Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying a Wonderful Christmas!  I have been lounging around tonight soaking in the Christmas lights and gearing up for formulating my New Year's life enhancement list (sounds a little more optimistic and achievable than resolutions!  lol).  Let me tell you, a lot of reflection is going on...  The second half of 2018 has been unbelievably crazy beyond words.  It has kept me away from my blogging friends/family and my many of my artistic endeavors.   After a long talk with my sister yesterday, I now realize the need to shake off past distractions and focus on my family, my passions, and me.  No more pushing off my pursuits.   I am going to empower myself with a new word to live by for 2019 which is going to be... insert drumroll... Actualize.   The definition of actualize is to make real.  I love it!   I will hold off on the details of my choice of a word for now, since today should be spent with great consideration to our faith,  spending time sharing joyful moments with our families, and (in my case)  eating way to much delicious  food.  ;)      

 

From My Family to Yours,

 

A Very Merry Christmas!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

 

 

And plenty of time to rest up for the New Year! ;)

Holiday Fairy Garden

 I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  We had warm weather here in Northern Illinois.  It certainly made the travelling less stressful.  Not the "White Christmas" that we sing about, but a few evening snow showers on the way home brought some smiles.  All the relatives are healthy and happy... What more can one ask for?   I absolutely LOVE this time of year!  :)

The Christmas holiday for me has always centered on the reason for my nativity being displayed and  spending time with loved ones... not so much the gift giving.  In fact, my only shopping  was for Farmer boy and his fiancé... Okay, a few for Mr. Hollow too!   It is funny, since I absolutely loved working in retail and enjoy finding gifts that hopefully will make the recipient smile.  While finding their presents, it is well known that I shop for my "gifts" as well for under the tree.  Trust me, this is NOT a bad thing.  They don't even require wrapping! LOL  Although my want list is really short, I usually have a few dream items I fulfill for the holiday.  Yes... I could buy them during the year, but Christmas has always been a time for me to do some self reflection.  The season is a time of looking forward to the coming year and realizing what frivolous or useful items will help realize some of my new resolutions.  I am very excited about a few of my items and will share them over the next month, but this post is about an unexpected gift from the newest member of our family... my soon to be in 2016 daughter-in-law... The gift of a charming fairy garden. 

Instead of buying a premade garden, she made this little scene for me.  I pride myself on being hard to buy for, but this little forest is absolutely perfect for me. :)  It is green, rustic and contains a rendition of two little critters that make me laugh to watch in nature through out the year... Squirrels!  Look at the little squirrel on the front of the log whistling as he prances across.  It makes me smile every time I glance his way.  Very symbolic of the carefree nature of the animal in the wild. LOL  And of course there are two of them!  Trouble will always run in pairs. ;)

I had to show this overhead shot.  There is a moss base in the front and back.  Hopefully, I can find a way to keep the moss healthy... Yikes!  In between the moss is a little path of tiny pebbles.

To the back of the garden, there is a wee trellis.  A tiny little vine is climbing it.

Look at the pot... orange, my favorite color!  It is such a lovely and inspiring little garden -- right out of the pages of Beatrix Potter.    Makes me wish that I had a large well lit studio area to keep it in.  *sigh*  But for or right now, I believe that the best spot is in my work area to the front of the house.  That particular work area is where I do most of my writing and idea formulating.  It will be a little magical garden of ideas... Especially, when the days DO decide to become wintry!  :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From Our Family to Yours

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Christmas Gift ~ Hand Blown Glass Ornament

Take a look at these beautiful hand blown glass ornaments with a Seussian swirl!  Aren't they absolutely lovely?  My son purchased both of these at a craft fair last November in Elizabeth, Illinois from a local artisan.  They are marvelous. 

 

Here is the first ornament. It has a swirl made up of 8 different colors divided by cobalt blue glass.  It almost looks air brushed from far away...

 

 

 Upon a closer inspection, the viewer can see the different bands of color.  My son chose this ornament for himself.

Here is the second ornament.  He surprised me with an early Christmas gift of this lovely ball.  It is so cool.  The colors are mixed with the same cobalt blue glass.   It reminds me of an ornament out of one of Dr. Seuss's books!  I just love it!! 

