Late Christmas Shortbreads

Any simple shortbread recipe + Kids = memories
We did ours late this year, due to baking orders for Bailey's field trip fundraiser.
And an attempt to make a little more cash doing something we're good at.

Check out our efforts on facebook

playing catch up

So much goings on hello to those who are still hanging in there.
We've got alot to share so we will start with the most recent and work our way back.
Current projects, several messy bun hats. Kinda winged it after looking at several patterns.

Still adding the bow, for cuteness sake.
More to come today❤

Bailey's Birds Fundraiser

Please Consider this fundraiser
Get a cool Long Sleeved tee Designed by Bailey
Help a good person.

Grasshopper Cookies ~Recipe 3Fer

I have two favorite recipes that I was inspired to experiment with this Holiday Season
I have our tried and true everybody loves em Butter Mints & delicious and versatile Homemade Chocolate Wafer Cookies.

So I put them together, kind of a "your peanut butter's in my chocolate" kind of thing :)

The outcome is a Homemade Grasshopper Cookie
You marry these two recipes as pictured
I suggest making both parts ahead of time and letting the kids put them together while you finish another cooking project.

(Make Cookies First) and cool.

Flatten out enough butter mint, for the number of cookies you are making, to the right size. Let them set a while so they can harden a little bit.

Melt a little dark chocolate chips to stick them together on both sides.

For the vibrant Grasshopper Green color in the mints, use green color then add yellow.
It just brightens things up a little like a few drops of Sunshine :)


Here are the two base recipes to get you started

Homemade Chocolate Wafer Cookies

These are good alone, with coffee, and crushed to make cheesecake crusts

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2.4 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder (see Note)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of food processor and pulse several times to mix thoroughly. Cut the butter into about 12 chunks and add them to the bowl. Pulse several times. Combine the milk and vanilla in a small cup. With the processor running, add the milk mixture and continue to process until the mixture clumps around the blade or the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a large bowl or a cutting board and knead a few times to make sure it is evenly blended.
Form the dough into a log about 14 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap the log in wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour, or until needed.
Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the log of dough into slices a scant 1/4-inch thick (I went thinner, closer to 1/8 of inch. If you’re trying to emulate the store-bought wafers, slice as thin as you can, and watch the baking time carefully, as it might be less.) and place them one inch apart on the lined sheets (cookies will spread). Bake, rotating the baking sheet from top to bottom and back to front about halfway through baking, for a total of 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies will puff up and deflate; they are done about 1 1/2 minutes after they deflate.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on racks, or slide the parchment onto racks to cool completely. These cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks or be frozen for up to two months.

Makes 50 to 60 1 3/4-inch wafers. However, I cut my thinner than suggested and yielded more.

Note: These cookies should crisp as they cool. If they don’t, you’re not baking them long enough, in which case, return them to the oven to reheat and bake a little longer, then cool again.


Now for an old tyme favorite in my family

Butter Mints

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. salt
5 drops of peppermint
2 Tbsp white corn syrup
1 box 10 X confectioners sugar
coloring of choice

Directions:
Cream Butter, Syrup, & Salt. Mix well.
Add Sugar & mix well (mixture will look crumby like sand)
Add peppermint & color last & mix well. It will still look crumby but be coming together a little)
When everything is well distributed it is best to knead a little with your hand. The heat from your hand will make the candy smooth in texture and color.
Roll a small daub in palm & press down with thumb. (or roll into small diameter logs roll in waxed paper and refrigerate) Then cut into individual candies.
Makes lots of Holiday Candy

This is one of our Winter holiday favorites with adults and children alike. It is also much fun to do with kids.

Coming up is Old Fashioned Tea Cake Cookies.

Tiny Trees on a Tray

I've seen similar trees in one of my favorite catalogues for years at quite exhorbant pricing and had a little leftover oasis this year and decided What The Hey!

The most worrysome part of this project is cutting the oasis, it's dusty and messy (wet or dry) but it is so worth it in the end. I was going to Just Do It and have my kids oh and ahh and that be the end of it. But I put my 5 1/2 yr old daughter in charge and it was just the right kind of project for her.
I cut the stems (branches) all the right size and just let her go at it, and it's one of the most perfect decorations in our house. (both to look at & for fragrance)
And will be as much as a tradition in the future as making Gingerbread houses.

The oasis I had was in a square portion but you may be able to purchase cones and spheres as well.
So I recycled the old Oasis and cut it down into triangular shaped forms. (Shown here)Soaking in a bowl of water.

Arborvitae required quite a bit of branches. But was fun all the more.
We started from the bottom & worked our way up. We had to have longer stems for the damaged parts of the oasis.



Fraiser Fir was quite sappy & sticky
I plan to let my youngest finish up the boxwood tree tomorrow whilst I start the Holiday Baking.

