Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you a Happy New Year that is filled with peace and joy, good health and happiness!

I’ll be back in January with more recipes and crafts!

Christmas Memories

I have always loved Christmas. I love the reason we celebrate, our Lord Jesus. I love the gift giving, I just adore giving my loved one’s gifts. I love the decorations and I usually go all out and decorate every room in my house!

And I cannot forget to mention all the wonderful memories I have from my childhood at Christmas. My parents always did their best to give my brother and I a wonderful Christmas.

My parents always had big family Christmas dinners, and while we ate our dinner we were serenaded by Andy Williams, Johnny Mathias and Bing Crosby Christmas albums. To this day that is still my most favorite Christmas music to listen to.

It was always my job to set the table. That is when we used the good utensils (they were not silver), and the good dishes; which I just unpacked and put in my cabinets to use. And guess what? They were not just good dishes, it was actually fine china!!!

I only remember having a live tree one year in my childhood. My Dad and I went to get the tree on a Sunday after mass. Back then little girls always wore dresses with little white socks and black patent leather shoes. I remember being so cold and telling my Dad that I was sure it was going to snow because it was so frigid.

So we picked out the tree and took it home. The only tree decorations I remember is the silver tinsel that we got to pull out of box in little strings and toss on the tree.

The only tree that I remember was the silver foil like tree that rotated, there was a light that sat on the floor that had a colored disk on the front, that rotated changing the colors from red, blue, yellow and green. And the tree had bows that snapped on the tips of each branch, they looked like the bows we buy to put on our gifts.

And my favorite memory was when Dad would put up the outdoor decorations! The only types of lights we had were those large bulbs, and we always had the multicolor lights. He would string the lights to the roof line of the entire house, and around the doors and windows.

And in the windows he would place plastic electric candles with orange lights, anyone else remember having them?

On the roof we had a Santa and all his reindeer, including Rudolph. Rudolph had a red-light bulb for a nose, of course! I am not exactly sure how old we were when he stopped putting the set out, but I do remember that he went from the rooftop to the yard. I think that transaction may have been when we stopped believing in Santa.

I am super sad that Dad got rid of the set. Oh how I wish I had it but he got rid of it a very long time ago.

One of the things we did as a family when I was little, was drive around and look at all the lights. There was one house we went to every year that I can only say resembled the Griswold house. And the yard was FULL of lighted décor. There is a house not far from me that does this too, I love taking my grandkids there to see everything that they have set up.

One year when my two boys were little, I drove into a development that I was not familiar, and I could not get us back out! One of my boys gave me directions though!!! LOL My own homegrown GPS Kiddo!

When my kids were small, I always bought live trees. We made our own ornaments because money was tight since I was a single mom. I didn’t even have the money to buy lights for outside, but they didn’t seem to mind as long as I would drive them around to see the lights around town.

And now in my more mature years, I no longer put up a big tree. I started using artificial trees about 12 yrs ago. Last year I didn’t put up a tree at all, in fact I sold it! I was perfectly happy with all my Christmas décor around the house.

But this year I was nosing around Target (my guilty pleasure) and found a tabletop tree with sparse branches. It was mine! My Mom gave me handmade crocheted snowflakes a very long time ago, and they go perfect on my new tree. When it’s time to put Christmas away, all I have to do is carry the tree to the basement and throw a cover over it!

Some of the ornaments my kids made, I still have. I will be putting them in a basket and setting them out to enjoy and remember.

I really enjoyed searching for and finding these childhood photo’s. My parents and my brother have all passed but I know they are still with me.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

 

Delicious Candied Nuts

The turkey dinner is done. Leftovers have been devoured, some things are frozen for later and some were saved for turkey noodle soup for now because it got cold and rainy here.

And even though my belly has been overwhelmingly full, I still need to eat. So I’m switching to salads!

I usually do not care for nuts in my foods like salads, meats, brownies or ice cream. I just like to snack on them. But, with these candied nuts… well, they are pure heaven in my salad!

There is just enough sweetness that, combined with my balsamic vinaigrette dressing, is just a flavor explosion in my mouth!

And sadly, they are so yummy that I love snacking on them too so they do not last long!!

Start with whole nuts, they will coat better this way, if you want them chopped for particular recipe you can always chop them after they are candied and cooled.

Gather all of your ingredients before starting, not only do you need to add them to the pan at the same time, but this recipe comes together quickly.

Ready?

To a non-stick skillet over medium heat add 3T brown sugar, 2 T pure maple syrup, 1 T water and a pinch of salt. Stir this until the sugar is melted and it starts to bubble. As soon as that happens you need to add 1 cup of the nuts you are using. I have used whole cashews, walnuts and pecans. I reduced my heat to a medium low, continue to stir until the nuts are coated and the melted sugar thickens and reduces a little.

Here is where you can get creative, you can add cayenne pepper to add some spicy heat or you can try a little cinnamon. Whatever spice you want to try, go for it. I want to try rosemary and thyme too! Anyway, turn the heat off, add the spice and stir until blended.

At this point you need to pour the nut mixture out on parchment paper or a silicone mat but do not use wax paper. Let this cool, it will harden as it cools, then you can break them apart and put in an airtight container. You can keep them in the pantry, but I think they would only last for about a week or two at most. I keep mine in the fridge so they last a little longer BUT these are so yummy I am sure you will eat them before the week is over!!

     

I plan to use these as a topping over the next loaf of banana bread I make. Can you imagine how delicious that will be!

CANDIED NUTS

3 T brown sugar

2 T maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

1 T water

Pinch of salt

1 cup whole nuts, no shell

Optional: any spice or herb such as cayenne, cinnamon, rosemary or thyme, etc

1. Assemble all ingredients.
2. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat add the brown sugar, syrup, water and salt. Let it come to a light simmer until sugar melts. About one minute.
3. When the sugar is melted add the nuts and stir until the syrup is thickened and slightly reduces, about 2 minutes.
4. At this point you can add spices or chopped herbs if you want to, stir.
5. Pour onto a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone mat, spread nuts in a single layer and let cool. They will harden as they cool.
6. When cooled, break apart and store in an airtight container. Storing in the fridge will help them to last about 3 weeks. If storing in the pantry, allow a week for freshness.

You can use these nuts as a snack, over ice cream, yogurt, salads, oatmeal, the possibilities are endless!  And they’re perfect to serve at cocktail parties..

Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce (leftover from soup)

I made my creamy roasted red pepper soup, which I love!  The recipe is here. I had plans to go away for the weekend and I still had some soup left so I popped in the freezer.

When I returned home I thawed it and made pasta sauce with it! It was absolutely delicious!

I had just a little over 1 cup of the soup, I poured it into a medium saucepan over medium low heat, then I added a handful of some shredded Monterey Jack cheese that I had in the fridge. Maybe about a ½ to ¾ cup.

I also had a little bit of some diced tomatoes leftover so I tossed them into the pot too.

My original soup recipe is spicy but I did not have the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce so I omitted that, but for the sauce I wanted some heat so I added some ground cayenne pepper.

When the cheese was melted, I poured the sauce over my penne pasta and topped with grated Parmesan cheese and some basil that I still had from my garden.

I just loved how yummy this was!