Happy New Year

 

I have lots of thoughts, but they're all jumbled together and I'm too tired to sort them out. For now, I'll just wish everyone a happy, healthy, safe New Year. May it be better than the last, and may you have oodles of finishes!

Dear Santa: Day Five

 

It's the final day of my 10th annual Christmas Open House and I've saved a very special Santa for last. This is Patriotic Santa from Leisure Arts Christmas Remembered Book Eight: Down Santa Claus Lane. He's been on the to-stitch list forever, and here he is in all his patriotic glory! I stitched him with the recommed DMC on 32 count Blue Moon linen. I omitted the flag border and just sprinkled stars everywhere instead, using a smyrna cross.

I really love him, but y'all. The backstitching. Oh my stars. I guess you get what you work for, because he's pretty gorgeous, but man was that tedious!

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Winding down from a very successful Cookie Drop-In, the houseful of troops has quieted down and we're settling in for a respite from the busyness. 

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Two more must-share cookie recipes to round out the week's festivities. These Peppermint Meltaways are a very pretty addition to a Christmas cookie tray. I use Andes Peppermint Crunch candies for the topping, as I don't like the texture of crushed candy canes. 

And last but not least, this year I had a special request for Snickerdoodles, and this recipe is absolutely fantastic. They were devoured.

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Well, we've done it again. Ten years of Christmas joy: stitching, food, coziness. Thank you so much for being here to share this with me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the kind comments and well wishes. This is so much more fun, and the work is so much more worth it, knowing there are so many of you who look forward to and enjoy this tradition. I'll keep doing it as long as I can manage. Some years will be big and splashy, some more simple, much like celebrating Christmas each year varies. And just so you know, I have a list of ideas that currently has seven or eight themes on it. Lord willing, we've got many more years of fun ahead of us!

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas, y'all!

Dear Santa: Day Four

Day four, and we have three Santas for the price of one! I chose my favorite Prairie Schooler Santas and stitched them together as one piece. From left to right: 1989, 1990, 1991. These are available in one leaflet, Santa Collection 1988-1991. I stitched them with the recommended DMC over one on 20 count Sage Jobelan. The wood they're mounted on is from Hobby Lobby.

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It's Cookie Drop-In day! I snapped a quick picture before all the hungry troops arrived!

Info about this finish is in this post, and the wreath is from Christmas Open House 2017.

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This recipe for Gingerbread Cookies with Lemon Frosting is similar to the Percolator Punch recipe. People read the label and are intrigued, then they try one and go back for seconds or even thirds!

Another new addition to the cookie repertoire this year is Fudge Cookies. These are very similar to one of my favorites, Chocolate Espresso Cookies, but without the espresso. As with the espresso version, don't make these too far in advance. They're best made the day you need them, or the day before.

Fudge Cookies

1 12 oz. bag (2 c.) chocolate chips

2 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

2 eggs

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking powder

Heat oven to 350. In a microwave safe bowl, on 50% power, melt 1 c. chocolate chips, baking chocolate, and 2 Tbsp. butter. Heat for about 30 seconds at a time; chocolate will be soft enough to stir together before it appears melted; no need to overheat. Cool slightly and add eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, and baking powder. Stir until well combined; stir in remaining 1 c. chocolate chips. This will be more like a batter than a dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2" apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, or until edges are firm and surfaces are dull and crackled. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to racks to cool. Yield: about 3 dozen

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Only one more day left! Join me tomorrow for the finale!

Dear Santa: Day Three

 

Today's Santa is Jolly Old Elf from the Leisure Arts booklet Jolly Santas in Cross Stitch. This is the only Santa that wasn't already in my stash when I chose this year's theme. I stumbled across him while looking for something else and couldn't resist his sweet face and tiny Chickadee friend. I stitched him with the recommended DMC on Weeks 32 count Red Pear linen, and omitted the toy.

I love the red on red on red: red Santa, reddish fabric, red frame.  A note about the fabric, though. When looking at this fabric on a computer monitor, or even in hand with nothing stitched on it, it looks very, very pink. I don't think I would have considered it for this design if I didn't already have some in my stash to experiment with. When paired with red floss, it reads as a weathered or faded red, which I really like.

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It's almost Cookie Drop-In time! Let's have a look at final preparations. 

Self-serve coffee/cocoa/hot punch bar. I used my mom's Percolator Punch recipe, which I was raised on and remains a cold weather staple at our house. When we offered it to the troops, everyone said, "Hot punch?" They then proceeded to swig four batches! It's that good!

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The old favorite recipe of the day is Mexican Wedding cookies. These are a Christmas classic, and a cross-cultural cookie, with the same recipe known by different names in different cultures. We're from Texas, so to us, these are Mexican Wedding cookies. And they're fabulous.

I also tried a new Chocolate Chip cookie recipe this year and they were a hit! Lovely and soft.

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Tomorrow is party day! Skip lunch and spoil your supper with cookies!

Dear Santa: Day Two

 

Welcome back! Today's Santa is my cool minty green color conversion of Brooke Nolan's glorious Stitching Santa. I did a red-to-pink color conversion of her Mrs. Claus back in 2019 and have had a green Santa in mind since then. Here they are, together at last!

