Have a "Stress-Free Holiday" with HoneyBaked

I'm guessing that, by now, most of you are stressed out of your minds. It's only days before the big event and I'm sure that many a menu has yet to be planned. Stop. Breathe. What are you doing to yourself?!

Enter the good people from HoneyBaked Ham and their “Stress-Free Holiday” package to help you take on the season full-force. Be good to yourself this year and let HoneyBaked do the work for you. Take a look at the goodies in this wonderful box that came my way.

The first thing I did was pop the CD into the player and make a cup of cocoa.  I then put my feet up, picked up the phone, and ordered a ham. A couple of easy side dishes, the rum cakes for dessert, drizzled, perhaps, with homemade caramel sauce, and my Christmas Eve dinner worries are over.  Each HoneyBaked Ham is fully cooked and ready to serve, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with family and friends, and isn't that really what the holidays are all about? Underneath that sweet, crunchy glaze is the leanest, most flavorful moist and tender hams you’ll find anywhere.  Believe!

Once you have eaten your way to the bone, pop into your nearest store and pick up a package of soup mix. Never in my life did I enjoy pea soup until I tried this mix exclusively from HoneyBaked along with one of their bones. They even sell the bones in the stores just for soup making. What are you waiting for? Stop by your local HoneyBaked store or visit them on the web to reserve yours today.  And while you're reserving one, go ahead and reserve two. New Year's Day and Super Bowl are coming. Why not resolve to make life easier in 2014 and let someone else do the cooking?

Short on gifts?  May I suggest a HoneyBaked gift card?  Hams are avialable in all sizes to suit any gathering, large or small, and they offer more than 20 sides dishes and taste-tempting desserts. (And don't forget that soup mix.  Seriously.  You'll thank me later.)

Disclaimer:  I received this package with the compliments of HoneyBaked Ham.  The opinions expressed are solely my own.

A Simple Plan

 Did I mention that I went simple this year?  This is not to refer to my mental state, but my style of holiday decorating. Despite my petitioning for a 48-hour day, there is just never enough time, it seems, to get everything done. How I managed, when my boys were young, to put up a unique theme tree in each of the nine rooms of our house is truly beyond me. Oh, the energy that I used to have back then, plus a husband who was gone for a good portion of the day. But I digress...

This year the mantle is a simple combination of candles and greenery with silhouettes of Scrooge and Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, along with a very dear pair of Fitz & Floyd deer that used to grace the very elegant tables of my mother's annual (for fifty years) Christmas brunch. Those sweet faces remind me of her and how happy she would be watching everyone enjoy the holiday. A Santa pillow, snuggly throw, and blazing fire add to the Christmas coziness. All I need now is a cup of cocoa.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sundays

Marvelous Mondays

Inspire Me Tuesday

O Tannenbaum

 Once the bathroom was decorated I was on my way. I'll be entertaining on dual levels this year, which can make things a bit of a challenge, but for the most part, most of the action will be here in the great room. Thank goodness the tree is now up. This picture below made me laugh. It's a terrible picture, I know, this dreary weather makes photography a bit of a challenge, but what makes this photo so funny is that I accidentally captured the image on the television. Look at the poor guy on the floor. That is exactly how I feel!

The tree skirt made me a bit teary this morning. It was made by my mother back in the seventies when she, my aunt, and I were having our holiday bazaars. 

It still looks as bright and beautiful as it did then, and my mother (woman of the tiny stitches), sewed everything by hand. 

The ornaments on the tree are a mishmash of things that reflect my life over the years. 

Our travels. 

 The kids. 

My lifelong interest in mysteries and Sherlock Holmes. 

 My love of Charles Dickens, 19th century Britain and all things English. 

There are a lot of ornaments on this tree representing "A Christmas Carol," all of which are special because I loved the book, and my number two son played Scrooge in a high school presentation for which he won an award.

 The little houses perch on tree lights to give them illumination. 

I have even framed some British postcards that are enlargements of a series of stamps that bear images of scenes from the book.

