Deck the Halls

Christmas Decorating

As I talked about in my last post, I love Christmas.  Last week, I spent 3 days helping my mother decorate her home for Christmas.  This week, I’ve been doing the same for my place (it has taken considerably less time, though).  I truly enjoy the decorating process (much to the bewilderment of my friends), and I add just a little bit every year, if I can.

My tree is full of decorations that I have collected for as long as I can remember.  I love decorating my tree because as I pull out the ornaments, I am able to reminisce about where I got the ornament.  My ornaments are a combination of gifts, mementos from trips, and ornaments I have made.  It’s a very eclectic tree, but it makes me smile whenever I look at it.

One of my favorite holiday decorations is gingerbread and gingerbread-related items.  My love for gingerbread started about the time I began doing my annual gingerbread baking (recipe to come later).  It has become a popular theme for many of the gifts from my family.  So popular, that I now have a small village and enough to deck out my bathroom with gingerbread.

Several years ago, my mother decided that she needed to wrap her pictures to look like presents, and I followed suit starting last year.  I also added ribbon to my kitchen cabinets.

It’s such a comforting and wonderful place for me, as I sit in my home surrounded by Christmas.

Christmastime is Here

Christmas

It’s finally the Christmas season, and that makes me so happy.  This is my favorite time of year.  The traditions, the decorations, the joy, the anticipation, and (of course) the treats all combine to make this season the happiest for me.  I don’t care about the gifts that I receive as much as I care about the gifts I give.  This is a time of year that I get to do something for others.  I give gifts to my friends and family that make them smile and bring them joy.  I take treats to the library staff, and their eye light up to see the gingerbread and fudge that I’ve made for them.  There are Christmas parties with silly games and lots of laughter and joy.  I want these feelings to be present all year round.

I know a lot of people feel stressed over the holidays with all the cooking, shopping, and expectations.  I think we should all take a step back and remember the joy we felt as a child on Christmas.  Yes, there are a lot of expectation, but how much of that do we put on ourselves?  What if we all decided to do the things that bring us and others the most joy?  Does that mean changing up how you decorate?  Does it mean more baking? Less baking? Doing more events and fewer gifts?  Maybe your Christmas dinner is different?  That’s okay.  Christmas shouldn’t be a stressful time of year.  Consider looking at what part of the Christmas season may stress you and finding a way to change it so that it brings you joy.  Maybe you don’t want to make 20 pies for Christmas.  That’s okay.  Pick your favorite and make that one.  It’s okay to step back from all the expectations out there and find a way to enjoy the Christmas season.

Personally, I enjoy decorating my house so that it looks like the set of a Hallmark Christmas movie (I get this from my mom).  I love to bake Christmas cookies and take them to people so they can enjoy them.  I buy gifts for all of my family and friends.  I love to wrap gifts and partake in my family’s traditions.  I listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies.  These are the things that make me happy at Christmas.  This year, I will be doing more Christmas crafts than ever before, and I will be sharing them here for you.  I will also be sharing my Christmas cookie recipes with you and some of my favorite traditions.

I truly hope that you can find joy this Christmas season, just as I do with my family.

Apple Pie Recipe

Apple Pie

My favorite pie is apple pie, and my dad and I make this every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We used to make the pie crusts from scratch (and by we I mean my dad would make the crust and I would help lattice and eat the extras).  I cheat and use store bought crusts because for some reason I haven’t mastered pie crusts yet (one of these days I will).  This is the recipe I like best.  It uses brown sugar instead of granulated sugar, and I love the flavor of it.  I hope you enjoy as well.

Yields: 1 9” apple pie

Ingredients:

• 2 pie crusts
• 6-7 cups of apples, sliced
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon, ground
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 F
• Lay one pie crust in a 9” pie pan.  Poke holes with a fork to prevent air bubbles.
• In a large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Mix well.

• Pour apple mixture into pie pan.  Dot with butter.
• Top with second pie crust (I lattice mine)

• (Optional) Brush top crust with an egg wash (egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp of water)
• Shield pie with aluminum foil
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, until apples are cooked.

How To Lattice a Pie Crust

Pie Latticing

I love to bake pies, especially apple pie.  Since apple pie is a 2 crust pie, I also like to get a little fancy with it.  My favorite way to do the top crust of a 2 crust pie is to lattice it.  It looks like it would be complicated, but it’s really not that bad. There are multiple approaches to this, and I’ve outlined below the method I usually use with descriptions and pictures If you follow along, you’ll be latticing your own pies in no time.  Happy pie season!

