Happy New Year...

Visions of Sugar Plums...

It's just about this time every year... after I've singlehandedly eaten my way through several tins of Christmas cookies, that I develop a desparate craving for fresh spinach, beets and all things salad...
Nothing like a hippity skip trip through the farmers' market in the dead of December... Ah well, back to those buttery jam crescents... and maybe just a little eggnog...

Chestnuts Roasting...

We, most of us, have recipes that become holiday standards at our dinner tables, whether passed down through generations (candied Spam skewers, anyone?) or our own takes on the old classics (roast turkey...with a sage foam)... Here's a small sampling of ours...

Holiday Ham Glaze

1 cup mango chutney

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

juice and zest from 2 large oranges

Combine ingredients and pour over ham prior to baking.

Christmas Cheeseball
2 8-ounce bars cream cheese
2 ounces Buddig beef (finely chopped)
4 scallions (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon onion powder
Combine all ingredients and form into one large, or two small, balls. Refrigerate.

Russian Teacakes
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans (chopped)
powdered sugar
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add pecans.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar while still warm.
Cool completely and roll again in powdered sugar.

On the First Day of Christmas...

Each year, I marvel at how quickly Christmas comes and goes... in the past, Christmas Eve was spent with my father's side of the family... Christmas morning always found us at home opening our gifts from Santa...
then onto brunch at my maternal grandmother's house... and back home again for Christmas Day dinner with my mother's side of the family...

It wasn't the twelve days of Christmas by any means, but it gave the holiday legs...a little longevity... Today, my comparatively small family has become even tinier... and this present day Christmas has dwindled down to a few hours on Christmas Day... I might have to start instituting a few new traditions... after all, I have a whole Christmas Eve to fill...

Merry Christmas...

to my sweet and silly family...

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home. ~ Charles Dickens

T'was the Night Before Christmas...

when all through the house... gifts were being flung into bags... cookies were being tossed into tins... and any smart creature was huddling under the Christmas tree safely out of the melee... not much poetically, I know... yet quite accurate... thankfully, all our stockings had been hung by the chimney with care... in the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there...

Noel...Noel...

My sweet friend made the time to stop by for dinner after not only putting in a long day at the office, but also nursing the beginnings of a cold and brought me the loveliest Christmas pillow crafted by her own two very talented hands... (dishpanhands @ Etsy) ...drop by her shop and snap up some of her needlework yumminess all for yourself...

Making a List...

How does this happen every year? December 25th creeps up on me like I didn't know it was coming... I start shopping for Christmas on December 26th... How can I not be done? I am easily distracted... that's how... like a magpie spying a shiny object... and if ever there was a season just rife with all things shiny... this is it... oooooo look at that... and I'm off...

Deck the Halls...

All the while I diligently decked these halls...

I got the distinct impression I was being watched...

Santa, maybe?

Checking to make sure no naughty words escaped...
along with a slightly off-the-mark hammer swing....
Or possibly a stalker...
intent on garnering a little attention for herself?
Perhaps a little tinsel strung ear to ear...

would solve that issue...no?

You've Got (Greasy) Mail...

Resist the urge to slather on hand cream while in the midst of writing out your holiday cards. Even if your poor Winter-chapped hands look like a creme brulee that's just been given its first whack with a rather mean spoon. Even then. Otherwise... well, otherwise, let me just say that the miserly one extra envelope your card company provided for mistakes is going to fall far short of rescuing you this time...

Let It Snow...

I made the rounds of a few annual Christmas craft shows yesterday... purchased from some of my favorite sellers... and just plain marveled at the creativity of others... when all was said and done, this rather dapper fellow....

found a new home with this happy little guy...

and together currently wait for the rest of the old frosty favorites to break out of storage and join them in the dining room.