Sugar Cookie Buttons from Country Living…

I’ve loved Country Living Magazine since it came out in the 80’s.  Even though my decorating style has changed, you just can’t take the girl out of the country (living).  So this afternoon I was leafing thru my Christmas issue and saw this cookie idea, it just rang my chimes.  And no, I’m not going to make them, so don’t be looking for them showing up on your doorstep, but maybe somebody else will!  So, so cute, buttonhole cookies with ribbon strung through them.

You like the idea, too, don’t you?  I knew you would…

Click here for instructions on how to make them, and where you can buy the paper-mache boxes and stencils.

Let’s Talk Holidays…

First of all, I’ve mentioned Amazon Prime often on this blog.  I’m such a fan of this service, I’m sure I’ve blogged about it before, you know I have no memory.  But here’s what’s so good about Amazon Prime, Not only do they give you guaranteed 2 day delivery, you also NEVER pay shipping charges.  I order things for as little as $6 and pay no shipping and get it in two days.  And, since it’s Amazon, you don’t pay tax.  So why would I go to the store?  I can sit here, with Maggie on my lap, drinking my coffee and I don’t have to trudge to the stores, don’t have to pay tax, gas, etc.  It’s wonderful.

And the cost?  Well, I buy it yearly for $80, which seems a little spendy, but I get my money’s worth.  You also get Amazon movies and tv shows free with this, lots of instant stream shows are available.

However, Amazon now has Amazon Prime on a trial basis for $7.5 per month.  They’re trying to hook you of course, and if you sign up for this and don’t want it past the month, you need to go to the Amazon settings and uncheck the box to renew it, or they will keep charging you for it.

It’s so worth the price, I can’t tell you how wonderful this service is.  I would guestimate that 75% of the items on Amazon are eligible for Prime, you will see a blue checkmark and the word PRIME by the item if it’s eligible.  Occasionally, third parties don’t honor this, but most of them do.  Such a great convenience.

And now let’s talk about slow cookers.  We’ve all had them, forever, and maybe you’re still using your original crockpot.  Is it time to update?  Do you want a new one for Christmas?  They’ve improve them so much, I use mine so many times weekly, it’s just wonderful.  It took me years to realize that you don’t have to cook things all day, chicken breasts, even frozen cook in 2-3 hours on high – no liquid, just plop them in the pot, season and let them go. 

Earlier this week I made sweet potatoes in mine.  Big sweet potatoes, that I put a foil boat underneath so the juices wouldn’t burn in the crock, I cooked them on high for 4 hours, they were perfect.  I also threw in a large baking potato for LC, wrapped in foil, at the same time, it came out great, too.  No worrying about timing them to be done for dinner, you just put them in, walk away and you’re good to go.

I love cooking in the morning, dinner is ready, and you don’t have to fix it later in the day.  I have chili in mine right now. ;o)

Okay, now let’s get serious.  Sometimes you get what you pay for.  A few years ago Ryan and Lindsay bought me an awesome All-Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker from Williams-Sonoma.  It was pricey, I would have never bought it for myself, but I have just loved it.  The insert comes out, you can start cooking on the stove or brown your ingredients, and then you just plop it in the cooker and you’re good to go.

However, all has not been rosy with this cooker.  I’ve had problems with the liner’s finish bubbling, and I’m on my third cooker now.  Williams-Sonoma replaces them, with no problem, but at this price, the finish should not bubble.  Ry & Linds have the same cooker, they’ve had to replace theirs as well.

But there is a new kid on the block.  The Cuisinart MultiCooker.  This thing rocks!  Ry and Lindsay bought it for John and Deanna for Christmas, it’s even better than my All-Clad, and it’s pricey, too.  But, if you want to invest in a product that is multi-functional, and that will probably last you for the rest of your natural born life, this Cuisinart is awesome!  Nisha’s Mandi has it as well, this thing is great!

Now you may have only paid under $50 for your Crockpot back in the day, and it’s been a workhorse, I’m sure, but if you want to take it to the next level, trust me on this, Cuisinart is definitely the way to go.  Just click on this link and see all the features.  It’s a good thing.  Pinky swear it is.

So if you get mad money for Christmas, or have a special request, think about this, it’s amazing.  Just don’t gasp at the price.

If you are looking for some new slow cooker recipes, Williams-Sonoma has a great selection.  Here’s the link…

And we might as well talk about one more thing, an electric pressure cooker.  Again, I’ve probably talked about this before, but Christmas is a good time to refresh your memory.

I have a WolfGang Puck Bistro, 7 quart cooker, that I bought from HSN, Cuisinart makes a nice one, also, but my WolfGang Puck is larger.  I adore this pressure cooker, and yes, I know I have an unnatural love relationship with my appliances, but I’m a foodie.  I use my pressure cooker for all kinds of things, I even pressure cook eggs in it.  I could go on and on, but it’s so wonderful to put things in it, set it and forget it, and not have to worry about the thing exploding, as you do with the old fashioned kind.

They come in many colors now, and you can get on on eBay lots cheaper.  They have a “Buy It Now” today for $65.  Here’s a link for you of the eBay listings.

And that’s my ideas for you today, I have more, I’ll be back later today or tomorrow with an update.

Happy Shopping.  ~ Jan

How about a giggle this afternoon…

My Garbage Disposal Died….

