Holiday Happenings

Seasons of Peace

We had a wonderful and peaceful Christmas - I hope you did too!

My sister, her children and my mother in law came over Christmas eve and we enjoyed playing some board games together, visiting and eating far too much! My hubby had to work for a bit and didn't get home until 8 p.m. so we also watched several episodes of 17 Kids and Counting before he got home since there was a marathon on TLC. This is not my hubby's favorite show but it is mine ~smile~ After everyone went home for the evening we were able to just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening with just the three of us. It was a little bitter sweet for me as my son will be 18 next month and I couldn't help but wonder how many more Christmases we will have together. Soon enough he will have in laws to spend holidays with too or he may move away and not be able to come home for Christmas. *sniff* For all of the mothers who were up to their eyeballs in toys and overly excited and wound up children - enjoy every precious moment - it will be over all too soon. Too soon you will be wishing for the days of wide eyed little ones bouncing into your room at 5 a.m. to wake you up Christmas morning.

Christmas day was quiet and relaxing. Everyone came back over for brunch then headed home for the afternoon and back for the afternoon and dinner. My hubby cooked most of the dinner again this year. I am blessed with a hubby who makes the best turkey and stuffing. He also makes the gravy since as I have confessed before I can not make gravy. So it was a wonderful holiday.

Boxing day my sister and I hit the stores in a near by town and we were surprised that the stores were not jam packed with people. In fact it was just like any Saturday. However we heard that people in the city were lined up outside stores at 6 a.m. That must be why local stores weren't crazy! I was able to get my shopping for the coming year started with birthday gifts for three of my little monkeys and a birthday and Christmas present for my Mum. I like to stock up early - this saves so much time and money if you can shop ahead so I was quite pleased.

The next two days I was busy helping my sister clean her new house before she moved in and yesterday we helped her move. What a crazy time to move right between Christmas and New Year but she was able to buy her first home which comes with a rental property to help with the mortgage so she wasn't going to be fussy about the timing!

Today Hubby and I are off for an adventure so I better get ready! I'll post about that tomorrow!

Blessings,
Liisa

From Our Home To Yours.....

Blessings,
Liisa

Heading Into Christmas Pt. 3

Glory in the Highest

Luke 2:8-20

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Blessings,
Liisa

Heading Into Christmas Pt. 2

Christ Born of Mary

Luke 2:1-7
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child.
So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from this site .

Holiday Menus

I thought I would share our menu for the holidays. Many of the things we have are a family tradition which we have every year. Tortierre on Christmas eve is one of those traditions. My father worked for CN Rail so we moved quite often when I was growing up. One of the places we lived was in a suburb of Montreal. While there my father embraced the Quebec tradition of having tortierre on Christmas eve and we have carried that on every year since. My Dad made the absolute best tortierre I have ever had. I'll let you in on a little secret....don't tell anyone though....while I will make everything else from scratch I bought our tortierre. I know it is shameful! However Schneider's does make a very good one and they are very inexpensive......sshhhh....it's our little secret.

So after the true confessions, here without further ado is our holiday menu.....

Christmas Eve

Tortierre with gravy
Homemade Christmas cookies
Ham and Cheddar mini quiches
Mexican layered dip
Chips and dip


Christmas Day

Brunch -
Wife Saver (recipe here ) bacon and toast with jams, jellies and peanut butter, fresh fruit, juice, coffee and assorted teas.

Afternoon -
Snacks left from Christmas eve.

Dinner -
Roast turkey
My Hubby's wonderful stuffing
Gravy
Mashed potatoes regular and vegan for my niece.
Pickle tray
Corn
My mother in law's red cabbage
My mother in law's kale
rolls
butter
coffee and teas.

I had planned to make a black forest trifle for dessert but after talking it over with my sister and hubby we decided that everyone will just be too full to eat it so we will have a tray of German chocolate and marzipan goodies instead.

My goodness I may have to hit a strict diet when Boxing day comes along!

Blessings,
Liisa

Stuffed Roast Pepper Soup

Today a made a big pot of this yummy soup for dinner so that we can have leftovers for dinner tomorrow. I find that doing this really frees up my time to get other Christmas projects finished up before the festivities begin.

This soup is so good and very easy to make. I still have chopped green peppers in the freezer so I just put in a heaping cup of those for each of the peppers called for in the recipe - so quick!

