Festive Outdoor Christmas Decorating

Yesterday on my daily walk through the neighborhood, I noticed some really striking Christmas decorations. In the evenings, you see a lot of pretty Christmas lights on houses and shrubs and those blow up figures. During the day, you notice evergreen swags and wreaths and red velvet ribbons and figurines. This year I am seeing a lot poinsettias sitting in planters and hanging baskets.

At first I wondered if they could be real but that's just not possible in this climate. Poinsettias like a warm climate of  about 60-70 degrees. They had to be silk or plastic and they were just beautiful.

I saw some arranged in planters sitting on steps and in hanging baskets on porches. They look best with a little greenery.

I made a planter for my own front step. I had a planter full of dirt still sitting outside from the summer. I stuck in some evergreen branches that we had cut off the bottom of our tree. I went to the dollar store and bought a couple of bunches of poinsettias and a large plastic candy cane and arranged them in the pot. I love the way it looks!

This morning I took some pictures of the poinsettia decorating in my neighborhood and will post some of the better ones including the pot I made. You can get really creative with these pots by arranging ribbons, ornaments, birdhouses, lights, etc. to your greenery.

Another great idea is to make a little tree from an old tomato cage. Just turn it upside down, secure it to your pot with some u shaped states or cut some from an old clothes hanger, wrap with garland, and decorate.







Hot Chocolate Weather

The Crafty Cupboard

I am in love with McDonald's Hot Chocolate. It is so  hot and creamy and sweet. They add whipped cream and fudge sauce to it. A small nonfat serving with whipped cream has about 250 calories. The problem is, I've had a large one for the last two days. The large hot chocolate with skim milk has 460 calories so with whipped cream and fudge sauce, I'm probably looking at a 600 calorie drink. All the good foods have too many calories in them!  I wonder how many calories are in an eggnog shake? I'm not sure I want to know until I've had one because that will surely ruin it for me!

We had our first snow yesterday. It was only flurries but was very pretty. I love the first snow - hate it the rest of the winter. Snow puts me in the mood for hot chocolate.

Hot drinks are very soothing on these cold, dark and dreary days of pre-winter. They truly warm you from the inside out. Hot chocolate, coffee, tea, cider, hot buttered rum - any of these can make you feel toasty warm.

It's quick and easy to make a cup of hot cocoa by dropping a package of hot cocoa mix into a cup and adding some hot water. However, with a little time and effort, you can make a truly rich and delicious cup of cocoa using a few basic ingredients.

Hershey's  Easy Microwave Hot Cocoa
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. sugar
2-3 tsp. Hershey's cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
1 cup milk
Directions:
Mix cocoa, salt, and sugar in a large mug.
Heat milk in microwave oven for 1 - 1/2 minutes or until hot.
Gradually add milk to cocoa mixture in mug stirring until well blended.
Stir in vanilla.
Variations: Use  up to 2 tablespoon of cocoa for a richer chocolate. Substitute artificial sweetener and nonfat milk to cut calories.

All Recipes.com has a variety of hot chocolate recipes and also some recipes of hot chocolate mixes you can make and give as gifts.

Here are some hot chocolate making tips:

 1. Using whole milk or cream will make a creamier drink but you will need to stir it more often as it cooks to keep from scorching.

2. Whisk until foamy to make a more creamier and tasty drink.

3. Garnish with marshmallows, whipped cream, cinnamon, coconut, hot fudge sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles, or chocolate candies.

4. Experiment with different flavors. Try dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate powders or chips. Try adding different amounts or combinations of milk and cream. Add liqueurs such as Kahlua, Grand Marnier, peppermint schnaps, amaretto, rum cream, and Baileys. Add other ingredients such as a tsp. of peanut butter or a tsp of brown sugar.

There are a large variety of hot cocoa mixes that can be bought in grocery stores. You can jazz them up by using hot milk instead of water and by adding a dash of vanilla and any of the garnishes and additions listed above.

Gingerbread Cookies

The Crafty Cupboard

I love the taste and smell of gingerbread and gingerbread men are so cute! I decorate my kitchen with gingerbread men every Christmas. I have gingerbread towels, dishcloths, potholders, garlands, cups, ornaments and even a teapot. My family and friends love to give me gingerbread stuff for Christmas.

