Happy New Year's Eve!

These cuties hope you have a pawsitively wonderful New Year's Eve. Blessings to you in 2016!

A Few Recipes

I love appetizers and can easily make them into a meal. Here are a couple of simple recipes that you could use for New Year's Eve.

My aunt gave me this recipe this fall and I love these nuts! They look good in a bowl for people to sample.

Candied Walnuts

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. red pepper

2 cups walnut halves

Combine powdered sugar, salt and red pepper in a bowl. Bring four cups of water to a boil before adding walnuts halves. Cook 5 minutes. Drain. Place walnuts in sugar mixture, tossing well to coat. Place walnuts on a lightly greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

On the left side of this platter is a favorite of ours! I got the recipe as an undergraduate student at college when one of the teachers brought a platter of these for a Christmas gathering we had after class.

Cucumber Bread

sliced party rye bread (sold in the deli section of the grocery)

8 ounce cream cheese, slightly softened by allowing to sit on counter for a few minutes

2 T. mayonnaise

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian dressing mix (dry)

peeled and sliced seedless cucumbers

dried dill weed

Mix cream cheese and mayonnaise until well blended. Thoroughly stir in the dry dressing mix. Spread a spoonful of mixture on a slice of party rye. Place a slice of cucumber on top and then sprinkle with dill weed. Refrigerate.

By the way, of the other side of the platter are little cheese trees. You wouldn't need these for New Year's Eve, but I'll mention them since they are on the platter. They were fitting for Christmas Eve. All you do is get a round of Laughing Cow brand cheese and unwrap each wedge. Finely dice red and yellow sweet peppers for "ornamentation" and sprinkle on top. Also add dried dill weed. At serving time, insert a small pretzel rod for the tree's trunk.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite finger foods?

Tuesday's Tablescape

This week's table is a whimsical setting for New Year's Eve.

 My penguin cookie jar and tray were gifts from students (of course!) and the little bowl goes with the set of dishes. I just added a few ornaments for color. Then I tossed a handful of confetti on the runner.

These old peppermint dishes seemed to go with the penguins as they wish everyone a cool New Year's Eve! Tomorrow I will post a few simple recipes.

Tree Wrap-Up

I hope your Christmas was wonderful! We had a lovely day with our families. These are the last two trees, which I didn't have time to write about before Christmas. That's what happens when you have more trees than sense days. :) It makes me sad to think that all the beautiful decorations will be packed away next weekend after having been up since the day after Thanksgiving. I think that the house looks its best during the holidays with the sparkles and pretty colors and, comparatively,  it always looks a little dreary the beginning of January.

These two trees have a lot in common since they are mostly decorated with teacher gift ornaments.

For thirty years, my classroom had a penguin theme. We had penguin valances (in seasonal patterns which I changed each quarter), a penguin clock, penguin rug, penguin pillow and throws (for the reading corner), penguin puzzles, penguin wall-hangings,  etc. I think I have every children's penguin book ever published. The shelves were lined with hundreds of stuffed penguins in varying sizes and I also had a nice collection of glass penguin figurines and snow globes. Throughout the school, I was known as the "penguin teacher" and I was very fortunate to acquire a precious collection of ornaments, over my career,  from my sweet families. I have enough to healthily decorate a 7.5 foot tree with them.

I can honestly tell you that I think of the child who gifted me with the ornament when I hang it on the tree...although I had to eventually begin tagging them.

Truly, penguin ornaments were very tough to locate early in my career, so I am pleased to also have "teacher" ornaments for the tree with colored lights. That same pine also has some of my childhood ornaments on it.

 The lighthouse ornaments, with blinking beacons, are some of the  gifts which our dear neighbor has given us each year.

I hope you're having at least a little time to catch your breath following Christmas and the weekend. We are all stuck inside here since it's done nothing but rain since very early Saturday morning. As a result, our area has historic and damaging flood levels. Flash floods have caused soggy basements, floating cars and, worst of all, some loss of lives throughout the region. Stay dry and enjoy your day.

Christmas Eve

I love the lights of Christmas! It brings me great joy to see trees and decorations when it's dark outside. All of the shots in this post were taken around the house at nighttime with only soft and Christmas lighting. A few were taken outdoors, looking inside.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree; how beautiful and bright!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree; How beautiful and bright.

The sight of thee at Christmastime, spreads hope and gladness far and wide.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree; how beautiful and bright.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

I'll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree.

(This Christmas print lights up.)

Christmas Eve will find me. Where the love light gleams.

I'll be home for Christmas. If only my dreams.

(This is the Christmas guest room which keeps this theme all yearlong.)

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Silent Night

Silent night! Holy night! All is calm; all is bright.

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child. Holy Infant, so tender and mild.

Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.

I wish all of you a Christmas abundant in love and joy. Remember the true meaning of the day and you can say...

A "Soup-er" Recipe

This is a simple recipe that may come in handy over the next week or so. If you are entertaining during the holidays, it’s a hearty soup that’s perfect for lunch. Add salad and hot bread and you’re all set! My mother originally provided us the recipe years ago and then my grandma won a contest (one of her many wins!) with it. Enjoy!

Hannibal Cheese Soup

Boil 20 minutes:

1.5 quarts water

4 chicken flavored bouillon cubes

2. 5 cups diced potatoes

1 cup finely chopped celery

Add a 20 ounce bag California blend frozen vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower) and boil an additional 10-15 minutes. Add 2 cans cream of chicken soup and 1 pound cubed Velveeta cheese. Warm until well blended. Serves 8-10.

Note: Don’t attempt to prepare this in a crockpot as the Velveeta will “break down” and ruin the consistency. Also, rather than using bouillon and water, I begin the recipe with 1.5 quarts of canned natural chicken broth.

Have a soup-er day!

Tuesday's Tablescape

This tablescape is in keeping with the kitchen's cardinal theme. I had to pair-up the dishes with my old plaid placemats and napkins (which were a gift from Randy the first Christmas we were married and now they are back in style again!).

 These bird plates were a recent Craigslist find and can be used throughout the winter. They have adorable companion luncheon plates, which will be featured at a post in the future.

Birds of a feather flock together!!

Patriotic Cardinal Tree

This alpine tree works out perfectly in Randy's office. It's masculine-looking, but still has strong enough branches for me to decorate. A perfect representation of him, it's filled with patriotic and St. Louis Cardinal ornaments.

This handsome Lenox cardinal is the newest addition to the tree. Yesterday a dear friend gifted Randy with it and it's  perfect!






What are you doing these last few days before Christmas? Happy Anniversary to my parents! :)

When Morning Gilds the Skies

When I saw this outside the window this morning,  my mind immediately went to an old hymn...

When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries. Let Jesus Christ be praised!

I've never posted on a weekend before, but I wanted to share this beautiful skyline. I hope your day is going well!!

Grandparents' Tree

This is a special tree to us. It is decorated with lovely, antique ornaments which belonged to my maternal grandparents and stands in one of our bedrooms. About 12 years ago, Grandma asked me if I would like to have them as she had switched to a smaller, more manageable tree. Would I ever?!

I love the designs of these old pieces and value them since they've been in the family for many years.

Have a wonderful weekend. Can you believe it's the last one before Christmas? I can't!

Woodland Tree

Woodland friends adorn this tree, which is fitting since we have real deer, owls and other birds, as well as other wild critters just outside this room.

Our cloudy day actually lent itself well to these pictures as I would have a glare had the sun been out. Although it is colder today, it's supposed to get warmer tomorrow and be mild throughout the weekend. No winter weather has arrived here yet and that is perfectly fine!