The Christmas Tour Continues in the Dining Room

Hello, hello!

 

I'm continuing my Christmas tour of the dining room today.

Wanna come take a peek with me?

 

 

My dining room hutch shares the same neutral

colors as the rest of the dining room.

(You can see my first dining room post here.)

 

 

Mercury glass hurricanes, votive candles, pinecones,

and that silly snow bird all combine for this hutch vignette.  

A white, silver & gold star hangs atop the mirror. 

I love that star!

   

 

 

 

I have to say, I'm really enjoying this neutral palette

for Christmas.  It's so different from the rest of the house.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my dining room tour.

 

My sitting room which adjoins with this dining room is up next.

See you soon!

The Christmas Tour 2013

Hello my dear sweet friends!

 

Is this month flying by or what?

 

I thought it was high time that I took you on a little Christmas home tour.  

 

Today, I'm going to begin with a few shots of the dining room. 

 

Very simple, very neutral colors here. 

White, cream, silver, gold.

 

 

 My mom, oldest sister & I had some fun with the chandelier.

Kind of funny what happened really.

We were just wrapping burlap ribbon around it, haphazardly,

with no real thought involved...

just to see how it would look.

Next thing we knew, we grabbed the scissors, 

we added silver bulbs,

and there you go...we loved it! 

 

Nothing too fancy for the table centerpiece.

A lantern, a couple of silver glittered deer,

and a burlap poinsettia sit atop a silver beaded table runner. 

On the other side of my dining room table is my

chalkboard.  I know I'm no artiste, but here's what

I came up with for this year.

 

I hope you enjoyed my dining room tour, this far.

I'll be back soon to continue my home tour with you.

 

Have a wonderful week! 

 

 

Eat, Drink and Be Thankful

Just wanted to quickly share my dining room chalkboard with you.

I think it pretty much sums up the Thanksgiving holiday to a T.

 

 

Don't you agree?

 

Wishing you the happiest of Thanksgivings!

 

 

 

 

Caramel Pecan Turtle Cookies

I suppose it's no surprise to any of you, that I love to bake.

I think I've said it often enough over the years.

 

So when Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life said she was

throwing a holiday baking party with some friends,

 I just knew I had to participate.

 

I pulled this recipe from a magazine many moons ago,

and finally got around to making them!

 (Oh you should see my folder of "recipes pulled from a magazine." 

It's Scary with a capital S!)

 

These cookies are very yummy, but I must caution you: 

They are easy to make, but a little bit time consuming. 

Caramel Pecan Turtle Cookies


1 cup Crisco or 1 Crisco stick
1½ cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 5 cups flour (I used 4 cups)
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
28 caramels
2 tablespoons milk
3 cups pecan halves
1 (6 ounce) bag chocolate chips

Cream Crisco & sugars together.  Add milk.  Beat in eggs one at a time; add vanilla.  Combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar & salt.  Mix into creamed mixture.  Chill 1 hour.

Heat oven 350°.  Roll out 1/3 of dough at a time, to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface.  Cut out with a 2¼ inch cookie cutter.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. 

Bake 5 to 6 minutes, until edges are slightly golden.  Remove to cooling rack.

For topping, combine caramels & milk in microwave safe bowl.  Cover with waxed paper.  Microwave at 50% for 1 minute.  Stir, repeat until smooth.  (Or you can melt on stovetop in small saucepan at very low heat.)  Drop rounded teaspoonfuls on top of each cookie.  Place 3 pecan halves around edge of caramel. 

Place chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl.  Microwave at 50% for 1 minute.  Stir, repeat until smooth.  (Or again, you can melt on stovetop in small saucepan at very low heat.)  Spread rounded teaspoonfuls over top of caramel, but don't cover pecans.  Cool completely. 

Yield:  5 dozen

Now go ahead & enjoy that turtle cookie...mmmmm...

 

Linking to:

 

Holiday Baking Party at A Stroll thru Life

 All Things Thursday at Posed Perfection

 

It's all about Thanksgiving (vignette & some Etsy love)

I'm sharing a coffee table vignette today and it's all about Thanksgiving.

You see, I've got Christmas on my mind,

but I'm bound and determined to give Thanksgiving its due. 

Even if I'm listening to Christmas music as I type this.   

