Ring in the New Year with Pork...

Hope your holidays are going well and that you're enjoying each and every day! 

I savored every moment of my annual Christmas lunch with my dad and three sisters.  We had several glasses of wine, a great meal and wonderful conversation for more than THREE hours!  It's such a lovely time for us to enjoy being together with our dad - to catch up on the year's events - to be dressed up and in such a beautiful and festive atmosphere.  Here are a few pictures:

This last picture is Chocolate Bread Pudding with vanilla sauce, my most favorite dessert.  Mmmm mmmm!

We woke up on Christmas Eve to find that Lewis, our beloved elf, covered Mimi's car with peppermints.  They were all over the windshield, the hood, and the windows.  Lewis was in a booster seat in the front seat with his seat belt on.  It was a delightfully funny sight.  Wouldn't you know that we didn't clean off the car for days and I didn't snap ONE picture!?!! 

We had a lovely Christmas Eve celebration - 5:00 church service which finished with a candlelight Silent Night hymn (always brings me to tears - tears of joy - but tears, nonetheless).  Then we headed back to Mimi and Papa's for a fun evening full of delicious food, music, and lottery tickets.  Mimi and I enjoyed decorating the dining room table this year.  We did a sparkly red and silver theme.  Champ and I collected pine cones at the farm and spray painted them silver (I bought a can of silver metallic spray paint at Ace Hardware).  We then combined them in a crystal bowl with some red sparkly ornaments.  We had the table lined with a mirrored table runner, and on top we scattered votives, pine cones and sprigs of fresh greenery.  It was beautiful!

As we were setting the table, I hid a lottery ticket underneath everyone's plate, so while none of us were winners, we sure enjoyed the anticipation while we each scratched away on our tickets!

It was a wonderful night with family.  Of course, Matt and I were up until about 1:00 AM that night, and the boys were in our room at 6:45 Christmas morning.  What a great day it was....

I made a pancetta wrapped pork tenderloin the other night that I've been really excited to share - especially because it would be an awesome dish to serve on New Year's Day! 

First I sprayed a Pyrex with Pam and I seasoned two pork tenderloins with salt and pepper.  Then I chopped garlic and rosemary (about 3 teaspoons garlic and 3 sprigs of rosemary). 

I rubbed this mixture all over both tenderloins and then added three thin pieces of pancetta to each side of the pork.  You could tie the pancetta to the pork with kitchen twine but I didn't do that and it turned out just fine.

I set that to the side for a few minutes and began preparing my potatoes.  I washed a potato and thinly sliced two potatoes, crosswise - but not all the way through.  I wanted the potatoes to stay intact so I sliced them almost but not quite all the way through.  I then melted a couple of TBS of butter and mixed that with some garlic and parsley and poured over the potatoes.  As you can see below in the second picture, they start to open as they cook and they are just gorgeous when they're finished!

I poured some chicken stock and white wine over the tenderloin and baked it for about half an hour.  Look at how gorgeous it is when cooked!  (I must have already taken one out to serve because it's missing in this picture).

Even though we just ate this a few days ago, I plan on serving it again on New Year's Day alongside turnip greens, black eyed peas and pickled okra succotash.  YUM!

So, click here for the recipe.  Thank you, Giada!  As you can tell from above, I made a few modifications. 

I wish you a safe and happy New Year's Celebration!  We'll be doing our annual fondue dinner.  We buy Filet Mignon and cook it in peanut oil - I make about 4-5 dipping sauces, a big Caesar salad, crusty french bread and something rich and chocolaty for dessert.  This has been our tradition for years! 





My Inner Ballerina

My boys left today to enjoy skeet shooting at a nearby plantation for the night with some other dads and their kids.  I have been looking forward to this trip -not only for them, but let's be honest...for me, too!  I've been excited about 24 hours of no brotherly fighting, no need to cook any meals, one on one time with Brooke....  And while I sort of think I need to feel bad for feeling this way, I really feel just fine for appreciating the break!  And thus, my day has been filled with dancing and leftovers and hopefully a movie will cap it all off!