The gentlemen that sold these told my son that if they should ever be damaged, he will gladly do repairs.  How odd is that to hear nowadays?  I try so hard not to be a part of the throw away society movement.  It warms my heart to know that my son values the work of others and purchases gifts that are true heirlooms. 

**Note**  Farmerboy also picked up a hand painted ball ornament with an old Minneapolis Moline Z painted on it.  The Artist said that she likes to pick an odd tractor here and there to grace her ornaments.  She made my son very happy. :)

It amazes me how my kid can gift me with items that I haven't even thought of, and they are so perfect for me.  This ornament is a true treasure.  I was informed that the artist also creates ornaments in different shapes.  I can see this as the beginning of an amazing collection!

Copper Gifts Huge Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter

Happy New Year!  Instead of starting off with a traditional New Year's post, I decided to share one of my Christmas presents with you.  Leading up to this purchase... I had a phone conversation with my Sister a few weeks before the Holiday, and we had a discussion about how sometimes you just have to buy a gift for the holidays that is something crazy...  something that you simply just want to have. So parting with my practical ways, I purchased for myself a Huge Gingerbread Man cookie cutter from Copper Gifts.   When I saw this huge ginger featured on the Food Channel a few years ago, my wish was to some day add it to my cookie cutter collection.  I am happy to say that it was my most frivolous and favorite gift of the season!   

**Note**  Raymond and Beth Braman (owners of Copper Gifts) make some of the most gorgeous copper cookie cutters in their Kansas based business.  The copper creations range from mini cutters all the way up to the enormous sized Gingerbread Man!  The enormous size ginger is over 20 inches tall... That is one BIG cookie! :)  Although I was in awe of their latest enormous creation, my mind was set on a "cookie sheet manageable"  Huge Gingerbread Man that measures 14.5 x 10 inches. 

A week before Christmas my present arrived.  It was such a thrill to hold this beautiful cookie cutter.  Look at how they wrapped it!  It came with a shimmering red bow, laminated recipe card, and to gather his bag... a lovely tied ribbon with their company name printed on it.  Very festive! :)      

I had Farmer Girl hold onto him to give you a little perspective on the size of this big guy.  Copper Gifts shaped him out of a 2 inch wide band of copper.  He is sturdy!  On his handle, the company hammered their logo into the copper.  The quality of work on this cutter is amazing.  I couldn't be more thrilled! 

I was so busy with last minute preparations that I forgot to take pics of the baking process.  So, this pic was hastily snapped at my family's Christmas gathering.  As you can see, my nieces already had begun to devour his right leg! ;)

If you would like to spend some time browsing the Copper Gifts Website, it can be found here.   As you all know, I love handcrafted items and am in awe of the talented Artisans that practice their crafts.  I hope to keep discovering new people and purchasing their works of art.   I am so glad that I have my friends here at the Hollow to share my wonderful discoveries with.  My sincerest wish is that we all be blessed with a joy filled year... WELCOME 2013!! :)

Merry Christmas!

I wish everyone safe travels and a Very Merry Christmas! :)

Hammond's Candies Candy Canes ~ Made In America!

After watching Hammond's Candies in Denver, Colorado handcraft their fine hard candies on the Food Network, it has been a dream of mine to have some of their creations in our stockings for the holidays.  The way they start with a HUGE piece of striped sugar and work it down to a hand sized or bite sized candy is such a wondrous marvel, matching the skills of even Mr. Willy Wonka!  ;)  I am happy to say, that after  bullying Mr. Hollow into doing a little frivolous shopping on Sunday, I found these... Hammond's Candies very own Candy Canes!!

