A Calm Christmas Morn'

Before the chaos begins, I love to get up and enjoy a cup of coffee and make sure my four-legged little babies get their gifts on Christmas Morning. Within less than an hour my parents will be over for breakfast and a family moment of gift exchange and later this evening there will be a huge dinner.  No time to rest but now... a turkey needs in the oven within the next two hours!

 Every year I buy myself new pajamas for the holidays, this year I chose the Holiday Dog print from Old Navy.

 Eddie was sure this gift was fr him..... and he was right!

Dante found his package as well.... and loved his new Vineyard Vines stuffed whale!

 

Both were beat though long before the turkey hit the oven!  Buon Natale!

Christmas Eve for Four!

Despite being of an Italian family, with more cousins than I would recognize in a shopping mall during the holidays, Christmas Eve has over the last several years become a quieter evening with a fish dinner with my parents and last remaining grandparent (Grandma Jane) followed by midnight mass. Being a small affair for only the four of us, I don't the traditional seven fishes but rather one fish and pasta. True to my style though, everything, even the small dinners is a production during the holidays.

I sat the table using red chargers with dishes acquired from JCPenney's many years ago. The set was called Midnight Santa and some pieces can still be found on Ebay.

Without having toys inside I made an adult version of the traditional English Christmas crackers.  I made them by saving empty toilet paper rolls and wrapping with a sturdy wrapping paper and curling ribbon on the ends. They are stuffed with Italian Torrones candies.

The side buffet was covered with a leopard fabric garland (bought in previous years), plaid deer (last year from JoAnn's), and an assortment of Christmas cookies before the main dishes were prepared.

This year I took the easy way out making the main fish dish from an easy recipe I found online several years back. Despite being easy it is still very delicious.  Recipe below.... see couldn't be easier!

Baked Tilapia ( I substituted Haddock this year)

4 filet of fish
6-8 Ritz crackers (due to Haddock being larger I doubled the Ritz but nothing else)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon Adobo (this is an Hispanic spice found in the ethnic aisles)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

From frozen line the fish filet on a sprayed baking sheet. In a small bowl combine crushed Ritz, seasoned salt, chili powder and Adobo.
Cut butter to 4 pats, one for each filet, and place them on frozen fish. Sprinkle the seasoned crumbs equally over each filet.
Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

Cookie Delivery!

Being Italian it is probably a given that I have more cousins than I can even count...many of them are elderly, so every year I bake a ton of cookies... more than I could ever eat, though might like to, so I package them up and take a night out during the holiday season to deliver them to grateful family I may not see much during the year!

Below is my famous buckeye recipe (yes probably a calorie overload but so worth it):

• 4 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1- 12oz bag semisweet melting chocolate (if in NEO use Giannio's otherwise use from crafting dept of Michael's or similar store)

Use a larger mixer to beat the peanut butter, butter, confectioners sugar, and vanilla together on medium speed. Chill overnight, then roll, into one inch balls (like an actual buckeye), line these on was paper covered trays. Chill again until firm.
Once firm start melting the chocolate in a double boiler pan, once melted enough, poke fork in peanut butter balls and dip in chocolate part way to look like an actual buckeye. Once chocolate hardens (sometimes requires refrigeration to firm) pinch fork holes closed.

Castle Noel

Every year for the holidays I try to do at least one fun excursion even if it isn't far out of town.... this year it was trip to Castle Noel. I highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in NE Ohio, they are open year round.  As you begin the tour of the largest collection of Christmas and Christmas movie memorabilia you are taken directly outside to board the original camper from the Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie... I couldn't miss a " Come with me Audrey..." photo op.

The further you go in the Christmas maze the more you get lost in the Christmas spirit... between the magical cuckoo clock, the ceiling of nostalgic Christmas bulbs right up through the "I had that" toy walk you can't help but feel like a kid again!

 The gorgeous view of the ceiling of antique Christmas bulbs. Even more stunning in person!

Above are picture of the "I had that" toy walk... many of which were toys I recognized!

While this is in fact the largest private collection of Christmas movie memorabilia in the country, boasting the original house replica from "Deck the Halls", "The Santa Claus", "the Grinch" , " The Christmas Carol", and many others, I was most taken aback by the shear talent of recreating the paper snowflakes from "The Elf".