Stuffed Roast Pepper Soup

2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion diced
6 cups of water
8 beef bouillon cubes
2 28oz. cans diced tomatoes with liquid
2 cups cooked rice
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 green, yellow or sweet red peppers chopped

In a large pot cook ground beef and onion until browned, drain.
Add the rest of the ingredients except peppers and stir well.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
Add peppers and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until tender.

Makes - 14-16 servings. 4 quarts.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Jesus Who?

I was shocked in talking to little ones lately how many of them could tell me every last detail about Santa. Where he lives, what he does, how he gets around etc. etc. But not one of the little ones I talked to knew who Jesus is. Not one. One year olds knew who Santa is but even four year olds had no idea who Jesus is. This is sad.

This Christmas why not use this as an opportunity to share Jesus with someone who doesn't know Him. Why not share who Jesus is, where He is now, why He came to earth and how. Perhaps if we all did that there wouldn't be so many children who know everything there is to know about a fictional character and nothing about the One Who came to save us. I pray hearts will be opened and lives changed this season.

Blessings,
Liisa

Heading Into Christmas Pt. 1

Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary

Luke 1:26-56
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

The Song of Mary

And Mary said:


“ My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.


Blessings,
Liisa

Note- Image from this site. I have not read and therefore do not necessarily agree with other material there.

Out of a Job Yet?

One of these is on the bumper of our vehicle. Very true and not just for the automotive industry.


As consumers I believe we are shopping ourselves out of work. It is startling how many items we buy that are not made in North America. The majority of items we buy are made in China. We buy them because they are less expensive and we are trying to save money. Stores stock these items because they can then offer lower prices and sell more.

I think what we fail to realize is that even though we may be saving money we are slowly buying ourselves out of work. If we have no work we won't have any money to save by buying things made in other countries.

I am not advocating wasting money but honestly you get what you pay for. You can buy something that is cheaply made for less money and save at that moment or you can buy a quality item that will last far longer and save in the long run....this is a lesson that I am still learning.

We all need to support our own countries and keep our own people working.

Are you out of a job yet?

I will peacefully step down off my soap box now. ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

Busy Busy

Well things here are getting busier and busier as we get closer to Christmas.

Yesterday I made Fiddle Faddle and packaged the Molasses Crinkle cookies I made on Tuesday for the freezer but not before 2/3 of them disappeared! The Fiddle Faddle I have stored in cookie tins lined with plastic wrap and it should be just fine until Christmas...if I can hide it from the men!

Today I will be making thumbprint cookies...these ones are like shortbread and I will fill them with raspberry jam. My family wasn't too fond of the thumbprint cookies that are rolled in nuts and baked and then filled with jam so I am making this variety instead - you put in the jam before you bake them and they are very good.

Also today I will be mailing out a parcel for my Nanny (grandmother) I had hoped that I would get to see her over the holidays but I don't think that will happen now so I will just send her gift to my aunt's house to be sure she gets it for Christmas.

I need to pick up some plates at the second hand store today to put the cookies on for the couple who deliver our fliers each week, the dentist's office, the agency I work for and the doctor's office. I think it is much easier to use a real plate for this than a flimsy paper one. They are stronger, easier to manage without spilling the cookies and look so much nicer. Also at 25 cents each you can afford to give them away! For the recycling man I usually tie his cookies in a bag and set it on top of the recycling. As I mentioned before on top of each plate with the card I will be attaching one of the "Kris Moose" I made. You can see that post here.

I will need to do a big deep cleaning on the house as well throughout the upcoming days.

I am also busy working on two handmade gifts for my hubby. I will post about those after Christmas. ~wink~

So I better get myself moving so I can accomplish some of the things I need to get done today!

Happy Thursday!

Blessings,
Liisa

Worry

In these uncertain times it is so easy to worry. I have always said that we need not worry because the Lord will look after us, everything will be fine and it always has. We have never gone hungry and we have always had a roof over our heads. However lately I have gotten worried spurred on by layoffs, plant closures as well as doom and gloom stories, blogs and articles and when that happened I was relying on myself and my own power and that just led to more and more worry. How would we be able to make ends meet if my hubby loses his job? How would we feed ourselves?

You know it finally hit home for me what I have been doing. I lost sight of the fact that we can do nothing in our own power. God has it all in control. He already knew this would happen and he already knows the outcome. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose."

Instead of feeding fear I should have been turning to God's Word.

These scriptures came to mind today.....

Matthew 6:25-34 (King James Version)

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

How true!

