Welcome to my home

As you come up the drive, two urns flanking the walkway to the front door. These were bare, with frozen soil. Too heavy to move to warmth, I used a mug of hot water to thaw the dirt, then a screw driver to jab holes into it, so that I could add branches of cedar and barberry, plus an outdoor bow.

At the front door sits a bench which needs repairs. Too rickety for anyone to actually sit on, but nice for placing decorative items.

If you come to the kitchen door, there's an urn, similar to the 2 urns flanking the opening to the walkway to the front. This urn was lightweight, and could be brought into the kitchen to thaw and place branches into. I used cedar, juniper, ivy, salal, barberry and cotoneaster in this planter, and another outdoor bow.

Inside the kitchen, between the two windows, a faux wreath. It lives in a box in a closet out of season, along with all of the other lasting Christmas decorations.

Out the back door, outdoor bows tied onto railing posts. the bows bought on clearance at Jo-Ann's, for 50 cents each last January.

Around the house, messages in Scrabble tiles.

A lighted garland above and around the dining room window.

The dining table centerpiece.

Several faux poinsettias, grouped together.

A faux floral arrangement (below). (I've collected these faux floral/greenery items bit by bit, on clearance, over the years. At this point, I spend very little on new items and just use what I've got stored away. When I am wanting something new, I look at what I already have, and find a new way to use the materials, or display the items.)

I can't forget what we're really celebrating.

Wishing you . . .

Saving whipping cream about to expire

You know when you have a nagging chore to take care of, but you just keep putting it off. It's not a difficult chore, but it just hasn't made it up very high on your priority list.

That's where I was the other day with taking care of some about to expire heavy whipping cream. I had turned some of it in to pumpkin ice cream to have for dessert on Thanksgiving. And I had the chilling cylinder in the freezer, waiting to make some peppermint ice cream, to save in the freezer until closer to Christmas. But it would still leave about 2 cups of heavy whipping cream needing to be used with a couple of days. I needed to whip it up and get it into the freezer.

Finally, last Wednesday, I reminded myself to just do it, then I can cross that item off my to-do list for the week, and not have it nag me again!

I did just that. I've told you how I save whipped cream, right? I whip it up with confectioner's sugar and a bit of vanilla extract.

Then I spoon it into mounds on a baking pan lined with plastic wrap. You can place these very close together, and pack quite a few onto one small pan. I did 12 mounds on a 8 X 10-inch pan.

Pop them into the freezer for several hours. Then peel them off the plastic wrap and store in a large zip lock bag in the freezer. They keep for several months. Thaw individually and they can be used to top desserts, fill cream puffs and eclairs, added to smoothies and milk shakes, top hot cocoa (you can cut the mounds in half when they're still frozen, for making smaller whip cream mounds for individual cups of cocoa), or added to homemade egg nog. I'll be adding these to eggnog in a couple of weeks. I'll make a lighter eggnog using whole milk, then after it's cooked and cooled, I'll whisk in a few thawed, whipped cream mounds to add richness.

And what do you suppose I did with the beaters, spoon and spatula? I made myself a decadent cup of chai tea, by stirring my cuppa with the utensils.

Oh, I just love marking off another item on my to-do list!