2nd Cookie - Pebbernodder

Okay - so it doesn't look like much now, but this is just the dough that I mixed up last night.

This is 2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
5 cups flour
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground cardamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

I really like these with a nice cup of tea.  Crisp. Spicy.  Little gnocchi puffs of cookie!

I'll bake these off tonight and mix the next batch up - and no, I haven't decided what.  Probably snickerdoodles.

Oh!  And just an FYI.  I don't know where the recipes came from.  My mother taught me them when I was very young and I wrote them out on recipe cards - so I don't have the original sources to credit.  So if you know that and would like me to add that to the post - just drop me a comment or email.

Also - since most of the cookies take a day or so to finish, I'll edit the original recipe post to add the finished photo once they're done.

Yay cookie time!

First Cookie - Rum Balls

So tonight I start baking for the holiday.  Usually my DH and I gift cookies - and it has to start somewhere.  What better place to start than with rum balls?  They have to age a little bit to mellow the rum - then they turn practically into a cordial - crisp sugar outside, chocolate walnut inside and a rum center.  Personally, I'm not a fan, but he says they're good - so I will make them.

2 boxes Nilla wafers - crushed
2 cups chopped walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup dark rum
2/3 cup corn syrup

Crush the wafers, add the cocoa and walnuts.  Mix it up to get it all incorporated.  Start adding the rum and syrup - a couple tablespoons of each at a time.  Depending on the humidity you may use it all or not.

Roll into balls and coat with colored sugar.  Place in airtight container and let them sit for at least 3 days if not longer.

Enjoy!

Bead Mania

Tomorrow I am showing my bead work at a little jewelry seminar.  I thought you might like a preview!

A few years ago I started doing bead work.  At first it was just another "occupy the hands" kind of hobby.  I found it relaxing.  The beads were so pretty!  The next thing I knew I was making wine charms and selling them at a local shop.

My little Simply Charming Wine Charms were a big hit.  It didn't hurt that I was able to get them into a store right before Christmas - right on the checkout counter.  

I thought about "expanding my market" by selling through other stores in neighboring towns.  That's when I found out just how many regulations that the state put on any type of merchandise related to alcohol.  Even though the charms were just decorations for drinking glasses, they still fell under state regulations for selling.  It was a bother.

But I still liked bead work. So I did some charity pieces for the church.

A chaplet for praying to St. Rita.  All little blue crystals - very delicate.

Little pocket rosaries in Swarovski crystals and hematite. Adorable.

Christmas was coming again and the knitters in the family needed stitch markers...

Fancy stitch markers with a good weight to them so they don't get stuck in the yarn.  They were a big hit and the different sizes helped mark the different parts of the patterns.

I tried necklaces, but I don't really wear them...

Then I paired a necklace with earrings and a new obsession was born!

I do love earrings - and now I could have them for any and all occasions.  

There were hoops

And dangles

Pearls and crystal

Freshwater pearls

Czech crystals

Swarovski sparkle

Dangles for New Year's

Teardrops

Gold and glass

Funky cracked glass

Valentine's Day reds

Pastel pearls

St. Patrick's Day greens

Golden drops

Czech drops

Crystal and pearl

Hematite and pearl

Antique flavored

Gold and pearl

But sometimes when you're designing you've got to just have a little fun!

Candy corn!  So simple and sweet.  Love it!

I'm really looking forward to showing my jewelry tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Nature's Christmas Tree

The rain was coming down this morning.  By the time I got to the train station, it had let up and droplets were sparkling like diamonds on the branches of the trees and bushes - like nature's own Christmas tree lights.

You have to love Friday's, of course, because it means that tomorrow you can actually sleep until you want to get up.  Sometimes though, you only get to see beautiful things like this in the dark mornings of a cold and rainy winter day.

It reminds me to keep balance in my day and to cherish the little things.

Arf!

Our puppy got a puppy for Christmas. She named him Arf and they are inseparable.  

Our pup tries to teach Arf everything she knows.

• how to play ball - Arf can catch if you throw it right to him, but hasn't learned to throw it back.