God is in control - Praise the Lord!

Happy Tuesday!
Blessings,
Liisa

Iced Spice Cookies (Weezer Cookies)

I made a double batch of these yesterday and they are half gone already! I have to get the cookies into the freezer right away or my own cookie monsters snarfle them right up! Oh well at least I know they enjoy my baking. ~smile~

Iced Spice Cookies aka: Weezer Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 lg. egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease sheets.
Cream margarine and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, mix well.
Blend dry ing. together and gradually add to wet mixing well.
Roll to 1/8" thick and cut out.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Ice with Royal Icing.

(Note: I roll the dough into balls and press flat with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour instead of cutting it out)

Royal Icing

1 lb. icing sugar
3/8 cup milk
3/8 cup light corn syrup
Flavouring as desired (I used vanilla)
Food Coloring

In a bowl mix sugar and milk then add corn syrup just until combined add flavouring, mix well and add coloring.

(Note: This recipe makes alot of icing I halved it and had just enough for a double batch of cookies.)

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Chocolate Macaroons

I had alot of coconut leftover from making snowballs the other day (recipe here)and not alot of peanut butter so I decided to make regular macaroons instead of the peanut butter ones. You can find the recipe for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Macaroons here.

Here is the recipe I used....

Chocolate Macaroons

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine

Put in a pot and boil for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

Mix in a bowl:
3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups coconut
6 tbsp. cocoa

Pour hot mixture over oat mixture and blend well. Drop by teaspoon on wax paper. Let set. Makes approx. 3 dozen.

Note: I cover a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and drop them on there since I never seem to have wax paper on hand and also I can pick them up and move them easily if I need to and the plastic wrap keeps the sheet clean.

Also this time I made them very small, bite size, since they are very sweet and a bigger one can be a little too much all at once.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Russian Tea Cakes

I made these yummy little cookies yesterday afternoon and I had best get them into the freezer quick or there will be none left for Christmas!~smile~

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix thoroughly then blend in:

2 1/4 cups flour mixed with 1/4 tsp. salt

Stir in:

3/4 cup nuts ( I used chopped walnuts)

Chill dough.

Roll into 1 " balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet (cookies do not spread)
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees or until set but not browned.
While still warm roll each cookie in icing sugar. Cool and roll in icing sugar again.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

P.S. The place mat in the photo was made by my Great Grandmother we called her Nanny Stewart and she was much loved. Born in Scotland she lived a remarkable and very full life. She lived on her own dancing and leading senior aerobics until she was in her late nineties when she felt she may be ready to move to a home. Her goal was to live to 100 to get her letter from the Queen and she did. She passed away just before her 101st birthday. I look forward to seeing her again one day.

O Holy Night

I love this song and this is a beautiful version.



Blessings,
Liisa

Works For Me Wednesday - Mitten Liners

I was having trouble with the wind blowing right through my knit mittens. They are hand made and red and my favorites so I didn't want to get a different pair and I find the thick nylon kind too warm. I decided that I should make a pair of flannel mitten liners. I had some red flannel left over from this project so I decided to make them out of that.

They are soft and warm and keep the wind out without being too bulky or hot. Pretty basic but it works for me. ~smile~

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas please visit Rocks in My Dryer.


Blessings,
Liisa

Chocolate Peanut Butter Macaroons

Chocolate Peanut Butter Macaroons

2 cups sugar
4 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine

Mix together in a bowl. Bring to a boil.
Boil for one minute and remove from heat.

Add:

1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats

Mix well and drop onto wax paper or tin foil and let cool.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from www.allposters.com

Tons of Snow

Boy did we ever get a pile of snow on Saturday night! This unfortunately meant that with continuing squalls and blowing snow there was no way we could get to church on Sunday since the highways were closed and we go to church in another town. Even in town several churches were closed.

I love snow and Saturday evening my hubby and I went out for a walk. It was so beautiful and still with almost no traffic and big fat flakes coming down. I loved it - my hubby is not such a fan however!

Here are some pictures of yesterday morning and my hubby snow blowing.





Blessings,
Liisa

A Word to the Wise

Make very sure that a wee little black current Bentasil lozenge does not make it into your dryer with your load of whites.


They are sneaky little things! I am always so careful to empty pockets and sort the laundry so colors don't run and everything was fine when I put the clothes in the dryer so imagine my surprise when I opened my dryer and saw purple everywhere! I don't know how I missed it.
~sigh~

We are off to do some shopping today to replace what was ruined. How blessed we are that we have the ability to do that. Thank you Lord.


