From Our Family to Yours

We wish you the very merriest of holidays! May the hope of Christ be alive in your hearts!

Making Salt Dough Ornaments

I made salt dough Christmas ornaments for the first time this past weekend. It was so much fun! It was all my hubby's idea, too. Apparently he made these as a child and thought it would be fun for the kids to try. He was so right!



They had so much fun cutting out shapes with our cookie cutters. Of course I knew they would, as much as they like to make sugar cookies.

After the ornaments had their first round of baking, the kiddos and I painted them with watercolors.

Then they went back in for a short second round of baking.

Later Vince sprayed them with polyurathane...just in case.


Oh, and here's the one that Vince got really creative with....it's this a great Santa?!

Just in case you were wondering, we used Susan Branch's recipe from her Christmas book. It worked great! If you're interested in it, let me know and I'll be happy to pass it on.

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 21st

It's a big week for cooking and menu planning! Have you done all of you grocery shopping yet? I am really hoping that I remembered everything last week when I went, but I won't be surprised if there's a last-minute run to get that one item that I probably forgot:)

Before we get to today's menu though, I have to share a recipe from our menu plan last week. I've made it before, but it's probably been several years. It definitely won't be that long again though--I'd forgotten how good and easy it is. AND the whole family liked it!! My daughter said *Mom, you can add this to the ones you make all the time now!!*. Folks, that's all I need to hear:)

Chicken Crepes

2 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. minced onion
2 Tbls. flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
1/4 cup sherry or white wine (I used chicken broth this time)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced almonds, if desired (I didn't)
6-8 crepes (recipe below)
*****
Melt butter in a skillet. Add onion and saute until yellow and soft. Add flour and cook until thick and smooth. Add milk and cream, stirring until medium thick sauce is made. Divide the sauce in half and add chicken and sherry (or broth) to only HALF of the sauce. Place about 2 Tbls. of the chicken mixture down the center of each crepe and roll up, seam side down. Place in a buttered baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese (and almonds, if you're using them). Bake at 450F until browned (maybe 20 minutes or so).

Basic Crepes

1-1/4 cups flour
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk*
2 Tbls. melted butter
*****
Place all ingredients (put the liquids in first) in blender and blend well. Let stand about 1 hour for more perfect crepes. To cook: Using a small non-stick skillet, lightly oiled and heated over moderately high heat, add about 3 Tbls. of the batter and swirl pan to cover and form a thin crepe. Cook 30-45 seconds until light brown. Turn and cook briefly on the other side. Remove, cool and separate with wax paper until ready to use. This recipe makes about double what you need for the above chicken recipe--the remaining ones freeze very well, just keep the wax paper between them. *You can use part chicken broth for part of the milk, if you want/need to.

Now, for this week...

Monday: Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Wednesday: Christmas dinner with Vince's immediate family at our house--
Baked Chicken with Wild Rice Dressing
Stuffed Mushrooms Florentine*
Sweet Potato Casserole*
Special Peas*
Squash Casserole*
Christmas Salad*
Homemade Bread

Thursday: {Christmas Eve} dinner with my immediate family at my parents'--
I'm making:
Dijon Pineapple sauce* (for the ham)
Green Bean Bundles
Bread
Red Velvet Cake

Friday: {Christmas Day} a relaxed meal at my parents'--probably chili. We are doing something a little different this year and having our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve instead.

Saturday: Vince's extended family gathering--
I'm taking:
Broccoli Salad*
Macaroni & Cheese

*I'll be posting these recipes soon!

I hope you have a wonderful week of holiday cooking and baking!! If you need some more menu inspiration, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

Christmas Crayons

We've been making crayons again!! This is one of my all-time fave crafts that the we've done!

First of all, we gather up all of our broken crayons--of which there are always many. I always save them now, since our first venture into crayon-making. It's a great way to recycle! We make sure all the paper is peeled off and then we divide them into color groups.

Next we used scissors to cute them into small enough pieces and put them in the muffin cups. I found this cute Christmas tree silicone muffin pan in the *dollar* section of Target (I think it was one of the $2.50 items, but still a great bargain!).
But before we got around to our project, my son decided to try his hand at making Silly Putty muffins. In case you ever wondered, Silly Putty does NOT come off of silicone. It actually adheres quite well. Just so you know... So we just left that cup empty. :)
If you're using a silicone pan (which I highly recommend) place it on a baking sheet for easy transfer in and out of the oven. Bake at 200F to 225F for about an hour. You'll want to check it and make sure it looks like the wax is liquefied before you take it out of the oven. Let them cool completely before popping them out. You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process.

And here's why I love the silicone pans for this project: the crayons are SO easy to pop out!

Aren't they adorable?! I love these little trees! They make me want to break ALL the kids' crayons and make more and more...LOL

This afternoon we're having a *gingerbread house* party and we are putting one of these trees in each goodie bag for the kiddos' guests. Don't worry, we made enough to keep some, too.

Santa's Workshop...aka...My Kitchen

Yesterday was another day spent doing some Christmas baking. This time it was Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread mini loaves. Aren't they cute? And SO delicious!

These are all packaged up for my neighbors.

I love these little labels from Susan Branch. These were a free download a couple of years ago. She does have some new ones this year to download, too, and you can check them out here.

Only 7 more days 'till Christmas! Are you ready?

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

I've been baking cookies all day~yummy!! One tried & true recipe and one new-to-me recipe. They both turned out delicious!!

These are platters of Amish Sugar Cookies that I'm taking to the kiddos' teachers & workers at church tonight. (Don't worry, I saved a few for home:). This is my *tried & true* recipe, it's so wonderful:

Amish Sugar Cookies
(from my friend Sandy)
2 cups sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups butter/margarine, softened
2 cups oil
4 eggs
9 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla
*****
Combine the sugars, butter and oil in a mixing bowl (it needs to be a big one!). Mix well; add the eggs and beat again. Combine the four, soda and cream of tartar; slowly add to the sugar mixture, blending well. Finally, add the vanilla. Use a cookie scoop or roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheets. Then use a cookie stamp or the bottom of a small glass to slightly flatten the dough balls (you will need to dip the stamp/glass in sugar so that the dough doesn't stick). Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown. Makes 8-10 dozen cookies, depending on their size (I made 8 dozen today).

*****

Then I wanted to use my cookie press to make some fun shapes, only to discover that it's broken (the gun part). Since I had already mixed the dough for the recipe, I just rolled it into tiny balls, then made a finger print in the middle and added Christmas sprinkles. They turned out very cute! And so good! So here's my *new* recipe:

Buttery Spritz Cookies
(from Taste of Home)
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
*****
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour and salt and gradually add to the creamed mixture. You may tint part or all of the dough with food coloring at this point, if you desire. Using a cookie press fitted with a disc, press dough 2" apart onto baking sheets. Top with colored sugar or sprinkles. Bake at 375F for 6-8 minutes or until set (do NOT brown). Remove to wire racks to cool.

Then I got out my favorite Christmas cookie tins and filled them up! Aren't they cute?!

The smallest one:


The middle one:

and the biggest one:

How is your holiday baking coming along? What's your favorite thing to bake?

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...

Well, the P.O. doesn't allow string anymore, but I got the last of my Christmas packages taped up and shipped off today! One more thing that I can cross off my list:)

How about you? Do you still have packages to ship?