The candy canes are sooo much more beautiful in person.  It was the eye catching colors of the canes in the display at the Monroe, Shopko store caught my eye.  I have NEVER seen such wonderful striping, and the canes are longer than my hand and as big around as my thumb.  I wish that there had been a sign with Hammond's name above them, but there wasn't. :(  The craftsmanship of the candy was what drew me in.  I had already decided on first site that they were going into our stockings.  Imagine my surprise, as I drew the first cane out of one of the various pails and saw the Hammond's Candies tag.  They are truly a work of art, and I look forward to tasting them.  Next year, I will definitely order some of their other candies at their online store here.   And to make things even sweeter, their tag reads...  Handmade in the USA!  :) 

Large Hershey Bar Snowman (4.4 oz.) ~ A Quick Christmas Gifting How To

If you find yourself in a pinch, artist Laurie Furnell has offered a FREE Christmas print out (made possible by Aimee Asher Boutique) to create a festive holiday snowman from a large or regular sized Hershey bar.  I had read about this darling snowman a few months ago, and he has taken center stage in my house with the Christmas holiday right around the corner.  They will come in handy at work where we do a small gift exchange.  I love the idea of a little holiday stitching, some quick-time crafting, and being able to give the gift of CHOCOLATE.  Who wouldn't appreciate that!   PLUS... It gives me an excuse to use some of that 1.00 a yard fleece that I purchased from the JoAnn Fabrics'  Black Friday Sale a few years back. ;)

I started by going to Laurie Furnell's free snowman download here.  (You will have to register but will not be charged at check out.)  There is a print out for her rules, the finished product, print out for a regular size Hershey bar, and a print out for an 8 oz. bar.  I choose the 8 oz bar design and printed it to fit on a regular sheet of paper, which was perfect for a 4.7 oz. large Hershey bar.  Then, I began to sift through my stash of fleece and construct a pattern for my festive goodies.  :)

I know it is a little hard to see in the picture, but you will need to cut down the paper to the right of the design and on the bottom line.  Then, tape the seal flap on the bottom of the Hershey bar wrapper to the front of the candy.  This will keep it hidden from view.

I find that Hershey was pretty accurate with my batch of bars.  Once I flipped the print to the back side, the Hershey bar could be placed front side down on the paper.  The right side of the paper could be placed over the back of the bar and lined up on the brown line above the final vitamin line, and the snowman's face would be nicely centered on the reverse side.  After using three pieces of tape to secure the right side, the left side was placed over it... three more pieces of tape and onward to the stitching part of the project.  Yeah!! 

If you are like me and would like a snugger fit to your stocking hat, cut a piece of fleece approximately 7 3/4 inches square.   On my paper pattern, there is a dotted line 1 1/4 inches down from the top of the pattern to aid me in marking the fringe for the pom pom top. 

 

On the reverse side of the folded fleece, make the line for the fringe. (A Sharpie marker works great for this.)  While the fleece is still out, a strip can be cut 1 1/4 inches wide and approximately 17 1/2 inches long for a matching scarf. (This will leave you a little excess for adjustments after placement.)
 
Working on the reverse side of the fleece, a simple overcast stitch can be used from the bottom up to the tassel line.  Tie off the thread and the bottom of the hat is finished.  With scissors in hand, cut the fleece in approximately 1/4 inch increments from the top of the fleece to the tassel line, creating the fringe for the pom pom.  Now turn the hat right side out.  Starting at the center seam, use a gathering stitch under the fringe and pull tight.  I like to wrap the thread one more time around the fringe line, pull tight, and tie off.  This will create a darling little pom pom.  Folding from the bottom of the hat, there will be enough fleece to fold twice.  Now it is time to dress the snowman!!  

Aren't they darling??  I cannot wait to dive into the others!  All together, there will be 10 snowmen here at The Hollow.   And who knows... Maybe some more to follow. ;)    I even have some really funky tie dyed fleece that will fit my Manager's personality perfectly.  This project has peaked my creative senses and has immersed me in the holiday spirit.  It is such a blast!

As you can see by the photo, one of my co workers is a marksman (He is also the only rooster in our hen house!), so the camo fleece came in handy.  The candy cane stripe is perfect for a wonderfully Christmasy decoration.   And for my fellow co-worker that makes me laugh with stories of her mischeivious pooch, a red hat and scarf adorned with doggy prints. :)

It makes me laugh to think that I almost got rid of some of my fleece last summer!   I cannot wait to do some more of these little snowmen... I am sooo hooked.   Think of the possibilities.  Hmmm... Mismatched hat and scarves... Felted wool hat and scarves... Even different kinds of candy bars.  The options are limitless.

