Getting A Jump On Christmas

Christmas In May

This post almost seems like a dare.  Two years ago in our flat on Hilton Street, I decorated our house for Christmas in the true Scottish fashion--like Elf.  I bought two packs of white computer paper and cut lots of the pages into strips (hint: I even let my daughter color on pages first and then cut them up later to make pretty colorful chains).  Then I taped the strips through each other and made long paper chains (this is also something to do on long cold Scottish winter days when the sun sets at 4pm). 

Here is what our living room looked like.  You can see I still had chains to put up. 

And, since you can see the backs of the characters I painted above in the window, I thought I'd show you what I painted to put in the windows.  Here is the front of our Scottish house in the late afternoon (I'm not kidding--it was about 4:30pm here!)

 

And suddenly it felt like Christmas.  My son was asked at school if it was his house that had all the Charlie Browns in it.  He was very proud to say yes.  Imagine the day he's embarrassed about all the kooky things I do.  I hope that day doesn't come.   Well, happy Christmas in May everyone!

Recipe: snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles 

 

1 cup softened butter
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
¼ cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Put 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a little bowl and set aside
Mix butter and sugar until creamy
Slowly beat eggs and vanilla
Gradually add flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar
Roll dough into small balls, roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture, and place on cookie sheet
(I found that flattening the cookie balls helped them spread in my oven but they should lay down on their own)
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden
About 2 to 3 dozen cookies

(And yes, that is the picture of my batch of cookies.  The first batch of cookies that has turned out here in Scotland for me!)

Recipe: Killer Plain Egg Salad

EGG SALAD

Okay, so egg salad for one, here's what I do:

two hard boiled eggs

2 tablespoons mayonaise

1/2 teaspoon mustard

a pinch of salt and pepper respectively

Put on toast or a toasted bagel and voila!

Recipe: Bagel Bruschetta and Bagel Pizzas

Bagel Bruschetta

Things you need: 

3 halved bagels

2 cups diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

1 tablespoon oregano (jarred or fresh)

2 tablespoons basil (jarred or fresh)

shredded mozarella cheese (about two handfuls)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced (I add two because I love garlic)

Directions:

preheat oven to 300 degrees

place bagels on a cookie sheet

mix oregano, basil, olive oil, and garlic

spread diced tomatoes and onions on bagels

sprinkle cheese on top

drizzle oil, garlic, and herb mixture over tomato/onion mixture and cheese

Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is melted

(I accidentally mixed the tomatoes in with the sauce and just sprinkled the cheese over it all and that was lovely too!)

Bagel Pizzas

Things you need:

Bagels

tomato-based sauce

shredded mozarella cheese

Directions:

Cut bagels in half (with me so far?)

Spread marinara sauce over bagels 

(even bolognese will work if you don't have anything else--most tomato-based sauces will work but be careful what "chunks" come in the sauce)

sprinkle with grated mozarella (less if you are a less cheesy person and more if you like cheese)

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a moderate oven until cheese is melted

Easy and enjoyable!

These were posted in answer to a kind request from Emily and Christy.  Thanks for the compliments!

RECIPES: Rasberry Vinaigrette Dressing AND How To Sugar Nuts

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup raspberry vinegar (I used cider vinegar and it tasted yummy)
1/4 cup raspberries
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup basil leaves
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil and immersion blend them.  Add the oil slowly as you blend.  Refrigerate until use. This was fairly tart but great on salad.  You may want to tweak the ingredients to your liking.

Sugaring Nuts

1/2 cup granulated sugar
tsp of salt
1/2 cup of walnuts

Put sugar in a heavy saucepan on the stove over medium heat
Spread nuts on a baking sheet and brown for five minutes in a moderately heated oven
Stir sugar as it begins to melt and continue to stir until it is a golden brown color and smooth
Add nuts to the mixture, stir quickly, and pour out on a piece of wax paper
Sprinkle salt over and break apart once cooled
(Be careful! Two burned fingers will remind me to tell you that that sugar is unforgivably hot!)

