Thomas doesn't really like Christmas music. So, it's a limited commodity in our home. I'm also stuck on the same Christmas music that I've listened to for years. Not much gets added to my holiday playlist. My favorites include: Amy Grant Christmas (from like forever ago), Point of Grace's Christmas cd (also from years ago), and an odd assortment of Christmas carols in French. Yes, I actually listen to French music in my free time. Anyway, I just could not pass up this Christmas season without sharing one of my favorite Christmas songs. It also happens to be a mash-up of a bunch of different songs, so it's definitely worth listening to. This has been around for years, but I can't help listening to it over and over each Christmas because it's so hilarious! Say hello to "Straight No Chaser", a guys a capella group. Besides being really extremely talented, this song is absolutely hilarious. They have tons of other songs around the internet, so if you like them, there's plenty more to enjoy!
Hey hey!!! A new recipe! It's been so long! Anyways, this here is my mom's chicken pot pie recipe. It's super easy to make and only has to bake for about 10 minutes! The photos you see are just a little different than the recipe. I decided to make a smaller version because we really just don't need that many leftovers. Usually, my mom just puts the crust on top of the dish, but for this one, I decided to line the pie pan with crust and a little bit on top too. However, I really didn't love the crust to filling ratio. Overall, I prefer just having the crust on top, but you can always change it up to make it your own. I also made this one with turkey left over from Thanksgiving instead of chicken! It's just so versatile! Lol.
Chicken Pot Pie Adapted from: My Momma
Ingredients: +/- 10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables (I use a package that has carrots, corn, green beans, and peas in it.) 1/2 cup chopped onion (I usually omit this.) 1/4 cup margarine 1/3 cup flour 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sage 1/8 teaspoon pepper 2 chicken bouillon cubes 2 cups water 3/4 cup milk 1 Pie crust *recipe below
Directions:
Cook the vegetables in salted water. Drain and set aside.
While vegetables are cooking, melt margarine in a large sauce pan.
Cook onion in the butter.
Add flour, salt, sage, and pepper into sauce pan and stir to combine.
Pour in the milk, water, bouillon cubes, and stir until thick.
Add drained vegetables and chicken; stir to combine.
Pour into a 7x11 or 9x9 casserole dish.
Cover with pie crust, and cut off the edges.
Bake at 450 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until crust starts to look dry and browns just slightly.
Pie Crust: 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup hard Crisco 3-4 tablespoons water
Stir together flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
Cut in Crisco until crumbly.
Add water. Start with 3 tablespoons and then add more as needed until the dough comes together.
Roll out the dough on a slightly floured surface.
I hope you enjoy! This is a regular at my house, and the leftovers are delicious too!
So! I've been in a scarf making frenzy! I figured I couldn't really start another one without taking some photos of the one I finished last week. So, here are the pics!
I put a color effect on these and it actually helped to show the color a little better. I wish I would have taken a picture of the warp by itself. It was so colorful! Then it has a blue-ish weft so that overall, it's blue with splashes of color.
And here's the one I warped up yesterday. I started weaving on it this afternoon, and I'm liking it so far. I mixed it up with all solid colors and the materials: silk, bamboo, and a little cotton. The weft is just the plain light pink to bring it all together. So far, I'm liking it!
These photos look just a little orange-y but I couldn't find an effect that would show the true colors once it was already warped.
Which is funny, considering that I didn't go anywhere! So I just got busy the past week. Tons of cooking and eating for Thanksgiving made me a little short on time to blog! I loved every minute of it, and I guess I was just too busy enjoying myself to stop and take the time to document it right then. But, now Thanksgiving is over. And December is here. Which means: Christmas time!!! (I thoroughly believe that Christmas time should not begin until after Thanksgiving is over, so I've just started celebrating!) That being said, I've done quite a lot in the first four days of December! I've started my Christmas shopping, Thomas and I got our tree up and the house decorated! I've already wrapped several presents! And I'm planning a mini Christmas party for my Life Group girls! We got a new (bigger) couch earlier this year, so we had to find a new place to put the Christmas tree. Turns out that we didn't have many options if we didn't want to have to hop over it to walk around the house! (Our new couch is a lot bigger than our old one... which is exactly why we love it!)
I also hung some icicle lights and ornaments over the sliding door out to the porch because I just love icicle lights! We have more lights, but I just can't think of anything good to do with them... maybe I'll get more creative as the season continues!
Lolo is pretty good with the tree (we put one up every year). But so far, she has enjoyed tunneling under the tree skirt and knocking off the ornaments she can reach.
I'm interested in seeing how she does with presents under it this year. Since we usually travel back to Missouri for Christmas, we don't have many presents under the tree. Also, Thomas and I are horrible about waiting to open our presents all at one time (we've never been at our own house to open them Christmas morning, so we plan to do it early anyway.), but usually Thomas caves so badly and pleads with me to open my presents as soon as he buys them. This year, however, I am INSISTING that we wait until Christmas to open them!!! (We're staying in Florida, so this is our very first Christmas in 5 1/2 years of marriage (and 8 1/2 years as a couple) that we are able to open our presents from each other on Christmas!) I am ok with opening some presents on Christmas Eve night, but we are at least getting that far! I am going to stay strong this year! I WILL NOT CAVE!!!
