Dressing Candles Up for Christmas

I found some beautiful white embossed wrapping paper the other day at Hallmark. I bought it to use for gift wrap, but upon closer inspection, I knew it was destined for something more noble than just that. I have covered candles with purchased handmade paper before, and it turned out really well. So I decided that this paper would work to cover candles for my dining room table. My fine china is white with gold trim, so I thought it would look nice to lightly paint the paper with gold metallic paint. The paper is so pretty that it could be left unpainted, but the paint does help to bring out the design.

Michael's is a great source for nice, inexpensive white pillar candles in all sizes. First, I rolled my candles onto the wrong side of the paper and drew out the measurement. Then I cut out the size I needed. I covered my work surface and used foam plates for my paint and my glue. The paint I used was some I already had, but an acrylic paint would be fine. Elmers Glue or a sticky craft glue are both fine as well. I used a foam brush for the paint. The MOST important thing to remember is to use a very DRY brush. Dip it into the paint and then use paper towels to blot it almost completely dry. Then, paint across the high, embossed spots very carefully. Play with it until you get it to look like you want it to.

Allow to dry, then brush the back with the glue and apply it to the candle. I also glued on some gold trim that I already had on hand.

This is how they turned out. The whole project probably took me about an hour and a half. I will show how they look on my table in a later post.

Make Your Own Pizza!

A friend of mine asked for suggestions for a Christmas slumber party for her 12 year old daughter and her friends. I did this several times for Amby and Zac's birthday parties and all the kids really seemed to enjoy creating their own pizzas. It is fun for grown-ups, too, though. There are many different toppings you can choose from, but this is basically what I have on hand to make them:

Mini Boboli Pizza Crusts (they come 2 to a pkg)
Ragu Pizza Quick Sauce
Ham or Canadian Bacon
Pepperoni
Ground beef, browned and drained
Olives
Mushrooms
Bell pepper
Pineapple
Mozzarella cheese

Lay the toppings out on the counter assembly-line style, starting with the crust, then the sauce, then add other toppings as desired. End with the cheese. Bake 2 at a time on a cookie sheet at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Gil and I like to eat at Davenport's Pizza in Mountain Brook. We always get ham and pineapple. Tonight I made the homemade version of that for us with Canadian bacon, pineapple, and bell pepper. It was scrumptious. This is fun and easy, and is great to do on a night when you don't have alot of time to cook.

Sweet Potato Casserole

The sweet potato is an excellent source of vitamin A, and a good source of vitamins C and B-6. It also has significant antioxidant capacities. And it tastes like dessert! Especially when you add all these other ingredients. This casserole will serve about 15-20 people, so decrease or increase amounts as you need to. This isn't a recipe that has to be exact. One particular thing I do is, after the potatoes are mashed up a little, I beat them with a hand mixer. It will pull out any stringy pieces (which I think are gross). I sit the mixing bowl by the sink, and I will beat the potatoes for about 30 seconds at a time, then rinse the beaters under running water, then repeat the process until the beaters come out clean. This also makes the casserole very smooth. I have had sweet potatoes prepared dozens of different ways, and this recipe is by far my favorite. I hope you enjoy it.

Sweet Potato Casserole
8 medium-large sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, melted
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs

Topping:
1 lb box dark brown sugar
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup flour

Boil sweet potatoes until tender. Remove from pot and allow to cool. Cut ends off potatoes and slide peelings off. Remove any brown spots or imperfections. In a large bowl, mash with potato masher or wire whisk. Beat with mixer until all strings are removed. Add butter, sugar, and vanilla, and beat until blended. Taste to make sure it is sweet enough - some potatoes are sweeter than others. Pour into a greased 15 x 10 casserole dish. (You could also divide it between 2 smaller casserole dishes and freeze one of them). Combine topping ingredients until well blended and crumble over the top of the casserole. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. If it is straight from the refrigerator, you may need to bake it a little longer.

A Christmas Village

I love Christmas and I love to decorate just about every room in my house. I like to make my house feel warm, cozy, and welcoming. I enjoy a few whimsical as well as nostalgic touches. Over the next month, I will be posting about Christmas decorating and cooking, show some really easy and fun ways to wrap gifts, and show gifts you can give from your kitchen.

Tonight's post is about something very simple. This is a shelf in my bathroom. I found these little Martha Stewart houses and tiny trees at K-mart last year. I really like all things Martha Stewart and she has some really cute Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, I don't think they have these houses this year, but you could probably find something like this somewhere else. I also buy snow by the bag at K-mart.

It just adds a cute, fun touch to a small area without having to do very much. The snow can potentially be a little messy, but once you've placed it, unless there is a breeze in the room, it will pretty much stay put.

Gingerbread Couple Pillows

I love to sew. I have always liked pretty clothes, and my mom told me when I was twelve years old that if I were to have all the clothes I seemed to want, I had to make them. She was very practical. I come by that honestly. Needless to say, I learned to sew. I made clothes all through high school and college and actually was a fashion merchandising/home ec major for a while. I made lots of nice clothes for Gil, I made Amby and Zac cute outfits, and I saved an unbelievable amount of money. I don't make lots of clothes now, but I still love to sew. I actually just bought myself a very cool Janome sewing machine. I encourage any of you who have thought about it to take sewing lessons and learn how because it can come in very handy.

These are some decorative pillowcases I made last year before Amby and Nathan came home for Christmas. Amby's room doubles as a guest room and I like to decorate it for Christmas. We painted it an apricot color, so I couldn't use the typical red and green, so I chose this plaid as the base. (It actually matches the room better than it does in the picture). I found the gingerbread pattern online and printed it. I used a flannel-like fabric for the gingerbread people and ironed on wonder under, cut out the shape, and the ironed it onto the pillow fabric. I embroidered them on with a blanket stitch and attached the rickrack by hand. Then I added buttons, bows, etc. I used a ready-made pillowcase as a pattern and sewed a matching border onto the pillowcase.


If you aren't feeing this industrious, just find some cute Christmas fabric and make pillowcases from that. Talk a friend who sews into doing it for you. It would also be nice to buy really pretty ready-made pillowcases and have them monogrammed with the initials of your guest, and then give them to your guest as a gift.

Loaded Potato Soup

This is another soup that is not low in calories but is really delicious. I thicken it with Wondra Flour, which is specially formulated to blend with cold water, but you can use regular flour or cornstarch. I like Wondra because it NEVER lumps. (It's in a round blue canister located in the flour section.) I also don't peel my potatoes for any recipe. They are high in fiber and I think it adds to the taste of the dish. It does make a smoother, whiter soup if you peel them, however. That's simply up to you!


Potato Soup
6 potatoes, scrubbed and chopped with skins on
1 carton Swansons chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped and sauteed in butter (opt. I don't add this only because I'm not a big fan of onions)
1 cup 1/2 & 1/2
Wondra Flour
thyme, dill, salt, and pepper to taste

Toppings:
bacon, cooked and crumbled
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped green onion (opt.)

Cook potatoes in chicken broth until tender. Mix about 1/2 cup of Wondra with cold water in a separate container with a wire whisk. Add to boiling broth and potatoes and stir until thickened. Add 1/2 & 1/2. Add water if needed. Season as desired. I personally add a good bit of salt. Top with desired toppings.

I am home sick from work today which rarely happens. I am stuffy, and I have a cough and a fever. My friend Mimi went back to Fairhope and my husband is still out of the country. Oh well, the nurse with no nurse. Ally and I are going to watch movies. Maybe some of this soup will help. I hope you all enjoy it!