of baked banana bread. 
There were enough bananas to make a triple recipe of our favorite recipe.
Family Favorite Banana Bread

JJ's mom took some of the bread when she picked him up.  The rest went in the freezer to share with more family soon. 

 

I wonder how many times I have blogged about banana bread,  probably too many.  I hope you sweet readers are not too tired of seeing it.  I just think it looks so pretty in vintage bread pans.

JJ is kind of cute too. 

 

 

Mexican Rice -delicious, thrifty and easy!

I learned to make this Mexican rice more than 30 years ago. When we were first stationed at Camp Pendleton, we made friends with another Texas family, Fred and Irene. They were Mexican and grew up near San Antonio. They were both excellent cooks and fed us often. They taught us how to make tamales, chicken tacos and this Mexican rice.

This Mexican Rice is simple and made with basic ingredients. We still cook it often and always think of Fred and Irene when we do.

Ingredients

1T oil- any cooking kind is fine, I usually use canola or Olive

1 Cup rice - I use converted rice, sometimes it is Uncle Bens, I think at Sams it is called parboiled. This is long grain rice that holds its shape and does not stick together. It is not quick cooking rice

1/2 C tomato sauce -half of a small can

1 can chicken broth or 2 cups homemade broth.  (Water mixed with bouillon does not work in this recipe, the rice just doesn't cook up as good. )

1/2 of a small onion -chopped

1 t cumin

1/2 t garlic salt

A few sprinkles of red pepper and black pepper. More salt too if that is your family's taste.

First heat a skillet over high medium. Add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the rice. Stir and stir and let the rice toast and get mostly golden brown. 

Add the rest of the ingredients, the pan is hot so turn it down to about medium. The liquids will probably boil up at first, keep stirring but be careful.  Adjust your heat and stir until the rice is cooking at just a low simmer. 

Cover the pan, cook for 20 minutes, or until the rice is done and the liquid is absorbed. 

Irene told us to never stir the rice once it as at that simmer stage, I think it could make it sticky or something. But I confess that I have checked mine while cooking and stirred it, it still turned out fine. 

If you have a big covered skillet, this recipe can be doubled.

The finished rice- we had it with enchiladas this night but it is good with tacos and by itself. 

My sons and son in law, who all eat out a lot more than we do, say this rice recipe is better than any Mexican restaurant rice they have ever had. 

Hope you try it.  

Small Batch cookies in jars

Earlier this week,  I baked 2 new recipes to test and see if they would work for gift giving.  Both turned out first class!  Here are the links to the blogs that inspired me. 


See the Brownies Original recipe from Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me

See the Lemon White Chocolate Original recipe at The Frugal Girls


I halved both recipes to make Small Batch cookie mixes.  Our circle of friends are mostly empty nesters and I think they probably prefer smaller desserts over big family sized ones.  Plus,  I had a bunch of pint jars in the attic and they are the perfect size for small batches. 

For the Brownies I layered
1/2 +1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2/3 cup flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
mini chocolate chips to fill the jar to the top, about 1/3 cup.
I stocked up on mini chocolate chips a few weeks ago at Aldi,  they were about $1.29 for a 12 ounce bag

The lemon white chocolate cookies are so simple
The mix is just lemon cake mix and white chocolate chips.
One cake mix divided exactly in half fills up a pint jar about 3/4 full,
then the chips go in, only about 1/4 of a bag will fit but that is plenty to make the cookies loaded.

The small batch brownies work great in a 9 inch pie pan.

A small batch of cookies makes 12 and can be baked in one baking on one sheet. 

 

I still need to make up the mixing and baking instruction tags - both need an egg,  the brownies take some melted butter and a little water. The lemon cookies need some  oil. 

Look at the first bloggers posts for all the instructions if you decide to make them. 

Both are really good and easy!

 

 

Adding some length

Both my granddaughters are tall and long-legged for their ages. Their pants tend to be too short long before they outgrow the waist size of the garments.

These size 4 jeans belong the 3 year old granddaughter. They have those elastic cinches in the waist and they are drawn up as small as they go and they fit her in the waist OK.

But length wise, they were too short.

So, I gave it a go, seeing if I could lengthen them.

Jean hems are thick and hard to sew over so first I used a seam ripper to unpick that stitching. 

Then I pressed the bottom edge flat. 

I used a 2 inch strip of brown polka dot fabric folded in half and pinned it to the hem.

I sewed it on with a straight stitch and then pressed it again. 

I added 2 rows of decorative stitching but it does not show up much. That's OK though, because the stitching finishes off all the seams even if no one can really see it.

Hopefully the 1 1/4 inch in length added will be enough that she can wear these jeans a little longer, 

At least until she wears out the knees......

Today.......

I baked 3 batches of buns, 1 batch is for us to eat at home and 2 batches will go with husband to work for a birthday dinner there.