Blessings,
Liisa

Love Brownies

My hubby is coming home today from a conference. He's been gone since Wednesday and I miss him so much! Life is just not the same when he is away.

Whenever he goes away I make him "Love Brownies" to take along whether it is a trip for work or a fishing trip with the guys.

Love Brownies got their name because I make them to let my hubby know I love him and will miss him while he is away. They provide a nice snack in the hotel room or cabin without having to pick something up and he really likes them - so do the guys he goes away with! ~smile~

Here is the recipe.....

Love Brownies

3/4 cup margarine melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Chocolate chips as desired.

Mix in one bowl in order given.
Pour into a greased 8" square pan
Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until they test done.

Do you do anything special for your hubby when he goes away? I would love to hear what you do.

Blessings,
Liisa

Hello Dollies

These are our family's all time favorite Christmas treat!

Hello Dollies

Crust:
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Pour melted butter into pan sprinkle crumbs over top and pat into pan.

Top:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

-Sprinkle coconut over crust then chips and nuts.
-Pour milk over all.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from www.allposters.com

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups icing sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp. milk
8 squares of semi sweet chocolate
1 tbsp. shortening

Mix together sugar, butter, peanut and milk in a bowl until combined and mostly smooth. Shape into balls and freeze for one hour.

Melt chocolate and shortening ogther ina double boiler.

Dip balls into chocolate and place on waxed paper to set.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from www.allposters.com

Christmas Baking List Revised

Well, I know it has only been a few days but my list has been revised to add Peanut Butter Balls and Chocolate Hazelnut Cream cookies.

So the new list is...
Molasses Crinkles
Peanut Butter Cookies
Macaroons
Hello Dollies
Cherry Cookies
Thumbprints
Nonpareils
Fiddle Faddle
Peanut Butter Cookies
Russian Tea Cakes
Stained Glass Candy
Snowballs
Iced Spice Cookies - Commonly called "Weezer cookies"
Peanut butter balls
Chocolate hazelnut cream cookies.

I will be sharing some of these recipes with you over the next several days in case you want to add to your list. ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

Fun Site

My sister just sent me a fun site. If you would like to know what the number one song was on a particular day like your birthday or your children's you can look it up here.

On the day my Hubby and I started dating the number one song was "I still haven't found what I am looking for" by U2. (Tee Hee, Snort, Chuckle, Laugh) I did find what I was looking for though!

When we got married the number one song was "End of the Road" by Boyz to Men! HA!

Lots of fun!

Blessings,.
Liisa

Felt Foods

I have been busy making felt foods as Christmas gifts for two of my little monkeys. They just love the play food they have at playgroup so I thought I would make them some of their own out of felt. There are tons of great sites that you can get ideas from and directions just search for felt foods.

Here is the assortment each of the little ones will receive....





Here they are all packaged up and ready to be wrapped.....



I hope they like them!

Blessings,
Liisa

Speak to the Sky Revisited

I just looked back in my blog to see what I was doing in December last year and I came across this video - it just makes me smile so I had to share it again!

Here it is Rick Springfield - Speak to the Sky



Here are the lyrics.....sing along!

Speak to the sky when ever things go wrong
And you know youre not talkin to the air, to the air
And the world will look better from up there

Speak to the sky cause things can get ya down
And you know when youre talkin to the lord, to the lord
The world will look better than before

And if I stumble and it seems that I am blind
Or if the road Im on seems awful hard to find
And though my conversation doesnt always rhyme
I always try to find some time to .......

Speak to the sky and tell you how I feel
And to know sometimes what I say aint right
Its all right
Cause I speak to the sky every night

And if I stumble and it seems that I am blind
Or if the road Im on seems awful hard to find
And though my conversation doesnt always rhyme
I always try to find some time to .......

Speak to the sky and tell you how I feel
And to know sometimes what I say aint right
Its all right
Cause I speak to the sky every night

Speak to the sky when ever things go wrong
And you know youre not talkin to the air, to the air
And the world will look better from up there

Lyrics from Lyrics Freak

Blessings,
Liisa

Speak to the sky.....~smile~

Table Centre Pieces

The other day my little monkeys and I went to help my friend make centre pieces for the Christmas Dinner at her her church. Well the little monkeys really went to play in the nursery while I helped make centre pieces.~smile~

They are having a musical before dinner that ties the Gospel to cookie baking so we made a cookie in a jar for the centre of each table. We will put a card under a chair at each table when I help decorate next week and whoever has it under their chair will be able to take the jar home.

