Merry Christmas

Well another Christmas has come and almost gone. It was a really lovely holiday season with our family.

As usual, we had many places to visit. Last night we went to my Aunt's house in Floresville, Tx that is on my Father's side of the family. That is where these beautiful sunset photos of my guys were taken. I love a good Texas sunset. As you can tell it is beautiful and peaceful country. I love being outdoors and away from the from hustle and bustle of the city because I always find that being around nature brings me peace. There is a certain harmony and balance in nature that always reminds me to just be and let it be. 

This is the kind of "White Elephant" that you hope to end up with at the end of the night. Every time I participate in a white elephant, I tend to bring alcohol of some sort. No one ever turns down a gift filled with little bottle of booze, chocolate, a few mints and a delicious all-natural peppermint lip balm. No One!!! I wish I would have just kept this bag for myself. That is the fun of the game!

I made homemade marshmallows for the first time and I must say that it was the messiest and stickiest thing that I have ever made. That means that they were super yummy. I made up a big cup of hot cocoa full of milk chocolate and white chocolate chips in one of my old Starbucks mugs. I plopped in a few extra big and fluffy homemade marshmallows, sprinkled with a little cinnamon and enjoyed one of the best cups of hot chocolate that I have ever had. I mean that thing was good. I used the Alton Brown marshmallow recipe that has been circulating around everywhere. It was a good but super messy first experience. I plan to make these again and fix a few of the mistakes I made in this recipe. All I can say is they make for one good cup of cocoa.

Also, for Christmas I tried my hand at homemade vanilla extract. I never knew how easy it was to make your own extract. I don't think most people know just how easy it is to make either. I really loved these cute little brown glass bottles that I got and I just found some cheap labels and a ribbon assortment at Hobby Lobby and threw these little guys together. Everybody loved them. I got to learn to make something new. I got to save money and I was able to give my friends and family something that I put my heart into and It felt good sharing with them. I will continue to make my own extract from here on out.

We started a tradition of decorating a gingerbread house as a family last year. We did it again this year and It was fun as usual. The icing they include in these little kits is pretty damn good. I have a hard time not eating it. The kit we found this year was way better and came with two gingerbread men as well as a tree and a few other extras that helped make our little house so awesome and yummy. Decorating a gingerbread house as a family is a great way to spend some extra time together and get creative as a family. Everyone will be so proud of the result. Then maybe everyone can eat it.

Now onto New Years Eve. Hopefully a little dancing and celebrating another year of health, happiness and love. Merry Christmas to everyone from my family to yours.

 

Blessings and Love to all

 

Make your own Christmas ornaments

For the past 6 years or so I have been using the same old red, gold and silver nautical stars and spiral ornaments that never fail to leave glitter all over my floor and kids. This year I decided that we needed a change and would do something totally different. I am not one to go out and drop $200 on a whole new ensemble for my tree. So I did what any one would do and I decided to make my own Christmas ornaments.

Not only do I get to save money but It is also a great way to get the kids involved in a fun family project. We had so much fun making these cute little ornaments that I have decided that we will make it a yearly tradition.

In the past I have used a salt dough recipe to make things such as this but I was doing a little scientific research on Pinterest and I found this new recipe popping up consistently. So I decided to give it a shot. This recipe for clay only uses three ingredients. Cornstarch, baking soda and water. I found it to be a really easy recipe and not too messy.

So this is what you will need to make this dough recipe and how to make it.

1/2 cup Cornstarch
1 cup Baking Soda
3/4 cup of Water

You will also need:
a medium saucepan
a silicone spatula (or stirring/scraping utensil)
a bowl and tea towel
silicone sheet or parchment paper
baking sheet
paints and decorations
1 drinking straw (It's to make a hole to hang your masterpiece)
String/yarn/twine

Preheat oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, combine all three ingredients into your medium saucepan and cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture has combined and come together in a thick mashed potato-like consistency. It usually takes about 7-10 minutes for the dough to thicken. Once it gets to that state then you can transfer it to a bowl and cover with a tea towel and allow it to cool to room temp before handling.

 

After the dough has cooled you can transfer to a clean counter top and knead to get all the lumps and air bubbles out. If the dough is a little sticky then you can add a little corn starch to it. Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out your ornaments. Don't forget to use the end of a straw to punch out little holes to hang your ornaments. Transfer the shapes to a silicone or parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake at 175 degrees for an hour, turning over once halfway through. Once they come out and have cooled, you can decorate and paint them. Add your string of choice through the hole in the ornament and tie it in a knot. Now you can hang your special ornaments on your tree and enjoy them for years to come.

Some other great ideas to try out when making your ornaments are carving initials and names into them. You can also use stamps to put impressions on them. You can add beads and glass pieces to them as well. Also, try spray painting them using stencils.

As always, have fun in the kitchen and I hope that you enjoy this recipe and make it a tradition in your home.

Blessings to all