A HUGE Thank-you to Laurie Furnell for such a charming printable design.  And for those that decide to take advantage of this freebie, the design will be available to you for 7 days or 5 clicks.   This would be such an inexpensive gift for kids to create for friends and teachers, too!    If you have a little time on your hands, check out Aimee Asher's website.  It really is an inspiring place to visit.  Happy Holidays to All!!

How Does The Christmas Cactus Know?

I noticed a solitary bud on my Christmas Cactus a few weeks ago.  Then, I was so busy this past week that it went unobserved sitting on my front room table.  Look at what I found this morning!  It must have been open these last few days welcoming Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... This glorious plant has definitely taught me to slow down or risk missing life's little wonders...

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from My Family to Yours!

Stihl Chainsaw Christmas Tree with Matching Skirt

I enjoy my trees and holiday collections at Christmas time.  My son has a tree that holds his train ornament collection, which has now spilled to the floor around the base.  I have my Rankin and Bass Rudolph and mini Shiney Brite tree, along with the main tree that houses my large Shiney Brites and hand made heirlooms.  But oddly enough, my hubby has never had his own theme tree.  Gee Whiz... even the cat has her personal photo ornament on the large tree!  I am happy to announce that this year my hubby finally can admire his own personal tree... *sigh*

Of course, the overall theme had to be Stihl Chainsaws!  He is lucky that I picked up a ceramic mold years ago that had a chainsaw in it.  I poured 12 of them and painted them to resemble an old roll bar version of his beloved brand.  Touching isn't it? LOL ;)   After promising him this tree two years ago, I was determined that this year was to be the year of completion.  Monday marked that goal being met with the creation of the tree skirt in the "oh to familiar" orange, black, and white colors!  

I created the star with foil wrappers saved from holiday mini Reese cups.  They are my hubby's favorite candy along with York Peppermint Patties, which would have worked equally as well --if I would have had some of the outer discards.  Next year though, I will buy and save the foils from the fall themed mini Reese cups.  The fall tones should look more fitting with the colors of the chainsaws.  I think the current little star is darling for this year's tree and will migrate to another display next fall. :)   

I purchased some orange led lights at Halloween, and it works perfectly to enhance the theme and color scheme of the tree!



My hubby smiles when he looks at his addition to the Christmas display.  The tree is 3 1/2 feet tall and works well with the ceramic ornaments.  I hope that my hubby doesn't want to add his collection of saw ornaments next year, because a larger tree would be needed, and I am running out of space! ;)

Mini Snowman Gourds ~ Ready for the Holiday!

I have spent the week catching up on a few orders and getting these little mini snowman gourds dressed!   It was fun to make wee little hats and scarves.  They are all now snug and warm in their upcycled cashmere sweater hats and scarves.  Top of the line trimmings for these little dudes! ;)

The first snowman completed stands 8 1/2 inches tall (including his hat).  His soft fuzzy stocking cap and scarf matches the little gingerbread girl's Butter Pecan background perfectly.  His mittens are a lightened version of Olive Moss that complements his earthy tones.   

The smallest of the mini gourd snowmen has the boldest of colors!  This little bundle of winter joy stands 6 1/4 inches tall (including his hat).  A soft repurposed burgundy cashmere sweater hat and scarf complement his Holly Green mittens.   A big statement in a very small package! :)

The tallest of the trio is donned in the softest of winter colors.  He stands 8 1/4 inches tall (including his hat).  Two different recycled cashmere sweaters were used to make his attire:  one in a soft Medium Blue and the other of light Ecru with a Sage Green tint.  To coordinate with his light colored apparel, I made his mittens Medium Brown with Butter Pecan highlights.  This one may not be entirely finished...  As I look at him, the brushes may come back out and give him some snowflakes in the sky around the woolly lamb.  Snowflakes would give a little extra magic to the Christmas scene! :)

These little snowmen were so much fun to work on.  There are about a half a dozen more of their brothers waiting for paint... and quite a few larger ones, too!   These little guys should be making their appearance in my Etsy store sometime this weekend. I'm not sure how many more will get completed for before the Holiday... But, I look forward to adding to my inventory after the first of the year.  Can you believe it?  2012 is not that far away! 