• how to stay - Arf is really good at this, but no so good at come

• how to sit - Arf tries hard, but always falls down

The other morning, she took Arf over to the doggie door to get him to come outside with her.  She nudged the door with her nose and stood back to let Arf go ahead.  Arf didn't move an inch, so she showed him again.  Still, nothing from Arf.  

Finally, she started hopping in and out of the door in the hope that Arf would finally get it.  No such luck.

By this time, I was laughing so hard I was crying.  

She went outside for a few minutes and rushed back in and went straight up to Arf with her favorite football toy.  She dropped it at his feet.  "Arf!"  The ball hit Arf and rolled back to her.  

Success!!!!  He plays!!!!

She and Arf spent the next hour playing football while I watched, laughed and encouraged them both.  

Good boy, Arf!

Mitten Knittin' Time

A few years back during the Christmas holiday, I knitted this mitten and cap set for a charity mitten tree.  It was my first try at knitting mittens and I fell in love with them.  Aren't they cute!  

That year, the charity provided a pattern for folks who wanted to knit or crochet.  My friend thought it would be great fun to knit a set for the tree, so she got the pattern, picked up some yarn and set out to knit up the set.  She didn't know how to knit - did I mention that?

Several phone calls, emails and a video chat later, she "gifted" me the yarn.  The pattern, I'm told, had an unfortunate accident involving a fireplace.  I didn't ask questions.

I have knitted sweaters, scarfs and afghans before.  My mom taught me to knit and every time I pick up a set of needles, I remember those lessons and I think about how I am carrying on a tradition that goes back - well, forever.  I even did a pair of socks once, but I never knit a mitten.  It's the thumbs.  They scare me!  Increasing, decreasing - all without making holes.  I was intimidated - but my friend needed me.

Fortunately, the internet provided me with a good pattern.  I found a pre-war 1940's classic mittens and cap pattern that was perfect.  Sturdy, washable, durable and most importantly cute!  I knitted them up during my commute and got them to the mitten tree on time.  A few weeks later, I saw a little girl playing out in the snow wearing my mittens and cap.  Lovely!

Well, I showed that picture to my little sister - and ever since then, she has been begging me to make her a set of mittens.  How can I say no to my little sister?  So this Fall when I went to the Sheep & Wool Festival, I picked out some hand-spun wool for a pair of mittens just for her.  And this weekend, I started knitting.

So here is the first mitten, sis.  I hope you like it.  I think it really fits your personality!

Colorful, right?

Great flexibility in the thumb for when you go snow-shoeing with the pups.

The happy/playful look...

Shy and demure...

Oh!  Where's the thumb?

There it is!

Note the fancy braided cast-on - and stranding inside for double insulation.

The delicate stripes on the cuff really set off the checks, don't you think?

So I made up the pattern.  It's based on the 1940's pattern from the first pair of mittens, with a bit of a tumvante Gudmundstjärn pattern mixed in.  Yes - a Swedish mitten pattern (in Swedish no less, but they were so adorable that I had to translate it).  They should keep you toasty warm.

Now I just have to finish the second one...

Here's What We Did

These 2 spruce trees are right in front of our town hall.  They really are a nice shape, so the mayor decided that it would be neat if they had lights on them.

Then 2 committees met and decided that it would be neat if they got lights for the trees and had them put up.

Then a subcommittee met and decided that it would be neat if there were lights that could be put up on the trees.

Then a sub-subcommittee met and decided that while it would be nice if there were trees on the lights, there was simply no funding available to do to.

Then all kinds of crazy broke out and people started talking to each other and decisions got made and folks volunteered and all of the sudden there were people who said - we can do this.

There were fundraisers knocking on doors, flyers handed out and hung up, cans on counters, emails sent, radio chats, television advertising and newspaper press releases.  And the town responded.  And the money came.

And then to story of how the trees came to be planted where they were came out.  They were memorial trees planted for 2 little girls who died.  And the community responded more, and the family of the girls responded.  And the money came.

Then the contractors stepped up to the plate and donated their time and equipment.  And the lights came and were hung, the electric lines got run and a celebration was planned, the bakers baked goodies and  a party was put together.