Materials Needed:

• Pie crust (from scratch or store bought is fine)
• Pizza cutter (can use sharp cutting knife)
• Sharp cutting knife

Directions:

• Lay out your pie crust in a circle the same diameter as your pie pan

• Using the pizza cutter, cut relatively even strips about ¼” - ½” in width along the entire length of your crust. (Since it’s a circle it doesn’t matter which direction you cut it)

• Pick up every other strip and lay across the top of the already filled pie as evenly as you can

• One at a time, use the remaining strips to lattice:
• Start at one end and lift the end of every other strip on the pie

• Lay your new strip so that it goes across all the remaining strips on the pie

• Lay down the previously lifted strip ends

• Lift the strips that you did not lift last time; these are the strips lying under the last strip you just laid down (lift from the inside of the previously laid strip)

• Lay your next strip so that it goes across all the remaining strips on the pie

• Lay down the previously lifted strip ends

• Continue in this pattern as evenly as you can until all the strips are used

• Using your sharp cutting knife, carefully cut any pieces of crust that fall over the edge of the pie pan

• Brush with an egg wash (optional, though this does give it a nice golden-brown finish)
• To make an egg wash, mix 1 egg yolk with 1 Tbsp of water
• Brush over the pie crust using a pastry brush

Fall Scarf

Fall Zigzag Scarf

I made this scarf several years ago, and I still love the look of it.  I made this with an ombre yarn in fall colors, but you can use whatever yarn you like.  I went back and tried to find the original pattern, which was online, but it is no longer available.  I do remember the pattern pretty well and will try to recreate it here for you.  I hope you all enjoy this pattern.  Let me know if you decide to make this for yourself.

Materials:

Yarn (I used less than one skein of I Love This Yarn in an autumn ombre color)

Size 10 knitting needles (gauge isn’t really important, and I purposely chose larger than necessary needles for loose stitches

Yarn needle for weaving in yarn ends

Directions:

• Cast on 40 stitches
• Row 1-5 knit across
• Begin zigzag pattern
• Row 1:  Kfb, knit across to last stitch, K2tog
• Row 2: Knit across
• Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for a total of 13 rows ending with row 1 of the pattern
• Repeat zigzag pattern until you reach desired length. (I made mine 6 feet long)
• Note: you will be working Row 1 of the pattern back to back; this is what switches the zigzag direction
• Knit 5 rows
• Bind off loosely
• Weave in yarn ends

Bean Pie

Bean Pie

This is a vegetarian recipe that some friends of ours introduced us to a while back, and we fell in love with it.  It is a hearty dish that is so easy to make.  Usually, I assemble the pie early (the day before or the morning of) and refrigerate it until I’m ready to pop it in the oven.  Let me know what you think if you make this dish.

Yields: 1 pie (8 pieces)
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 1 hour minimum
Baking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pie crusts (I do store bought but can be homemade)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained
• ⅓ cup salsa
• ¾ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ⅛-¼ tsp red cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1-1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

• In a medium pan, heat the oil, then saute the peppers and onion over medium heat until softened.
• Add in the remaining ingredients except the crusts and cheese.  Stir and heat through.  About 15 minutes
• While the pie filling is heating on the stove, line a 9” pie pan with the 1st crust.  Be sure to poke with a fork to prevent bubbles.
• Once the filling is heated through, scoop half of it into the pie pan
• Top with half of the cheddar cheese
• Scoop the remaining half of the filling into the pie pan and top with the other half of the cheese.
• Put the second pie crust on top and cut holes to allow for ventilation

• Refrigerate for at least an hour prior to baking
• Preheat oven to 325 F and bake for 1 hour
• Let cool 5-10 minutes

Fall Decorating

Fall Mantel

Since Halloween is over, it’s time to get the house ready for the Thanksgiving holiday.  That means fall and harvest themed decorations.  My main decorative area for fall is my mantel.  I go very simple and mainly decorate with pumpkins, gourds, and leaves.  Please, share what you do with your mantel during the fall.  I’d love to see it.

Ring Pumpkins

Ring Pumpkins

I have seen this done so many times, and I finally decided that I needed to make one for myself.  It’s a very simple craft, and it’s so easy to individualize each one.

Materials:

• 20 rings from mason jar lids
• Orange spray paint
• Florist wire
• Wire cutters
• Cinnamon stick
• Artificial leaves
• Artificial vine
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks

Directions:

• Spray paint the rings on all sides.  It’s best to do 2 coats.  Allow to dry between coats.

• Once dry, string all 20 rings onto the florist wire.

• Cut the wire with the wire cutters leaving some extra length for twisting
• Bring the two ends of the wire together and start twisting the wire.  This will pull the rings into a circle, and the circle will close as you twist.

• Place the cinnamon stick in the open center of the circle (this is your stem), using the hot glue to keep it in place

• Using the hot glue, embellish with the vine and leaves, as desired