What's new for the New Year.....

I have made no formal resolutions this year. However, I have made some agreements with myself that I hope to uphold. First, I shall try to stay out of all and I mean all political discussions this election year. I shall look the other way at first and then get up and leave - just so you know.

I am also tired of spending money on restaurants with food that is not prepared on site. We rarely go out to dinner but lunch is something we both enjoy. We are cooking at home and having wonderful lunches. Today we shall have onion soup courtesy of Ina Garten. I shall make some open faced cheese sandwiches to accompany.

Last year my word was accomplish and I did actually accomplish quite a bit. I have projects I need to finish this year and I shall try but I am also going to try to enjoy my home and the life we have here in Florida for the cold months and Maine in the summer. I find myself drifting away from some of the quilting and leaning toward knitting. My niece and her husband are having a baby in March and the needles are clicking away.

My knitting skills need to be sharpened a bit and I am amazed and thrilled at the information on the internet. I am also lucky to have a wonderful yarn shop near by. If you are in the Sarasota area and love to knit, be sure to visit A Good Yarn. You will be overjoyed.

I spent the day knitting there on Friday. Good company and good knitters. I had not brought a project but admired a blanket on the table. Very quickly, I was knitting thanks to the wonderful staff. Because this blanket is knit out of leftover sock yarn, I could buy a bag of colors called "Sock Bites" from Pagewood Farms. Perfect.

There are lots of bright colors for this baby arriving in March!
While I was at The Cotton Patch, a quilt shop in Sarasota, I found these wonderful labels. They are called "Sprinkles" and made by Izzy and Ivy.

I will use this one on the blanket.
A new knitting bag is ready to go for the next knitting day. I have a new little point and shoot camera (in orange) thanks to some Christmas dollars. I shall also take my iPad to show pictures of my beautiful grandchildren and my other projects.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

A New Year

I was visiting blogs the other morning and stopped in to see Snap at Tales from Twisty Lane. She had this framed and featured. The more I thought about it the more I liked it. I tried to google but could not find anything even resembling what she had so I went to Word and created/copied this idea. There are some wonderful, funky fonts to download at dafont. Thank you Snap and to the person who created this. It says it all!

I think I shall keep this frame filled with seasonal thoughts. This looks nice on the Welsh cupboard and will greet guests as they come into the house.

Santa brought me a Food Saver. Jack and I cooked all week. The freezer is full of some wonderful meals for the next month. We had ham for Christmas dinner at our friends' house. Nothing would do but for us to cook a ham. We made pea soup in the slow cooker.

We ate it before I remembered to take a picture. I served this with Anadama Bread made in the bread machine. House smelled wonderful all day.

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends. I wish you all the best for the coming year.

Christmas Eve in Florida

At times it does seem odd to have all the windows open while looking at the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music. Coming from northern parts, it took a while for me to get used to celebrating without snow! I miss family and friends up north but we have friends here and they become our family for this season. I celebrate Christmas in July with my children and grandchildren up north!

I am ready this year more than any other year that I can remember. We started decorating the house right after Thanksgiving which created a calming effect for me. I enjoyed writing my cards in front of the tree. I baked with music playing in the background. Most of my gifts are homemade or vintage pieces that I am re-gifting so that there was not last minute panic which saved me and my pocketbook! As I wrapped each one, I took my time. The packages look pretty good for someone who is ribbon-challenged. I think the teddy bears I made years ago helped the process along.

There are some wonderful cooks out there in Blogland and this year two recipes were on my menu. Pam of Pam's Midwest Corner shared a recipe this summer for Italian Sausages Roasted with Grapes. We decided to have this for Christmas Eve and we were not disappointed. I served the sausages with creamy polenta but they are wonderful with mashed potatoes. You can print the recipe here. Thank you Pam. You can visit her here.

We started the meal with an Antipasto. I like to try different meats and cheeses. The composition is fun and a light drizzle of good olive oil and the vinegar of your choice complete the presentation. I usually use red wine vinegar but Balsamic is also a good choice.

This year I made individual plates which included Mortadella, Provolone, Milano salami, Piave Fresco (the cubes) and white sardines with marinated olives. I arranged these on a bed of Spring greens.

Then dessert! I have been intrigued by this since Thanksgiving. Another wonderful cooking blog that I follow is Schnitzel and the Trout. Susan shared this recipe for Orange Ice Cream with Dried Cherries and Toasted Pecans. You can see it here. You can visit her blog here. Thank you Susan.

I served the ice cream with Forgotten Cookies and a small bit of Drambuie. There are hundreds of recipes for these cookies. Google and see which you would like to try.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year to you all.

Christmas in the studio

The year we became engaged my parents had a cocktail party to introduce Rich to their friends. My Aunt June (a Christmas diva) came to help my mother decorate. There was a tree in every room and each tree had a theme. I cannot remember them all clearly. In my room was a bride's tree and it was white as I recall. In the bathroom was the Santa tree. My mother saved those decorations in a baggie and I have kept this for many, many years. I meant to do a tree last year but never got around to it but this year it happened.

The baggie contained candy canes, 2 chains of bells and the Santa heads attached to pipe cleaners. I added the paper dolls (never too old for dolls). The tree is from Pottery Barn.

My quilt shop had kits to make these dolls. I like it when everything you need is included so you can come right home and start the project. If I have to drive all over town to gather this and that, I often lose interest in the whole thing! These dolls were ironed to a backing and cut out. I placed them in the tree and on my desk.

The colors are quite seasonal! 

Now it is time for a cup of coffee, looking at the tree and a few last minute cards!

Almost Ready...really.....

 The menu is planned and some of the gifts are wrapped. It is very early in the morning and the house is peaceful. This is my favorite time of the day. The lights are on on the tree and the coffee will be ready in a minute. Jack is still asleep but not for long and another day will start soon. We have errands to do. I remember my parents doing errands. They would take all day and I would just shake my head. Most likely we will be gone a good part of the day!

This time of the year brings back many memories of my childhood and growing up in a little town in New Jersey. As I set the table and decorate the house, I bring out many of the things that belonged to both my grandmother and my mother and I treasure them. You will see them on my Christmas table next week.

This year I have used many recipes from blogging friends. My dinner and dessert will be from 2 wonderful cooks who blog and share. I will write about these recipes next week as well. I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises!

The embroidery machine has been busy and the tea towels that are never to be touched are on display. Even the guest bathroom is ready.

Well, I have really rambled this morning. I need to get out of this chair and get that coffee. I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for another Pink Saturday. Be sure to stop in and see some wonderful Holiday posts.

Have a wonderful weekend!