I didn't know "sugaring" walnuts was so easy.  Here I was purchasing them for almost triple the price of regular walnuts and for a half cup of sugar I could save myself ££. These two recipes actually went together tonight in a lovely salad with pears, gorgonzola cheese, and romaine lettuce.  Yum!

RECIPE: Fast an' Easy Marshmallow Squares

 RICE KRISPIE 

MARSHMALLOW SQUARES

What You Need:

*A few pats of butter

*A bag of mini marshmallows (on the baking aisle at Asda or Sainsburys)

*A box of Kellogg's Rice Krispies

*A Stock Pot

*A wooden spoon

*A casserole dish

*A piece of wax/parchment paper

*Cooking spray

What To Do:

*Place your stockpot over the lowest flame possible

*Put in a glob (around two to three pats of butter) in the pot

*While the butter is melting, spray the inside of the casserole dish with the cooking spray and set aside

*Once the butter is melted, add the bag of mini mallows.  Allow them to melt for a few minutes, then stir.  They will be very sticky and not melt completely--don't worry.  They want to melt, they're just having a hard time with only sugar and butter to motivate them.  

*When the marshmallows are mostly melted (still lumpy), pour in about a third of a family sized box of rice krispies.  As I write this I know I'll get a groan from you who are meticulous measurer's but I can say that as you're stirring, just keep adding krispies until the ratio looks like every krispie is covered.  There shouldn't be the feeling of dry krispies at the bottom nor a mixture so goopy you feel as though the krispies are getting soft.  

*Quickly pour the mixture into your casserole dish.  This will take a little effort--it's very sticky.

*Push the mixture to the edges of the dish and pat firmly into place using the wax paper under your hands to keep them from getting sticky. (You can also wet your hands and do it that way if you don't have wax paper.  As long as you keep your hands damp, the krispies won't stick.)

*You only need to wait a few minutes before serving, but if it's going to be longer, put the piece of wax paper over them to keep them fresh.  Or, if you're going to stick them in the fridge (on the off chance that you have melted baking chocolate and spread it over the top), place a piece of aluminum foil over the dish. 

Well done! Eat 'em up.

Go Fish! with eeBoo: Games and Wall Art gifts worth getting

So we have this Go Fish! card game that was given to us as a gift by amazing grandparents.  As we were playing this fabulous game yesterday (and I say that in all seriousness), I suddenly though that this particular Go Fish set would make a great gift.  The cards are a delightful fish shape and they are of a fine heavy coated paper that is quite durable, as well as the whole set being packaged in a great box with a slide out inside.  But the best part? The colors of the fish! Each one is a beautiful and unusual color--talk about your kids learning their colors. 

 

Just look at these cute fish and then look at the colors: chartreuse, eggplant, indigo, and hot pink! This set is amazing.  Look for it on Amazon.com (it's a perfect set).  

Then, I had a brilliant idea.  Why don't I look up other eeBoo products since I was so enamored of these?  Well, guess what?  They make lots of things, including the alphabet cards and bird cards that hang on the walls of Miss Mommy's kids' rooms.  Can you believe it?  I mean, these are heirloom collections and they make games too!  Check out some of the things I found below.  All of these can be found on Amazon by the way.  

 Counting Train Cards

 

Counting Birds Wall Art

Old Maid Playing Card Game

 

The Picnic Game

Okay, so I could go on and on because there are plenty of other games, wall art hangings, growth charts, and generally lovely art pieces that you can pick up very reasonably and play with your child!  If you're looking for an inspiration gift-wise for eager Grandparents wanting to give gifts, these are a great line to choose from.  They are both timeless and useful and (wait for it) NOT GIGANTIC TOYS that fill your living room, bedrooms, and beyond.  So, happy hunting and I hope you get a chance to own something from this super sweet company!