THEY LOOK LIKE.......

I bought these paper mache golden reindeer several years ago at a local craft store. I keep moving them around to different rooms and positions. Something just doesn't seem right. Every time I pass by them I glance out of the side of my eyes and I see GOLDEN CALVES!!! Yea, just like the ones that Jeroboam made to worship after the fall of Solomon's kingdom. Yikes! Finally, I just couldn't stand it any longer. No golden calves in my house!

So with the help of a little Krylon metallic SILVER spray paint, I transformed my reindeer.

OK, now I can live with that. In this case, Silver is much better than Gold!

STARTING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS

24 years ago my aunt gave me a little house in the Snow Village series. I have always loved it and last year bought a few children playing in the snow to go along with it. They remind me of photos of when I was little (in the 50's) playing in the snow.

This is the lighted Stucco Bungalow I have on one of my bookshelves this year.

.......and here is a photo of my dear Daisy from last Christmas. I miss her so much! Everytime I walk into the house I STILL expect to see her running to greet me. I still stick my right leg into the door to keep her from running outside to terrorize the neighbor's dog. Then, I remember... I love this photo of her and it reminds me of what a wonderful friend she was for 16 1/2 years. Merry Christmas, Daisy, in Doggy Heaven!

CHRISTMAS DECORATING

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, I like to take my time. I don't like to do everything all in one day. I like to change it up a little each year, use what I have and add a little something new. This year I thought I'd hang a few ornaments at the kitchen window. The plastic ornaments were 50% off at Hobby Lobby and you can pick up all the Frasier fur branches that you can carry for free from Pikes where they trim the trees. I soaked the limbs in water overnight to make sure they didn't dry out anytime soon. I like the nice simple look.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTMAS

Dear Lord,

Help us to remember what is REALLY important at Christmas!

PACK AWAY THE PILGRIMS

Time to package up the Pilgrims and put away the Thanksgiving decorations........

Because, Baby It's Cold Outside......................

So, put some Christmas music on the iPod and pull out the Christmas decorations..............and turn the volume to MAX!

THANKSGIVING 2010

It was so nice to have the whole family together, cousins, aunt and uncles, grandmothers and great grand children. The weather was more like the Fourth of July than Thanksgiving, but we were thankful for that! Here is our turkey "avant" the grill.

A tradition at our house is to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. One of my all time favorites...........

Several years ago my husband heard "The Kimmer" aka Kim Peterson describe on his radio show (WGST in Atlanta) that he cooked his turkey on the grill basting with wine. We've been doing that for several years now and they always turn out SO tender and delicious!

My favorite part of the Macy's parade when Santa appears..........it's the start of the Holiday Season for me!

Now that the parade is over, it's back to cooking in the kitchen. Notice my new nifty apron. It was made by my cyber friend, Becky Stancil. Check out her etsy site here. It's so cute with that vintage flair and the pink is for Breast Cancer Awareness.

It's nice to have a house full again! Kids playing Wii.........

And two gorgeous redheads, my son's girlfriend and my niece.

It was such a nice day we got t0 enjoy the deck and catching up with family and friends.

The coconut cake arrives..................my aunt makes the most wonderful coconut cake. It is legendary. It takes 3 days to make and soak up the coconut juices. One year she made one to take to her son's house in Charleston. Fortunately for us, she forgot it and my cousin brought it to our house by default. I've never made it myself, but I do have her recipe. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post the recipe.

And here's the proud cook with his 23 lb perfectly grilled turkey!

The newly engage couple! Yea for Charlie and Natalie!

Abe wasn't so excited to see my photo of UGA biting an Auburn player.

Here's most of the crew............missing about 4 in the photo, but close. We had a great time but missed those that couldn't make it.

My very creative niece and her wonderful necklace made out of bungee cords. See it blogged about here.................

Here's my mom and her sister. My mom told us a story about the year she was 10 years old. It was during the depression in 1938 and her father was out of a job and there was no money. They were not having a turkey for that Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving her mother let her go to the 10 cent movies on the square. During intermission they usually played a few games and she won a drawing..............and it was for a fresh turkey. They DID have turkey that year after all!

Lora takes home the BEST TAKE HOME MEAL EVER!

and.........my kiddos................it was so nice to have everyone home and talking and having fun together. I'm very thankful for all of our blessings this year!

One of my oldest son's new endeavors is starting a business with his friend FREAKING ADORABLE.........art for children. Their website should be up and running soon, but in the meantime you can "like" them on facebook here. They are prints of original acrylic paintings on gallery wrapped canvases and are very cute!

