Around here, the holidays mean lots of hot cocoa by the lights of the trees, watching Christmas movies. Since it’s a regular thing, I want it to be convenient. And festive!
We keep all of our supplies together, with trays leaned up behind them. So we pick up a tray, and load it with what we need for our party, then carry it to the tree to enjoy.
I keep a supply of candy canes for stirring, vegan and regular marshmallows, cocoa powder that we can use the hot water dispenser with, as well as cocoa that needs a teapot of hot milk to make, along with teabags, (because I can’t always handle as much hot chocolate as the grandfairies can) and treats.
Some of it is tucked away inside this chipboard box that I turned into a gingerbread house.
This one holds a baggie of cookies.
And there is always whipped cream in the fridge ready for the festivities.
Well, that was quite a trip, a many legged journey with lots of stops along the way.
I mentioned our Disney adventure previously, but came across a few more Hidden Mickies after writing that. My all time fave is Flamingo Island in Animal Kingdom, the entire thing is shaped like a Mickey head.
Over the years, you probably think I spend an inordinate time visiting my pal, Mickey, because I yammer on about it so much every time I go.
(This is a store window at Epcot in France. Macarons and chocolates! Pink yummyness!)
And I have been lucky enough to take multiple trips there in the past. But this one? Wowzers!
Terry and I really did it up right. It was the longest visit I have ever had there. We arrived on a Friday for the Halloween party, then spent time at all four parks before she drove me to the beach Tuesday evening and dropped me off to be with my sisters for a few days.
We ate at the Food and Wine festival where I had fillet for breakfast one morning and Mickey shaped ice cream for dinner.
We indulged in all the photo pass magic shots we could, wondered around at our own pace, hopped on rides when the lines were short, took scenic detours when we felt like it, and racked about around 20,000 steps a day on our Apple watches.
Instead of taking the boat from Epcot to the Swan hotel, we walked through the Boardwalk and even toured an open house of the vacation club (but without the sales pitch, I just asked if I could peek inside and they said sure) After, we stopped at the disco lounge with the big, flashing, neon sign saying DANCE HALL, and I took a turn around the dance floor to the tune of Donna Summer. We were the only people inside, so I felt like I could show off some of my non-existing moves.
Cast members were kind to us and gave us mini tours a couple of times when we asked for directions. We didn’t have reservations for Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars Land, but a nice guy accompanied us inside to get a look at it, and we felt as if we’d been given a free, private tour.
Another cast member stayed in Star Wars character as he walked us through the park and told us about the Federation and their attacks. Without kids, a visit to Orlando is a whole different thing. We made use of Terry’s season pass to use the private lounge and put our feet up a bit.
I’d also found a pass online to a free lounge by Blue Cross of Florida, it was set up in a restaurant in the Norway pavilion. We thought it would be ice water only, but there was a picnic cart that came around with goodies. We hit up that area a few times to get a cold can of soda and snacks, as a nice break from crowds. One time, we were the only ones in there, the other, there were only a couple of tables in use.
The whole trip was not only filled with fun, and we got to do everything we wanted, it was restful and relaxing too. Crowds were low most of the time, and when they weren’t, we found something less busy to do. Thanks, Terry, for the magical time!
I can’t even remember which leg of our multi faceted journey I am on right now. Whatever number it is, it’s Disney World! I’m tired, but having a blast.
Terry and I are here together, she made these Minnie costumes for us to wear to the Boo Bash.
We have also attended the fireworks dessert party, looked for hidden Mickies, and tracked down the 50 golden 50th anniversary statues.
And I still have two more days to go.
So for now, it’s time for a handful of my Boo Bash trick or treat candy and an early bedtime.
After having so much fun making wooden birdhouses into gingerbread, I just had to make more.
Of course, I tend to go all in with a new craft and flood the market with my creations. But this year, I was making them just for us, so reigned myself back just a little.
And after a decade of making real gingerbread houses that looked like a toddler had done the work, I was excited to be working on one with paint instead of icing. Puffy paint, meant for tee shirts is so much easier to use than those plastic bags of icing that come with the house kits.
Since I was using wood and chipboard, I thought it was important to use cookie colored paint, as much as I like pastels, I wanted it to look as realistic as it could. Plus the village was going into our Cocoa Corner, where our colors were more traditional than my other holiday decor.
Sugarwings has a couple to finish too, and they will be squeezed in when done. There is always room for more!
We have already had to shuffle the area around a little. At first, we were using our tea party cups from Sugarwings’ other grandma who passed away. But with the giant, cocoa bombs we made, we figured we had to get some bigger mugs, so switched the dainty cups for hefty, Santa mugs.
The largest, chipboard house is ideal storage for a ziplock baggie of cocoa bombs. The roof comes off, like a lid and there is plenty of space inside.