It is always fun to get together and work with other ladies and today was no exception!

Here are some pictures of our efforts.....



I had to get the little ones home for lunch before we finished off the jars so I made the labels at home. Hopefully I will be able to get a picture of the finished jars and the room all set for the banquet when I go and help decorate.

Happy Monday!
Blessings,
Liisa

Christmas Baking

I just love to bake for the holidays and have often started on the first of December and baked every day until Christmas eve. Mostly due to sneaky people who get into everything in the freezer....o.k. I admit it I am one of the sneaky people!

I like to bring a plate of cookies to the office at my son's school, the dentists office and the doctor's office along with a card. This year I will be adding one of the moose I made to the top of each plate. I am excited to see how it will look.

The rest of the treats get gobbled up by family and friends during the holidays. I always make sure though to have enough left for New Years.

Here is the list of what I will be making this year. (So far) *wink*

Molasses Crinkles
Peanut Butter Cookies
Macaroons
Hello Dollies
Cherry Cookies
Thumbprints
Nonpareils
Fiddle Faddle
Peanut Butter Cookies
Russian Tea Cakes
Stained Glass Candy
Snowballs
Iced Spice Cookies - Commonly called "Weezer cookies" around here because when my son was in grades 7&8 he really liked the band Weezer and I often made cookies shaped like the Weezer W for him and his friends as well as for the school bake sale. When a band he had played their first show I made them with the band's name on them. Now though I just make round ones and ice them in red and green for Christmas. I recently saw in a Woman's Day magazine cookies iced like ornaments so I may try icing these like that - they were very pretty!

Well, I guess that is the list - at least for now! ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

The View From Here

I thought that while the monkeys and I were out for our walk today I would take some pictures around town so that I could share a bit of what our town is like.

Here we are ready to go. Just four little ones today.

This is our house.


One of the 10 churches in our little town. This was the first one built here.

Town Hall

Our Library

The view down my street heading for home.


Quite a bit of our snow melted last night - we had alot more that this.

I hope you enjoyed the view from here! ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

Snowy Afternoon

This is the best way to spend a snowy afternoon.....



Blessings,
Liisa

Fiddle Faddle

Yesterday afternoon I made some homemade fiddle faddle. It was so easy and so good so I thought I would share the recipe with you here. My hubby and son loved it and my hubby usually dislikes anything like this so I was quite pleased.


I don't remember where I found this recipe so if it is yours please let me know and I will give you credit for it.

Fiddle Faddle

6 quarts popped corn, unsalted
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup of butter
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch soda
pinch salt

Cook sugar and margarine for 5 minutes over high heat.
Add remaining ingredients.
Pour over popcorn in a very large container (I split the popcorn into two very large bowls)
Mix well until popcorn is evenly coated with liquid.
Place on 2 cookie sheets and place in the oven for 1 hour at 200 degrees.

Enjoy!

I had hoped to post a picture of it but this is all that was left this morning!




Everyone really did love it! ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

Some Crafting for Christmas

This is what I have been up to this week. I found this pattern for "Kris Moose" in a Country Woman magazine (Nov./Dec. 2006) and I though the was really cute. I made 8 of them and plan to use them to top gifts and the cookie plates that I take to the dentist and doctor's office.

Here is the whole herd....


I love all things moose related and these were easy to make. I have all my books out and will spend some time during the littles nap planning the things I would like to make, bake and do for the holidays.

Has anyone else started crafting for Christmas? I would love to see what you've been up to!

Happy Wednesday!

Blessings,
Liisa

Snow!

I don't think there is anything much more beautiful than a cool winter morning when everything is peaceful and quiet. When the trees are covered in snow and everything is fresh and white. I love to go out and shovel the walkway early in the morning. I am usually out before anyone else is around and it is just so still, so beautiful with the sun coming up and everything has a kind of blue glow. It is hard to describe but it really started my day off on a perfect note this morning.

Today I am going to put away all of our fall decorations and set out all of my snowmen!

I am sure this snow will go away again before winter arrives for good but for today it is very pretty.

Happy Tuesday!

Blessings,
Liisa

The pisture above is from www.allposters.com

Three Things About Me

My sister emailed me this but I thought I would share it here and see if anyone else would like to tell us 3 Things About Them.




