Christmas Morning Breakfast

Vince and I have been married for 11 1/2 years now and for the last 10 of those I have been making us the same special Christmas breakfast each year. It's really pretty simple, but it looks like you went to a lot of effort. I got the egg recipe from the owners of our favorite bed and breakfast. We spent our wedding night there and also an anniversary and birthday or two (way back in the day before kiddos-ha!). If you're ever in the Fort Smith, Arkansas area I highly recommend Beland Manor. It's a special place.

Christmas Breakfast Menu
*******
Shirred Eggs
Candied Bacon
Crescent Rolls
with
Mom's Apple Butter
********

Shirred Eggs
(from Mike & Suzy at Beland Manor Bed & Breakfast)

1. take as many ramekins as you need for servings
2. in the bottom of each ramekin place some cooked pieces of ham or bacon
3. top meat with some shredded Swiss (provolone, mozzarella, etc.) cheese
4. gently crack an egg over the cheese without breaking the yolk
5. pour heavy whipping cream over the egg up to close to the top of ramekin
6. sprinkle a little paprika on top
7. bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes
8. let the ramekins set for 5 minutes or so after taking them out of oven
9. bite into that delicious, rich goodness
There's absolutely nothing low-fat about these, that's why we only have them once a year!
********

Candied Bacon
(from Susan Branch's Christmas Book)

1. fry a pound of bacon crisp
2. in a bowl mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 Tbls. yellow mustard
3. drizzle the sugar/mustard mixture over bacon
4. Serve and enjoy!
*******

Mom's Apple Butter
(from her friend Joyce)
7 cups applesauce (made from 3 lbs. of apples
that have been peeled and cooked 'till soft)
5 cups sugar
1/3 cup red hots candy
1/2 cup cider vinegar
cinnamon to taste
******
Combine all ingredients and bring to boil. Cook 20 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking. Makes about 6 pints. This is the most delicious apple butter ever!! And it's also the most perfect pink color. My mom makes it every fall and gives it to all of her neighbors at Christmas.

So there you have it: our incredibly rich, delicious and fattening annual Christmas breakfast. I hope you'll try some of these recipes sometime, they are so yummy! Oh--and about those crescent rolls on the menu...I usually cheat and use Pillsbury. Although if you wanted to make homemade biscuits or croissants that would be even better!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

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