When we are ready for our cocoa parties, my grand fairy comes to this buffet to gather up all the supplies and set the table. We have some very strict guidelines for drinking hot chocolate, first and foremost-
Cocoa parties can only occur in front of a lit Christmas tree!
A few more rules-
Tea party rules apply: polite chitchat, best manners, etc.
Watching Christmas shows on the TV while drinking cocoa is encouraged.
The table must have a cloth on it and napkins can be paper, but must be pretty.
Was our cross country trip to pass out puppies only four nights? So many miles, so many places, so many happenings, all in just a few days? Days were long in the car, but between audio books, This American Life podcasts, and naps, it wasn’t bad. We stopped every couple of hours for the pups to stretch their legs, and they all travelled well. They peed on command and mostly slept while driving. Each day we tried to get as far as we could towards our next meet up location and the puppy owners were kind enough to be flexible along with us.
Our hotel stops weren’t planned very far in advance, but we got lucky in finding ideal places with ground floor rooms. Although, I am afraid that I didn’t take advantage of that in the middle of the night. Instead, I was so tired that I lazily sat pups on their peepads instead of leashing them for a walk at 3am. This resort in Tarrytown, NY was our favorite stop. Ruby’s family lived in Manhattan, and obliged us by driving a half hour to meet outside of the city to get her. She is a lucky pup who will live on Central Park.
The hotel was an old estate on a hill overlooking the Hudson transformed into a resort. I would’ve loved to stay longer and explore, but we had a mission. I felt a little like Santa, flying across country to bring joy.
We did get in to Tarrytown early enough for a delicious room service, Asian meal. Restaurants were out due to not only Covid, but to having a passel of pups with us.
Ruby’s family brought us fresh, NY bagels! We got up early to let the babies frolic on the expansive lawns and figured we’d eat a granola bar in the car after Ruby left. These were a magnificent surprise!
And the world’s most delicious bagel. So was the cream cheese. It was so Rich, that it was almost an ivory tone. Do they mix it with butter there?
Delicious!
Driving across country during a pandemic can be eerie. We were extra careful, but it was disconcerting to see so many people with no masks (mostly in Missouri and Indiana) unlike the area we live in. I doubled up and wore a face shield too.
We listened to the news reports of the cases soaring, and swore to be even more careful than planned. We couldn’t do typical tourist stuff, or explore much. We wanted to get back home safely and quickly.
Our first stop in Indiana at my sister’s was much too fleeting, and our first night with the pups was stressful at the hotel.
But finding this mansion estate (under $200, including pet fees) turned our trip around.
We decided then, that we were going to try local foods as we drove cross country and upgrade our hotels along the way. We spent more, but it made the trip feel like a get away, not a chore.
We had a car picnic at a really nice seafood restaurant in Mendon, MA after dropping off a Teddy. (In the two litters, we had three Teddies and one Freddy)
That lucky boy lives in a wonderful home by a lake now.
That night, we stayed in Buffalo at a Hyatt Place. Not a mansion, but a perfect hotel for puppies. There wasn’t as much for them to get into there, those rooms are streamlined. Other places had dangling cords or other temptations. I think Hyatt Place is ready for pets nationwide and most other chains just accommodate animals on an individual basis.
We’ve always been fans of this brand anyway, it’s a well run, comfortable place to stay. I wish we had chosen one on our first night on the road, but that was before we decided to not be on a tight budget and to enjoy the trip.
The puppies are supposed to be a business for me, but they are so much more than that. So, why should I try to be frugal and make a profit on the drive to get them to their homes? We figured it was much more pleasant to treat this adventure as a getaway, because there aren’t very many of those in this day and age.
After getting another Teddy (the poor boy whose previous family didn’t want him) to his Wisconsin family who met us in Chicago, we drove around to sight see and stopped at Portillo's, to get a Chicago style dinner to go.
Local foods made our trip so much more interesting than typical drive thrus would have. And the change of attitude did too. But the best part of the trip? We came home with Molasses, “Molly”. I kept thinking we should try to sell her too, and had many offers. She came with us on the drive as kind of an interview process to see if we were keeping her.
While she was a perfect pup, and quite mellow, I was still iffy.
People asked us if we were keeping her, I answered maybe, Rich always answered yes. I was still getting emails from interested buyers and just couldn’t commit.
Finally, he made me see that she was already family. And now that we are home, tearing down the puppy corrals, packing up supplies, I am so glad that she is here. It is the six month anniversary of Ryan’s death, and I don’t think I could handle losing all sixteen puppies on top of that.
This girl has sweet Angel wings on her chest, that make me think she was sent to me from Ryan to give me someone who loves hugs as much as he always did.
You know who else was glad we kept her? These two mamas were overwhelmed with joy when we got back!
