Being Festive is Killing Me

With all the parties at work...

and with family...

and with friends,

I'll be wearing pajama jeans by the new year.

Yes, with all the food and drink,

being festive is killing me.

I've made these little diddies for years.

I'll be making them again this week.

I. Must. Find. Someone. To. Give. These. To.

Salted Caramel Pecan Bars
 From Southern Living.

1 cup chopped pecans

12 whole graham crackers

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 Tbsp whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Line a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper; lightly grease foil. Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in prepared pan, slightly overlapping edges.

Combine sugar, butter, and cream in a medium-size heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and pecans. Pour butter mixture over crackers, spreading to coat.

Bake at 350° for 10 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Immediately sprinkle with salt, and slide foil/paper from pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely (about 30 minutes). With a knife, cut into bars.

But wait!  Want to know what makes these little yummies even yummier?

Why, add chocolate, of course!

Chocolate-Pecan-Caramel Bar Variation: Prepare recipe as directed until removal from oven. Once removed from oven, top warm bars with 1 cup dark chocolate morsels. Let stand 3 minutes, and spread chocolate over bars, then sprinkle with salt and proceed with recipe as directed. Chill 20 minutes before serving.

Yep...pajama jeans...I just know it.

Holiday Yummy

I love this time of the year.

People are jolly-er...at least most of us.

There is a sense of peace, joy, comfort in this season.

And, lets not forget the food...

Much to the chagrin of my waistline...and backside.

Lord, have mercy.

No wonder Santa's belly is so round.

I wonder if he and the elves have office parties,

Or workshop parties as it may be....

One of my friends and co-workers makes this yummy little treat for us at Christmas.

She brings it in still warm in the mornings.

Sausage & Cream Cheese Croissants

1 lb hot sausage

1 block of cream cheese (8 oz)

2 cans of small croissants or crescent rolls (I prefer the croissants)

Crumble and cook sausage, then drain.

Return sausage to the pan, add the cream cheese,

Stir through until cream cheese is melted and mixture is warm.

Unroll croissants or crescents.

Spoon sausage mixture onto wide area of the croissant.

Roll up the croissant as called for.

Bake as called for on the can of croissants.

Y'all this such a yummy, and easy recipe.

And easily doubled if you're feeding a crowd.

My sweet friend doubles the recipe for our office party, but adds only 1/2 again the amount of cream cheese.

1 1/2 blocks...

So good with a cup of java, or hot tea.

I have a gang of young adult children and nephews heading to my house for the Christmas holiday.  This little yummy will probably grace my breakfast table one or two mornings.

Wishing you a Christmas season filled with the love of the Father, the miracle Jesus, and the comfort of home and  hearth.

White Christmas

I'm pretty much a traditionalist, when it comes to Christmas decor. 

I like pine, cedar, magnolia, natural elements that are found in the north Georgia region where I live.

I enjoy cutting the cypress limbs, and magnolia boughs from the trees down the road,

and collecting pine cones from the deep woods where I live.

But, lately I've been eyeing these

from Google images

from Southern Living

from Google images

White Christmas trees...

This year I find myself longing for a white christmas tree.

White...I've always thought so "fake"...so "cheesy."

One cut above an aluminum silver tree.....

And, I have these....

Vintage Ornaments from my Grandmother and Mother.

Ornaments I remember as a child.

Last year I found a box full, in my dad's attic.

I took them home with me,

 and now they sit in a crystal bowl each year, as part of my Christmas decor.

I'm afraid to hang them from the tree, they're so fragile.

But, I love this idea....

And, I really love the thought of my vintage ornaments....

On a white Christmas tree.

I know I'll never replace my traditional green Christmas tree,

With all the ornaments I've collected through the years.

Ornaments inheirited, ornaments given by family members and friends,

Ornaments that are like seeing old friends each year as I gingerly unwrap them from their boxes.

But, I would like a White Christmas tree, filled with Granny's and Mama's vintage ornaments...

Maybe....in my bedroom.





Quiet Time

 It's Thanksgiving, y'all...a time that is usually busy at my house, with family, food, friends.  I have a large extended family, and through the years everyone has gathered in our home on Thanksgiving Day.  Its not unusual for us to host 18-20 family members on that day.  But...this year, I'm breaking tradition.  I've decided to have a quiet, intimate family gathering.  Several of our family members are traveling, and going in several different directions.  Our older children are visiting other parents, girlfriend's grandmothers...ahh, the joys and trials of blended families.  So, I looked at my husband, and I said, "Why don't we skip the large, organized, crazy dinner this year, and just do something small and quiet?"  "Sounds like a stellar idea, my dear."  So, I'll cook a small dinner, and we've told all the kids to just drop by whenever they want, after, or in between all their other commitments.  I have a smoked turkey.  I'll make dressing and gravy, and all the other fixin's, but simpler dishes, in smaller amounts.  My table will be simple.  This year I crave quiet.  I crave simplicity.  I crave informality. 

Of course, this guy will come out.  Several years back, my sweet sister gave me this depression glass turkey bowl.  I use him for cranberry sauce.  He is indeed a treasured possession and a part of our holiday traditions.

 And, I can't forget about these two.  Would it really be Thanksgiving without them?

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Thanksgiving holiday.

Fall

What I like about Fall in the North Georgia Blue Ridge.....

The way the morning clouds hang low in the valleys and hollows of  the mountains~

Pumpkins~

Mums~

Visits to the Apple Farm~

Apple Bread~

Apple Crisp~

Caramel Apples~

Boiled Peanuts~

(Ummm, seeing a trend here?)

Warm coffee on cool mornings~

Red and Gold trees reflecting on the lake~

The smell of wood smoke from a distant chimney or campfire~

Scarecrows~

Old cemetaries~

My camera~

Blankets~

Football~

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."  ~Emily Bronte

Happy Fall Y'all!

Summertime

and the livin' is easy.  My heart is not in my blogging this summer.  My heart is down on my island, crabbing off the pier, and fishing in the creek.  The rest of me wants to be there too.  Hopefully I'll get around to posting some pics from my last trip there.  I just need to tell my head (and my heart) to come on back home.

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."

My mom told me that one time.  Seems she said someone long ago had said the same to her during an uncertain time in her life.  My dad had accepted a new position in broadcasting, which would move them to a new town, where she had limited acquaintences. With four small children, she would be leaving behind her own mom and siblings.

I made a change this week.  I decided to accept a new job, that puts me back in the fulltime workforce.  I remember blogging here several years back, when I decided to stop working fulltime and step away from the pressures of management and responsibility.  I needed to slow down, to breathe, to rest.  I took a part time job, teaching as an adjunct faculty member at a local college and working with a domestic violence center. 

Sometimes things run their course, right?  Sometimes a time comes when you have to weigh out the options, the pros and cons, and make a decision; decisions based on need and on your heart's desires.

So...in a couple of weeks, I'll be back at it.  It will be a change...new...different.  Somehow I feel like I've just closed my eyes, held my breath, and jumped into the deep end of the pool. 

But I know how to swim. 

My new gig...   http://www.northgeorgia.edu/