Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Night Before Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

I had such a great Christmas. I can't wait to show you some of the wonderful presents I got. And guess what - it snowed here today, too! Finally I'll be able to go out sledding!

Christmas Eve is such an exciting time for me. We always read The Night Before Christmas before we snuggle up in our beds ourselves. And then I have the hardest time falling asleep because I'm so excited!



Do you have any fun Christmas traditions?

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Making Gingerbread Houses!

Today Caitlin and I made gingerbread houses! Caitlin loves to bake, and she's really good at it.

Some good friends of mine in Colorado gave me The (Mini) Gingerbread House Kit. It came with a wonderful book and cookie cutters to get the job done.

We made our gingerbread using the recipe in The (Mini) Gingerbread House Book. We used sugar, flour, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, shortening, baking soda, and salt! A lot of ingredients, but they made the yummiest gingerbread!



We rolled out our dough, and cut out our houses. Each house needs a front, back, two side pieces, and two pieces for the roof. We dusted our cookie cutters in flour so that they wouldn't stick to the dough. It makes it a lot easier.



Ready to go into the oven!



They don't take very long to bake. You know they're done when they are not too soft and they look golden brown.



Then we built our houses using sugar we melted over the stove. You get it really sticky, then dip one side of the cookie into it. It glues them together really fast. But be careful not to get the sugar too hot or let it burn!

While we waited for our houses to cool, we got our decorations ready.



And we made frosting.



For gingerbread houses, the frosting needs to be really stiff. It's good if it will form a little icicle when you put some on your finger.



Time to decorate!!
I love big swirls of frosting!



Caitlin put candy canes on each side of her house, sort of like a candy cane castle.



Aren't our finished houses fun? With so many yummy things on them, I just want to eat it! But we're going to save them to be centerpieces at our Christmas party.

This is my house, with an m&m roof.



And Caitlin's house, with an oreo door.





Have you made a gingerbread houses yet this year?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Haul out the Holly!

Put up the tree before my spirit falls again!

Just kidding...my spirit isn't about to fall! Christmastime is one of my favorite times of the whole year!

My friend Caitlin is visiting from Nevada right now, so she helped me set up the tree. Lanie came over too, so we had a little tree trimming party.

Caitlin helped me tackle the lights while Lanie got out the trimmings. Isn't it crazy how there is always one light that just magically goes out every year?



Caitlin asked me if she could put up the star. I wanted to say no, because that is so fun and I love putting it up. But I thought that because she is a guest I should let her do the really fun things. I want her to enjoy her visit with me!

I need a little Christmas! Right this very minute!
I have so many fun things planned during December. I can't wait to share them all with you!