I have to share my joy in seeing The Nutcracker today.  I enjoyed it with my sister-in-law and nieces and loved every second!  Every time I visit a performance at the Fox, it brings me right back to seeing it for the first time as a young child - it felt so fancy to me and so very "special occasion."  Today, I felt those same feelings.  We entered the theater and went way down to our FABULOUS seats (thanks to the Family to Family discount, our tickets were $45.00 instead of $90.00). 

We left the warm rainy day for what felt like true Christmastime inside with the way the stage was set.  Magical!

I snapped this with my iPhone before the lights dimmed...

And then a second after I snapped the above photo, I took a picture of my gorgeous nieces...

Do you see the lady in the white shirt behind them?  She was on her way to tell me to put away my flash camera :).  Oops!  I was so excited to be there and wanted to document it with pictures!  (didn't think that would be a problem before the show but apparently, it was). 

The production started and it was just breathtaking - everything from the gorgeous music to the backdrops to the beautiful dancers' bodies...like candy to the mouth of a child, this was like candy to my eyes and ears.  I soaked up and truly enjoyed every single second. 

I think back to growing up in our house and I used to find it so odd that my dad would tear up about things when he did - a great Budweiser beer commercial could bring out a tear or two - a good political speech... All my life I've known him to be a very passionate and emotional man.  And folks, let me say that the apple hasn't fallen too far from that tree.  I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of today, that I couldn't help but let out a tear or two of just utter joy - I was a bit embarrassed about the tears and tried my best to conceal the fact that they were streaming out. 

During the Sugar Plum Fairy scene, the chorus of girls started singing, "Ahhhh ahhhh ahhhhh ahhh ahhhh...." and the girls were right in front of us - it was breathtakingly beautiful - their voices coupled with the music and dancing - it overwhelmed me!  And then, as it snowed on stage, all of a sudden, it started snowing in the audience!  Snowflakes fell all over us (it wasn't really snow - more like soap suds), but it was so beautiful!  To hear the children get so excited was just awesome.  Oh, I loved it!!!

I was so impressed with the dancing - with the strength and athleticism of these dancers. It's just amazing, really.  So, at the end of the program, all the dancers came out and we clapped and clapped.  "Bravo! Bravo!"  And then one of the dancers got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend.  Well.... that was it for me.  The floodgates opened and I boo-hooed with the best of em' - the tears a combination of the special moment and love in their lives and the utter joy I was experiencing just being there.  It was just so sweet and amazing!!! 

When I got home, in typical Christa fashion, I danced and twirled around the kitchen sporting what to me on the inside felt like graceful, beautiful ballerina moves, but on the outside resembled that of someone who.... can't dance.  Here is Brooke watching me. 

Hmm... if I were a betting woman, I'd bet that she wasn't really digging the ballet show.  So, then I googled "Beginner Adult Ballet Classes" and made a list of the places that teach ballet.  I'm ready to channel my inner ballerina!!

It has been a terrific day.  I'm sipping my glass of wine listening to Brooke on the monitor playing in her crib - Charlie Brown Christmas is on TV and Sandy, our lab, is ready for me to join her bed.  

Tomorrow I look forward to what I always call my favorite day of the whole year.  I am meeting my dad and three sisters for our marathon lunch at Cherokee.  We meet at 11:30 and enjoy a cocktail... then we go into the big room and enjoy laughing and catching up while we eat a feast and enjoy many more glasses of wine.  My dad has been treating us to this special lunch for years and years and we love it so much.  Each year, the time becomes more and more valuable and meaningful. 

Oh - and our elf, Lewis, did the most fun thing last night!  We found him in Mimi's robe and fuzzy socks sitting in Mimi's reading spot in the living room.  He had on a small pair of glasses and was reading the book, "Jesus Calling for Kids."  What fun!!

I've got some fun new jewelry to show you in January. Oh - and I made an enchilada recipe yesterday that was pretty darn good - VERY labor intensive, though - so I'll give you the recipe and then give you my shortened version :).  If I'm not back before Christmas, MERRY Christmas!!!  

Kids are home from school... now what?