Gayes Mills Applefest & Pumpkin Hollow's 1st Birthday!

Pumpkin Hollow Primitive blog turns 1 today!!  Can it truly be already??  Gee Whiz...  This is fixing to be a big week.  This post is number 93 (closing fast on 100!), and Farmerboy (aka my son) will be turning 21 years old on the 6th.  Definitely some big happenings around here!  Kind of funny how everything centers in on my favorite month of the year. :)   Even the weather is cooperating with temps in the mid 70's.  Talk about Karma... ;)   

For my year marker, I cannot think of a better post than the trip we just took to Gayes Mills, WI for their Applefest.  They have a huge flea market, a parade, and best of all... the apple orchards are all open to visit!!  This is my favorite trip of the year.  I just LOVE visiting Sunrise Orchard.  Here is a pic of my McIntosh apples.  I picked up two bags to make a bushel.  They consider them seconds, but they look way better than the ones I get at the store, and they only cost $18.00 for the bushel! 

Two gallons of apple cider found their way into our vehicle, along with 2 dozen cider donuts that were freshly made.  Yum!!  Lucky for us, there was a bag of caramels in the freezer at home, so I cut up some fresh apple slices to pour the hot melted caramels over.  Double Yum!!

I almost forgot to add my finds from the flea market!  My mind gets distracted by "good eats"! ;)  One of the vendors had some cool Shiney Brite ornaments, and I am a Shiney Brite junkie.  ( Before I end this post, I'll have to check my memory card on my camera for a photo of my collection to add to this post.)  As you can see, there were two boxes of the smaller specialty shaped ornaments and two boxes of the mini ornaments.  My hubby was relieved to see that I was being picky! LOL 

She had larger ornaments that were priced individually, and they were definitely priced to sell, but I have to be careful on how many duplicates that I have.  My boxes of ornaments are stored in my front room in a over sized cabinet that Farmerboy made, and if he ever decides to reclaim that piece of furniture, I am going to be in big trouble! LOL  I like to keep the ornaments where the temps will not fluctuate dramatically, causing condensation.

I was surprised to find this one in the box that I purchased.  When haggling over the price for the lot of boxes, I thought that this was a round ornament.  How is this for a nice surprise??  This is a first for my collection.  Yay!

Okay, I found this photo on my memory card of last Christmas.  I was getting ready to decorate my main tree and had downsized my ornaments quite a bit from the year before.  So, my hubby cannot say that I  am not trying to curb my collection !  (I am so addicted to these vintage ornaments!!)  Maybe this is a form of hoarding, but  I swear that the majority of them do end up on trees in my house.   I can't help but look at them and think of all the wonderful Christmases that they have seen.  And since we are in October and the topic should be Halloween, I will not get into my appreciation of the craftsmanship and intricate designs on these wonderful glass creations.  I will save that for a chilly month! ;)  

Straight from the Slush Pile ~ Making a Snowman Gourd Finished

I am very excited to introduce to you the first inductee into the "Slushpile Gang."   My newest line of snowmen gourds that will have a characteristic "lean"  from warming temperatures. ;)    These new snow gourds will be a little different from my previous snowmen.  The Slushpile Gang will sport mache feet to help them stand in wintry displays.  They will be the first of my snow gourds to welcome the winter with upcycled clothing... Yep, natural and green!! :)   A few of these little guys and gals will also be proudly displaying some mixed media paintings based on my original sketches.  Yay!

The first to enter this group is a little gourd that I endearingly refer to as "Leaning Lenny".  His big blue pear shaped eyes just melt my heart!  He slouchingly stands approximately 14 1/2 inches tall and hails (no pun intended! LOL)  from a gourd patch in North Carolina.  His carrot nose, mittens, and feet shaped base are all sculpted from mache.  His hat and scarf are all hand sewn from felted sweaters, and color matched to coordinate with his mittens and the scene painted on his belly.  He is one dapper little dude! ;)

This photo shows him sitting on my drafting table and watching me type up his debut on my laptop! LOL  I think it shows his front lean more accurately.  I love the way his eyes appear to be peaking  from under his woolly hat. :) 

How's that for a loving look?!?  LOL

Couldn't resist!!