My Godson, who I took on this excursion with me along with his mother, looked about as happy posing in the cutout bunny suit as the original cast did in the "Christmas Story".  To end the whole expedition you climb the stairs to see Santa and leave down the same long slide Chuckie was forced down as he was  told "you'll shoot your eye out kid!"

'Tis The Season

While most are bustling through the crowds on Black Friday, I stay away from the madness and begin to deck the halls instead. Honestly, unless I choose to go on an out of town shopping venture I don't really step foot into a retail department store for the entire holiday season. The shoving and crowds nowadays actually take away from the season for me. When they should be their jolliest, people actually become their nastiest.  Most of my gift shopping is done online or in small businesses.

In years past I have been known to put up a tree in every room.... this year I am not feeling quite so ambitious though.  Given the preppy vibe I am trying to incorporate after a huge plaid ribbon sale after the holidays last year though, I am trying to add plaid into each room to carry the season throughout my home.  The first thing I always do is go around and add pine picks above all my larger pictures on the walls. Then it's time for the main tree in the living room....

Years back ( maybe even 15 years back) Macy's had a  leopard tree on display and I absolutely fell in love!!!! I bought every piece they had available and have been adding to the theme every year since.  Even the angel on top is in a leopard robe and was found several years back at Michael's. Over the years a few non-leopard pieces have gotten added in but all had meaning back to my Grandma Dee. She was the family Queen Bee and after her passing it was joked I took over the role, hence the red honey comb ornaments added in from Dillard's last year. Also she loved owls and so the owl at the angel's feet is her watching down on me still.

This year I added in my plaid ribbon as well.... I think the result has some Ralph Lauren flair!

My bathroom is a bit more girly any time of year compared to the Tuscan decor in the rest of the house. I added some glitzy purse and shoe ornaments to a wreath I had from years ago to give it a new life and hung it over my curtain rod with an over the door wreath holder. A glitzy deer on my side cupboard and a mannequin tree bought this year at Big Lots and the small bathroom was completely festive.

The fireplace in the dining room is flanked with topiary pre-lit trees from Big Lots with the plaid ribbon added in as well. The ornaments I used here were only a sampling of my Santa collection.  The dogs' and my stockings were hung from the chimney with care using Southern Living stocking hangers bought last year at Dillard's.

I had to carry the plaid theme into my bedroom as well and struggled to find plaid sheets I liked.  Similar here:Denver Paid flannel Sheets. Then of course I needed a new holiday feeling comforter set.... similar here: red velvet comforter set.  The faux fur throw was a Christmas gift last year from my aunt. Similar here:faux fur throw.  The red velvet fur trimmed pillow was a Burlington find this year.  The plaid fur trimmed pillow and the small white holiday pillow were finds last year at JoAnn's.

Comment below on your theme for the year or Holiday items you added this year.

Southern Living Inspired Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always just been one of those holidays that kind of gets lost in the mix for me. It isn't as fun as Halloween or Christmas that it is tucked between and sadly it also kind of signals the end of fall....

It is a wonderful time to reflect back though and be thankful for all you have in your life no matter how bad times can sometimes seem. It is also the time to gather with family and friends just to be thankful to have another year together as well.

This year it was my turn to cook the feast, so in true form, I had to go big. I was leafing through the pages of Southern Living when I saw a version of the heirloom Friendly Village dishes I have paired beautifully with peach roses. To me it seemed the perfect table scape for the holiday but where would I find the roses I needed? A trip to Pat Catan's quickly produced all the flowers I needed on a massive clearance as well as napkins from the original Spode Turkey pattern. True to me though I made my arrangement in an old grape crate incorporating cotton picks, antlers and a silver candelabra.

Below was my take from the Southern Living inspiration which can be found here: "Get Creative With Turkey Plates" Southern Living Nov 2017

Welcome Fall!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year… the pumpkin spice lattes, the beautiful orange leaves, the beginning of crisp morning air…. It is just beautiful! The boots and sweaters come out of storage….The days become even more meaningful as we cling to long daylight hours before the time change.  So of course one of my first blog posts would be about celebrating the season.

No fall season would be complete without a few things though….

• ·         Starbucks Pumpkin latte- pumpkin everything for that matter
• ·         A trip to the pumpkin farm
• ·         Adding the gorgeous fall colors inside the house.
• ·         A final trip to the farmer’s market
• ·         A last bonfire… and
• ·         A country drive.