Happy Holidays from Texas!
It finally got cold here (under 50 degrees) today, just in time for Christmas. My Minnesotan grandmother is visiting this year for Christmas, and cannot believe how much Texans overdress. Honestly, I am a little surprised at runners wearing tights and fleece headbands when it’s still 55 degrees. Really?
Things have been going well here. Nice to have the family together and school over. My sister, now a college graduate, is frantically looking for jobs until she starts grad school next fall, and is not enjoying my scheduling/controlling of holiday activities. She vetoed the gingerbread village activity! The horror…
In tradition with Christmas Eve, Jenna and I do our best to prepare a variety of appetizers while we watch a movie. This year, the film chosen was “Midnight in Paris”, and the menu will include:
- baked brie
- sausage balls (Dad’s request)
- mini quiches (the only thing that remains on the menu every year)
- pierogies
- nut logs (a new dessert – looks like baklava but in roll form?)
- fruit plate
I’m currently listening to my grandma’s “Crooner Christmas” CD while proofing dough for cinnamon rolls. Every year, I have big dreams goals of baking something wonderful for Christmas morning. And yet, each year something seems to go wrong. Like the year I wanted to bake cinnamon rolls from scratch and left out the yeast. Or the year I made this huge strata, with too much nutmeg, to the point that no one would eat it. haha.
This year… I’m putting all my hope in Pioneer Woman and making a small batch of her acclaimed cinnamon rolls (although the family has voted for cream cheese frosting instead of her maple variety). Wish me luck!
I’ll leave you with some pictures of the dogs. Did I mention that there are 6 dogs in the house this holiday season? This includes the family trio (Sheff, Neuman and Annie), my Harley, Jenna’s Sullivan, and the current foster Buttercup, who is recovering from surgery this week. It can feel like a boarding kennel here sometimes, but we’re managing 🙂
she makes the cone look good, right?
if the dog beds are all full, lay on the stairs 🙂
Merry Christmas everyone!
Everything but the Kitchn Sink 