I had some yummy tea from my friend Elizabeth in a silly Santa mug.

Mended a bath towel

Put fresh sheets on the bed and added a very warm afghan and a fuzzy blanket

Because.........

This is our weather forecast. It will be below freezing for a week!

I think I will just stay home and hibernate until it warms back up. 

How to see what is under a scratch off

I get a mailer from DressBarn every so often that includes a scratch off.

The store clerk scratches it off to reveal the discount after the shopper picks out their purchases.

This is meant to only be a helpful hint and

I hope this is not cheating, but I discovered if I shine an LED flashlight behind it, I could read the discount without scratching and voiding the coupon.

Sadly, mine is just 15% this time. I have no plans to shop their right now anyway, no matter what the discount is. But it kind of fun to know either way. 

CVS this week

I had to go to CVS to refill a prescription so I did this small deal.

Tide was 5.94 and I used a $2 coupon from yesterday's newspaper on each. 

Charmin was $9.99 and I used a big 25 cent coupon also from yesterday's paper. 

I also used a $6 ECB from last week 

So total purchase price was about $12 and I got back a $5 ECB.

I also bought some stocking stuffers while I was there, but shhh, they are a secret. 

And this CVS had a lot of interesting stuff, on a table by the front door, marked 75% off. 

CVS tip- the coupon machine is also a price scanner if you want to quickly the price of something or see it something is on sale. 

I am really enjoying our new range. It was especially nice for big Thanksgiving cooking.

Right now, I am testing out a recipe to see if it would work for some little Christmas gifts in jars. 

It's baking in the top oven. 

I'll let you know if it works.  

Nuts!

My husbands coworker, the one with a pecan grove, asked us to come out and pick up more pecans "on the halves" meaning we keep half of what we pick up and give the other half back to the owners. 

This is our haul from 2 afternoons. I helped one afternoon and son Bobby helped the other.  The owners had some fancy wire baskets that rolled along the ground that picked up the pecans with a lot less kneeling. So we did some bending and stooping but not nearly as much as we would of without those handy tools. 

I tried weighing these pecans on our bathroom scales. I am no sure exactly how much the containers weigh but my best estimate is we have about 50 pounds of pecans, just waiting to be cracked and shelled. 

I am just amazed with this bounty!

More son bragging and Thanksgiving stuff

A little more son bragging....

Youngest son Jim knew I was very busy this week and offered to take care of supper for the 10 of us at this home tonight.  He ordered take out from Olive Garden- big pans full of piping hot baked tortellini, chicken cutlets with veggies on top of angel hair pasta and lasagna. 

It was all delicious and so fun to have 3 entrees for supper instead of the usual 1 choice. 

And with all the other cooking I've done the last week, it was especially nice to have meal prepared and planned by someone else.

Sons Bob and Jim are just 14 months apart but are very different. One is really handy with tools and the other is really skilled with words.  

I am thankful for their loyality to each other and to our family and how they jump right in when something needs done or just because they want to spend time with us. 

I am one those crazy people that had to do some grocery shopping today. I went to Walmart (which was so messy but not busy at all) and Aldi. It was a little busy but not much different from any other day.  

I am thankful my shopping time was not full of aggravation like I thought it might be and also thankful it is done!

Meals are planned for the next 3 days and much of the prep work has been done already. 

I hope all of you are ready for your Thanksgiving activities and I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving-turkey day. 

Thankful for helpful sons

Warning- the bragging in this post may be too sweet

Our son Bob is a very handy guy and he is also very generous sharing his talent and working hard.

We bought a new gas double oven range as our old electric range was not working right. 

Bob came to install it and he made it look easy, even with changing out the electric service and activating the gas service. 

His little Andie had fun "helping" Mostly she pointed at the spot where the oven goes and said "uh-oh" many times until the kitchen was normal again. 

Hooking up the oven was quick. 

So Bobby suggested they go to Lowes to get new light fixtures for our garage. The old lights were buzzing and flickering. He had those fixtures installed before lunch. 

We had lunch and his sister was here. Their hot water heater broke. A plumbing company had looked at it Friday and said they would replace it on Monday. With 2 little ones in their home, that is long time with no hot water. 

Bobby said hot water heaters were easy to install so after lunch, they all went to Lowes to buy a hot water heater. 

That just took a couple hours and saved his sister hundreds of dollars.

He was back at our home by midafternoon, still looking freaks has a daisy even though he had done 3 pretty big jobs.

He then showed his knife skills by carving an apple to look like a swan. 

Oh, he hung that tv on the wall for us last year.  

This family is thankful for our Bobby- 

Thankful for a good pecan harvest

A generous coworker of my husbands brought us a bag of pecans from their yard.

They are really nice and big pecans. My husband started cracking them after supper and picked out 20 ounces in a short time.

