Saturday, January 8, 2011

New Year’s Eve with Edward and Elizabeth

Susan  over at Between Naps on the Porch is once again hosting Tablescape Thursday.  Although I’m late, I just had to join in and share with you this New Year’s Eve table.

SANY6483

SANY6484

New Year’s Eve 1908…all week, Elizabeth has looked forward to this day.  Edward, her beau, has invited her to spend a delightful day with some of their friends ice skating at the lake.  This setting celebrates their enchanting day filled with fun and laughter.

SANY6467

A snowy white tablecloth layered with a silver embroidered runner is placed on the table.  Silver beaded placemats mimic the sparkle of the ice.

SANY6482

“Theresa” china by Ucagco has delicate pink and blue flowers with silvery gray scrolls.  Elizabeth used this china because it reminded her of the pale blue of the sky as she and Edward twirled around the lake.

SANY6488

SANY6512

Shrimp cocktails were served in these glasses.  The delicate stem reminds Elizabeth of icicles.

SANY6486

These crystal wine glasses decorated with pink petals are one of Elizabeth’s favorites and crystal champagne glasses will be used to toast the New Year.

SANY6497

Snowflake napkin rings were used on the pink napkins.

SANY6487

Silver candles were placed in crystal hurricanes decorated with pink and blue ribbons.

SANY6489

Elizabeth’s bouquet inspired the snowy roses used in the crystal bowl.  Icicles, frosty greenery, pink berries and ribbons complete the centerpiece.

SANY6490

SANY6463

SANY6516

As the sun begins to set on this New Year’s Eve, it’s time to light the candles.

SANY6500

SANY6517

Edward and Elizabeth hope you’ve enjoyed this table setting that celebrates their day spent skating at the lake.  They would like to leave you with one final sentiment…..

SANY6468

ny

SANY6513

Thanks so much for visiting and please come back soon!

DG

 

Friday, January 7, 2011

Jelly Filled Short Breads

This past Christmas season is the first time I’ve been able to do all the baking I wanted to for the holidays.  Not having a job to get up and go to each day gave me lots of time to make all sorts of goodies and treats.  Now, I must confess…I love cookies…in fact, I haven’t met many cookies that I didn’t like.

jelly filled short breads1 

I wanted to try some new cookie recipes at Christmas, so I pulled out my Grandmother’s old cookbooks to see what I could find.  One recipe that caught my eye was Jelly Filled Short Breads.  It sounded simple and easy to make, so I decided to give it a try.

SANY6456

The recipe suggested using tart apple jelly, however since my family loves blackberry jelly, I decided to use it.  The cookies couldn’t have been easier to make…the hardest part was waiting the 2 hours to bake them.  The batch I made never did really brown, but they were firm to touch.  Since the recipe stated not to overcook them, I decided not to worry about the color of the cookies. 

SANY6459

Jelly Filled Short Breads

1 c. butter

3/4 c. confectioners sugar

1/4 t. salt

3 c. flour

1/4 t. baking powder

1 t vanilla

tart apple or crabapple jelly

Cream the butter and sugar; add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix well and add in the vanilla.  Scoop up small amounts of dough and roll into marble-sized pieces.  Make an indention in the middle with your thumb and fill with 1/2 t. jelly.  Chill the filled cookie dough for 2 hours before baking.  Cook at 250-300 degrees until firm to the touch and lightly browned.  Do not overbake.

SANY6450

I baked them for about 15 minutes and the recipe yielded 4 dozen cookies.

jelly filled short breads

They were absolutely delicious and has quickly become one of my favorite cookies.  Buttery shortbread topped with the scrumptious flavor of blackberry…absolutely yummy!

I’m joining in with Miz Helen at her Country Cottage for the  very first ever Full Plate Thursday and Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.  See you there!

DG

Monday, January 3, 2011

Christmas Throughout My Home

Today, I’m joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday.  I know it’s a little late to be sharing Christmas photos…but since I was without a computer during the season, I couldn’t join any of the fun events going on before Christmas.  I’ll be taking all the decorations down this week and I wanted to post photos before everything is packed away.  I will warn you beforehand….this is a long post with lots of photos!

I really enjoyed reading Marty’s post about paring down and how large the house feels with the decorations packed away…hopefully after this week, my house will feel the same way!

SANY6376

I’m quite sure my style doesn’t appeal to most people’s taste when it comes to Christmas decorating, but I absolutely adore using pink for Christmas.  My aunt tells me each year “you are so untraditional!”.  However, I get my red and green fix when I decorate her house each year.

Starting with the heart of the home…the kitchen is one of the few spots in my home where you’ll find touches of traditional Christmas colors.  It’s decorated in a Candyland theme with lots of goodies and treats.

