Saturday, November 30, 2013

...Christmas-ized...

...it was time once again to Christmas-ize the house...and our favorite local tree shop is undergoing renovations and is not going to sell Christmas Trees this year...so as Snoopy would say - BAH!...so we had to go the big-box route...
...Scout and A² chose a lovely tree...Scout cut it off...
...and A² cut the bindings loose...
...and they shook the snow out of the frozen tree...
...they tested the lights...
...and lit the tree...
...and carefully placed all of the ornaments...
...and finally Scout placed the tree topper...
...then they twirled the tinsel around the tree...and it was well and truly finished...I finally did knit another skein to make it longer than last year...
...meanwhile...I went around the house Christmas-izing every corner...a poinsettia here...
...an old Christmas watercolour there...
...the stag candelabra...
...the nutcracker...
...and the JOY cross-stitch...all reappear...
...the bathroom gets Christmas-ized too...
...the kitchen window...
...and the stair rail both get some candle love...
...the table gets Christmas-ized too...
...the outside of the house gets some red ribbon love...we decided against any greenery after the deer destroyed it last year...
...and Jack gets Christmas-ized as well...I know it doesn't look like it but he really does like the suit...he thinks he's really something in it...but he still doesn't like having his picture made...and yes...we have become 'those people'...the ones who dress their dog up like Santa and take pictures of him...that little Santa hat is soooo CUTE!...

...Are you Christmas-ized yet?

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, November 29, 2013

...the Vegan Feast...

...This was our Thanksgiving table...Scout got to eat off Grandma's special plate...

...and this is how we got there...

...we started with a simple seitan...
...mixed and kneaded...
...ready to wrap...
...wrapped and tied...
...dropped into boiling water...
...simmered for an hour...
...swelled up...
...done...
...unwrapped...
...ready to bake...
...brushed with oil...
...baked, crisped, and golden...
...sliced...
...sweet potatoes from the Earth Balance recipe here...

...except I didn't use canned yams...I used red sweet potatoes that I baked and peeled first...
...then I followed the rest of the recipe...dotted with Earth Balance...
...sprinkled with sugar...
...oh...and another change...I used Dandies instead of Sweet and Sara marshmallows...
...baked until golden...and toasty...
...the Man's Mom's recipe for dressing...jotted down during a visit many many years ago...and brought out every year about this time...
...mixed...
...pressed into a greased pan...
...ready to bake...
...baked...
...and sliced...

...other components of the meal...Grandma's mased potatoes...Vegan Green Bean Casserole...

...I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely...

Thursday, November 28, 2013

...Thanksgiving Snow...

...or Thanksgiving for snow...or giving thanks for snow...
...what could be better than waking up to the quiet wonder of a sugar coated world...

...Wishing you a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving with your families!...

~Have a lovely Thanksgiving Day!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

...2013 Peace Ornament...

...so it's all about the Christmas Ornaments around here...we'll be getting our tree on Friday...and we may not have enough ornaments...HA!
...and we love playing with salt dough around here too...so we mixed some up...
...pinched off a small amount and placed it on a piece of foil for drying...
...rolled it out with our handy-dandy little roller thingy...
...then we spelled out the word PEACE with the rubber stamp...
...we put one of the little spacers in between each letter...it just looked better that way...
...we did some practice stamps...
...until we got just the right impression...
...then we centered the word PEACE in the middle of our biscuit cutter...actually a tin can with both ends cut out...
...and then we had a perfect circle...
...put them all on the dehydrator for a couple of hours...
...two trays...we made 12 in all...but Scout decided to have Jack stamp his paw into one of the discs...
...so we only have 11 PEACE ornaments...I kinda like them simple and plain like this...
...but, when they were dry we painted them all white...
...and then with our tiniest paintbrush...we painted the indented letters red...
...hot glued a red ribbon to the back of each...
...and they're ready for hanging...

Previous Year's Peace Ornaments: here, here, here,and here

...are you making any ornaments this year?...

~Have a lovely day!