trimming the tree

Time to decorate the house

and trim the tree...

The Christmas music is blaring,

the candles are lit

and apple cider is mulling.

(Of course a little snow coming down would be a huge help.)

It always helps to have a few decorating magazines open for ideas.

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turkey overload?

Are you tired of turkey leftovers?

I'm not a big turkey fan...

but I do love all the trimmings!

Spaghetti is a favorite of ours,

it's quick and easy.

I used to make my own sauce until discovered Classico...

and Italian meatballs in the freezer section of the grocery store.

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santa hats

The Christmas decorating has begun...

We started decorating at daughter knit and pearl's the day after Thanksgiving.

Everything got decorated...

Her dogs were pretty good natured about wearing these silly hats

 and getting their pictures taken in them.

 We promised not to show them to any of their doggy friends.

Santa is almost done putting the finishing touches on his reindeer.

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thanks

Thank you goes to our daughter and son-in-law

for a very nice Thanksgiving.

When our turkey was finally done cooking...

it was baked to perfection.

I'm thankful for the love of family.

As always everyone ate too much.

We welcomed the idea of a walk in the North Dakota woods.

I loved that we were only 2 miles from Canada. 

I'm thankful for friendly neighbors.

And so now it is Christmas.

I'm looking forward to some exciting blogs from all my blogger friends.

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Thanksgiving menu

No Thanksgiving table of ours would be complete without

Grandma's nut pudding on it.

I've laid out the ingredients to put it together after work tonight.

I love using vanilla straight from Mexico.

I'm sure grandma used cream from the farm.

When we lived in Iowa our walnuts fell off local trees.

We bought them from an old gentleman (a friend's dad)

who had the patience to shell them and sell them.

Grandma was an old no-nonsense German with morals and values

 and a work ethic like you don't see much of these days.

She made kuchen and nut pudding that us kids loved.

I'm glad she passed on a little of all her traits.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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weekend update

Friday night's Mannheim Steamroller concert was fantastic...

I love renaissance style music and the

fourteen musicians on stage made a big sound.

Wouldn't you love to play music for a living?

I would.

I was impressed that most of these guys were our age!

We had our first snow Saturday,

I love snow...

Santa and I spent Sunday working on some top secret projects.

It was mighty cold for Santa working out in the garage.

But Mrs. Santa was all warm and comfy doing her projects by the fire

with a mug of apple cider close at hand.

How was your weekend?

Are ready for a turkey dinner this week?

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in the aire

I'll be away from my desk tomorrow...

I have enjoyed Manheim Steamroller for years

and have wanted to attend a concert for that long!

The music is fantastic all year long

 but the Christmas music is my favorite.

Check them out on Amazon.

And I'll be sure to let you know how the concert was...

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ball gowns

Our granddaughters are going to the ball soon...

And this grandmother decided they needed gowns for it...

(good idea right?)

So I stepped into deep water and decided to sew them myself...

(bad idea!)

After sewing them once,

tearing them apart and altering them to fit more than once...

the dresses are pretty enough for any little girl

 to wear when she meets Cinderella.

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secrets

We're all recovering from a very busy weekend...

We put on our aprons and rolled up our sleeves

 to make chocolate chip cookies.

"Grama, this needs more sugar."

I wasn't quite sure about sharing my secret

 to great tasting chocolate chip cookies?

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something new

My fortune cookie says,

"Now is the time to try something new"

But is it talking about my job?

or my hobbies?

my hairstyle?

my clothes?

Maybe where I live?

or my diet?

Maybe I should rearrange the furniture?

Who knew fortune cookies could be so stressful!

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falling leaves

Just another perfect day here...

With 17 degrees temps this morning

I'm sure this tree will be bare by tonight.

Someone here already did a LOT of raking...

My back hurt just taking a picture of all these bagged leaves!

We have little visitors coming for a few days...

and Grandma gets to be a kid again.

