A Christmas Tree!

I love the holidays, though not in September. There is a time for everything and for me personally, December is the time for Christmas. I wait until December to let myself go with the holiday festivities, like finding a Christmas tree.

When I was growing up it was usually me who pushed for the Christmas tree come December 1. My parents were huge believers in waiting well into December (like the week of Christmas) before getting our tree. I think their reasoning was that they didn't want to get the tree so soon that it was dead by Christmas morning. Bah humbug I say! So December 1st would come and I would start prodding my parents for that tree. It normally took me about a solid week before my dad gave in and insisted that I go with him to pick out the tree. So we'd hop into our truck, sometimes with my brothers, sometimes not. I would make my dad traipse all over the tree farm until I found the best tree. Then he would chop it down and haul it home.

Since Andy and I have been married we haven't had a Christmas tree. Either we were traveling, or living in a group house where no one cared, so it never happened. This year we are in our own house with no excuse not to get a tree. So once again, on December 1st I told Andy that it was time to get a tree. Just like my dad, he insisted we wait. Lucky for me though, Andy is easier to convince than my dad, so late in the afternoon on December 1st we hopped into our truck and went to the tree farm. We had the best time walking all over the farm looking for the right tree. Finally, we decided on bluest Colorado Spruce that we could find. And let me tell you, it is BLUE! So for the first time in 4 years of marriage we have our own Christmas tree that was chopped down and hauled home. I have never been more proud of a blue tree!

Christmas at Dads

This Christmas party was last week, but since Andy and I are driving across the US this week (VA to CA) I wrote this post ahead of time. We are probably driving across the middle-states right now. Those long straight roads...they are a killer. Anyway, this was a Christmas party at my dad and step-mom's house in Virginia. We always have great conversation and good food at their house.

I hope your post-Christmas days are relaxing as the new year approaches. We sure will be glad to make it to California and start relaxing.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! I hope you are relaxing, sipping something warm, spending time with family, feeling love, and enjoying the day. Merry jolly cheers!

Eggnog

Eggnog is one of those things that people seem to love or hate. I just happen to LOVE it! I look forward to eggnog all year long. The moment is appears on shelves in the grocery store I snatch it up.

There is something about that thick spicy creaminess that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is what marks the holidays for me. I'd love to say that Christmas trees or carols on the radio is what does it for me, but it's not. It's having a bit of white froth on the top of my lip while I glug down some cold eggnog. Oh boy, that's heaven!

While I do love the store bought stuff (I love it all!), I also enjoy making it at home. I have tried a few recipes, but this one seems to be a winner. The eggnog we made last year tasted like straight booze. While that is fun for parties, I prefer my eggnog to taste more like eggnog. This recipe calls for rum, but I only added half a cup rather than the whole cup. If it were up to Andy he would have added two cups, but this was for me not him, so we did it my way.

What I really liked about this recipe is that the eggnog is cooked. Traditional eggnog is raw, but that weirds me out when I'm the one making it. Sure I'll drink your raw eggnog, but I won't make and drink my own if it is raw...I am strange.

It was fun to make this recipe with Andy. There were just enough components that we were both busy with cooking. We went through a few different steps, but it was definitely worth the work. I think Andy even enjoyed the end product...though he added more rum to his glass.

What about you? Are you an eggnog lover or hater? Any great recipes or experiences?

A Redneck Christmas!

Andy and I went to a Redneck Christmas party last weekend and it was a blast! Go figure that our Virginia friends would throw such a party. They are not rednecks by any means (...mostly), they just enjoy a good time, and no time is better than when you are dressed as a redneck. It is also a good excuse to grow facial hair, eat fried chicken, and drink cheap beer. Gotta love Virginia!

I found this beauty of an outfit at a Goodwill thrift store. I love putting costumes together from Goodwill clothes...and usually while I'm at it I find a cool thing or two for my actual wardrobe. I was supposed to be 'barefoot and pregnant' for the party, but never found stuffing for the pregnant part of the costume.

 Guacamole with crispy bacon for dipping. I will definitely make this combination again!

A redneck party just isn't complete without KFC. It's finger lickin' good.

With the lovely host and her awesome sweater.

Even the dogs were in costume! So cute. And you can't have a redneck party without Busch...gross.

 We enjoyed some moonshine spiked cider. It was pretty awesome stuff.

Oh you know...just some redneck couples enjoying a Christmas party.

Have you been to a Redneck Christmas party before? This was my first, but I hope to attend more. Maybe California will have parties as cool as Virginia. I can only hope.

Peppermint Bark

Last week I wrote about making chocolate bark with the leftovers of chocolate that I have from my business. I made three different kinds and boxed them up for friends. It was easy and fun, and I've never made bark before. I'm telling you, it is probably the easiest kind of chocolate candy to make out there. You really can't screw it up.

One of the main joys of bark (other than it being chocolate) is that you break it into pieces. Of course, you can cut it or mold it, but the broken rough edges are what makes it fun and kind of artsy/rustic.