Fresh pecans are the best, much tastier than the roasted and older ones that can be bought in bags in a grocery store. 

Thursday thrift store purchases

I went to one thrift store this morning and found a few treasures. 

3 Aunt Chicks cookies cutters - an Oklahoma company since 1948. 

Aunt Chicks

And some assorted clothes
A ColdWater Creek blouse for me, cute jeans and lace trimmes leggings for a grand daughter and some cute little boy clothes for grandsons.
I spent $10 there.

Aunt Chicks cookie cutters - my mom and grandmother all used these same style cookie cutters at Easter and Christmas. 

Thanksgiving prep Thursday and the Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Today, I mixed up the cornbread dressing that will be served on Thanksgiving. In the South, it is called dressing, not stuffing- and it gets baked in a pan along side the turkey, not stuffed in the turkey.

In the South, dressing is made predominately of corn bread- not wheat bread.

This year, my dressing will be simple- onions and celery sautéed in butter, mixed with dried and crumbled cornbread, sage, black pepper and chicken broth. 

Like the cookies and sweet potato casserole, this pan of dressing is sealed up and in the freezer now- waiting to be thawed on Wednesday and baked on Thursday. 

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup softened butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 t cinnamon

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 t each of salt, baking soda and baking powder

3 cups of oatmeal - regular and quick oats both work equally well

Cream the butter  and brown sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Then add the eggs, one at a time. 

Then add the flour, cinnamon, salt and b.s. and b.p.

Lastly, stir in the oats.  This week, I made a double batch and everything worked in my Kitchenaid mixer until I got to the oats. I had to stir them in by hand as the bowl was very full. 

I use a medium size cookie scoop to dish them out. 

Put the cookie balls onto greased or parchment lined baking sheets. 

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven, about 12 minutes or just until they look done. 

Thaksgiving prep Wednesday

I just made a sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving.  This is my Mom's recipe and we have been enjoying it for at least 30 years.

The sweet potato layer is cooked and the topping has been added.

It will be frozen, then thawed in the fridge the day before and baked on Thanksgiving.

It is really delicious but very sweet for a side dish. We serve it with the meal but it really could be dessert. 

Deals and Thanksgiving cookies

I had to go to town (the post office and stores are about 4 miles from my home) to mail a letter so I stopped at 2 stores for some stocking up good deals.

Walgreens has 1 ounce bottles of Mccormicks pure vanilla for $1.50. 

Sundays paper had coupons for this item $1.75/2

However when I went to Walgreens, they were out of it. 

I needed to go to Walmart anyway so I just price matched it there

The regular price at Walmart was $2.98 a bottle, with this deal, I got all 4 bottles for $2.50. 

Walgreens has Purex B1g2free. 

I used $1.50/2 coupons printed from the Swagbucks site. 

Thankfully Walgreens did have the detergent in stock as Walmart does not price match this kind of deal. 

If you miss this deal this week, I saw that CVS will have this same deal on Thanksgiving day- and I am not saying anyone should or should not shop on that day, but they are having the Purex B1g2free.

These 6 bottles were $8.54 after sales and coupons. The cashier and my receipt said I saved $23.96

Yippee!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving, I baked a double batch of plain oatmeal cookies. 

They will go in the freezer as soon as they cool- but I better keep some out for my husband and grandsons to have for dessert tonight.

We will have family here for several days around Thanksgiving and I know they will all be happy to have homemade oatmeal cookies. 

Planning for Thanksgiving

Good morning! Thanksgiving is 10 days from now and I have not done much planning as we have just been focused on husbands surgery. That seems to of been a big success, he even went back to work today on light duty.

So, yesterday I started a list of things to do for the Thanksgiving meal and to start getting ready for Christmas.

One thing that is easy to do ahead is pie crusts.

I used my favorite recipe and made 2 batches. So, there are 5 pie shells in pans and 3 discs of dough that can be rolled out for top crusts or if we need more bottom shells.

This is the recipe I have been using for about 20 years, complete with a few splatters. 

I use regular Crisco for pie crusts and that is about the only thing I use Crisco for except for my Aunt Bernice's brownie recipe. 

I know Crisco has a terrible reputation with the food police but it doesn't scare me much. My grandmother baked a pie or 2 every morning, even before she cooked breakfast. Grandpa loved homemade pie so that is what she cooked. 

Even eating all that pie, Grandpa was healthy all of his 89 years and Grandma enjoyed 99 years on this earth. I don't bake pies every day but we certainly enjoy them at holidays and pie always remind me of my sweet grandparents and all the special times we shared. 

My pie making and pie eating grandparents on their 33rd anniversary in 1949.
I am very thankful they were my grandparents.  

This is going to make kitchen cleanup for the Thanksgiving 2013 a lot easier!

A brand new dishwasher- it is so quiet and cleans dishes better than any dishwasher I have ever used.