My Awesome Son

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! We had a very nice one other than a few family members who had the "crud" and couldn't join the festivities.

I know I have said a million times how awesome my 17 year old son is, but he really is the most thoughtful and compassionte teen I know.

When I was little, I always wanted a Tammy doll. The little girl who lived next door to me had one and I wanted one just like it. Now don't think I was a deprived child. I always got a Barbie or her friend, but never a Tammy.

Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped my gift from my son on Christmas morning and it was a vintage 1965 Tammy Doll! Not only the doll but an original case and about 10 original outfits! Inside the little compartment is some shoes, some hair curlers, some clothes hangers and a tennis racket. It even has the little booklet that came with the doll.

I was totally speechless! He had asked me once around November if there was ever anything I really wanted badly and never got for Christmas and I told him about Tammy.

He went online and found this one on Ebay! Now tell me that isn't the sweetest thing ever!

I spent this past weekend de-Christmasing my house. I have all the trees down except one. I know some people say it's bad luck to take them down before New Years, but in our family the saying is it's bad luck to have them up on New Years, so take your pick!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Linda

Christmas Cookies!

Yesterday I had the afternoon to myself so I started baking! Both of these cookies were made from John Hadamuscin's Home for Christmas cookbook. If you have never seen one of his cookbooks, check them out! They not only have delicious recipes but the photography is beautiful. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

1 stick of butter, softened

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tea. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (his recipe says unbleached all purpose flour)

1/2 tea. baking soda

1/4 tea. baking powder

1/2 tea. salt

1/2 c. semisweet miniature chocolate chips. ( I used regular size and probably a cup of them!)

Preheat oven to 375. I covered my baking sheet with parchment. His recipe says lighly grease baking sheet. Which ever will work.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugars and peanut butter together until smooth. Then beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients except the chips. Add to the creamed mixutre, then stir in chocolate chips.

Now this is where the recipe is wierd. At the beginning of the recipe it says grease the baking sheets. At the end it says drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet. So, I guess either will work. Slightly flatten the cookies with a fork making a criss cross pattern. Then bake for 8 minutes. Leave on baking sheet a couple of minutes then remove to wire racks to cool.

Oh my! These cookies are the best of both worlds! Chocolate and peanut butter, how can you go wrong with those!

The next cookie I was a little skeptical about, but it turned out delicious.

Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies:

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 tea vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour (I ran out and used some self rising)

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

confectioners sugar for dusting (I didn't do this)

Preheat oven to 300.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla. In a separte bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon and salt. Beat the dry mixture into the wet mixture to form a soft dough.

Ok, here is where I changes the recipe. This dough is very soft and tender and must be handled delicately. I rolled the dough onto a board covered with confectioners sugar, very thin and cut out the dough with my cookie cutter. I placed each cookie onto the parchment covered cookie sheet, then sprinkled with red or green sparkles. Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Watch them closely! Remove from oven and leave on pan a couple of minutes then remove to wire racks to cool. The original recipe says make 2 8" circles cut into wedges.
Either way, these cookies are so buttery and crisp. YUM!

Hope everyone has a great week! Christmas is almost here!

Linda

Friday Show and Tell!

TGIF! Kelli over at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ is hosting Show and Tell each Friday.

Today I would like show you some of my favorite ornaments. This seems to be the theme of todays show and tell! I absolutely love Christmas ornaments and love to see trees that are decorated with a variety of ornaments.

This little ornament is one that I had when I was a little girl. I guess it would be considered an antique now!

I started collecting the vintage Barbie ornaments from Hallmark many years ago.

I especially love handmade ornaments. I made two of these sweet kitties last year, one for my friend and one for me.

Some ornaments are just priceless. Like this one Yngwie made with popsicle sticks in Kindergarten.

I made this one for Dear Husband the year that he got his 1966 Corvette.

I made this shadowbox ornament this year. I was going to make some for gifts but couldn't find any more very tiny dishes.

This is quite possibly my very favorite ornament. When Yngwie was two years old he hung his "binkie" on the tree. He would go in every now and then and stick it in his mouth for a few minutes. Then he would hang it back on the tree. Now it goes on every year. ( at age 17 now, he no longer needs it! LOL)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Linda

Images to Share!

Really busy at work today, but I thought I would upload a few of the vintage Christmas cards I got over the weekend in case anyone would want to use the images for their crafts!

Have Fun!

Linda

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

This is my very favorite recipe for oatmeal cookies. The secret to these great cookies is to use REAL butter. They are very soft, chewey, and buttery! Serve with a tall glass of cold milk. These may be Santa's favorite!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of butter softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. water

1 tea. vanilla extract (use the real stuff, not imitation)

1 1/2 cups self rising flour

1/2 tea. cinnamon

1/2 tea. nutmeg

3 cups quick cooking oats, uncooked

1 c. chopped nuts (optional, I don't like nuts in cookies)

Cream butter; gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg, continue beating and add the water and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine flour and spices and add to the creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal and nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not grease the paper! Bake at 350 for about 10 - 12 minutes. Cool slightly and remove to wire racks to cool. Makes about 6 dozen.

Can I tell you just how much I love parchment paper? The cookies don't stick, and there is no clean-up. Your pans stay perfectly clean! Do get some, you'll be glad you did!

Blessings

Linda

Snow Much Fun!

Well, actually snow flurries or showers, but down south we seldom see alot of snow so it was exciting and so pretty! While it came down pretty heavy at times, it didn't really stick to anything but my frozen pond.

The other fun thing this weekend was an estate sale that was just 4 houses up from mine. We never really knew these neighbors very well as they kept to themselves alot. But they decided they didn't like country life and moved to city and just left everything they didn't want to be sold in their house. Here is a couple of fun things that I bought:

Aren't they adorable? (The M&M guy just came by to say hi).

