The Answer Is.......

Hold on, I'll tell you in a second. I had so many guesses that it took a while to read through them all. NOT!! Actually, I only had one person make a guess. Thank you Mary. I couldn't keep her in suspense any longer. The answer as to what this strange looking green thing is is that it is called a Banana Bunker!! I'll be using it to protect my banana that I will carry to work in my lunchbag. No more bruises or smushes. This was found at a new store in town called PLAY where you can find many unusual and fun items. It was fun shopping there for Christmas gifts.

A Vintage Gift From My Mom

Kate and I made a quick one day trip back home to visit Mom and some of the other family. I love making that trip because it just completes my Christmas. There is always an abundance of family, laughter and food! Mom had mentioned these cookie cutters to me over the phone asking if I would like them. OH, YES, I WOULD!! is what I probably said. As a child, many Christmas cut out cookies were made with these....even the ones that aren't the originals. I'm very happy to have them. I still have to make my Sour Cream Cut Outs for Fred(as a little birthday gift)this weekend. I think I'll only use these.

A Remembered Recipe

When I mentioned that I had made Strawberry Bread while Christmas baking, Colleen told me she had forgotten about it and would like the recipe. I'm taking the easy way out by posting a picture of the recipe instead of typing it out. If any of you out there in "Blogland" would like to try it and aren't able to see the recipe clearly, please comment and I will type it in. I didn't take a picture of it cut or by itself, so I'm showing it with some of the other goodies I made. It bakes up very red so it is a perfect bread for Christmas or even Valentine's Day. I imagine you could serve it with strawberry jam too. Enjoy!!

Christmas Eve Dinner

I know many of you have fancy dinners on Christmas Eve. I'm lucky if I can pull off all that I have to do and if that includes a meal then I have succeeded. This year I planned ahead and made time to make dinner. We don't do fancy. We save that for Christmas day. I chose a simple dish that is called "Baked Stew". It is out of one of our church cookbooks submitted by my friend Sandy. Here's the recipe:

1 can of tomato soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
(I use cream of chicken)
1 # of ground beef
5 medium potatoes
6 carrots
1/4 c. diced onions
1/4 c. diced celery
salt and pepper

Brown onion, celery and meat in skillet. Mix soups together over low heat in a saucepan. Prepare vegetables(I didn't peel the potatoes and I used baby carrots)by cutting into small chunks. Mix all ingredients together, put into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Serves 4-6

Midnight...Christmas Morning

This is my Silent Night photo. I took it just past midnight Christmas morning. Kate and Fred/Dad were in bed(of course), the house was quiet and I was just sitting, looking at the tree, and realizing that this is the 40th Christmas Fred/Dad and I are spending together!! We were dating at Christmas in 1969 and now have been married for 39 1/2 years. Christmas of 1971 was celebrated with our daughter, Colleen, just 1 1/2 months old. In 1975, Leslie was with us and as the years flew by we had Beth and Kate to enjoy the holiday with. Wow!! Time really does fly! I can't wrap my head around that number 40. Before I know it, 40 will turn to 41. I only wish I could slow time down.

Guess This Gift!

What did you receive for Christmas? Anything quite like this? This is a picture of one of the gifts my daughter Leslie presented me with. Any idea what it is? I'd like to see your guesses in the comments. I'll be using it when I go to work mostly. I'm going to appreciate it when lunchtime rolls around. After I get some guesses I'll tell you what it is and why I'm glad I was given it.

Early Morning Snow

Overnight, about 6-8 inches of snow dropped, depending on where you lived in the area. Schools closed and driving was a little tricky for some. I really didn't have a problem and arrived at work on time. Before I left I went out on the porch and took a few pictures. As my blogging daughters know, my camera doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles so I was pleased that the falling snowflakes show up on one of the pictures. So this is what it looked like at 7:00 AM this morning.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

The tree is finally up and done. I changed how I decorated it this year. I have a ton of icicles, some of which never make it on the tree, so I wanted to highlight them this year. I added touches of red and gold and if you look close in a picture or two, you might see our green pickle. I have collected icicles over many years and some have been gifts. I love the look.

Noel, Noel

Growing up, when all the Christmas decorating was done, these 4 stood guard over the kitchen sink. I've heard that not only does Mom still have a set but one of my sisters managed to score one too. Not to be outdone, I found and won this set on ebay. They arrived today in the middle of my decorating. I was so excited when I opened the package. I'm hoping my memory is correct and that this is the set Mom has. I found that there are a number of different but very similar NOEL candle sets available. No matter, they are now on MY kitchen windowsill and as I look at them I'm transported back to my youth with very special memories of our Christmases.