Gingerbread cookies are delicious. Gingerbread cookie dough can be quite expensive and time consuming to make. Spice and molasses can be costly. As an alternative, you could buy a packaged mix at the grocery store for $1.99 and Pillsbury has refrigerated slice and bake gingerbread cookie dough. Check out the free Pillsbury baking coupons on the web. You can print out and save a lot of money. Pre-made dough can be sliced and baked as well as rolled and cut into shapes.

I've always used the gingerbread cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. I like to roll out gingerbread men and decorate. It's fun to eat gingerbread men and kids love 'em. I did see a really cute cookie that I am going to make this year. It is easy and very quick to make. They are called Gingerbread Snowmen. You need a round cookie cutter or you can use a glass. You could also use the slice and bake method or even a drop cookie. Frost with white icing. Decorate the face with mini chocolate chips and a piece of candy corn for the nose.

Gambling on the Rams

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and even managed to get a jump on Christmas shopping and decorating so we decided to go to a Rams football game yesterday. One of the advantages of being emptynesters is that we can leave whenever we want - no planning or preparation necessary!

My husband and I love to gamble at the casinos in St. Louis. He loves to win and I just love to see how long I can play on $20-$40 dollars as I am not as lucky or skilled as he. We left early Sunday morning and arrrived at the Casino Queen in East Alton at about 8:30AM. We ate at the breakfast buffet. They have a lovely brunch for $9.99 per person. There is an egg/omelet station with all the trimmings plus a Chinese food station, a dinner station with sliced meats and side dishes, a salad bar, and a dessert bar. It is very, very good! We gambled for about an hour - didn't do very well although the Casino Queen boasted of having the loosest slot machines around.

It was raining when we arrived in St. Louis so we went to the Luminere Casino and gambled a little more just to kill some time until the game. We actually won some money playing slots and video poker.

We didn't have tickets to the football game. We thought we would try buying them on the street just before the game started. Here is where we got really lucky. We were walking across the parking lot and a man stopped us and offered us some free tickets that he couldn't use. We offered to pay him but he refused so we ended up with free tickets and they were just awesome! We were 5 rows up from the field on the 30 yard line. We could see everything!

The Rams play football in the Edward Jones Dome. The best thing about the Edward Jones Dome is that it is inside and you stay dry and toasty warm during the game.

The game was very exciting! Years ago, St. Louis was home to Cardinals who now belong to Arizona. There were many Cardinal fans present at the game which made a nice rivalry. The Rams scored the first touchdown early in the first quarter but eventually lost to the Cardinals 23-20. It was a close game and we were able to watch two extraordinary Cardinal players. We saw Patrick Peterson tie an NFL record and Beanie Wells set a franchise record.

We went back to the Luminere casino and won a little more money, enough for a nice dinner at Applebee's on the way home. It was a fun and relaxing trip - something nice to do on a dark, rainy, gloomy day!

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. What a wonderful holiday! A day centered around eating the most delicous foods and no one is expected to diet.  Erma Bombeck said: "What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"

What do you do with the leftovers?  Is it safe eat turkey and pumpkin pie all week?


According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration),  leftovers should not be left out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, should be cleanly placed in covered containers, and stored at the correct temperature of below 40 degrees in the refrigerator or 0 degrees in the freezer.

Once you get the leftovers into the refrigerator, most are good for around 3 days.  Recommendations: turkey: 3-4 days, gravy: 1-2 days, potatoes: 3-4 days, pumpkin pie: 2-3 days, and cranberries: 10- 14 days. So, you can make yourself a plate, cover it, and microwave or place in 350 degree oven until warmed for the first two days with the exception of gravy. Gravy needs to be boiled for at least one minute before eating. StillTasty.com has a really good guide for keeping and using leftovers.