Lenny sports an original sketch of mine entitled "Santa's Moonlit Ride".  The mixed media scene is created from acrylic paints and pastel chalks and measures 6 x 4 1/2 inches.  

As you can see on Lenny's back, he has a few natural blemishes.  There are gourd artists that prefer to sand their projects smooth, but I like to leave a few of the blemishes to add character/uniqueness and remind the viewer of the beauty of a natural surface.  Also, underneath his felted hat is his long stem.  I had to shape the hat to fit  around the stem and pinned the wide tail back to the band.



This gives a good look at Lenny's mittened arm created out of mache and scarf that is hand pieced from two lengths of felted sweater.  As you can see, his leaning head is more noticeable from the various side pics.



This pic shows a better view of his hat and scarf.  The natural fibers give a cozy, warm feeling to this chilly snow gourd.  

I am creating more free standing painted gourds in different sizes and have some more of the Slushpile Gang in various stages of completion.  Lenny and some of my other creations will be making their way to my Etsy store this week in time for the holiday shopping season.  I will be showing my finished work on Pumpkin Hollow Primitives first, so my blogging friends will have a chance to adopt first. :)

Dr. Seuss is on the Loose ~ Fabric That Is!

Although I have only started making quilts this year, I have been obsessed with fabric for most of my life.  The designs, colors, and textures are a world of fascination to me.  My love of fabric covers vintage, modern, novelty, floral, solids, and well... pretty much everything. ;)  I love them all.  But my heart skips a beat, when they combine my passion for children's literature with cotton!   No guilt of adding to the stash after seeing these fabrics.  "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" based on the book by Dr. Seuss and brought to us adoring fans in cotton by Robert Kaufman Fabrics, is simply perfect.  The gorgeous red and green fabric depicts the Whos sprinkled randomly in black singing.  The fabric, pictured in between those pieces, is a panel with the illustrated scenes from the famous book in brilliant crisp colors.  If you visit Kaufman Fabric's website here , there are several  free quilt patterns.   Scroll down the page to see the free quilt pattern entitled "Merry Grinchmas Panel Quilt."  They offer the instructions for this wonderful panel cut up and incorporated into a quilt.  Their design is so eye catching and full of fun color that I immediately had to buy some fabric for the future project.   

While wandering around on the Internet looking for fabric to coordinate with the "Grinch Quilt", I stumbled across Ready, Set, Snow by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda.  WOW!  The bold color palette and playful designs reminded me of a Seussian tale.  So, I bought two charm packs with the strong feeling that they might end up as terrific accent blocks.   I also stumbled across Kate Spain's "Flurry" for Moda, which can be viewed here .  It reminds me of vintage Christmas wrap.  Love It!!  That has been added to my wish list for now, while I save up some more "add to the stash" money! ;)

Stihl Chainsaw Blanket

Nothing like starting a 2010 Christmas present a month after the holiday! The only plus is that I finished it in one day... one long day. I am so happy to report that the task is done! :)

Let me start by explaining the reason for the gift. My husband is an avid Stihl Chainsaw user. He has worked in the tree care service for 28 years. Although his day job is a plumber/electrician, we have a tree trimming and removal business on the nights and weekends. (Yes, believe it or not, there are quite a few days out of the year that you can find me dragging and chipping brush.) At holiday time, I am always buying him Stihl memorabilia. And let me tell you, it is getting harder and harder to find something new.

When the cold weather arrived in early December, my husband began hinting that he would like to have a fleece blanket to use while watching television. That seemed a reasonable and useful gift. I have one... my son has several with his favorite teams on them... even the cat has one of her own that she would love to share with her beloved owner... BUT


for some reason hubby doesn't want to use it?? Can't imagine why? ;) LOL

So with absolutely no quilting experience, I took the task at hand. I was determined that he would have no ordinary blanket. It would definitely be orange and black, but how could I punch it up a little? It was then my eye fell upon a magazine with the all to familiar logo on it. Well... they were block letters. And lets face it, you really can't screw up with fleece. Okay, well maybe I could... but the odds were in my favor. So, I sketched and figured some rough dimensions, ordered the fleece, and proceeded to get too busy to even think of doing the project! :( AAAgh!

