Christmas Sugaring & Feasting

Christmas dinner went really well, although I didn't get any photos of the feast.  I made a 15 lb. turkey, which came out perfect and juicy--I was just as surprised as the rest of you!  I also made red mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries, sourdough rolls, and stuffing.  And gravy!  Amazingly, the timing was just about perfect!  The beans and rolls could have been a bit warmer...probably needed to set the oven a little hotter.

In the middle of the day, after getting the turkey in the oven, I also started making an apple crisp in the crock pot.  I just took a portion (or two) out of the crock and gave it a try.  I slightly modified a recipe on Allrecipes, and would make a couple more, which include:

6 large Fuji apples, peeled and cored, cut small
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp (or more) cinnamon (I think I put in a tablespoon or two)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
Mix in crock pot - turn on low.

Make crumble:
1 c. oats
1 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. butter
Melt butter, mix in brown sugar, then oats and flour.  Sprinkle over top.  Let cook for a few hours.

The original recipe called for a cup of sugar and a cup of brown sugar...and it's just TOOOO sweet.  I'd try it again with the recipe above and see how that comes out.  I think I'm going to be on a sugar high all night now.

Cammie got a cotton candy machine for Christmas and we discovered that we can use normal sugar or crushed (powdered) candy.  So of course, Cammie wanted to immediately start experimenting with candy canes.  We got out the mortar & pestle and ground up some candy canes and, sure enough, after it warmed up, it worked!  Peppermint flavored cotton candy!

  
One thing that seems inevitable is that I always end up getting either medicine bottles, the butter plate or the salt shaker in a photo.  Not sure what's up with that.  But there you go.  Salt shaker.

Kids at Christmas!  Are the kids getting bigger or is that tree getting smaller?  It's amazing how fast they've grown!  Amazingly, I got this photo on the first try.  Ben's got his new shirt on--he now has a rather impressive collection of Minecraft t-shirts.  It makes him happy... :)

Tomorrow we'll be visiting with Kelly's family; the traditional Boxing Day/Second Christmas.  We got gift cards for each family--not individual gifts.  Each card is put into these cute little baggies...it just looks so tiny.  It doesn't look like we didn't get enough, but it's not the size of the gift, it's the value...right?  Maybe I'll drop some Hershey Kisses in the bag with the gift cards.  Sometimes I think that Christmas gift exchanges are so silly.

Kelly got me something fabulous!  In Tara's words:  "What is it?"  Well, in short, these are bead-making tools.  On the left, the channels can shape beads into tubes or balls of certain sizes.  The triangular thing is a tool rest--keeps things off the table and avoids burning the table.  I often use the rusty cookie sheet edge, but this is taller.  The middle packet is a bunch of new mandrils and a bead rake, which can pull the glass into cool shapes.  The metal thing in the upper right can make the beads kinda bumpy.  On the far right is a graphite paddle, which you can roll the hot glass on to change its shape.  There's another graphite shaper at the bottom (with the orange handle) but it's thicker and heavier than the one on the far right.  I'll get a chance to play with these more after Boxing day.  One thing I still need is a lampworking bracket--something to attach directly to the hot head torch instead of having to tape the canister to the L bracket.

Now the quilt is finally *officially* done!  Binding, label and all.  I also made a poem to go with it.  It's funny, so I'll share it for the three readers that aren't going to be at dinner with us on Saturday:

I-Spy a Quilt

I spy some crayons, some colorful clown fish,

I spy some green peas to put in my dish.

Some bathtubbing duckies, some bugs that can fly,

A bunch of small beetles, some apples for pie!

I spy some flames, and some cars on the road,

I spy a whale and a colorful toad.

I spy some chicks and a rainbow of cats,

I spy some lemons and some balls needing bats.

I spy running horses and a tooth that is blue,

A sky full of stars, and some strawberries, too!

Your Auntie does love you, though the poetry’s lame,

I hope you enjoy this quilted I-Spy game.

Much love, Auntie Karen

Aside from that, we've been watching movies and stuff.  I got to see the 6th episode of Tudor Monastery Farm on YouTube.  I love free internet entertainment!  You can watch the first episode here.  The other links are available from the same poster, Nina O.  There's another episode coming out on New Year's Eve, which is the Christmas special.  That might be the last in the series, which makes me sad.  The same group of anthropologists have also done series on the Victorian Farm, the Edwardian Farm, the Wartime Farm (WWII), Tales from the Green Valley (post-Elizabethan farm), and there are a few other specials, like the Tudor Christmas Feast, and a show called Time Team.  Archaeology is COOOL!