Lasagna and Linus.

Tonight I made this lasagna for dinner. It was amazing. I was going to give picture-friendly step-by-step instructions, like I typically do, but the cook herself gives great illustrative instructions on her website. Check it out! I've never attempted homemade lasagna before, so this was kind of a big deal. And it tasted AMAZING! I invited my husband's parents over to partake with us, and we only barely ate half the pan between the four of us (and we were hungry--it's very filling!). So, my husband has a bunch of leftovers for work. Perfect!

Yesterday was that picturesque day where Cub and I stayed in our jammies and played all day. It was dark and cold outside and we were able to stay in where it was warm and cozy. I loved it. AND, I had Charlie Brown Christmas playing continually all day. That is, by far, my favorite Christmas movie (I love it way more than Cub--he could care less what's on that screen!). My favorite part is when Linus comes onstage and tells Charlie Brown "what Christmas is all about".

So, that's what this POST is all about--what is YOUR favorite Christmas movie? And why?

Have a lovely day!

Deck The Halls!

Alright, friends! This is the yearly post where I swing open my doors and give you a peek inside our house, all bedecked for Christmas. My decorations are by no means magazine worthy, but my goal is that it at least feels home-y and comfortable. So, come on in and stay a while ... :)

Firstly, our Advent Wreath. Oh, our dear, precious wreath that has been through the ringer through lots of packing and unpacking each year. I still love it. I lit all of the candles for the picture. :)

When I put up the decorations this year, I tried to think of things that Cub would like. And the word that came to my mind was DANGLY. So, I hung some ornaments from the lights above our kitchen table. And when Cub sat in his little chair and noticed them for the first time, his face was priceless. He started laughing and reaching for them. One point for Mom! Oh, and please note the smoke--that is from the Advent Wreath, located directly below the light. I had just blown the candles out. :)

The Nativity in our kitchen on our baker's rack. Notice, more dangly ornaments. Stars, this time.

Ever since Josh and I were married, I've searched high and low for an Advent calendar. I could NOT find one. So this year at the beginning of November when I spied this one at Target, I snatched it up. I was so excited--I finally found one! I'm not sure what I'm going to put behind each door yet, but for now, Cub likes to pull them open. We're learning the meaning of "one at a time" :).

My dear sweet chalk board in our kitchen that desperately needs a good scrubbing. Oh well. This is my favorite phrase in all of Christmas. Probably because it is true.

My tree! Yes, those are glass ornaments (some plastic, too) and no, it hasn't been an issue yet. Cub has learned what a "gentle touch" means, plus the glass ornaments are thick and kind of hard to break. But, I'm not stupid. I know we'll have some casualties this year! Thankfully, the big glass ornaments are too difficult for him to grasp, so he ignores them! And, of course, the glass ornaments are more up high and the plastic are more towards the bottom (notice the gathering of white mini Christmas trees towards the bottom? PLASTIC.).

An example of what is nestled between the branches. I have a snowflake theme with lots of snowflakes and icicles.

These are three canvases that hang above our couch. I repaint them often. Right now they are a wreath, a Christmas tree, and two ornaments, respectively. They'll change again in January. :)

And ... check it out! Stockings! Don't they match beautifully?? HA HA. Cub and I went to Hobby Lobby to peruse their options and I decided we would get the stockings he chose (I can't resist 50% off). Which means, whatever he reached for, that's what we got. He did a pretty good job, I think! The snowflake stocking will be mine, and Josh gets the red houndstooth. As for Cub, he gets the cowboy boot. This cracks me up, since we have nothing even remotely western in our house and I'm deathly allergic to horses. But really, it's kind of perfect for a little boy. Good job, Cub. I didn't want to get any that matched too much, simply because of Baby Bean on the way and the chance that we wouldn't find something to match later on. Now we can pick a random stocking next year and it will "match" what we already have!

And, oh wait! How did this get here? Hmm ...

Okay, I couldn't resist. He's our official welcoming committee! :)

I hope you enjoyed your tour!

Have a lovely day, friends.

Russian Tea Cake Snowball Cookie Things!

Still no stockings. Today was spent running around gathering materials for our church's advent wreath, my own advent wreath, a ton of grocery shopping to catch up on, an oil change, a gas fill-up, a visit to church to make copies, the baking and baking of Russian Tea Cakes for a cookie exchange tomorrow ... and a partridge in a pear tree.

Falalalalala!

So, in the generous spirit of Christmas and the season to be merry, I am posting the recipe I grew up with for Russian Tea Cakes. Only we referred to them as "Snowballs", stuck an M&M inside, and left out the pecans. So really, maybe they are "Not-So-Russian-Tea-Cakes". 

What they ARE is delicious little cakes covered in powdered sugar. Yummy. Here's the recipe, friends!