I found an easy recipe for homemade clay-style ornaments.  We tried it this weekend and they turned out great!  It was a great activity for the kids in that they could do it 100% by themselves, and it allowed them to be as creative as they wanted to be.

First, combine flour, salt and water.  Knead the mixture for 15-20 minutes.  Matthew had a friend over, so they divided the mixture in half and they each kneaded their portion for 15 minutes.  We then rolled it out and used cookie cutters to cut out shapes.  Then the boys used a wooden skewer to make their designs...

I took a couple and made imprints of Sandy's paw and Brooke's "paw."  We baked them on wax paper in the oven for 25 minutes.

After they cooled completely, the kids painted them with acrylic paint.

After they dried, we sprayed varnish on them to give them a glossy look.

The last step is to string a piece of yarn through the top and hang them on the tree!  Even for my sporty, outdoorsy boys, this was a fun activity that they enjoyed.

I suggest cutting the recipe in half because we ended up throwing out quite a bit.  I bought the acrylic paints at Target in the craft section, and I bought the spray varnish at Ace Hardware.

Here's the recipe:

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water

Combine above ingredients and knead 15-20 minutes.  Roll out about 1/4-1/2 inches thick and cut into desired shapes.  Design - don't forget to make a hole at the top for hanging!  Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I have to admit that as I'm writing this, I feel a bit sick to my stomach because I've eaten no less than 6 today of what I'm about to tell you about.  I made chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz cracker sandwiches.  These are my favorite.  My friend, Chelsea, makes them each year and I appreciate every bite.  They are delicious!  But, they are a labor of love - it takes a while to coat each sandwich in chocolate.  Fortunately, Matthew helped me... that is - until he got bored with it. 

First, assemble your sandwiches.

Then, melt your chocolate in a simmering double broiler.

Then, dip each sandwich into the chocolate and coat on all sides.  Place each chocolate covered sandwich on wax paper.

When they are all assembled and dipped, place them in the fridge to harden.  I love the salty sweetness of these treats!

I wrapped them in three's in wax paper, tied them up with a green bow and attached a holiday lottery ticket to it - a great gift for friends! 

I've also enjoyed mixing greenery, adding some red berries and a bow for a beautiful holiday arrangement! 

 
Busy week ahead - packing, holiday lunches and dinners, decorating the dining room table for our Christmas Eve feast....Nutcracker with my sister-in-law and nieces.... what a fun week - my most favorite week of the year!  So, here's to keeping the kids busy and out of trouble! 

Tonight, my father-in-law made me a Bloody Mary...doesn't this look like such a treat?

So, cheers to you and this week - cheers to your traditions and to your joy...

While my cup of coffee was being filled by my coffee maker, I was checking the latest postings on http://www.pinterest.com/.  I heard noise that I couldn't quite place - I knew it was coming from outside so I walked over to the window to find hundreds of birds up in the tree, all chirping at once.  I wish I had a way to record the sound so that I could include a little soundbite in this post.  I watched them fly from one tree to another and then back again - all chirping as loudly as they could.  It was a beautiful sound - so joyful and fun to see.  Brooke thought that the whole scene was amazing - she pointed and smiled.  What a fun way to start the morning.  Here is a picture!

Now that I think about it, I sure hope the birds weren't in distress!  Leave it to me to feel joy and happiness amongst a bunch of birds in distress because I didn't realize that all that chirping wasn't actually happiness.  I woke up today in a joyful mood- went on a run with Debbie and it was wonderful - the temperature was unseasonably warm.  People on the radio were complaining about the warm temperature and how it doesn't feel like the holidays.  And while I would probably prefer a little nip in the air, I feel like we have a choice - we can either complain about how we WISH something to be OR we can make the most of what it is.  And I'm choosing to make the most of what it is.  We actually sweat this morning while running and I ran most of the time in my tank top!  How wonderful!  Brooke also spent the better part of the morning outside - without a jacket!  These are wonderful positives of warm weather in December!