Then the celebration time arrived.  The people of the town came to see the trees lit.  The clergy came to bless the moment, the mayor spoke, the family lit the trees, the press took photos and quotes and the television cameras recorded the event.

And the trees were lit.

This happened in a rural community where money is tight, foreclosures are common and jobs are non-existant.  It happened because people care about the town and they care about the family who lost the little girls.

This was a wonderful thing.  So many people stepped up to the plate and helped out in whatever way they could.

Thank you everyone!!!

I'm still smiling!

I Take It Back

This surprised me.  Seriously.  I never expected to see a giant teddy bear strapped into the passenger seat in a car sitting in the parking lot at the train station.  What the!?

I had to get out of the truck and take a second look.  Yup.  It's a teddy bear alright.  Very funny!

What a great hiding place for a Christmas present - I mean, nobody would think to go looking in the passenger seat of your car in the parking lot of a rural train station.  It's a way better place than way back in the corner of the top shelf of the bedroom closet.

Don't you think?

I'm still laughing.

Something You Don't See Everyday

My pup was going crazy barking and I just couldn't figure out why - until I saw this guy.  Yup, it's a camel.  

I can't say that it really surprised me, maybe because of all my years of living in Manhattan where you see the strangest things without commenting.  

I can say that it certainly surprised my puppy!  You would have thought that the world was coming to an end and only she could save us!  By barking really really loud!! Inside the house!!!

Of course I had to oblige her curiosity and go over to see the camel - and I obliged the camel by not bringing my pup with me.

This lovely guy was part of a living nativity over at the church.  He and a few of his friends stopped by to join some spirited children in reenacting the nativity scene, it was really cute.  I especially loved Mary's footwear - the latest in flashy bright hightop sneakers.  Sparkles included.

Adorable.

Cake Inspirations

I have to bake a cake for the church raffle this weekend.  Of course, I needed some fresh ideas.  I thought about just doing a basic white cake with white frosting.  No! Really!! I thought about something just plain and simple! Honest!!!

But then I thought - where the fun in that?  So I headed over to Cake Central to get some inspiration from the fabulous bakers there.  The stacked ornament cake above is by Karen Anne Cakes.  The thing I like about it is the hand painted gold snowflakes on the bottom tier.  The wobbly effect is neat, but I don't have a tray that I am willing to drill a hole through to secure a dowel rod.  I'll just keep the golden snowflakes in mind.

I just love the pearl detailing on this cake.  The use of both blue and white pearls adds such a nice sparkle.  But - I don't have any pearls so, continuing the search.

Love the leaf border on this.  So nicely done.  But not really Christmassy - more of a winter theme, no?

Clean and classic.  The plain white fondant really shows off the holly on this cake.  I like the holly a lot, but I'm not too keen on the fondant covering the cake.  I'd have to make it tonight in order to let it cure to be able to use it tomorrow. And tonight I am definitely not making fondant.

Serious beauty here.  Mexican paste edible tree, ribbons and bows!  Very nice, very nice indeed.  And I love the little stars anchoring the petals on the side.

The Bumble! OMG! Too funny and adorable.  Rice krispies and cotton candy came together in this beauty.  If I could get cotton candy, I would definitely attempt this one just for the laughs!

Okay - last one.  I promise.  Love the simplicity of this -shell border, leaf in red and green and round dots - all buttercream, all delicious.

I have to think about it, but tomorrow is cake bakin' time!

31 Christmas Trees

This is what 31 Christmas trees look like all crammed into the backend of a pickup truck.  We don't normally go around with 31 Christmas trees crammed in the backend of our pickup, but this weekend we thought we would make an exception and just go ahead and cram them in there.  Just for fun.

I kid.

We had to go to pick up the "holiday" trees for the town.  With some careful stacking on my Dear Honey's part, we were able to fit all 31 trees into the pickup and make our way back home without incident.

We were able to transport all of the trees and get them to the town square in time for decorating day.  They are all decked out with pretty little red ribbons and galvanized wire securely holding them in place.

Next weekend is the tree lighting event, so the streets of our town are bedecked and ready to go.

Aside from being allergic to pine (itchy itchy) it was a lot of fun!