You will need:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour (sifted)

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

M&Ms

Mix butter and sugar until creamy. Mmmm. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Mmmm.

Grab a teaspoon-ish size of dough and press an M&M in the middle. Please notice I used more than the required amount of dough. It was late and I was tired and opted for fewer bigger cookies than a million marble-sized cookies.

Roll dough with M&M into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

Once baked cookies are slightly cool, roll in powdered sugar. Ta-Da! That's it. Here are mine, neatly assembled on a platter from Russia, ironically. :)

Happy Eating!! :)

Stockin's!

Okay friends, time to take a poll here. This relates to a very large part of Christmas, a part that is essential to Christmas morning and is also an aesthetic pleasure throughout the season preceding Christmas:

Stockings.

Awesome, yes. Somehow, Josh and I have never had stockings at our home. Both of our stockings have remained at our respective parents' homes, and thus our home has been stocking-less. That's right, Cubbie doesn't even have one! Oh the horrors! :)

So. Here's the deal. I don't knit and while I try to be crafty, my focus nowadays is more on not hurling rather than being overly creative. So, it looks like Cub and I will be taking out the front-wheel drive sleigh tomorrow to hunt down the perfect stockings to hang on our, um, wall. Because we don't have a fireplace.

(Which should make the topic of not explaining Santa to Cub just a little easier. "See, this fat guy in a red suit comes down the chimney ... that we uh, don't have ...")

SO! Here's the dilemma. I've always had a bit of a matchy-matchy house when it comes to Christmas. My whole house is typically done with gold, amber, and clear and frosted glass. Especially snowflakes. But, I kind of think that stockings should be personalized, you know? And while I won't be whipping out the needle and thread any time soon to embroider each footy, part of me wants to veer away from the matchy-matchy path and find stockings that are just kind of fun, you know?

So, I'm curious. What do your stockings look like? Do you have a decorative "theme" throughout your home with which your stockings comply or do you have homemade stockings that are fun and unique? I'm almost thinking of getting some glitter (non-toxic) paint and letting Cub go to town on his. Is that crazy?

So. What do you think??

Flour Is More "Matte", Powdered Sugar Is More "Semi-Gloss".

Whenever we have holidays with my in-laws, we always stay at their house for a few days, even though we live in the same town. It's kind of like a little getaway, plus, it's the early mornings and late nights together that make the best memories, you know? So. Anyway. I was put in charge of pumpkin bars this year, so on Wednesday, I set about preparing my treats in my mother-in-law's kitchen.

I assembled everything--the cloves, the powder, the soda, the nutmeg, the ginger, etc.--and was juuuuuust about to put it in the oven when I noticed that the pumpkin bars weren't very orange. Hmm. I looked up and saw the sealed can of pumpkin sitting next to the Kitchen Aid mixer.

Oops.

So, I dumped the contents of my pumpkin-less pumpkin bars into the mixing bowl, added the pumpkin, mixed it up, and popped it in the oven. About ten minutes later, I peeked into the oven to see it overflowing and making a gooey, bubbling mess on the bottom of my mother-in-law's new oven. GREAT. I freaked out and yanked it out of the oven (thankfully remembering to put on oven mitts first) and stared at the soupy, gooey mess in my 13x9 pan. WHAT IN THE WORLD. I've made this recipe twice before and NEVER has this happened! I cleaned up the mess and finished baking them (no more boiling over) and after they cooled, I covered the top with homemade cream cheese frosting (the best part). They still looked funny, but I tossed my hands in the air and said Oh Well. At least they were done.

Fast forward a few hours.

I'm helping my mother-in-law make the crumbly pecan topping for her sweet potato casserole and as I'm adding the flour, my mother-in-law hurries over and exclaims, "Wait!! You're using powdered sugar!!" I stopped mid-scoop and looked at the canister. All of her flour, sugar, powdered sugar, and brown sugar are in clear plastic (unmarked) canisters. Sure enough, I had grabbed the powdered sugar instead of the flour. Good grief!! It was definitely NOT my day in the kitchen!! I laughed out loud and stuck the canister back in the pantry.

Then my eye caught my pumpkin bars.

Hmm.

Uh-oh.

My eyes grew wide and I whirled around and exclaimed (to my bewildered mother-in-law), "OH MY GOSH I MUST HAVE PUT POWDERED SUGAR IN MY PUMPKIN BARS INSTEAD OF FLOUR!!!" We both started laughing so hard we almost fell over, and I grabbed a knife and started "slicing" through my pumpkin bars.

They were liquid. A thick, gooey, liquid that my knife easily sliced through.

The top had hardened enough for me to frost them, but that was it. They were a gooey, ruined, mushy mess. We wiped the tears from laughing so hard. Let's just say I hung up my apron after that one.

Good thing my husband's Granny brought her pies for dessert the next day!!