White Christmas

Even though we live in the heart of the Midwest, there is no guarantee of a white Christmas. Forecasters had predicted rain this morning, with a few flurries mixed in.

Rain turned to light, fluffy snow earlier than expected and left us with a soft blanket of 8+ inches. Lovely way to start the holiday. Our yard is a winter wonderland and Barney is the self-appointed Snow King.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Winter Under Glass

A light, fluffy snow fell gently all day. No winter wind here. No ice under. Just the sweetest, softest snow we've had in ages.

The late Thanksgiving threw me off my game this year and my holiday decorating is about a week behind my normal schedule. I put most of it up last weekend, hubby decorated the tree and I am now putting on the finishing touches.

One of the items I brought back from Arizona when we started cleaning out our parents' house was a beautiful folk art Santa by Pam Schifferl. I have a couple of her ornaments that I simply adore!

I planned to put the Santa under a cloche I had, but it wasn't tall enough. So, I headed to my neighborhood Home Goods store, which has an extensive offering of clear glass vases, hurricanes, apothecary jars and cloches. Eureka! They had one that was tall enough.

But, alas, I got it home and, not taking into account that it wasn't straight-sided, but rather bell shaped, the curvy section wouldn't fit over the width of the figurine. After an exhaustive and futile search for the right-sized cloche, I gave up and decided to make my own from a large egg-shaped vase.

The cute glittered bird substitutes for the cloche knob. He's surrounded by an ice wreath I already had among my holiday trimmings.

My mom's woodland Santa clearly is from the same clan as my ornaments.

Woodland Santa perches on a vintage milk glass cake stand atop a vintage bevelled mirror and is surrounded by vintage family mercury glass ornaments.

Welcome, Woodland Santa.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Sunday

Motivate Me Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

Talkin' Turkey

Every day our single acre of property, which is in the middle of the city and backs up on a steep  ravine, is a way station for deer, turkeys, raccoon, opossum, woodchuck, squirrels, rabbits, bats and many critters I'm probably not even aware of, on the road to their daily lives.

This morning, as the sun began to peek through the eastern trees, the turkeys made a short stopover on our driveway before heading on to the day's adventures. On any given day, a lone turkey or an entire flock may strut through the yard. The most we've seen at once is 23. Today, the hens whirled and swirled, pranced and danced so excitedly, I couldn't get an exact count. Twenty, I think.

Surprisingly, three males hung together. Most often, the males are rivals vying for the top spot in the flock. And, I presume, the most desirable gals in the group.

I couldn't tell from their posturing which was the Tom (the royal crown of the ravine) and which were the jakes (often the younger, less powerful wannabes). Today, the three looked more like three amigos hanging at the corner bar sharing stories over a few beers than rival contenders for the dating prize. All puffed up, shaking those fanned out tail feathers.

The hens had their own agenda and after a few minutes, started a parade across the front yard, heading for the neighbors' place.

Before long, they had disappeared down the road. I always wonder where they go and what they do when they leave our yard.

All that's left when the turkeys move on. Well, not totally true. Be careful where you step!


Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
Sunny Simple Sundays
Blue Monday
Outdoor Wednesday
Weekly Top Shot

Soup's On! It IS Still Winter

Even though the temperatures in our neck of the woods have flirted with 50 off and on the past week or so, it is still winter and that means it's still soup season.

A locally owned restaurant in our community serves one of my favorite soups ever. The menu name for it is Andouille Sausage and Kale soup. It's an exceptional broth-based soup. One of my other favorites is Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, also a sausage and greens soup, but with a cream base.

My family will be the first to tell you that cooking isn't my forte. So, I'm always looking for easy meals that are next to impossible to mess up. To complicate things, I also want healthy, lower fat/lower calorie recipes, when possible.

My search for something like the andouille sausage or Zuppa Toscana recipes turned up a number of possibilities, but none that met all my requirements: easy, healthy and reasonably low-fat/low-cal. So, I cherry-picked the best ingredients from a couple of recipes and came up with my own variation on a theme.

The main difference in my version from the other creamy soups is the substitution of skim milk for the whole milk, half-and-half and heavy cream and spicy Italian turkey sausage for sweet Italian pork sausage. Of course, if you want a richer, more caloric, higher fat soup, you can replace the skim milk in my recipe with two cups of whole milk and four cups of half-and-half and a splash of heavy cream.

Any type of Italian sausage will work. Select one that suits your taste. We like ours (spicy) hot!

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bunches of kale, cleaned and torn into bite-sized pieces (or substitute a half bag of frozen kale, if desired; thaw and add as you would the fresh kale)
• 12-15 red potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 whole onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or to taste; I add more)
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 5 cups skim milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• Fresh or dried oregano to taste
• Black pepper to taste

Boil sliced potatoes until tender. Don't overcook. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, brown the sausage and onions. Drain any fat. Stir in red pepper flakes, oregano, black pepper, chicken broth, milk and half-and-half. Simmer 20-30 minutes.

Add potatoes. Stir in kale. 

Simmer another 10-15 minutes. Serve.

Bon Apetit!

P.S. Don't you just love the adorable placemats and napkins I found at the thrift store? They're in the original box, label on, never used. Probably from the '60s or '70s. Each of the four placemats has a different saying on it. Watch for this sweet set in my Etsy store in the next couple of weeks.


Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
Cowgirl Up!
Rednesday

Crock Pot Hot Cocoa for a Crowd

When the weather outside is frightful, nothing hits the spot quite like a delicious cup of super chocolatey hot cocoa.

After a recent dinner out with three other couples, we closed out a wonderful evening at our house. Just desert and hot cocoa to top off an already special evening.

Did you know you can make your hot cocoa in a crock pot to keep it warm for serving to a crowd over a period of time? I made mine before we headed out to dinner. I transferred it to the crock pot--set on low--to let it warm over the next few hours. When we returned from dinner, VIOLA! Delicious, with no muss, no fuss.

Here's the recipe:

HOT COCOA FOR A CROWD

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

1 1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup hot water

1 gallon milk (I used skim)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and salt.

Add hot water slowly, mixing well.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.

Boil, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add milk and heat to serving temperature, stirring occasionally. Do not boil.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and cinnamon, whipping with a wire whisk.

Serve hot.

If desired, transfer to a crock pot to keep warm for serving to a bigger group.

You can serve with a variety of garnishes such as grated cinnamon, chocolate curls or mini chocolate chips. 

I also offered peppermint candy cane swizzle sticks served from a vintage wire flower frog.

Quick. Easy. Yummy. Try it, you'll like it--all winter long.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
All-Star Block Party

Wildly Original
Whatever You Want Wednesday
Rednesday
It's a Party!
Thursday Favorite Things
It's a Hodgepodge Friday
Cowgirl Up!
Mealtime Monday

Best of the Season to All

I will honor Christmas in my heart, 

and try to keep it all the year. 

-- Charles Dickens

A Simple Splash of Red

When I visit the wonderful blogs on my reading list, I find the all-shades-of-white, light-neutral and shabby chic vignettes and decor are what most often catch my eye and draw me in first. They're so luscious,  soft and romantic.

Funny that the soft whites impact me that way because I love color. Our home, while dressed in knotty pine throughout, bears color on all the (non-knotty-pined) walls and the original vintage tile floor on the lower level.  Some of that color is big and bold. Additionally, most of our accents and decor are colorful, and I don't mean colorful as in a single color family. I guess it's my passion for all things vintage that heavily influences a color palette with a wide variety of hues. 

This Christmas season, for the first time ever, I "neutralized" much of the holiday decor in the living room. Not quite able to let go of all color, I added small splashes of red amongst the winter whites, silver, gold and mercury glass. Like my great-grandmother's tiny antique bottle brush Santa.

And an antique German liquor bottle in the shape of a Santa.

A couple of well-placed pretty red items alongside the feather trees adds interest. In my humble opinion.

And, the tall, ceramic pencil Santa my mother hand-painted for me adds subdued, but stately, color against a collection of vintage mirrors.

A simple vintage ornament with a red band creates some pop next to the large mercury glass bowl on the Stickley postal table.

Relax! It's not a bonfire in my living room. But, I wanted to share a night shot of the mercury glass bowl on the postal table. I filled it with twinkle lights and this is what it looks like with the lights on. Sort of. You'll just have to take my word for it that it's softer light than that in person.

For a final splash of red, I included this stunning male cardinal I photographed this morning in the cedar tree along the ravine at the back of our yard. This was our first significant snow of the season. Fitting as a prelude to winter, don't you think?

Although I used a long lens to capture him, this brilliant guy was quite a distance away. So, I hope you'll pardon the photo quality.

I'm dedicating this post to my mother, who was born in December and passed in December six years ago. She was an avid, amateur birdwatcher, who counted the cardinal among her favorites.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Rednesday
Time Travel Thursday
Primp Your Stuff
Nifty Thrifty Sunday

And Then There Was Whitewash

If you saw my last post, you know that right here, in the nation's midsection, where the average annual snowfall is around three feet, folks were out and about this past week in shirtsleeves, shorts and sandals in the near-70-degree temps.

Today, it's a different story.

Most winters, we'd be sick of snow by now. We'd be whimpering 'cuz Phil saw his shadow and we had six more weeks of an already long winter left. But this winter, as is the case in much of the country, we've hardly had snow to speak of. A small event in December, a tiny flurry here and there and temperatures 10 to 40 degrees above normal. We haven't had a winter--yet.

So--for me anyway--this is as exciting as that first big snow event we usually have in December. It's hard to tell how much is on the ground right now, but predictions are that we will have about 12" by this evening.

Let's add a little color to a beautifully whitewashed day. Here's how the bulb garden looks now.

Ours is indeed a world of contrasts.

Make it a great day!

White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Shirtsleeves, Shorts and Sandals

When I left work this evening, the outside temperature was 68. At 5:30 p.m. On January 30. In Nebraska.

Out on the street, pedestrians were in shirtsleeves and shorts. When I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home, a couple of folks had bared their tootsies in sandals that have been buried in their closets since October.

To commemorate today's record-breaking temps, I'm sharing some photos of our vintage advertising thermometers. I think the inside temperature reflected on these wonderful old advertisements was about the same as it was outside.

Global warming, anyone?

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Wednesday Bunny Hop at Bunny Jean's
Share the Love Wednesday at Very Merry Vintage Style
Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady
Sunlit Sunday at My Little Home and Garden