Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Catching up on Christmas

 I'm so happy that the holiday season is drawing to a close! I enjoyed it, for the most part, but things were hectic at times!

Whatever possessed me to think that homemade cookies and cakes would be easy, inexpensive gifts to give? I worked my butt off, and the fruitcakes and cookies and other treats ended up costing an arm and a leg. BUT, everything turned out great....especially the fruitcakes! I still have a whole one and half of another left for our enjoyment, and the people who received one raved about them. Since I ended up winging it in regards to the actual recipe, I was certainly relieved that they ended up tasting fantastic! There were also lots (and lots!) of homemade sugar cookies.....




My favorites were the cutout snowflakes, even though they were the most time consuming to make and decorate.
 
While I'm on the subject of holiday baking, I'd like to give a shout out to Liz over at The Vintage Inn for sending me a lovely Christmas cookbook published in 1958 for my vintage secret Santa gift! I adore vintage cookbooks, and have a growing collection of them. In fact, all sorts of vintage items from the 1930's through the 1950's fascinate me, but housekeeping, cooking, and etiquette books top the items I look for whenever I'm scouring thrift stores. Thank you, Liz! The book was perfect. And thanks again to dear Jessica over at Chronically Vintage for coming up with the secret Santa idea in the first place, and then making it happen. It sure was fun!

Despite the hectic days leading up to Christmas, the actual day itself was peaceful and relaxing. It was just me, my dear husband, and our animal companions. Santa left bird toys and dog bones at our house.....


 

Messy George takes EVERYTHING
back to the dog bed, even sticky bones.
 
Ginger takes hers outside,
like the polite, mannerly girl she is!
 
 ....which kept Marco, George, and Ginger occupied for the first part of the day.
 
GB and I had lots of good food. I'd bought a nice (miniature) honey baked ham, and King's Hawaiian bread for making delicious sandwiches with it. We had raw veggies with dip, three cheeses, assorted crackers and nuts, tangerines, homemade fruitcake saturated with brandy and rum, and sugar cookies.
 
We took two long walks with the dogs in the afternoon. Several neighbors were out and about, and a few called out "Merry Christmas!" as we passed. I love that kind of neighborly interaction. The sun was out and the temperature was only cool enough for a light jacket. A great day for walking.
 
 
 
 
 
 I hope everyone had a good holiday, too. Now onward into the New Year!


  

7 comments:

  1. I really do feel like 2015 is going to be a great year. Can't wait to get it started, actually. Don't know why that is, but the winter months give me a real chance to do projects that I don't have the time for the rest of the year. Happy New Year to you.

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  2. My wife is in charge of cakes and baking in general (I do everything else). Her best offerings over Christmas were mince pies, fruit cake, and gingerbread men/women. She can do all three almost with her eyes closed. Very best wishes for 2015. Cro xx

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  3. Very true. I enjoyed it as well, but it was hectic and at times stressful (is it simply possible for holidays to be devoid of family drama?) and this year as a whole, though positive at points, was by no means my favourite ever.

    Here's to the hope that 2015 brings us both happiness, positive health, lots of fun, and far more days of smooth sailing!

    Tons of hugs & many since thanks for all of your splendidly nice blog comments this year,
    ♥ Jessica

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  4. Yay you got the book! So happy and can relax now I know it got there :) glad you enjoyed it. Happy 2015 and I look forward to seeing what goodies you make for your posts next Christmas.

    Liz-The Vintage Inn

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  5. Homemade gifts like your fruitcakes and cookies mean so much more than shop bought stuff. May I congratulate you on your sterling effort and send you best wishes for 2015. It was nice to meet you at Haddon Hall even though you were...errr...a little distracted!

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    1. Yes, we were all a little distracted! Too much champagne, I suspect. :)

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