3 THINGS ABOUT ME.....

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD:


1. Filler Operator at a salad dressing factory - YUCK

2. Spa Manager

3. Childcare Provider



3 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:


1. Hornepayne Ontario

2. Montreal Quebec

3. The Pas Manitoba


3 SHOWS THAT I WATCH:


1. 17 Kids and Counting

2. Wife Swap

3. Trading Spouses




3 PLACES THAT I HAVE BEEN:


1. England

2. Bolivia

3. Argentina


3 PLACES I HAVE BEEN THIS WEEK:


1. Church

2. Walmart

3. Dollar Store

3 PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME REGULARLY:


1. My sister

2. My hubby

3. My Mum


3 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:


1. Lasagna

2. Chicken Fingers

3. Anything Mexican


3 PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:


1. There is no place like home

2. Up North

3. Scotland

3 THINGS I WOULD RATHER BE DOING:


1. Snuggling with my hubby

2. Sewing

3. Living up north.



THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS YEAR:


1. Growing in my faith

2. Reaching out to others

3. Holidays



Who wants to play..........

Happy Monday!

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from www.allposters.com

On Tonight's Menu

Shepherds pie made with ground moose rather than ground beef.

We have been blessed by my hubby knowing many hunters who like to share their bounty with us. We have been given ground moose, stewing moose, and moose roasts as well as deer steaks and just last night my hubby was given a large deer roast.

My hubby and son are planning to hunt for themselves next season. Mark (hubby) used to hunt alot when he was younger and now Andy(son) is looking forward to going. He never had an interest when he was younger and we did not force him as he was quite upset about the whole idea but now as he is rapidly approaching manhood he is anxious to take the hunting course and get out with his Dad. We have hoped that he would come around as we believe that learning to hunt and fish are valuable skills for a man that may help him later on to feed his family.

Not so many years ago all boys learned to hunt and fish from an early age and it was just part of life. I think that we have lost too many of the old skills. I have purchased many books on old time skills and hope to learn all I can. I think we lost something special and important when we became so completely reliant on modern conveniences and grocery stores.

Blessings,
Liisa

Ladies Night

Last night I was blessed by opportunity for fellowship with some wonderful ladies. Normally this weekend we would all be at the First Love Ladies Conference in Niagara Falls but for various reasons none of us were able to go. My friend Eunice came up with the idea that we should invite all the ladies who have been to the conference with us in the last few years to a get together. So we had a wonderful evening. We had dinner together, I provided a lasagna, Eunice made a salad, heated up some wonderful red pepper and scallion bread and she made a beautiful peach cheesecake. How can you go wrong with any event that features cheesecake! ~smile~ Eunice shared that she made her own topping with fresh peaches, sugar and an "eyeballed" amount of cornstarch. I make my own cooked blueberry pie filling but it never occurred to me to use that or make own topping for cheesecakes. It was an ah ha moment for me! Eunice also made a delicious salad dressing. Oh it was so good I had to have seconds on salad! I have asked for the recipe and when I get it I'll share it with you...it's too good to keep to myself!

After dinner we watched the Embrace Grace DVD that I purchased after the conference last year. Liz Curtis Higgs was the keynote speaker at last year's conference so it was nice to revisit her this year! When we were done with that some of the ladies had to leave but the rest of us carried on for two more hours chatting, visiting and discussing ways that we can reach out to others with the gospel.

All in all a wonderful evening!

Blessings,
Liisa

Picture above from www.allposters.com

Trains

Today is kind of a chilly rainy day here so we spent a bit of time this morning watching the I Love Toy Trains videos. My son (who is now 17) loved these movies when he was small. I mean LOVED them - he just couldn't get enough! The little monkeys loved them just as much this morning. They are such simple movies but really hold a child's interest.

Afterward we made some trains on tracks for our craft time. We glued Popsicle sticks into tracks and I drew and cut out some trains for them to color. Here is a picture of the trains all finished.




They really enjoyed this one. I like to tie a craft project into a story, video (like this morning) or something we are learning about. For example the other day we were talking about hamsters, learning what they eat, where they live, looking at pictures of hamsters online then we watched the hamster dance video online and colored hamster pictures. They seem to really enjoy how things all tie together into a sort of theme day. ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa

Works For Me Wednesday- Saving Money on Lunches

It has been quite awhile since I participated in Works for me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer but I just have to share this!