These might not be picture perfect, but they were tasty, and fun to make.
Well, not as much fun as they could have been. With Stupid Covid around, we couldn’t do group treat making.
Originally, I’d planned on making the shells and having trays of goodies for the grand fairies to fill them with. Instead, I made them myself, kept it simple and just filled them with marshmallows.
The first step is melting the chocolate and lining silicone molds with it.
Since the shell is what stirs into the hot milk to make it chocolate, don’t use those paraffin tasting fake chocolate melts. Use something delicious like Ghiradelli chips.
After the chocolate sets up, carefully pop it out of the mold and fill it with whatever you like in your cocoa. I’d like to make them again and add some peppermints or a little instant coffee for a mocha.
Once filled, smear a bit of melted chocolate on the rim of one piece to use as glue, and firmly but gently, push two pieces together.
Then, warm your milk, place a bomb in a mug, and pour the milk over it.
I realized it was called a bomb because the shell melts quickly and the marshmallows pop suddenly to the top. Sorry, no photos of the end product or popping marshmallows. Due to Stupid Covid, we sipped our mugs of deliciousness outside by the fire in the dark.
Which I will not complain about, because we are dang lucky to be able to get together with family and enjoy treats together. And we were blessed with lovely weather to be outside in.
The Guncles came to visit for three days, and we were so busy, and had such a good time together, (Plus packing the camper for a trip to NC) that I wasn’t taking photos.
We cooked, went boating, set up a puppy nursery, crafted, and laughed throughout.
My husband wanted his grandma’s recipe for pickles, and Randy is the keeper of her boxful of treasures. Grandma Nathan was most known for her German Pancakes, and there have been family debates on how she made them. When I found this, I photographed it and sent it out to sisters.
The next morning we tried it out. Actually, I tried making them, and am not a recipe person.
When I cook, I kind of make things up as I go along and eyeball measurements. But these needed to taste EXACTLY LIKE GRANDMA NATHAN’S.
So I got out my measuring cups, that family often tease me about because they have no markings to say what size they are.
And of course, I screwed it up by using a full cup of milk and water instead of a half, so I had to start dumping more ingredients in to make up for it.
Nope, mine were not EXACTLY LIKE GRANDMA NATHAN’S.
The Guncles did the rest of the cooking while they were here and even brought fresh seafood packed on ice all the way from Florida.
oh my
It was the best!
The visit went by way too quickly. It had been ages since Kevin had been here with us and I wish they could have stayed longer.
There are many things that social distancing has made more complicated. And hosting a birthday party was one of them. Sugarwings spends time between our household and her mom’s, so our two groups have been able to mingle, but sadly, we could not have other family members over to celebrate with us.
We also couldn’t pop into a store for last minute items, like the balloons that Sugarwings wanted for the table. She loves planning our family parties, and is the one who set this up.
We did have one last package of water balloons leftover from last summer, the kind that come in a big bunch, that you hook up directly to a faucet to fill up.
She could have taken each off its stem and blown it up, but we decided balloons filled with water could be extra fun. We floated them in clear glass bowls and used them as a centerpiece.
There were some banner pieces packed away, but not anything personal, so the Grand Fairy printed some dragons to hang onto the banners. And we agreed that the colorful dragons tied in the color of the balloons to the banners.
But the best part of the meal was the dolce de leche cheesecake that our Hippy Chick spent all afternoon working on. She came over to our house to bake it, and that added to the festive feel of putting a party together.
We missed the rest of our big family, but know that staying away, and staying healthy now means we will be celebrating with them later when all of this ends.
Lately, I have been seeing some lovely loaves online and thought I would give it a try myself.
I made a batch of dough, same way I usually do, then pressed half of it flat onto a cookie sheet. I used basil, rosemary, and thyme for the stems and leaves. Grape tomatoes, zucchini, and slices of peppers were the flowers.After putting it together, I thought it needed more, and added slices of black olives to the center of the zucchini flowers. I probably should have taken more time to cut the peppers into better petal shapes, but these were fine, if not exactly right.
It got sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkled Italian seasoning over that, and let it rise before baking.
The bread baked up nicely, and we sliced it with a pizza cutter. The full branches of thyme made nice stems, but were a bit much. Although easily picked off before eating. The sticks came away, with the leaves still mostly on the dough.
Sugarwings wasn’t a fan of most of the toppings. She turned the other half of the loaf into twisted breadsticks and a single piece of flatbread with just basil, which she does like.
It turned out better than our Easter Bunny Bread, which was cute as a dough rabbit. (Before rising)
After it rose, it looked like Burl Ives in Rudolf. After baking, he looked like Burl had been beaten up.
Learn how to make a mini dress form, and get tips on how to embellish your creation. This class comes with ideas, videos, instructions and ephemera images to download and print.