HEAVENLY HASH RECIPE

One of our traditional family recipes is Heavenly Hash...............no, not the kind from the 60's or Venice Beach. This one is made with marshmallows and a cooked dressing mixed with whipped cream. Yum! Note to self: Mix in the large lid of your cake holder because it makes a lot. You need to make it a day ahead to let the flavors blend together..........heavenly!

MOM'S HEAVENLY HASH

1 large can pineapple cubes (drain & save)

1 pound marshmallows (small variety)

1 cup broken pecans

1 jar red maraschino cherries

2 cups seedless green or red grapes (cut in halves)

1/2 pint strawberries

1 large can mandarin oranges

1 1/2 pints whipping cream - whipped

DRESSING:

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon flour

6 egg yolks (beat well by hand)

3 Tablespoons vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

1/4 cup pineapple juice (left over from canned pineapple)

Mix all fruit, nuts, marshmallows. Cook dressing in top of a double boiler until it becomes thick like pudding. Cool dressing mixture before adding to fruit. Then add whipping cream. Refrigerate 24 hours before serving. Enjoy!

GRANDMA'S DRESSING RECIPE

I woke up early this morning to make another batch of my grandmother's cornbread dressing. I made a full recipe on Saturday but decided if we wanted to have any leftovers this year, I'd better make another 1/2 recipe. (Her recipe is below) But first I wanted to take a couple of photos of the beautiful leaves this year. It's cloudy today so I just opened up my front door and snapped a shot of our USUALLY ugly bradford pear tree. I'm not sure why the leaves are such beautiful colors this year but they have been spectacular.

Even the Hackberry trees are all decked out in shades of gold and yellow and fill my back windows with a golden glow.

My grandmother was born in 1897 in Mississippi. I'm not sure where she got this recipe but we have been making it ever since I can remember, with a little tweaking here and there. We always tried to find PINE MOUNTAIN white cornmeal, but I can't find it anymore at the grocery store so I used WHITE LILY self rising white cornmeal.

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon Poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks real butter

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 recipes of cornbread (see below)

1 recipe: 2 cups cornmeal, 1 2/3 cups buttermilk, 1 egg, 1/4 cup wesson oil.

3 small onions, diced

5 stalks celery, diced

12 slices white bread, toasted and crumbled

First make your cornbread. Heat the 1/4 cup wesson oil in a black iron skillet in 400 degree oven for a few minutes until it is very hot. Mix the cornmeal, buttermilk and egg. Pour the 1/4 cup hot oil into cornbread batter, stir. Then immediately pour batter into iron skillet and bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree oven.

While the cornbread is baking, dice your onions and celery. Use less onions if they are very strong. Put these two items in a bowl.

Next, melt your butter. I pulled out my "vintage" mid 1970's Dansk pot. I haven't used it for such a long time because it was just too small when I was cooking for 5. Now that we're back down to 2, I use it more often. You'll add the butter later.

Toast your bread. I usually have to toast each piece at least twice sometimes three times to make sure it is toasted completely through. It crumbles a lot better. Just don't burn it! Crumble the cooked cornbread and the crumbled toast into a large bowl. Then add spices, melted butter and eggs. Mix well and add onion and celery. Add the chicken stock.

Spread mixture into a large greased pan and cook at 400 for about 40 minutes. Don't overcook or it will become dry. There you go, Southern Cornbread Dressing!

EARLY MORNING VISITORS

I'm glad I left my camera on the desk last night. Early this morning my husband caught these two in our front yard...........looking for pansies I'm sure!

BOOK REVIEW "MUDBOUND"

I just finished reading a great book titled MUDBOUND by Hillary Jordan. If you liked THE HELP by Katherine Stockett, then you'll like MUDBOUND. It won the Bellwether Prize for fiction which is a prize for a book about social awareness. The book takes place in Mississippi just after WWII in the 1940's. The inside book cover describes it as "a gripping and exquisitely rendered story of forbidden love, betrayal, and murder, set against the brutality of the Jim Crow South". Every once in a while a book has made me cry, but I've NEVER cried AFTER I've finished a book and closed the cover..........until now! Hillary Jordan's descriptions make it easy for you to imagine her characters as when she states, "He felt light against me, insubstantial. His ribs protruded like the black keys of a piano."

I had never heard of this book until I was browsing the Kent District Library one day. Check out their "staff picks" and their "book club in a bag" reading lists. I also check out the staff picks on the Arapahoe Library District website. If you want a good book to read, try Hillary Jordan's MUDBOUND.