I also swapped the Cardinal pin cushion perched in his basket for a sweet little Chickadee. They're my favorite bird and I thought the softer colors suited better.

Color conversions are one of my favorite things about stitching and I haven't done one in quite a while. If you'd like to see my other conversions, click on the tab at the top of the page.

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Let's get back to the cookie drop-in we hosted for the squadron. Here's a closer look at my centerpiece. I looked through the craft and home decor stores for inspiration, but couldn't find anything I liked, and I didn't want to spend much anyway. As it turned out, I didn't spend anything. I just raided my kitchen cupboards and put together a baking-themed centerpiece.

Pretty good for a freebie! 

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Before we start baking, I have three tips that will make your cookie baking experience much easier and your results much better. At my house, these are a must.

#1 Use cookie scoops! They come in different sizes, but my favorite is the tablespoon size, not quite 1 1/2" wide. This produces a two-bite cookie, which is a nice size for an event like this, as it allows people to try all the choices if they wish. Besides evenly baked and pretty cookies of uniform size, another benefit is if you're making a lot of different recipes, smaller cookies allow you to bake the batches quicker because you can fit 12-15 cookies on a cookie sheet. 

#2 Use parchment paper! I don't bake without it. It makes baking cookies a breeze, and you can use the same piece a number of times. 

#3 Use an oven thermometer! It's not unusual for ovens to be as much as 25 degrees off, usually on the low end. Yes, even the newer models with a digital display that assures you the oven is at 350. I keep an oven thermometer in the oven at all times. If the oven is a bit off, it doesn't matter too much for things like casseroles, but baking is a different story. Some ovens are accurate at first, but if you use them for several hours (like in marathon cookie baking), you'll find the temperature doesn't remain accurate. As long as the temperature isn't wildly off, I usually don't bother to adjust it. Much easier to just leave the cookies in for an extra minute or two, keeping an eye on them.

Cookie time! Today's tried and true recipe is Mr. Wonderful's favorite Butter Mint cookies. Deliciously buttery, melt-in-your-mouth, delicately minty. I make these every year, no matter what else doesn't get done. These are a must at our house.

However. I tried a new recipe this year and I think Mr. Wonderful may have a new co-favorite. These disappeared at the cookie drop-in.

Spiced Pecan with Strawberry Jam

1/2 c. butter, softened

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 c. flour

1/2 c. pecans, toasted and ground**

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

strawberry preserves

Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; mix well. On low speed, beat in flour, pecans, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Shape dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes, remove from oven and use the back of a 1/2 tsp. measuring spoon to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill wells with a 1/2 tsp. of strawberry preserves. Return to oven and bake an additional 7-10 minutes longer or until edges are light golden. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets and remove to racks to cool. Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen

**Toast nuts on a baking sheet in a 350 oven for about 5 minutes; watch carefully as nuts burn easily!

**If you don't have a food processor, grind nuts by placing them in a sturdy plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.

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See y'all tomorrow for more stitching, more cookies, and more real-life open house!

Dear Santa: Day One

 

Welcome, welcome, welcome to my 10th annual Christmas Open House! I can't believe I've been doing this for ten years, and I really can't believe I pulled it off this year. I think I've said that for each of the last few years, but life has dealt us a run of stormy weather that seems to have lasted much longer than necessary!

I'm so glad you're here to help me celebrate ten years of this tradition. Many of you cheer me on throughout the year when I mention Open House preparations, and I really do appreciate the encouragement and excitement you share. Thank you for being here, this week and all year long. And with that said, let's get going! The sewing room and kitchen are open, so settle in for a week of very enthusiastic Christmassing!

This year's theme is Dear Santa.  When deciding on a theme for the 10th year, I could think of nothing more perfect than the man himself, Santa Claus. I rummaged through my stash and chose some of my favorite Santas that I hadn't stitched yet, and set to work. My first finish is St. Nicholas and the Snowy Owl from Santa's Great Book by Leisure Arts. I stitched him with the recommended DMC on 32 count grey Basalt Splash.

I have to say it--at the risk of tooting my own horn--I absolutely love this finish. I've wanted to stitch this design for so long and I'm so happy with how it turned out. Isn't it fun when the right design meets the perfect fabric and you actually get it stitched and framed and can fully enjoy it? I love that!

Now then. I promised some extra Christmas hospitality, so in addition to my Open House here on the ol' blog, you're all coming along to my in-real-life Open House!

This year, we hosted a Christmas Cookie Drop-In for the entire squadron! Here's the invitation flyer: 

I put on my trusty back brace, baked for two days, and made 26 dozen cookies (blink, blink). How's that for Christmas cheer?! This week you'll be in on the big event from start to finish and get a few new cookie recipes to go with some old favorites I've shared in the past.

Come on in!

Make yourselves at home! We're off and running! Or rather, moseying contentedly, cookie in one hand, cozy beverage in the other. Come on back tomorrow for a color conversion Santa that's been on the books for years. And cookies. Sooo many cookies.