This little fellow just stole my heart.

I really don't like the wreath, but had to have the little dolls on it!

I also bought two black benches for the front porch, a black rocking chair for the porch as well, 7 plastic chairs to use by the pool, a 1930's Philco radio that didn't work (It took Yngwie about 2 hours to have it in working condition!), some Easter decorations, a book on music theory that Yngwie has already read about 1/2 of, a couple of cookbooks, (of course), a small trailer to pull behing the lawn mower, a couple of Christmas books, but below is my very favorite buy! A huge box of Christmas cards from the late 1950's and early 1960's!

I can't wait to use the images on these cards for some craft projects.

Oh yeah, grand total for everything listed above .........$54.00!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Blessings

Linda

My Happy Cabinet!

This cabinet sits in a corner in my kitchen and doesn't match anything in there, and I don't care! My Dear Husband made this for me many, many years ago when our kitchen had golden oak cabinets. When we remodeled the kitchen a couple of years ago, we switched to cherry cabinets, but I still kept the oak cabinet.

Each season or holiday I decorate it with "a few of my favorite things" as the song goes. For the Christmas season it is elves (see a couple of posts below) and just general bright and happy Christmas decorations!

This is the very top shelf full of Santas of various degrees and a mouse cheerleader who just likes to hang out with her Santa Mouse friend.

I really love the Napco figurines and the red angel in the background came from a yard sale on the hottest day this past summer.

I found those old bottles of Sauers flavoring and food color in Grandma's kichen cabinets when I was cleaning out her house. The price tags are still on them one says .57 and the .49.

See that funky looking santa in the middle with the big red nose? I made him in second grade!

Those santa mugs in the front have eyes that are holographic and they look like they are winking.

Any time that I am feeling low and gloomy, all I have to do is open the doors to this cabinet and I feel better immediately.

Everyone needs to find a "happy cabinet" in their lives. What's yours?

Blessings

Linda

Busy, Busy

I've been so busy with life that I just haven't taken the time to post! All of our Christmas trees are up except the silver aluminum one that I usually put in the pool house. I'm not sure I'm going to bother with that this year.

Did you ever have an aluminum tree? We did when I was little and lived in the city! I loved it and would sit in front of it for an hour watching the colors that the color wheel reflected onto the tree. Ours only had green balls on it.

This photo is of me on Christmas 1965. I was 4 years old and had just gotten my first Barbie! I was so proud of her. I got 3 outfits and a case too! That little pink stove was metal and the very next Christmas I got the refrigerator and sink that matched. I never played with "baby" dolls much so I don't even remember playing with the high chair. But that purple snake stayed on my bed for years! Those were Barbie and Midge dishes! Boy, do I wish I had those still!

See the pretty aluminum tree in the background? I also notice the record player too! I still have that! It does work, but I haven't been able to find any needles to fit it.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season so far!

Blessings

Linda

A Thanksgiving Alphabet

T -Turkeys, tablespreads, being together
H - Happiness and homes to protect us from all weather
A - Aunts and Uncles, a reunion in Fall
N - Nieces and Nephews, family members all!
K - Kind hearted kin coming over for dinner,
S - Surely you'll have fun, but you won't get thinner!
G - Gourds and pumpkins, mouths open wide.
I - Indians and Pilgrims we remember with pride.
V - Very special times-there could even be snow
I - Imagine what it was like at Plymouth long ago.
N - Never forget how the settlers led the way,
G - Giving thanks and blessing this special day.
author unknown.

I am going to start my Thanksgiving grocery shopping this week. Here is our unchanging Thanksgiving Menu.

Turkey
Dressing
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli Casserole
Corn Pudding
Macaroni and Cheese
Green Beans
Deviled Eggs
Stuffed Celery and Olive plate
Homemade pickles
Beet Pickles
Homemade Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Applesauce Cake
Coffee
Tea
Wassail

We will also have as a snack a dip we always just called Grandma's Homemade Dip and Bugles.

Take one 8oz. block of softened cream cheese and mix with a tablespoon of very finely minced onions, about a tablespoon of mayonnaise, and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Mix well and chill at least an hour before serving so the flavors will meld. Serve these with "Bugles" if you can find them. If not, Fritos make an ok substitution.

Click over to http://kellishouse.blogspot.com and check out her Thanksgiving Blessings Post.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Elves Anonymous

BRRRRRR! It is so cold today! 22 degrees when I got up this morning and is supposed to hit the balmy 40 degree mark today. It is really beginning to feel like Christmas!

Do you have a branch of Elves Anonymous in your town? I think I need to start one in mine. Every since I found this fellow this past summer I have been obsessed with elves.

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen! So every time I go into a thrift store, flea market or antique store I have my elf radar on.

I think these two woodland elves are adorable. Yngwie thinks they look evil. The little elf on the left is one I bought the first year we were married, so it's 28 years old!

I love the expressions on their faces, and those pointed ears are so cute!

Even though alot of the paint is chipped on this one, it is one of my very favorites. Three elves on a couch!

I also am beginning to obsess a little with those "spaghetti" Napco Santas. I found this one at a thrift shop for .50

Isn't that little guy in the middle adorable? I guess technically he isn't and elf, but he blends in pretty well and the other elves have accepted him as one of their own.

This is absolutely my favorite, How can you get any better than elves with a book!

Ok, I know these are mice and not elves, but I found the Cheerleader one at an antique mall one week and found the Santa at an antique mall the next week! It was meant to be. These mice are quite large, around 12 inches high.

I have all these things in my kitchen hutch with some other Christmas characters. I will share photos a little closer to Christmas.

Keep warm and have a great day!

Linda