Watch for homemade Grasshopper Cookies Recipe

Tomato Cage Topiary

This thought came to me all of a sudden this week as I was looking over the prices of live trees to put into my pots.
I had some extra greenery cut so I put my mind to work how to use it up
Repurpose your Tomato cages from the garden

This is a daytime and a nighttime view of my finished trees, They are large enough to make a statement in daylight or nighttime and the design can be more elaborate if you wish adding ornaments or garlands. I was simply using what I had around (the least expensive options)

Materials Needed:
Tomato Cages
Floral wire
Fresh Cut Greenery (16" pieces are optimal)
Embellishments (lights, Ornaments, Toppers)
one wire hanger cut into 6" pieces and bent into a U-shape to hold down tree into soil)

I started with an assortment of Tomato cages, and chose the least damaged of what I had.
I wired the tops to make a sort of teepee form

Then I started adding my greenery it was already cut into about 16" pieces since I was putting together wreaths and garland(Check out past blog posts from 2012). More pieces can be put into a bucket and cut into to make those. (it takes about 1/2 -3/4 a five gallon bucket to make each tree)
I used Sea Green Junipers for the ones pictured.

Wrapping once across the branch, under the first rung in the cage and back around is enough to hold on your branches.
If it seems thin push branches to one side and add a couple more.
You are really just creating an illusion, so unless you're going to have a professional checking out your work, the imperfections are what actually give this project its charm.
I topped off my Tree Creations with what ever red flowers I had around (they were inexpensive Dollar Store finds)
I also topped the very top with just a little fraiser fir branches. Just because.
We added a strand of solar led lights to each tree.

I'm thinking you could make a thin taller tree if you wired two cages together, and smaller one with cones of chicken wire. (Or even other topiary shapes it's only limited by the imagination)

Christmas decoration don't have to be costly or fancy to make the season special. Family & Friends and never forgetting the True Meaning of Christmas makes for a much more memorable & fulfilling Time.

Living Simpler is goof for you and good for the planet.


Here is a Sneak Peek of the next installation of our Christmas Decorating with the Kids.
Tiny Trees on a Tray

Merry Christmas

I hope this message finds you well and excited about Christmas.
You've survived the Mayan Apocolypse...;)

Be sure to hung the young ones tighter and be appreciative of our Children.
Be sure to value every life you come in contact with.

Show patience and forgiveness to some that maybe have not bee in your best favor
the Holiday time is a good time to let by gones be by gones and pacify the spirits of the Season.

Spend time on your New Year's Resolution, make it count and keep it.

Here's sending Positive Vibes to all this 2012 Christmas.

I hope you enjoy the Vintage images, I love finding old cards at flea markets and yard sales, they remind me of a simpler time, when less was more. Well actually not less but folks were less materialistic and more family oriented...Maybe we will come back to this and things will seem brighter in the coming days.

Be sure to check back in my Blog if you're just tuning in this is one of my favorite stories




XOXO ~V

Fresh Christmas Greenery

Nothing Beats the smell that Fresh Christmas Greenery provides at Christmas-time. Some folks avoid the mess with artificial trees but even they can add a little of the Hominess that actual greenery adds without the clean up if the greenery is properly prepared, not bought too early in advance, and well cared for.
If creating your own greenery masterpieces, be sure what you purchase is fresh or cut your own. Immediately sumberge stems into a solution with a little bit of Preservant mixed as per instructions. Allow greenery to hydrate at least 24 hours before using. Soaking of pre-prepared greenery pieces can last up to two weeks longer then non hydrated pieces, just be sure what you start with is FRESH, sometimes purchased items greens, wreaths, garlands, etc have been sprayed with a shine product which renders the soaking irrelevant because you are not hydrating just getting it wet. Know your Greens are Fresh... ;)

Here is a look at two of my greenery projects this year
this first one was created out of a 5-inch by 7-inch caged piece of Oasis
It was created from the back to the front with the specific purpose of not being to thick to fit inbetween the front and storm doors at my home, sometimes Custon is the Best. The small oasis start created about a 18-inch by 20-inch front door piece, and I thought it really turned out nice.

I suggest wearing gloves when dealing with some of these prickly evergreens.
This particular door decoration contains: Fraser Fir, Juniper, Red Cedar, Anise, Eucalyptus, Nandina leaves, and Berries. The only addition not in place is the string of battery powered lights. it says Christmas and if it happens to last longer I can just change the color of the bow into the New Year. Oasis is the bomb, you can even use it in plates on a table for centerpieces, get your florist to sell you a casket topper and make a tree-mendouus mantel piece decoration. I say to use this because it can be docorated on one side, has a resorvoir in case you have to add hydration, it's just the perfect size.The smaller oasis cagese can also be filled and turned sideways for a great Mailbox decoration with a great bown on top.

I also added greenery in floral water picks into a wreath that was already created and it just made it more beautiful, Hopefully today I can get motivated to string out a little garland, to complete the real green look over out front doorway, we've never done that before.

I hope you all enjoy this, I have not been on is a spell due to illness, but I think things are on the Upswing. Have a Merry Christmas ~V