Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I love Christmas, have I said that before?  We went into NYC before Christmas and hung out with my cousin.  She is dancing and acting there.  Even was on SNL (Saturday Night Live).  Of course we had to see the windows and Rockefeller Center.  But the best treat of all? Getting to see the Plaza Hotel.
Just look at the loveliness!

 

 

The restaurant inside the hotel.  Just dripping with Victorian charm!

Eloise's Tree.  So cute!

I even made gingerbread cookies!  My fave recipe, but it's a family secret so I will not be posting it. However, I will post a picture of the best ones!

I like the boots the best!

Christmas was lovely.  We had a great time visiting with family (both Mr. K's and mine) over the long weekend. We even got to go to Christmas Eve service at the church where we were married, which was so nice. My brother got slot cars for Christmas and had a grand time running them.  How about that for vintage!

New Year's Eve is tonight and to be celebratory, I thought I would share some of the New Year's traditions from around the world.

Here are a few I found from a magazine article :

AUSTRIA - The suckling pig is the symbol for good luck for the new year. It's served on a table decorated with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.

WALES - At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.

SICILY - An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day, but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle will bring bad luck.

SPAIN - In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.

GREECE - A special New Year's bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child, the second for the father of the household and the third slice is for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.

CHINA - For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family's good luck for the next year.

UNITED STATES - The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the new year.

NORWAY - Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

So, what traditions do Mr. K and I have at our home? 

 

Well, I grew up watching the Rose Bowl float parade on New Year's Day with my mom and he grew up watching the parade and game with his family, so that is one tradition we'll keep. Plus, how can someone say no to roses and flowers in the middle of winter?!

 

Another one that we have is watching the ball drop in Times Square and toasting to the New Year at midnight with something sparkling (soda, cider, champagne, etc).

 

I had a friend in FL who used to make black eyed peas and collard greens with ham for New Year's Day. His mom was southern to the bone. Supposedly an old saying goes, "Eat peas on New Year's day to have plenty of everything the rest of the year." However, I think we will skip this one.  Neither of us are particularly fond of black eyed peas. We'll do Chinese food at home. :-)

Times Square before New Year's Eve

 

T minus 11 hours and counting!

what to do with 26 cups of cranberries...

I was given the great task of doing 26 cups of "frosted" cranberries for our church Christmas Tea last weekend.  It was so much fun. I had never done them before.  And they ended up looking like they were in snow!

 Also got a chance to bake 96 cinnamon chip scones.  That was fun.  The interim pastor's wife and a friend with  her 1 year old boy helped me make those.

As they say, many hands make quick work!

These are the ingredients.

Started out in the biggest pot I had...But, had to go bigger though. Thankfully a friend had a large pot!

Bigger pot!  Dissolving the sugar in simmering water.

Oooh look at the cranberries!

Doesn't look like a lot, does it?

Then again...

That's a lot of cranberries! Let them soak overnight in the syrup, then drain and roll in superfine sugar.

Yum!  So pretty...and so many!

This is what 96 scones looks like.

1920s cookbook strikes again!

So I decided to try another recipe from my Fannie Farmer School of Cooking 1920s find.  This week it's "Scottish Fancies"

All you need is:

Let's take a look at the recipe, shall we?

A blurry picture, my apologies, however we need to double the above, so take:
2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1.5 tbsp melted butter, 2 cups rolled oats, 1tsp salt, and 1 tsp vanilla.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Here is a step by step picture look at what you do:

Step one: Beat egg until light

Step two: Add sugar gradually

 

 

 

 

The following pictures are step three: adding the remaining ingredients.

Adding melted butter

Rolled oats going in!

Salt is next

Vanilla to make it taste that much better

Next, putting it on a cookie tray:

One teaspoon to start

Onto some parchment paper we go! Parchment paper is the best, by the way, multi-use and easy to clean up.

Spread it thin with a fork dipped in cold water.  Why a fork in cold water? So it doesn't stick to the dough.

Next, we bake for about 13 minutes!

In the oven, set at 350 F.

 They should end up looking like this:

 

 

Baked until delicately golden brown.

Serving suggestion:

Wonderful with tea on a cold winter's day!

Now go and make some Scottish Fancies! (they are Mr. K's new favorite)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas Tree!!!!  I love it!  It was about 7ft before the trimming of the trunk.  Now it's about 6.5 feet.  It's perfect.  I haven't put any ornaments on it yet because we're having a baking party tonight to help the church's Christmas Tea outreach and will have a toddler roaming the place, but I have the lights and my angel on it. :-)

Here's a pic of it without any falderalls. It makes me smile and I love the fresh pine scent!

Naked tree!

It's so pretty!  We'll decorate tomorrow night.

And thus begins our Christmas decorating.  So what does one do with this:

Free branches from Home Depot

Well, you can do this:

Picture frame decor

And this:

Shoe cubbie decor

  And this:

Bookcase decor

And this:

Homemade advent wreath

 Many uses for swags of pine. :-)


Now, off to some quiet evening.  Can't help humming "O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree".

All dressed up and ready to GO!!!

I am so excited! I finally got my bike from my Dad (ok, he got the bike from a neighbor, but fixed it up to give to me).  Last weekend Mr. K and I spent some time gathering the necessary bike things so I could ride in any weather (lights for the front, blinking light for the back, a front pouch, an under seat pouch, and a helmet that's lovely).
The finished look at Day time:

Let the good times roll!

At Night time:

Looking sharp after my ride.

My bike and I are good friends now. :-)  The only thing left to get is a lock.  But that is another day.