Lewis, our elf, has been up to his regular mischief.  We bought some misteltoe a few nights ago from a couple of 8 year old entrepreneurs.  We didn't know where we were going to hang it and so it laid on the counter all night.  We woke up to Lewis, the mistletoe and a strip of red velvet ribbon on the molding in between the kitchen and den!

I get kisses all day long now because this is a well traveled area.

This morning on our way out to the car to go to school, we spotted Lewis inside one of the pool floats holding a bag that had some treats in it.  The boys were delighted!

At least once a year, Lewis shows up on a Saturday morning with munchkins from Dunkin Donuts.  Hmm.... maybe tomrrow?  I remember the time when the boys woke up to find Matt's truck parked in our front yard with Lewis at the wheel.  The car was filled with empty soda cans and candy wrappers.  The kids could NOT believe it!!!  That one goes down as one of our all time favorites (I think Matt and I may have been to a party the night before; otherwise, I'm not sure we would have done that).

The boys and I are going to make ornaments this afternoon - out of flour, salt and water.  If all goes well, I'll share our experience soon- I'm hoping to get Brooke's handprint and Sandy's pawprint. 

So, my focus is on the POSITIVE at this time.  It sure is a happy place to be.  Kids are out until January!  We're hoping to stay busy, relax and enjoy time together! 

Candy Canes, Brussel Sprouts and Ice Skating

We woke up this morning and found Lewis outside sitting next to TWO candy canes!  We planted the peppermints yesterday and I guess, overnight, they sprouted into candy canes!  What a fun surprise this morning!  He also left us a note reminding the kids that Santa is watching.

Matt and I ate a late lunch yesterday.  Actually I ate lunch about 4 different times yesterday at our office department party at Sips and Strokes Toco Hills. 

Sips and Strokes was a FUN place to have our party.  We played our Christmas music while we were instructed on how to paint.  Here are a few pictures.

Although it is an adult painting studio where you can take your wine and a few friends and enjoy chatting while you paint your masterpiece, I do think that my boys would enjoy it!  I may look into taking them over the holiday break. 

Anyway, because we ate and ate and ate yesterday, Matt and I didn't want much for dinner, so I ran up to the Fresh Market and bought some wine, beer, bacon and produce.  I LOVE brussel sprouts.   I think they are delicious which is funny to me because when I was young, there was nothing you could make me eat that I detested more than brussel sprouts.  I especially love roasting them lately.  Last night, I wanted to jazz them up, so I looked online and found a few different recipes and melded them into one and it resulted in a lovely and tasty dish! 

First, I bought a "tree" of brussel sprouts - that was fun in and of itself!  It was $6.00 for one "tree."  I used about half of it last night in my dish.  We all thought it was really neat to see them on the stalk like this.

First, I plucked the sprouts from the stalk.  Then I cut off the bottoms and the first layer or two of leaves.  I then cut them in half, or into quarters if they were huge. 

I bought Fresh Market's apple wood smoked bacon, and oh, let me tell you, it is SO good - it's extremely well priced and more delicious than any other bacon you can buy!  I diced about 6-8 ounces of the bacon and cooked it. 

Just before the bacon was finished, I added three big heaping tablespoons of capers. 

I removed the bacon/caper mixture from the pan to a paper towel lined plate.  I got rid of most of the grease and then added the brussel sprouts.  After about 15 minutes, I added balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil to the sprouts. I continued to cook them for another 5 minutes.

Then I put them on a cookie sheet into a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, turning them once.

I took them out of the oven and put them into a small dish and tossed them with the bacon/caper mixture and drizzled a touch more of balsamic vinegar on it - and a dash of salt and pepper (not too much salt as the capers are really salty in and of themselves).

Ohhh.... I felt like I was eating a dish that could be served in a fine restaurant.  They were DELICIOUS!  I can't get my kids to touch them with a ten foot pole, but Matt really liked it.  I would definitely do this as an adult side when entertaining.  It was beautiful and so tasty!

So, I've covered candy canes, brussell sprouts, so let's talk about ice skating!

