Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree! I'm so happy I finally have a beautiful tree for Christmas this year. Donna has been staying with me and she always has a live tree for Christmas. So, I told her that she could have a live tree since she's going to still be at my place through the holidays as long as I get to decorate it with my ornaments I got on sale last year. She happily agreed.

The day before the tree arrived I had to move a lot of furniture around. I moved the piano from my bedroom back to the living room, moved the small couch to my bedroom and one of the shelves from the entertainment center, then I moved the location of my TV so that the piano would fit in the living room. I was very exhausted. I don't think my place had any great space for a Christmas tree. I think if I had a bay window it would have given me something better to work with. Anyhow, after all was done, I was exhausted. It wasn't over yet, though.

I was very surprised when a 10 foot blue spruce showed up at my door Thanksgiving weekend. Sadly we had to cut it down to fit in my living room to about 8 to 8 1/2 feet. If I put the tree in the kitchen it would have fit without having to cut it, but I didn't want to try and figure out how to arrange furniture in my kitchen. Plus I think my chandelier would have been in the way.

My niece, Melina came over to help me put the decorations on my tree and spend the night. We had fun going through all the ornaments and deciding where to put them. Melina did a very good job at placing the decorations strategically all over the tree.

Below are detailed pictures of some of the ornaments.


I like the antique look of the ornaments.


I got the reindeer ornament in Alaska from the cruise I went on this past summer.


These are a variety of ornaments I got. I like the mosaic door knob.


This is a doll I got at a Victorian style boutique.


It's a purple bird happily perched on a branch.


I was surprised to find a tree topper so quickly. The angel has a pretty face and it's purple...need I say more!

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sometimes I amaze myself! I bought cranberries a couple weeks ago and was hoping to make cranberry bread, but I got the sudden urge to make orange rolls. It seemed logical to add the cranberries. These rolls turned out beautifully.

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sweet dough
4 Tbs butter, melted
Orange zest from half orange
1/2 cup brown sugar, not packed
Orange juice
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped in quarters
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Icing
3/4 cup powder sugar
Orange zest from half orange
Orange juice
Milk

You will have to use your own sweet dough, or cinnamon roll bread recipe. Roll out dough into a squarish-rectangular shape. Combine melted butter and orange zest and spread over dough. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter and spread evenly. Cut orange used for zest in half from and squeeze orange juice over brown sugar (enough to moisten the sugar only). Sprinkle cranberries and pecans over sugar. Roll dough tightly and seal by pinching the edge to the roll. Cut or use string to make 12 rolls. Place in 9x13 dish. Bake according to your dough recipe.

Icing: mix powder sugar and zest, then squeeze orange used for zest into sugar. Add enough milk for desired consistency. Once rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes spoon icing over rolls.

The measurements aren't completely accurate because I just put things in as I went along, but they should be close enough.

Chicken Yum Yum

I got this recipe from one of my roommates my first year of college. One weekend I went with her to her family's home and her mom made this for dinner after church.

Chicken Yum Yum

1 whole chicken, cooked and diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz container sour cream
1 pkg stuffing with seasoning
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)

Preheat oven to 350°. Layer diced chicken into bottom of 9x13 pan. Mix soup and sour cream together and spread over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing over mixture. Pour butter over stuffing and then chicken broth. Bake for 30 minutes.

Okay...you don't have to use a whole chicken! You can use chicken breast, about 4-5 depending on how meaty you want your dish. I like to cook my chicken breast in the crock pot because it turns out nice and tender. The real recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth, but I like my stuffing crunchy so I use less.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

I don't know why I never tried these rice crispy treats before. They're in a family recipe book that I just discovered this week.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

1 10 oz mini-marshmallows
1 stick butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 10 oz box rice crispies
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine marshmallows, butter, peanut butter, and corn syrup in large pot. Cook over medium heat until well combined and smooth. Remove from heat. Add cereal. Stir until evenly coated. Quickly pour one-third of mixture into pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chunks or chips. Pour cereal mixture and layer with chocolate chunks, etc. Cool. Cut into bars.

They are very easy to make.

Pineapple Plant

My pineapple plant ripened! The tiny pineapple popped off the plant. I'm going to replant it, so we'll see if I can get it to grow.