For this recipe I used dark chocolate on the bottom and white chocolate on top. You can do that, or just keep it all white chocolate. The all white chocolate route would definitely be quicker and much simpler. I personally like dark chocolate better though, so I wanted to include it. I also like the contrasting look of the dark brown, white, and bits of red. So pretty!

Peppermint Bark
-2 cups white chocolate chips or candy melts
-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or candy melts
-about 1 cup of crushed candycanes

Cover a cookie sheet with with a layer of wax paper. Melt the semi-sweet (dark) chocolate chips either in the microwave or in a double boiler. (Be careful not to burn the chocolate in the microwave. Heat for 20 seconds then stir. Keep doing that until it is all melted.) Spread melted chocolate evenly onto the cookie sheet. Let it cool and harden. Melt the white chocolate and pour it onto the dark chocolate sheet. Spread it evenly. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the white chocolate.

Voila! You're done. Now wrap em up, make em pretty and give them as gifts.

A Christmas Party

I love a good Christmas party! It is fun to have an excuse to look nice and gorge myself on finger food. There's also usually champagne drinking and good conversations late into the night. I did just those things at our good friend Rachael's Christmas Party last weekend. She was a lovely host and cooked up some amazing little dishes for us to nibble on. I am basking in these last few weeks of being in DC, VA, and MD enjoying friends and holidays before we move to CA.

Getting ready before the party. The obligatory outfit pose. Some Ellie-style. I am happy to say that both the dress and the belt were thrifted. Scarf was a gift from Spain. Shoes are Nine West, tights and sweater are both from Target.

 The lovely host. She was just finishing up some of the cooking when we arrived. We were the first one's there so we popped open some champagne!

 We made the huge mistake of not eating dinner before we arrived. (For Andy, being prompt is more important than dinner!) So obviously he was quite hungry. Luckily we were the first one's there so he had dibs on the food before anyone else.

 Wow, just wow! These were almonds and dates (I think) wrapped in bacon with a sweet soy sauce for dipping.

 This was some kind of chocolate pretzel fudge. Sweet and salty for the win!

It was a fantastic night of Christmas partying in DC!

Christmas Packages

I've been busy! I closed down the chocolate business about a month ago, but my chocolate making hasn't ceased. When I closed the business I still had about 40 pounds of chocolate left...what to do with 40 pounds of chocolate?! Make candy and give it to your friends of course!

I decided on making bark to send to people. Chocolate bark is easy, tasty, pretty, and uses a LOT of chocolate. Which is the theme of my Christmas chocolate making, to use lots of chocolate! I don't want to be moving 40 pounds of chocolate across the country in one months time.

Most people would be thrilled to have 40 pounds of chocolate, but not me. I love chocolate, sometimes I even dream about it, but not 40 pounds of it. 40 pounds is overwhelming, it's heavy, it makes me feel sick thinking about eating it all. (Which I will do if I don't get rid of it. If you see me 40 pounds heavier in 6 months you'll know why.)

Bark was so much fun to make. And boxing it all pretty with one of our Christmas cards just made me plain old happy. In the following weeks I'll post some easy bark recipes that you can make for yourself. You'll have to buy the chocolate from the store though...because I'm sure you don't have FORTY pounds of it laying around. Really, I wish I could give you some of this chocolate!

Christmas Cards

I grew up in a family that took a family picture and then used it in our Christmas cards. We did this every year. It was Spaulding-Family tradition. I think it may have had something to do with being missionaries as well. People back in the States wanted to know that we were still alive and well in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. We also did a family newsletter chock full of pictures and juicy tidbits of us kids- like: Ellie started wearing a bra this year, Luke has his first native girlfriend, Jesse finally stopped peeing his pants etc. (Ha, just kidding about the juicy news part. God forbid missionaries mention that kind of stuff!)

One of the first Spaulding-Family photos. Taken at our village house. I don't know who the lady in the background is.

So back to the family picture. My brothers and I dreaded it every year. We'd complain, we'd procrastinate on getting dressed, we'd make faces, but it always happened. My dear parents put up with us all for the sake of that damned family picture! When it was all said and done though, we looked good. My dad did an awesome job with the camera self-timer and getting everyone in order and smiling at the same time. I hope people appreciated those pictures. We were probably gazed across many the refrigerator...a refrigerator celebrity-family of sorts.

This years Christmas card. 2012

Suffice all those years of dreading the family picture, it has stuck. The idea has clung to me like Vegemite on a piece of toast. (We grew up with Vegemite, love the stuff!) So I continue the tradition with our tiny family of Andy, Myself, and our dog Mr. Buckles. They are troopers as I parade us around looking for the best spots and messing with the camera self-timer. Sometimes we get a friend involved and have them hold the camera, as to take out a bit of the guess work.

Last years Christmas card. 2011

In the end we get a great picture and it goes on our Christmas card. I excitedly write notes to people on the back of the cards and send them off like a giddy school girl. I'm sure Andy and I are the only 20-somethings without kids that actually do a family photo Christmas card. People may get the cards and scowl at the fact that we hold our dog in the center of the picture as if he were our child. I don't care though, it makes me happy, and if nothing else I am carrying on the Spaulding-Family tradition. Does your family do picture Christmas cards?

Our first Christmas card. 2010