We took the kids to The Rink at the Park Tavern down by Piedmont Park.  For $15.00, the kids enjoyed skating for an hour and a half while we watched them and enjoyed dinner and a couple of drinks.  The $15.00 includes skates.  They had a fire pit going and holiday music playing.  It was SO FUN - for the kids and for the adults!  I highly recommend it.  You can go online and select the date and session that you want to attend, and you buy tix online.  I recommend showing up about 15 minutes before your session begins so that you avoid the long line for skates.  It was a FUN, easy and inexpensive holiday outing that the kids loved. 

We saw Santa today and Brooke would still be sitting on that comfy lap of his if we hadn't picked her up when they were done.  She did great!  We thought she would cry her eyes out - she's proving to be tougher than her big brothers :).  Here is a picture of the kids right after we saw Santa.

Please notice how Champ is already unwrapping his candy cane.  It was 100% in his belly before we made it to the car.  He inherited mommy's sweet tooth. 

Happiness and French Dips

Happiness is....

The leftover piece of orange rope that hangs from the luggage rack of my car that everyone likes to point out and offer to take down.  But I won't let them because it is my December "happy string."  It is the little piece that's left from buying our Christmas tree two weeks ago.  What is more joyful than buying a Christmas tree?  Champ picked ours out this year and he did such a great job.  What is typically NOT so joyful is putting it into the tree stand and getting it to stand just right.  It is that task each year that makes me doubt the integrity of our marriage.  I say that in jest - but the truth is that it's a bit stressful for us- in fact, just last year I was flipping through a magazine and saw a product called, "The Save Your Marriage Christmas Tree Stand."  This year, we got a super small tree.  It's the perfect little tree and we love it, AND it took no time to situate it just right in the tree stand.  Here is a picture of Brooke admiring the tree.  She loves the lights and has quickly learned not to touch the ornaments. 

Happiness is seeing Christmas lights everywhere!  Last weekend, I spent almost two hours wrapping a tree in the front yard with lights.  I had visions of the finished product looking similar to something you'd see at the Ritz at Reynolds Plantation.  I wrapped and I wrapped and I wrapped that tree.  The boys played together while I did my thing and I loved every second of it!  Here is the finished product which is NOTHING like that of the Ritz, but we all love it and it makes us so happy!!

Happiness is our elf, Lewis!  He has been pretty tame so far this December.  We found him riding on the big bronze sculpture in the den, complete with candy canes and everything!

He found our Christmas stockings and hung them on the mantle in the living room which was a big surprise to the boys as they thought our Christmas stuff was packed away in storage!

And this morning, we found him outside with a hammer (suppose he was looking for a shovel and couldn't find one?) and some candy.  It looked like he even planted some peppermints in the soil.  Hmm.... I'm thinking that tomorrow, there might be candy canes sprouting through!

 

Happiness is being with my high school gals at our annual Christmas party.  They all shied away when I tried to point and click my camera, so here is a lovely table decoration from the party....that's just about the only picture I got.  We had a ball catching up and chatting about our goings on.  This year was our 20th year of doing this - wow - that makes me feel so thankful for this great group of women and also makes me feel really old.  Yikes.

Happiness is this recipe for French Dip Sandwiches, from my friend, Kerri.  Get out your crock pot because this is one you'll want to cook over and over!

First, you put your meat into the crock pot (I choose pot roast or oven roast).  Place an entire bag of fresh rosemary in the crock pot. 

Pour one envelope of dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix on top of the meat. 

Add water or chicken or beef stock to the crock pot - enough to cover 2/3 of it. 

Let it cook on low all day.  When it's time to assemble the french dip sandwiches, take out your meat and strain the au jus so that you remove all the rosemary and little pieces from the soup mix.  I usually put the strained au jus and the meat back into the crock pot and shred the meat. 

Take some fresh french bread and slice it lengthwise.  If you're a mayonnaise fan, spread some mayo on the bread.  Add your meat, a fresh slice of provolone cheese and you have yourself a sandwich!  Serve with a little bowl of au jus on the side for dipping (unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the final product because I got too busy serving everyone while trying to keep an eye on Brooke - so sorry!). 

My kids and Matt LOVE this meal.  I usually serve it with steamed broccoli.  Enjoy!