When I was reading through the fliers a couple of weeks ago I noticed how much cheaper per pound whole hams were than deli sliced ham, the same is true for chickens, turkey, roast beef etc. It is certainly alot cheaper for us since we buy our meat directly from the farm. So it occurred to me to cook our own meats, slice them up and use them for lunch meat. It is much healthier, less expensive and easy. I just cook it, slice it, leave out enough for a few days and freeze the rest in small freezer bags (portioned for enough for a few days) then I can just pull out packages as we need them.

It works for me! For more ideas please visit Rocks in my Dryer.

Blessings,
Liisa

Lessons Learned

Today I learned two valuable lessons. I decided that I would vacuum out all the vents which I meant to do before we had to turn the furnace on. Lesson one don't procrastinate, lesson two watch littles like a hawk when they have crayons.

When I got to the living room vent I found a lovely and very colorful clump of melted crayons in the pipe artistically sprinkled with cheerios.

I spent several minutes chiseling it out of there and scraping wax off the pipe and vent cover thinking how glad I am that I did not put it off any longer!

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly little monkeys can cause mischief even when you are in the same room with them! ~smile~

I hope you are enjoying your day!

Happy Tuesday!
Blessings,
Liisa

Rememberance Day

Lest we forget.

Preparing Ahead

As much as possible I like to prepare ahead for the things. This really helps me with my house full of little ones. One little thing I do that helps is every morning I set up the playpen that gets taken down each day so that it is ready for nap time and I don't have to wrestle with it when I have a tired little one waiting to get into it.

I also make their lunches in the morning so that all I have to do is warm it up and set it out. Hungry little monkeys are seldom patient!

This goes for the start of the week as well. I like to have the beds changed, the house all clean, baking done and laundry finished on the weekend so that I can start the week with everything fresh and clean and done. I used to have Mondays as my day to change the beds and do laundry but I found that on Mondays the monkeys are a little too wild for me to get much else done which caused me to push those chores back a day, sometimes even two which threw off the rest of the week. Preparing ahead and having all those things looked after makes for a much smoother start to the week and much less stress.

I also like to make my to do list for the next day the night before. This helps me get to sleep because if I don't do this I lie in bed thinking about what I have to get done the next day.

I would love to menu plan but my hubby likes to choose what we will have for dinner the night before. However I can still prepare ahead by making sure that our cupboards are stocked and I have most things on hand that I will need to make dinners. I love to stock up when there is a good sale and we have a pantry cupboard downstairs as well as shelving where we store canned and dry goods. We also have a stand up freezer downstairs which has a quarter beef and half a pig in it as well as several free range chickens. We also have fish frozen that my hubby catches for us. So we are prepared ahead with lots to eat. This may not be possible for everyone but I would encourage you if you are able to purchase your meat in bulk from a butcher shop or right from the farm. Going in with others is a great idea too. You will save so much money though it requires spending quite a bit all at once. I also like to start dinner preparations in the morning - anything I can do ahead so that dinner preparation is easier and less rushed as that is about the time I have little ones getting picked up.

There are so many ways to plan ahead. Shopping sales and second hand store bag sales at the end of the season for clothes and items for next year is another way. When my son was little I was always able to get his snowsuits for the next year at a bag sale at the end of the season or during the winter on sale for the next year. This saved so much money. I also like to pick things up when I see something I know someone will like for their birthday or for Christmas and store it away. You can save alot of money by doing this and spread your shopping out throughout the year thus avoiding big spending in December and possible debt.

I keep a little notebook in my purse with the measurements of my windows, doors etc. so that I am prepared should I find curtains, even a screen door etc. then I will know if I should purchase the item or not - I also carry a small measuring tape. You could also put a dab of the paint in each of your rooms or a paint chip or wallpaper snippet so you will know if an item will match your color scheme.


I like to think about what I can do early in the day to free up more time later on. I am a morning person through and through so that is when I have the most energy and ambition so I try to do everything I can early. ~smile~

Life is so much easier when you prepare ahead. What are some ways you do this?



Happy Monday!
Blessings,
Liisa

Picture above from www.allposters.com

Baby Gift

Here is a picture of what I have been working on lately. A lady in our church is expecting so I wanted to make something for the wee one. I made a baby blanket with a small ruffle around the edges and a hat with booties to match. I really like the yarn it is a natural color cotton with flecks of other colors in it. I didn't have a pattern so they are pretty basic but I hope they like them. ~smile~

Blessings,
Liisa