I have yet to bust out the Christmas music (we always decorate the tree while watching a movie instead of with music), and I haven't baked any holiday goodies either. I'm also trying to think of some new Christmas traditions we could start since we'll have our first Christmas at home. More to come on that later though... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Well, I have been feeling accomplished the past few days. But, accomplishment does not come without its frustrations either. First Win: I finished another scarf already! I wove it so fast that I didn't even take a picture of the warp for a sneak peek. I really should have though. The warp by itself was just mesmerizing. It made me think of peacocks and circuses. The colors are so vivid and lively. Win #2: I am reading a book that was actually written for adults! It's true, I'm generally much more enraptured by the endless possibilities of teen fiction. It seems that adult readers just won't stand for such outlandish and unthinkable things like magic powers, imaginary worlds, talking animals, and heap loads of daring rule-breaking. However, right now I am reading a book that was written for an adult audience! Wow! This is also where the frustration comes in... a lot of the book is set in the early 1900s, and that's exactly how it reads. The phrasing and diction are a challenge to follow sometimes. In a section I read just today, the author went on for the long half of a paragraph about the behavior of electrons, and the subject of the book has nothing to do with science! It is very rambling, winding, and descriptive, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. It's an impossible love story at heart, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Third Win: Thanksgiving is tomorrow (and Friday, for me), and I can't wait! I love Thanksgiving! I wish it was not followed by Black Friday, but I just decide to act like Black Friday doesn't exist. Yay! A holiday that is purely for stopping to think about all the wonderful things we have in life is just wonderful! Last one: The weather today is just to die for! All the windows in the house are open, and it's a beautiful, sunny, breezy 74 degrees! Love it!
To be completely fair, I have a lot of both of my parents in me. Even my father couldn't tell my mom and I apart on the phone when I lived at home because our voices sounded so similar. I love to cook and bake (though I was a late bloomer in this area), which comes directly from my mother. My mom and I get along so well. But a lot of the way my brain works comes from my dad. He's a very analytical, straight-forward, logical, always-has-a-plan type of person. I have a bit of a crazy, unbalanced, artistic side in me, but mostly, I have my father's over-prepared brain. (We're also both corny nerds, but that's beside the point!) Thus, when I was preparing to cook my very first complete Thanksgiving meal last year, I had the plan to cook the exact replica of what my mom cooks, but I planned it in a way that, I think, would have made my dad smile with pride.
Oh yes, I made a spreadsheet. Let's say I based it on the fact that I had never cooked such an intricate meal with a number of dishes that graced the double digits that all needed to be ready at the same time to be packed in the car to take to a friend's house to eat the meal. That truly was the reason behind the spreadsheet, but it turns out that the spreadsheet itself gave me so much satisfaction that I decided to one-up it this year. (Of course, I typed it up and saved it on my computer for future use.) So, this year, when I decided to invite some friends over on Black Friday just so that I could have the pleasure of cooking this wonderful meal again, I pulled out that lovely spreadsheet. And edited it. And decided that it wasn't quite detailed enough. Oh no, a time schedule of exactly what I'm supposed to be doing during half hour increments for the whole morning leading up to eating time was not enough for me! This year... I added the dishes I will use for each portion of the process. (Are you laughing at me yet?! If not, we might be kindred spirits.) When my husband laughs at me for this (which he already has and will continue to do so), I always add some feeble excuse like, "Well, if I don't plan out all the bowls and things, I'll end up running out and won't have a dish to serve _______ in!" (In my defense, I do have a limited number of serving dishes and a tiny kitchen.) But since that never convinces him that I'm anything other than crazy, I just shrug and say, "Well, I am my father's daughter!" Now, only because I am shameless and actually quite proud of this lovely spreadsheet, I have included a picture for your viewing enjoyment below! The only problem I had with it this year was shrinking it down enough so that it would fit on one page! And as you can see in the corners, it is already hanging on the fridge eagerly awaiting Friday morning at 10:30 am when I will walk into a spotless kitchen, lace up my apron, and wreak an organized havoc!
*I got this ready yesterday, but I forgot to post it, so here you go!
This Thursday, I am thankful for the things that I consider to be basics in my life. And I am even more thankful for them when I think about the fact that there are many people in this word who don't have any of these things.
A wonderful home!
Delicious and nutritious food to eat every day.
Air conditioning!!!
Clothes that I (most days) like to wear.
A kitty that's adorable!
Hobbies that I enjoy.
Books to read and the fact that I can read.
Obviously, there are just a few things!
*Friday Update: Something I'm not thankful for: falling up the stairs with too many groceries so that I have knees the size of grapefruits! Yep, I fell up the stairs today with about 9 million groceries in my hands and a metal pan clattering all over the landing, and now I don't want to move. (Sarcastic) Awesome!