Turkey, vegetables, and cranberry sauce can also be frozen and reused. They can also be recycled into soups and casseroles and desserts. Turkey Pot Pie is delicious and easy to make and can use up a lot your leftovers. There are many recipes on the web but you can simply mix about 2 cups of sliced turkey, a cup or two of vegetables, and a jar of turkey gravy in a sauce pan and heat. Place in a greased one quart casserole dish and top with 2 cups leftover stuffing or mashed potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cranberry sauce can be added to pancakes, muffins, desserts, or try one of these 3 drinks from Bar None: Hot buttered Cranberry Punch, Right Gin Christmas Punch, or The Gobbler. Tired of pumpkin pie? Make it into a pumpkin pie parfait using vanilla ice cream or vanilla pudding, or for a special dessert try this Pumpkin Pie Parfait  recipe which also uses pound cake, cream cheese, and cool whip.


I will confess that we love Thanksgiving leftovers almost as much as we like the actual meal but after a few days, we are ready for a nice cheesy pizza.

Creamy Potato Soup

A hot bowl of soup for supper can be very comforting during these dark, dreary, chilly autumn days.

I have been experimenting with soup recipes this month. I've never really had much success making soup in the past, but I have stumbled upon some awesome recipes this  month. Soup is easy to make. It is inexpensive. It is filling and can be stretched to feed a large family. Most soups taste even better when reheated and most can be frozen.

I found a recipe called Ultimate Potato Soup at allrecipes.com and tweaked it into my own which I am calling Creamy Potato Soup. It is delicious!

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:
6 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
3 stalks cubed celery
1 onion - peeled and diced (or 1 tsp. onion powder)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 15 oz. can chichen broth
2 cubes or tsp chicken broth granules
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups milk
2 oz. package instant mashed potatoes

Directions:
Combine vegetables, spices, broth, and granules in large soup pot and boil for 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add butter and milk. Slowly, mix in instant mashed potatoes and simmer for an hour or more.

I added 1 cup of ham cubes for my meat loving husband. You could also add sausage, bacon, or cheese.

Turkey Prep

Just one week until Thanksgiving!

Have you bought your turkey yet? Just remember - if you buy a frozen turkey it can take several days to defrost in the refrigerator. A twenty pound bird can take up to 4 days to defrost.  You will need about 1 1/2 pounds of turkey for each person. There are faster ways but the refrigerator is the safest. A frozen turkey needs to be purchased no later than Sunday.

Turkeys are on sale this week as are potatoes, gravy, canned vegetables, cranberries, cool whip, rolls, etc. - just about everything you need for your holiday dinner. I bought 2 turkeys and a turkey breast.  My freezer is stuffed but I now I have a turkey for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and a turkey breast to roast for a January or February meal. I also bought most of the trimmings: rolls, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and cranberries.

There are many websites that can help you cook a turkey but I like the Butterball Turkey site.  It tells you how to plan the meal, how to cook it, how to serve it, and what to do with the leftovers. The Butterball site is loaded with good advice and recipes. They are also available by phone, Facebook, and Twitter. Best of all, they have free coupons and rebates for turkeys and other holiday foods.

Cooking a turkey can be tricky. You want crispy, browned skin with moist delicious meat and you need it to reach the temperature of at least 165 degrees to be safe to eat. That's probably why there are so many recipes and methods of cooking. 10 Weird Ways to Cook a Turkey is a funny article about cooking turkey. Some of them sound delicious!

To be honest, I have cooked turkeys that were not quite thawed out. You just need to be able to pull out the gizzards and stuff from the cavity and you can even do that after it has cooked for awhile. It takes an extra hour or two to finish cooking but you can end up with a very moist turkey.

Happy Turkey Day!

Middle Age Spread

Middle Age Spread – I’ve got it. I think I’ve had it since I was just a toddler. I am now in my first official year of menopause and beginning to panic about the size of my belly because it seemed to multiply in just one weekend last spring.  Very scary! When I was a kid, middle aged women wore stretch pants and large roomy tops and didn’t care about their tummies. They valued comfort. I have to confess that I am more interested in looking good. I know that sounds very vain but I’m not ready to look like a middle aged lady.

Doctors say the best cure is to increase your exercise, decrease your calorie intake, and strengthen your abdominal muscles. I didn’t see much improvement on this regimen but I’ve found a few other things that have helped.