I really love Christmas music. 

 

 Mostly everything I used in this vignette, I've had for years.

 

Some close ups & details:

 

 I used my favorite bird cage that I know you've all

seen dozens of times,

an orangey rust votive from Target,

and Mr. Turkey, in off-white,

from Joann Fabrics a couple of years ago. 

 

As I started typing the details of my vignette, I realized

that I have a few Etsy purchases included here,

so why not spread a little Etsy love too?

  

 

I purchased the sweet fabric pumpkin on Etsy a few years ago,

 the shop can be found here.

The bottles in the basket came from Michaels this past summer,

and I believe my amber turkey was another

Joann Fabrics find a few years ago. 

 

 

The burlap runner was also an Etsy purchase.

It's a great runner and I think it's the perfect base for my vignette.

The Etsy shop can be found here.

 

 

Hanging out in the background of my vignette is this cutie,

my Give Thanks pillow, from the hands of the

very talented Ann of On Sutton Place.

I love this pillow!

Her Etsy shop can be found here.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Linking to:

 

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

 

Chewy Sugar Cookies

If you're anything like me, you like a little something sweet with a cup of tea (or coffee.)

Sometimes I get sick of the decadence of some cookies. (Did I really just type that? lol)   Sometimes I wish for something a little more "simple."

The Drama Club at my daughter's school was having a bake sale.  She signed up for sugar cookies.  Now I have to admit, I was disappointed.  "Sugar cookies?  You signed up for sugar cookies???"   As someone who loves to bake, sugar cookies seemed...well...boring. 

I found this recipe in my King Arthur Flour cookbook and we set to the task at hand.

Were they boring?  No way!  Just simple and oh so good!! 

Chewy Sugar Cookies

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter (I used regular old salted butter)
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon nutmeg or lemon oil, optional, your choice (I used neither one)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (I used ¼ teaspoon since I used salted butter)
1 large egg
2½ cups all purpose flour
¼ cups coarse or granulated sugar, for coating

Preheat oven to 375°.  Lightly grease or line with parchment two baking sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, nutmeg/lemon oil (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt & egg.   Stir in flour.

Place sugar in shallow dish.  Drop the dough by the tablespoonful (I used my cookie scoop) into the sugar, rolling the balls to coat them.  Place on prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until the edges are just barely beginning to brown, they'll look soft.  If your bake these cookies too long, they'll be crunchy, not chewy.  Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. 

Yield:  3 dozen

 

 

Grab your tea (or coffee) and enjoy a few cookies!

 

 

Happy, Happy

Hello, my lovelies!

 

I've been missing from blogland for far too long.  

Why does this keep happening to me?

Between an October filled with birthdays,

anniversaries & other events/commitments,
(not to mention a bout of sciatica)

I've had little time to enjoy blogging.

 

It's terrible really because when this time of year rolls around,

blogland comes alive!

I can only imagine all that I've been missing!

 

Today I'm going to ease back into blogging

by joining my sweet friend, Ricki Jill,

from Art @ Home, 

for her weekly Happy List party.   

 

This week I'm happy because of:

 

 

Yes. 
Netflix.

I know I'm probably ridiculously late to the
"Netflix-is-the-most-wonderful-thing-ever" party,
but I have discovered a lot of great
TV shows because of it,
such as the Tudors and Once Upon a Time.

*Sigh*

I love my Netflix.  

♥♥♥♥

Since I'm on the TV subject,
this week I'm happy because of:

 All the great new TV shows this fall.

Like this one:

 

Just give James Spader an Emmy already...

and a Golden Globe...and

whatever else you can find to award him with for this role.

 

Then there's:

 

The Goldbergs

The Crazy Ones

Agents of  S.H.I.E.L.D

Brooklyn Nine-nine

The Michael J. Fox Show

 

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I've watched

so much TV!

 

Note to self:  this may be why you haven't been blogging much.

 

♥♥♥♥

 

This week I'm happy because:

 

I live in a place that looks like this in the Fall.

 

Granted the leaves are pretty much gone now, but it is
an absolutely riot of color for a few glorious weeks
and I love it.


♥♥♥♥

What are you happy about this week?

 

Come join us at Ricki Jill's blog and tell us about it.


 I hope you have a spectacular week...one that fills a nice, long happy list!