O Christmas Tree...

This was our first year decorating the artificial alpine tree that I bought last year after Christmas.

My mom bought one years ago and we always kind of made fun of it...affectionately calling it Mom's "stick tree". But that type of tree kind of grew on me after awhile and I ended up really wanting to buy one last year. I looked all over for one I could get for a decent price and couldn't find any for under $80. Then, while visiting CJ's parents in Ohio for Christmas and shopping with his mom at Pat Cattan's craft store, I found one on sale for $40! (Oh how I love Pat Cattan's! I wish we had one in western New York! I wish we had a Sonic drive-in too, but that's another story.)

The really nice thing about this type of artificial tree is that it takes up less space than your average artificial tree. Plus, the branches are bendy and after Christmas you can just un-decorate it, bend all the branches down to make it even thinner, and just have it in a corner as a rustic decorative element year round.

CJ and I changed up our Christmas tree color scheme a bit this year. In past years it's been silver and blue, with blue and those super-white LED lights. This year I wanted to warm the colors up a bit. CJ bought the "warm" white LED lights. Blue is still a major player...but we switched to turquoise from the royal/colbalt blue. And we swapped in gold for silver, and added in some sparkley chocolate brown. We actually had decided on this new color scheme last year when we bought all new ornaments on clearance after the holidays. I'm not sure if the turquoise and brown thing is played out yet, but I am still in love with it.

We bought new hooks last year too that are lovely, elegant little copper curly cues. So much nicer than those plain old wire hooks.

Belated Christmas Tree Post

Here's a belated look at our Christmas tree. This post is specially for my Grandma. My parents visited her this weekend and Mom informed me today that Grandma wanted to see pictures of my tree this year. Here you go Grandma!

We had the tree on the porch...since we weren't sure where else to put it, and we weren't going to be home for Christmas anyway.

I've always wanted one of these peacock clip-on ornaments. I found this one on sale at JoAnne's.

My sister-in-law gave us this ornament for Christmas.

And she gave us a set of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ornaments a few years ago. It has baby Rudolph...

And grown up Rudolph!

And of course, the Abominable Snowman is at the top of the tree because he helps put the star up.

Kitty being curious about the tree...

She was very good and didn't even try and climb up it. (for fear of the dreaded squirt bottle!)

Luna likes the tree too!

Apple Picking Fall 2009

This past Saturday, we finally went apple-picking. It's a tradition we've only picked up in the last few years (usually due to our friends inviting us to join them). And I don't know if it's from living in the country so close to so many orchards, but I've had such a hankering to go apple-picking ever since fall started this year.

We were debating about whether to wait until this upcoming weekend, since my in-laws are coming to visit us and see the new house. But the weather has been so rainy lately, and Saturday morning was so nice, that I wanted to go while I knew the weather was nice. (I didn't want to wait until this next weekend and that have it rain). It worked out well because I guess my in-laws went apple picking the same day!

Look at that fruit practically dripping off the tree! We went to Lynokan Farms (it's just around the corner from us) and got a bushel of apples (mostly Cortlands with a few Golden Delicious) for $20. We would have gotten Honeycrisps (which are monstrously huge and delicious!) but they were more expensive and had to be in a seperate bag.

(My friends on Facebook are all saying that this is "such a great picture" of me and I "look so gorgeous" in it. I didn't particularly think so, but I guess I won't turn down the compliments!)

Luna got the special treat of being allowed to go off-leash (which we very rarely ever do), and she was very well behaved! She stuck right by us and barely barked at anybody (except this couple that had funky hats on...she didn't seem to like them).

She kept thinking that the apples in our hands were balls that we were going to throw for her to chase...so we picked up a few bruised apples off the ground and obliged her!

She was such a happy puppy!

Now I need to make some mini-apple crisp to bake in my toaster oven! (we still don't have a real oven/stove!)

Hidden Valley Ranch Oyster Crackers

My mother originally discovered this wonderful snack at a craft fair when I was little, buying a baggie of it for my brother and I before we got too hungry and cranky. Hidden Valley Ranch seasoned Oyster Crackers. It's been a favorite snack of mine over the years and my mother included the recipe in a recipe book she gave me for my bridal shower.


A little Christmas tradition I have had ever since is making some to give to my friends at church. Our church is very small, a lot smaller than most churches (about a dozen families), but I still can't afford to buy everyone a gift. But I enjoy giving a little something to every family, so I make these crackers to give away every year. They are always a big hit. Last year when I worked at the elementary school I made some for my co-workers too.

I finally finished making enough to fill 12 1 quart mason jars tonight so I can bring them to church tomorrow. Here's the recipe so you all can share a little of my holiday tradition joy. I warn you though, they're addicting!

*Most recipes you find now for these only have the Hidden Valley Ranch mix as the seasoning and leave out the dillweed, lemon pepper, and garlic salt, but those three extra spices add a lot to the taste! This is the old school recipe!

Hidden Valley Ranch Oyster Crackers

- ¾ cup salad oil (canola oil or veg. oil)
- 1 envelope (1oz. or approx. 2 tbsp) Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
- ½ tsp. dillweed
- ¼ tsp. lemon pepper
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder or garlic salt
- 1 bag (12-16 oz.) plain oyster crackers

Whisk together first five ingredients.
Pour over crackers, stirring to coat.
Place on baking sheets.
Bake at 275 F for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 11-12 cups

Feelin Festive

I keep thinking that my windows are fogged up, but it's just all the SNOW flying outside. I hope CJ gets home safe from work today.

Anyway, I've been feeling like the quintessential Christmas housewife the past few days, making gingerbread cookies while it's snowing outside and listening to Manneheim Steamroller...my favorite Christmas music...it makes me think of Christmas morning with my family since it's Dad's favorite Christmas music too, and he always plays the CDs on a loop on Christmas morning. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Still Nacht (Silent Night)", and "Veni Veni (O Come, O Come Emmanuel)" are my favorites.

I always say I don't enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy baking when the mood strikes me. Mostly cookies though, nothing fancy like cake or bread...CJ is my bread-making man. Here's the first batch of cookies I made (can you tell which one was for CJ?)...

A lot of them got eaten...

A special sign language "I love you" cookie for my Mommy...

And a dog cookie for Luna. Well...not really, I'm not going to let her eat it, but it looks kind of like her. I guess this one I'll give to Dad...he's our big dog lover.
Gingerbread cookies are addicting!...making them as well as eating them. I wanted to make some more, but didn't have enough molasses left from the first batch, so I looked up online what substitutes I could use...honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, or brown sugar. So my second batch I made, I used the rest of the molasses and honey...and look how much different they look from the first batch...but they taste just as good. I want to make another batch with maple syrup so I can compare.

And what, you may ask, am I going to do with all these cookies? Well, I already gave some away to Rachel downstairs, since she was kind enough to let me borrow her ground clove (I didn't have any) and her cool cookie cutters. But the rest I'm planning on bringing to church on Sunday and then bringing some to my parents' house Christmas Eve.

I got my recipie from Maya*Made's blog and found info on the substitutions from Yahoo Answers.