Good posture seems to be critical to looking slimmer through the waist. Standing up straighter and sucking in the tummy is hard to do but the more you do it the easier it gets and the better you look. It is also an almost instant improvement if you can do it.

Avoiding foods that cause stomach bloating is helpful. The foods most likely to cause bloating are: dairy products, bread and pasta, high carbohydrate fruits and vegetables like apples, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, brussel sprouts, pears, and peaches, chewing gum,  artificial sweeteners, and carbonated drinks.  These are all my favorites so I have been experimenting with them. I have found milk to be my worst bloating problem. I really love milk and I crave it.  I do not like soy milk but I recently tried Silk'>http://silksoymilk.com/products">Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and liked it very much.  It was also very good in my coffee and scrambled eggs and cereal but the dark chocolate was the best. It tastes like a candy bar. I was surprised but it sure did decrease the bloating of my tummy. Almond milk is available at most grocery stores and there is a coupon available at http://silkpurealmond.com/# where you can also sign up for free offers.

Other things on my list to experiment with are: Pilates, Abs diet, and tummy control clothing.

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened. ~Jennifer Yane

Felt Halloween Ornaments

My social and work life has been very intense lately so I decided to take last weekend off and rest. I watched a good part of HBO’s Game of Thrones series. I made Halloween felt ornaments as I watched. It was very relaxing and productive too I guess.

I loved Game of Thrones. I can’t wait to watch season 2. Like most HBO shows, it is full of passion and violence and of course sexual content. It is a fantasy of mythology, war, feuding, intrigue, lust, power, and honor. There are many characters and storylines so you have to really concentrate to figure how who everyone is and what is happening. I watched the first two episodes twice but I recommend reading the summary or watching the recap of season 1 at the Game of Thrones homepage. If you like most HBO programming, you will absolutely love Game of Thrones!

I love these Halloween ornaments. They are soft and cheery. They look adorable hanging in a window, wreath, or bare branch tree. They also make pretty gift package decorations. I made 6 sets and they are selling in my store: The Crafty Cupboard.

I found the pattern for these cute little Halloween ornaments in the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Craft magazine 1999. I altered the instructions to make them simpler. They are easy and inexpensive to make. I cannot share the pattern and instructions on this blog as they are copyrighted. You can buy a completed set from my store, The Crafty Cupboard, for $5.99 plus shipping.

If you would like to make a set, you could use cookie cutters or draw the free hand patterns and stitch them using felt, embroidery thread, ribbon, beads, and polyester stuffing. I would also be willing to copy the pattern and instructions and mail them to you for a small handling fee of $3.00 plus a stamped envelope. Email me if you would like your own copy.

Mums and Marigolds

We finally got a break in the weather. After days and days of hot humid weather, a cool front has blown in. It is truly a breath of fresh air! I had to make an effort to enjoy summer this year. Some days the water temperature in my swimming pool was 101 degrees!

It feels a little like fall. Everything is drying up and I saw an empty school bus drive through our subdivision as I took my morning walk. School begins on Wednesday here so I guess that bus was making a practice run.
Summer flew by fast this year. The official first day of fall is September 21st which is about 49 days away. It’s not too late to plant stuff in the Midwest. You can still plant cool loving, quick growing vegetables like peas, cabbage, spinach, and carrots. My garden didn’t do very well this year due to these long hot, rainless days. I will be putting in some peas and carrots this week. Fall flowers like chrysanthemums and marigolds can be planted. Some home improvement stores and nurseries will still be carrying plants that can be transplanted into pots and beds. There are some really good bargains on seeds, plants, and bulbs right now. The easiest plants to grow during the fall and summer are mums and marigolds. Mums and marigolds bloom late in the summer and continue to bloom well after the first frost. They come in beautiful fall colors. If you have a lot of ruined pots of flowers, you can replace them with some new soil and plants or just throw in some marigold seeds. Dwarf marigold seeds will flower in about 45 days just in time for fall, and you can enjoy the pretty green foliage until then. You can also plant shrubs and trees. Late summer plants may need a lot of watering.

Our state fair is this week. This weather will make it a much more enjoyable experience. I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts because I’m sure there are still some hot August dog days in our future!