Post Christmas Goodies

Good morning. I hope you are all having a good day so far. Things are returning to normal after the holidays...sigh... The season goes so fast it seems we hardly get to enjoy it and it's gone. We had a very good Christmas with Santa being good to everyone.

The day after Christmas, my girls, parents and I went out in search of bargains. One of our favorite places to go is to Findlay, OH. There are two neat shops there. My favorite is Early American Home. Barb is the owner and she is so friendly and helpful. It is an old home decorated with primitive and colonial items. I think I could spend the whole day in there. The other store is the Homestead. It is a 3 story barn rebuilt on the site. It is decked out also. It has more of a mix of items, but it is still very nice. Both were having awesome sales so here is what I picked up for next year's decorating.

Here is a closer look at some of the things in their new home. The lamp at the bottom was a Christmas gift from DH. We had been through Findlay earlier this month and I picked it out then. I just love it. The Christmas CD above is so good. I just love colonial Christmas music. My DH thinks it sounds like funeral music!! To each his own.

I need to head off and get started for the day. We are having a New Year's Eve party/card club and I need to work on the house. I am finally feeling better so I have a lot of catching up to do. Have a wonderful new year and be safe.

~Melissa~

Merry Christmas!!!

Just wanted to stop by and wish you and your family a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Take care.

~Melissa~

White Christmas Snow, Outdoor Pics,& Homecoming

Good morning. We woke up this morning to a pretty white scene. It appears that at this point we just might have that white Christmas we all think about. It is snowing lightly still and I wish I could stay inside, stitch, bake, read my Mercantile Gatherings magazine, be lazy....but DS has a basketball game we need to head out to. I took my outdoor pics last week, but I had to go do them again this morning because it just looks more festive with the pretty blanket of snow accenting them. Enjoy!!

Last night was our high school's last Homecoming/basketball game to be played in our old school. We are moving into a beautiful new K-12 building right after Christmas. I think it would have been much neater to have had the ceremony in the new school, but some people are way too sentimental about things and they had it last night. Oh, well. Anyway, our oldest DD was sophomore class attendant. I would be amiss if I didn't share some photos of her fun evening.

Well, I'm off to do a little something productive before the basketball game. Maybe I'll have some free time later to do the fun things.

Keep your wonderful Christmas pics coming. I have so enjoyed looking at them and getting inspired. Know that I have seen them but have kept my comment posting to a minimum so I can look at as many as possible. Everything looks great.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

~Melissa~

Just Pics...Lots of Them

Good morning. I hope you are all doing well. I am still fighting this dumb bronchitis. I went to the doctor again yesterday, and she put me on a steroid to get the lung inflammation down. I'm sure the extra hype it gives me during the day will be beneficial, but it sure gave me fits sleeping last night. I don't do well on little sleep. The grumpy me comes out very quickly. Well, my title said this was just going to be pics so I will keep quiet for now and just share my Christmas pics. I will post my outside decor next time.

Take care!!

Melissa

Caramel and Gourmet Pretzels Recipe

Good afternoon. I am having to hold onto my computer and everything else for dear life today. We have 20-40 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph. It is cold and snowy and just plain yucky. I had to take our outdoor cats out to the barn today. Most of them didn't know about the barn. I had to lure them out with food. I haven't seen any of them up here so I hope they are all snug and cozy. They will have to come up to the house for food and water. It's too cold to trek out there to feed them. At least now they know they have somewhere warm to be.

I wanted to share a recipe for homemade caramels that I have been making for years. It has become a kind of expected treat each year. It was even featured in a Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbook years ago. So far, I have made 3 batches and may have to do another.

Homemade Caramels

1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
dash salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in 3 qt heavy saucepan. Add sugar and salt. Stir thoroughly and stir in corn syrup. Mix well and add sweet milk. Stir constantly while cooking over medium heat to firm ball stage--245 degrees Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pour into greased 9 x 9 pan. Cool completely, cut into small square and wrap.

It recommends wrapping in wax paper. This works but doesn't always look the nicest if you are giving as gifts. I buy foil candy wrappers from Nashville Wraps. I am sure you can find them in cooking stores as well.

Gourmet Pretzels

Caramel recipe above

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 bag peanut butter chips

peanuts

2 bags pretzel rods--I break them in half

Chop the chocolate and peanut butter chips and peanuts. I use a food processor and do each separately. Put each in its own bowl. Take equal amounts of each and put into a pie tin or something so you can roll your pretzel in it. Mix together. ( I only mix a little at a time because you can save whatever you don't use for later.) Dip your pretzels in the caramel (I dip the broken end), let excess drip off and roll in your toppings. Place on wax paper to cool. Store in a sealed container.

These are both easy and tasty treats. Enjoy!!

Take care and stay warm!!
~Melissa~

New Pinkeeps on Ebay

Hello, everyone. We had our first snow of the year today. Yeah.....it looks more like Christmas time. Boo.....I really don't like the cold that goes along with snow. Guess there is nothing I can do about it! I just got back from the doctor--second time in a week. I had bronchitis and I was still coughing really bad. They checked me for pneumonia, but it wasn't. Good news. She gave me a steroid inhaler to get rid of the irritation. Hopefully I will be feeling better with more energy soon. Boy, that coughing really takes it out of you.

I listed 3 pinkeeps on eBay this afternoon. Because time is short and I only have one of each, I won't be putting them on my selling blog. They are listed as an auction with a buy it now option. Stop over and check them out if you get time. Here is one of them.

I worked on a shelf in our kitchen the other day. I just bought the Santa this year. Everything else just came from other places in the house. I have had the stockings for a few years and decided to coffee dye them. I like them so much better.

I made caramels and dipped pretzels yesterday. I will share the recipe next time. I use the caramel to dip the pretzels in and roll them in pb and chocolate chips. They are just like the gourmet ones you see.

Time to go. I have pizza in the oven for supper. They are the fresh ones from Walmart. They are pretty good and easy on days you don't feel like doing much. Thanks for stopping by.

Take care and stay toasty warm!!

~Melissa~

Decorating done...for the most part!!

Good evening. Wow, it has been forever since I was here last. I feel like I am in this time machine that keeps getting faster as I think of things that I would like to get done. I have already given up on a few things I wanted to do. I am a perfectionist so letting go of some things is a toughie sometimes. I do have to think of my sanity and my family though. What fun is a grouchy mom?? Unfortunately, they see her more than I would like. I wish the nice me would come around more often!!!

I have been like all of you, working on getting my decorations out. It really hit me this year how much my tastes have changed over the years. Wow...I really don't like most of the decorations I have. I have sorted some out to donate to GW. I need to start making many of the patterns I have.

I had bought some little candy canes last year which were a little to bright. So out came the shoe polish. A quick rub down and they were ready for display. This is the shelf in our laundry/utility room.

Here a few of the other displays in that room. I have just a few things here and there to put out yet throughout the house. I was able to put all of the totes away...yeah.

Well, that's all for tonight. I will be back sooner next time with more pics. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Take care.

~Melissa~