But now I can finally announce that on this day, January 27th, the task is complete. Mew and I worked tirelessly... anyways, I did while she slept! My husband was very surprised. Even though there will be no quilters award for this first attempt, it didn't turn out too bad for a newbie! The only problem?? My husband is not sure if he wants to use it... he's afraid it might get dirty. AAAAgh! You know what I think...

HE CAN SHARE WITH HIS CAT! LOL ;)

Danish and Wassail Recipe

I probably should have listed this before the holiday, although this is a wonderful treat throughout the year. Here was a simple but delicious... easy yet full of flavor breakfast my family enjoyed on a beautiful Christmas morning (to be honest it made a great dessert for that night, too!). I was lucky enough to get this recipe from my Aunt Barb a few months ago. It is adapted from the Pillsbury Danish recipe (that are made in individual servings). This recipe is constructed in a 13 x 9 pan. The beauty of this recipe is that my whole family can cut their own size portions (less waste), and it can be made the night before and refrigerated. Yay!!

Here is the Danish recipe:

2 pkgs crescent rolls
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1t vanilla
2 (8oz) cream cheese (easier if softened)

Unroll the first package of crescent rolls, keeping the dough in a sheet, and cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Make filling by mixing cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Spread the mixture evenly over the crescent roll dough in the baking dish.

Unroll the second package of crescent rolls and place over top of cream cheese mixture.

Topping:
1/4 c. sugar
1t cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped nuts (Optional)

Sprinkle this over the top layer of dough. You can cut amount if you do not like a lot of sugar (or use a vanilla glaze drizzle after the danish has cooled).

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Note: I prefer Pillsbury Crescent rolls for this recipe. Some of the off brands are just to greasy. I also prefer the name brand cream cheese. If you are a sale shopper like me, these items are constantly on sale at holiday time!

**Note:  Want to give it a little more pizzaz?  Top it with your favorite pie filling... Yummmmm! :)  ***



Do you want an easy drink that can be made ahead of time and heated up in the microwave? (Although if you make it during a holiday, the smell is just wonderful!) Here is a great wassail recipe that I have used through the years.

Wassail Punch Recipe:

2qt. apple cider
2c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. sugar
4 sticks of cinnamon (if they are short you can add a few more)
2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. lemon juice
12 whole cloves (I've been known to throw in a half a dozen more)

In a large kettle, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon and cloves. Serve warm. Makes about 3 1/2 quarts.

Note: I usually halve the recipe for my family. Make sure you get the good apple cider that is cloudy with pulp. It is sooo much better. I've been known to freeze half gallons of cider during harvest time to save for the winter months!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May the wonder and excitement of the season fill your heart with joy!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Thrifty Friday Find~ Reed's Rocket Nut Cracker

I can remember, way back when I was a kid ;) , Santa bringing us a fruit basket at Christmas, and there was always mixed nuts sprinkled through out. My Dad would always carry a pliers in his pocket and could crack any kind of nut without dropping a shell or ruining the contents. What was his secret? He was gifted in being able to cup his hand around the pliers without pinching himself in the process, when the nut finally cracked. This was NOT a talent of mine, and let me tell you that pinch that followed the loud (or was it fear that made it sound loud??) crack hurt like the devil. (Did anybody else get a nasty blood blister from trying something so stupid??) Not to mention, it was no thrill to try and sort minuscule nut meats apart from pulverized shells. And just in case you were wondering... stealing Dad's hammer was no better. Over the years, I graduated to a meat tenderizer (to my hubby's horror) for my bludgeoning tool. Ahhhh the memories, but those days are gone... my counter is now safe from being marred. There is a new tool in my arsenal...

This is a Reed's Rocket Nut Cracker, and it was found at a garage sale unused in its original box. My Dad found me this... well, actually he found two... lucky me!! This little gem was manufactured in Arkansas, which is no surprise, since it works brilliantly on pecans. Okay to be honest, the pecans I am cracking were brought back up from Missouri! It is easy to get the pressure just right to produce beautiful pecan halves. I only wish my recipe called for halves! :( LOL This by far is the best nutcracker that I have ever used. Christmas morning is going to find me trying out some hazel nuts in this baby!!