Mr. Scarecrow's days are numbered.

He will soon be replaced by blinking lights

 and someone wearing a red suit.

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fried apples

We really like Cracker Barrel Fried Apples...

But like everything else the price is getting a little steep.

So I went on a recipe hunt and found the recipe.

Yup, you can find just about anything on the internet.

So get out that cast iron frying pan and follow along...

Cracker Barrel Fried Apples

serves 6

2 cups apple juice, plus

1/2 cup apple juice

4 large golden delicious apples, with peel, cut 1/2 inch wedges

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon apple pie spice

4 tablespoons sugar

1. In a medium skillet, combine the 2 cups apple juice and sliced apples.

2. Simmer gently until apples are fork tender but not mushy, turning apples frequently.

3. Remove apples from juice using a slotted spoon and place in an oven safe dish.

4. In a blender, combine the remaining 1/2 cup apple juice, cornstarch, apple pie spice and sugar.

5. Blend a few seconds until smooth.

6. Whisk mixture into hot apple juice in skillet and cook, stirring constantly on medium high heat until it bubbles and becomes thickened and smooth.

7. Pour thickened mixture over apples and serve.

I used the apples I had on hand, not golden delicious.

Used apple cider in place of apple juice cuz that's what I had.

I didn't have apple pie spice so you guessed it...

went online and found the substitute for it.

So good!

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cooking up

It's time to cook up a little Christmas project...

The lines in the fabric store were testing my patience when I bought these.

If I didn't love purchasing new fabric a LOT

I would have thrown in the towel for this stuff.

The lines were long and holding 6 heavy bolts of fabric

 is enough to make me lose my cool.

The lady in front of me was holding up the line with her questions...

"How wide is this fabric?"

while other women were looking  for a way to cut the line,

silent scream from me here!

You would think the steep price of fabric would discourage us.

But no...

you either hate to sew or love it.

So what, maybe the size of my projects

have gotten a little smaller in order to stay in it.

I'm thinking about a few mug rugs with this Christmas fabric?

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remembering a time...

Remember when soda pop was a dime?

Or when every kid carried a sack full of marbles?

What was your favorite candy bar?

Mr b. still has to have a Rocky Road candy bar

 when he see them.

I liked Black Jack gum...b



time to get up

It's Friday!

Wake up Birdie, time to get up...
you're missing a beautiful sunrise!

Birdie's favorite thing to do is lay around all day

 while we're out earning money to buy her favorite cat food,

you know...the kind with salmon in it.

 

 

I liked this on my calendar page this morning...

"My good cannot be stopped."

 

 

I am so excited.

 Mr. b bought us tickets to a Manheim Steam Roller concert Nov. 18.

 It's only taken like forever!

I'm declaring it the official start of Christmas for myself.

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beans

I wanted to share how easy my favorite green beans are...

Throw a couple bags of frozen green beans in your crock pot...

(isn't it ridiculous how small packages are getting in the grocery store?)

top with dried onions, bacon bits, salt and pepper and a drizzle of honey.

I turn the crock pot on high for the afternoon as I like my vegetables overcooked.

The smell of green beans reminds me of grandpa's green beans.

 I think he always put a piece of pork in his.

It didn't matter what time of day it was,

 he would serve you some of those green beans

 on a Melmac plate.

comfort food...b



cowboys

He was a mean ol' cowboy...

They called him Pole Cat.

My latest bag is called Pole Cat.

But they aren't all mean cowboys...

there's Slim and Luke,

Squirt and Hal.

I used handkerchief fabric on the inside bottom of the bag...

This cowboy fabric was a piece we found in

Daughter Knit and Pearl's stash.

Turned out cute don't you think?

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November

November...

already?

I'm glad our daughter and mr. b insisted we turn around

and go down the gravel road to get some shots

 of this old country church in North Dakota.

I'm still waiting for her finance officer to get me some moose shots?

b