Saturday, November 28, 2009

Let it snow??

Why is it, though we haven't had rain since last March, that the day we want to put up our Christmas decorations - including our outdoor lighting - the skies open up and pour all day?!

We even had some of this here in San Diego:



(from www.msnbc.com - here's a link to the story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34182531)

Here's hoping tomorrow will bring us clear skies (and maybe a bit warmer weather)!

Zentmrs

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

I love holiday movies! This year we started with "A Christmas Carol" (in 3-D!) a couple of weeks ago, "The Ghost of Christmas Eve (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) last weekend, and then yesterday we watched "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "A Christmas Vacation." A great way to start out the Christmas season!


Santa vs the Snowman

The Family Man


The Ref
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

White Christmas


It's a Wonderful Life

Scrooged

What's your favorite holiday movie?





Zentmrs

Friday, November 27, 2009

Today we...

  • Put away Thanksgiving
  • Took out the Christmas boxes
  • Decorated the car
  • Got our Christmas tree
  • Emptied about 25% of the boxes
  • Put lights on the live tree
  • Set up two artificial trees inside the house
  • Set up two artificial trees in the entryway
  • Had a discussion with the cats regarding their insistence on sleeping underneath the tree
  • Fed my in-laws cats
  • Stayed away from Black Friday shopping (mainly because we finished our Christmas shopping a week ago!)

Now we are sitting amongst boxes and boxes of Christmas stuff. Ornaments, dishes, linens, indoor decorations, lights... We've made a good start today - hopefully tomorrow will see a great deal of progress too. Maybe I'll even get to pictures!



Zentmrs

We got one!

Our beautiful tree!

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Mr and I enjoyed a wonderful and quiet day today. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, relaxed, cooked a wonderful dinner for two...



... The Mr carved the turkey..

... we got the chance to wish our families Happy Thanksgiving, and are now kicking off the Christmas season by watching "Christmas Vacation" - couldn't ask for a nicer day!

Zentmrs

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Delicious Cookies!

I baked these cookies for my in-laws to take to The Mr's brother for Thanksgiving. I thought they sounded a little bit Thanksgiving-y and they ended up tasting fantastic! Shortbread cookies, with some cornmeal to give it an interesting texture and slightly sweet taste. And the jalapeno jelly gave a little bit of heat. If you like a bit more spice, make larger cookies than the recipes calls for and use more of the jalapeno jelly.

These are definitely worth a try!


Pepper Jelly Cornmeal Cups

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup red and/or green jalapeƱo jelly


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until combined. Beat in cornmeal. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.


2. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly press the tip of your thumb into the center of each ball of dough. Fill each center with about 1/8 teaspoon of the jalapeno jelly.


3. Bake in the preheated oven about 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Makes about 96 cookies.


To Store: To Store: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.








Zentmrs