Painting Ornaments

Sunday after Thanksgiving Angie & I went to Mammie's house to help her get all her Christmas decorations out & her new tree up. (My mom insists on getting those horrible pre-lit trees that never work year 2, which basically makes them disposable...but back to the story). Angie let the babies PAINT little plastic ornaments while we worked.
Aren't they precious? I know it looks like Layton is about to hit you with a baseball bat...but don't worry it's just a pretend "light-saver"!

Some worked a little harder at staying in the lines, HA!

The Finished product,

I guess there is no need to tell you which ones Logan did & which ones belong to the "littles"

Landry got a little bored with the ornaments & just decided to paint on the paper

Masterpiece I tell ya!

More Christmas Decorations

Here are some of my other Christmas decorations throughout the house

mantle, it's a hodge podge of stuff. Mostly hand-me-downs from Nana; with a few new things thrown in

Santa & his bag of goodies
Ryan and my cute little snow-girl

sofa table in the entry, old santa mixed with new ones and a real old nativity scene, which is new to me; I found it on ebay

Dining table with Christmas dishes that Dee got me, Southern Living stand in the middle with ornaments from Derek & Lindsi's wedding decor and snowflakes in the dishes to match the snowflake tree

A little ole reindeer, ringing his bell

And this guy is new. I bought him for myself...it's a pumpkin man face, snowman AND vintage looking santa. All my favorite holiday decor in one. I just HAD to have him.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my holiday decor!

The BABY is three!

Landry, Happy Birthday sweet girl!

You have brought us all so much joy!

I can't believe these three years have gone by so fast!

You are beautiful all dressed up

and when you are all dirty too!

We fought over who got to hold you next this Christmas

Aunt Sis can't wait for many more years of laughter & fun

"She's here!"

Stay tuned for pictures of her awesome FANCY NANCY birthday party.
Sis loves you!

2009 Christmas Tree!

Putting the Christmas tree up means packing away the pumpkin people. Aaahhhh, sad.

Ryan really looks like she's about to cry!

I LOVE these vintage elves. We named them all JIMMY.

This Jimmy is from Ryan, isn't he darling?

He is one of my favorite Jimmys. Thank you Dee!

Halfway through I ran out of lights and we had to make a Walmart run.

Seems to happen every year!

Finishing touches

The finished product. Now I just need to get presents bought, wrapped & put underneath.

Merry Christmas from Allie & Gracie!

Food Drive!

Passionately pursuing a hunger free community

I've partnered with the North Texas Food Bank and am hosting a food drive to help them re-stock shelves of local food pantries around our metroplex. The food banks all over the US have really been hit hard this year, and they desperately need our help!

List of requested items is below, but please feel free to bring any non-perishable food items you would like to donate.

Wish List: Top 10 Items
1. Canned meats/tuna/chicken/ham
2. Soups/Stew/Chili
3. Dried/Canned Beans
4. Nuts/Peanut Butter
5. Hot/Dry Cereals/Cereal Bars
6. Canned Vegetables/Vegetable Soup/Juice
7. Canned/Dried Fruits/100% Fruit Juices
8. Healthy Snack Items (crackers, pretzels, pudding)
9. Shelf-Stable Milk
10. Baby Food/Infant Formula

Local readers, if you or anyone you know would like to donate canned goods or other non-perishables, please email or leave a comment & I will coordinate a time to pick up your items. I have a garage full of empty boxes, please spread the word so we can get them filled up!

Thank you for your support and helping us Close the Gap on hunger!

Guest Bedroom

BEFORE

Thanks to Master_A & KFoo for putting the bed together for me

I previously rented a two bedroom cottage and had just enough furniture to fill up the little jewel. But the house I bought has 4 bedrooms, so needless to say a few of the rooms have been empty. Slowly but surely I've collected enough stuff to have a grown-up guest room.

AFTER

I've asked for a few more sit around stuff & some stuff for the wall for Christmas, but it's just about finished.

Come visit!

Brined Turkey

This year I decided to brine the Thanksgiving turkey. Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients:
6 quarts tap water
1 pound kosher salt
1 cup molasses
2 cups honey
1 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried sage
Large bunch fresh thyme
2 heads garlic broken into individual cloves, unpeeled

Bringing the solution to boil

You'll need a REALLY big pot, add thawed turkey

Submerge the turkey, breast side down, in the brine. Make sure the cavity of the bird fills with the liquid as you are submerging it.

Let the turkey sit for 12 hours to 2 days. Remove the bird from the brine and dry it thoroughly with thick (absorbent) kitchen or paper towels. Wipe inside the cavity as well. Discard the brine

Cut apple, onion & whole head of garlic in half to stuff in the cavity of turkey before roasting

The night before I added various dried herbs (basil, parsley, sage, salt, pepper, garlic powder) to softened butter. Gently lift the skin covering 1 breast of the turkey and spread butter right on the meat under the skin. Repeat with the other breast.Add remaining butter all over the top of the bird & inside the cavity. The butter will add extra moisture and richness as it roasts.

I made a make-shift roasting rack with onions, garlic and sprigs of fresh rosemary, doing this allows steam to cook the turkey from all directions.

Put on the lower rack of the oven and roast until the internal temperature of the turkey taken from the thickest part of the thigh reads 160-165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 3 1/2 hours.

Remove the turkey from the oven to a cutting board or serving platter and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

The finished product. It really was so moist & juicy. I'll def do this again!