SANY6351

You’ll find unicorn pops, rock candy, candy canes, jelly beans and candy peppermint trees in this corner on my counter. 

SANY6361

Apothecary jars filled with hard candies, peppermint, almond roca, gumdrops, and ribbon candy sit on my Hoosier cabinet.  Ornaments decorated as apples, ice cream cones, fruit and gingerbread men are placed in the garland.  The top of the cabinet is decorated with garland, sugared fruits, more candy and ornaments.

SANY6343

SANY6344

SANY6346 

SANY6347

I love the Victorian decorating style and I’ve tried to bring a touch of it to my dining area.  My buffet is decorated with pink roses and ornaments.  I cross stitched the “Victorian Noel” picture several years ago, but this is the first year I’ve used it.

SANY6332 

SANY6333

SANY6334

SANY6335

The china cabinet and tea table all received the pink treatment with ornaments, snowflakes and angel.

SANY6328

SANY6322

This tree is one of my favorites.  It’s decorated with vintage pink ornaments from the 1950’s to 1960’s.  The kneehugger elves are also from the 1960’s…I can remember my mother having two of these elves on our tree when I was a child.  The tree skirt was made for me by two very talented ladies.  It was made from a chenille bedspread that belonged to my grandmother. 

SANY6329

You can see the beginnings of my New Year’s Eve table in this photo…hopefully I’ll be sharing it later this week.  I wasn’t quite finished with it when I snapped these photos last week.

SANY6431

Last year, Judith at Sweet Designs blew me away with her decorated “Christmas Lady”.  I just kept going back looking at her photos and really wanted to drool.  LOL!  You can see Judith’s photos of her here.  I knew I just had to decorate my lady similar to the one Judith has.  Imitation…flattery…you know the expression.  Although mine didn’t turn out quite as elegant as Judith’s lady, I was pleased with the outcome. 

SANY6390

lady

My Lefton village has a place of honor on the piano.  Most of the pieces were given to me years ago by my mother and mother-in-law.  As soon as it comes down, the mirror is getting a paint job…I’m looking forward to that!

SANY6381

Usually our Christmas tree has pink roses added among the branches, but my two youngest daughters decorated it this year and decided they didn’t want the roses on it.  The tree is decorated mainly with silver and glass ornaments.  Each year, my children receive a new glass ornament made by a talented blown and spun glass artist from Tennessee.  I try to choose one for each of them that has special significance to events that happened during the year. 

SANY6383

SANY6384

While buying my children’s ornaments, I spotted this gumball machine.  I couldn’t leave without bringing it home for my own!

SANY6408

The coffee table is decorated with my collection of Snow Queens.  Crystal ornaments, snowy branches and icicles surround them.  Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without pink ornaments and candles.

SANY6399

On the opposite side of the room is the fireplace mantle all decked out for the season with greenery, crystal and pink ornaments and icicles.  Pink stockings hang at each end of the mantle.

SANY6364

SANY6370

SANY6365

If you’re still with me after this loooong post, I’ll leave with a final tree.  This is a favorite one with all my children and grandchildren…my Wizard of Oz tree.  I’ve been putting up this tree now for many years.  The ornaments are from Hallmark and I add in other items from the movie such as apples, snowflakes and poppies.  The table is covered with a yellow cloth and blue gingham fabric (like Dorothy’s dress) covered the tree base.  Ruby slippers sit underneath the tree.

woz

SANY6422

SANY6424

Wow, I guess I’ll close now and if you made it all the way to the bottom of this post…thank you for sticking with me!  I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing Christmas around my house and also I hope you’ll visit again soon!

DG

 

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Old-Fashion Sugar Cookies

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for sugar cookies from “Favorite Recipes of Alabama Vocational Home Economics Teachers”, circa 1966.  I’m joining in with Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen for another Cookbook Sundays and I’m really looking forward to seeing you there!   

SANY6267

This is the first time I’ve made sugar cookies that contained oats.  I did have  quite a bit of trouble with the recipe as the dough simply would not roll out for me, even after chilling for several hours.  I ended up having to drop the dough onto the cookie sheets with a spoon.

Regardless of the trouble with the dough, the cookies baked up into little tasty treats of sweetness.  The oats added a wonderful texture to the cookies.

sugar cookies

Old-Fashion Sugar Cookies

3/4 c butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

1 egg

4 t milk

1 t vanilla

1/2 t grated lemon rind

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour, sifted

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 c quick cooking oats

Cream the butter, then gradually add in the sugar.  Beat until well combined.  Add the egg and mix until light and fluffy.  Add in the milk, vanilla and lemon rind.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in the oats, then chill the dough for at least 2 hours.  Roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.

Very yummy! 

sugar cookies1

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll visit again soon!

DG