This post is linked to: 

Seasonal Sundays

Metamorphosis Monday

Holiday Thumbprints

On Monday of this week, my aunt, my cousin, and I all combined forces to have a little holiday luncheon for my dad and a couple of friends.  The weekend weather had been formidable, but thankfully road crews managed to clear paths well enough for us to come from far and wide.  It was an intimate group of seven, but an enjoyable time for all – my dad in particular who is struggling mightily (as you might imagine considering the time of the year) with the loss of my mom last February.  The conversation was brisk, the food was delicious.

My cousin made these darling thumbprint cookies.  How she has the time with a seriously busy full time job, and two seriously busy, adorable kids, is beyond me, but I appreciated trying them and thought I would share them with you.  She takes no credit, attributing Betty Crocker for the recipe, but kudos to her for assembly and presentation!

Holiday Thumbprints

Cookies

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1-3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa

¼ teaspoon salt

Crushed hard peppermint candies, if desired

Fudge Filling

¼ cup whipping cream

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa and salt until dough forms.

Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into 1-inch balls, and place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press thumb or end of wooden spoon into center of each cookie, indenting about halfway.

Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until edges are firm. If necessary, quickly remake indentations with end of wooden spoon. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cool about 10 minutes or until thickened.

Spoon rounded 1/2 teaspoon filling into indentation in each cookie. Top with peppermint.

This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Inspire Me Tuesday

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Sunday Sweeties

I'm decorating!

 Brace yourself, folks, I have started decorating. Can you believe it?  It has finally happened!  I have never been so seriously behind in my life.  I blame Thanksgiving.  It just came too late and threw me off by at least a week.  First, there was the whole massive turkey-dinner-and-cleanup aftershock, and then, all of a sudden, it was mid-December.

So as not to overwhelm, I’ve started small.  The guest bath is one of the first rooms upon entering the house, and gets its fair share of use, so I started here. 

I like the cool calmness of this bathroom, so largely leave things pretty much the same.  I just add a bit of greenery and a cardinal bird or two, and swap out the white candles for red.  Done!

I love to shop the after Christmas sales, so got these red and white postal-theme towels from Pottery Barn.  They aren’t the best for drying, but are perfect for layering.

Cute, no?

This post is linked to: 

Be Inspired Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Seasonal Sundays

Cherry Pie Coffeecake Bars

I’m not the biggest of pie fans, but I’ve always liked cherry pie, because of the cherries.  As a kid, I’d leave the crust and just scoop out the cherry deliciousness, much to my mother’s dismay.  She was known for her flaky crusts, you see, and I think this was somewhat of an insult.  When I saw a recipe for Cherry Pie Bars on the Recipe Critic’s blog, I knew they were in my future.  What I didn’t know is that I don’t own the 15”x10”x1” pan called for in the original recipe.  There was an option to make them in a 9”x13” pan, so that’s the path I took.  What I ended up with were not the bar cookies for which I’d hoped, but instead a moist and delicious cherry-filled coffee cake.  So I’ve renamed the recipe to suit the pan and end results.  I suspect this would look very pretty on a Christmas brunch buffet.

Cherry Pie Coffeecake Bars

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat well.  Beat in extracts.

In a separate bowl combine flour and salt.  Add to the creamed mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Do not over mix.

Grease a 9”×13” pan.  Spread 3 cups batter along the bottom of the pan.  Top with pie filling and spread to the edges with an offset spatula.  Drop remaining batter in dollops on top of pie filling.

Bake for 35-42 minutes or until toothpick comes clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top.

This post is linked to: 

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Inspire Me Tuesday

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Sugar and Spice

Sunday Sweeties

Window Shopping

I’ve been treating myself to a little window shopping lately, but when I window shop, I don’t look at what is in the window, I look at what is on the window.  I’m looking for holiday ideas as to how to decorate the rather barren front of my house.  Frigid weather and lack of time (plus that blasted Thanksgiving being so late this year) has me days (well, weeks, if you must know) behind on getting my decorations up.  So here’s a little eye candy to inspire you if you find yourself similarly just a teensy bit behind this year.

This post is linked to: 

Be Inspired Friday

Seasonal Sundays