OH, NO!!!!!!!!!!!  I had a sink full of crap yesterday, turned on the disposal and all it did was hum.  So I dug all of the garbage out of the sink, thinking that was the problem, since I totally clogged it a couple of weeks ago, but oh no, I couldn’t be that lucky, it still hummed.

So I bring in the big dawg, hubby, who deemed it dead, Fred, however, he did have a workaround.  You turn it on, and while it’s humming you stick a wooden spoon down in the hole and like magic it starts grinding.

Well, this ain’t gonna fly in my house, sport fans, holy schmoly, can’t you just see me trying to stick that spoon down there to make the thing work.  That’s a disaster in the making.

So, he goes online, do we order it up using my super fast shipping awesome Amazon Prime account and receive it by Wednesday???  Oh no, he can get a better one on eBay, better price, and it’s quiet.  So okay, I can go for quiet, and I tell him to have at it.

The bad news, it won’t arrive until Friday (we hope).  The good news, I’ve only ground 1/4 of the handle on the wooden spoon so far.

Just didn’t need this problem this week, I just didn’t!

Our Family’s Thanksgiving in Pictures

This was the best turkey we’ve had in years.  The guys had two  meat probes in it, and I think that made the difference, they took it out at exactly the right time.

Thanksgiving at our house must include this broccoli casserole.  It’s Ryan’s favorite, he made a double batch, and as much as we all tease him about it, I have to admit, it was really good.

Deanna, in her cute little rooster apron, was happily making her favorite, cranberry sauce.

 

Thanksgiving dinner was so good, especially the Frozen Cranberry Fluff.  I’ll post the recipe later on Jan CAN Cook.

A little girl and a dog.  Oh my, Abby and Izzie have bonded.  They are great friends now, Abby throws the ball endlessly, and Izzie fetches endlessly.  She giggles, they romp, lots of kissing going on, with both of them.  Totally entertaining…

It was so warm Thanksgiving day, the family went for a long walk, well everybody but LC and I.  He watched football, I read, worked for us. ;o)

I think Uncle John was enjoying this more than Ben. 

And this, my birthday dinner.  I know you are all probably going, ewwwwww, but it’s goulash, Mom’s Goulash to be specific, a wonderful childhood favorite.  A puddle of mashed potatoes with hamburger, peppers, onions, red sauce and macaroni. And it was DELICIOUS!  You can’t go wrong with triple starches at a meal ;o)  Even the boys, who are a hard sell, liked it and said they would eat it again.  That’s major in our household…

Sweet family.  I would much rather post pictures of them than myself.  My pictures were bad, beyond belief! 

Okay, one picture, how can it be a bad picture with Abby on my lap.  We’re at the Rockettes Christmas Show.  Oh my, Abby loved it.  She sat on her P-Pa’s lap the entire two hours (minus a fifteen minute intermission) and she literally barely moved.  Every once in a while she would look over at me and say, “WOW, GRAMMIE, this is SO cool.”

It was her first live performance and we wondered if it would hold her attention, but it certainly did.  She had a blast.  I’m sure we’ll be doing this again and again with her.  Ben, too, in a few years. ;o)

We took this before we left for Opryland.  She was SO excited, can you tell…

Lindsay spends a lot of her time rocking and dipping with Ben in her arms.  He’s happiest when he’s on the move.

He’s changing so quickly, I managed to get a bit of a smile in this picture.  He’s a good baby now, well his parents might argue that point a bit, but he really is good most of the day.  He sits and goos at us, and makes us smile.  Oh, so, sweet…

Ahhhh, here’s what our little BenJammin does best.  He’s got that thumb sucking down. 

And sometimes, he sucks both thumbs at once.  Pure talent, says a proud Grammie…

I love this picture of LC and Abby.  P-Pa on his laptop, Abby on her iPad.

John was such a trooper.  He was fighting an ear infection the entire weekend, but it didn’t slow him down at all.

And finally, sometimes things don’t quite go as planned. Abby had clearly had enough of this whole picture taking, she was finished!

And so am I, until next Thanksgiving.  And thanks to all of you, for indulging me with my family pictures.  ~ jan

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Busy Monday Morning…

No time to blog this morning, just posting pictures of the grandkids. 

Ben will be four months old on December the 8th.  He’s just precious, he smiles at us, goos, and is starting to blow bubbles.  He’s found his thumb, and he’s a world class thumb sucker, too.

I bought Abby “Elf on a Shelf” and it was an instant hit.  In this picture, she’s just found him hiding on a shelf.

Lots more to come, including our trip to see the Rockettes Christmas Show.

But for now, I’m playing catch up, so I’ll be back later today.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  ~ Jan

Happy Turkey Day!!!!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Grateful Journal, Thanksgiving Day, 2012

Gratitude Journal, 11.21.12

My Grateful Journal, 11.20.12

I tweeted while I cooked this morning

I made two kinds of cranberry salad and a pumpkin roll.  It’s all in the Twitter sidebar, just scroll down for the pictures.

Now I clean the kitchen, eat lunch, groom Maggie, and pack, and, and, and…..

Meanwhile, here are the recipes.

Frozen Cranberry Salad

I used Miss Daisy’s Recipe for Frozen Cherry Salad, substituting a can of whole cranberry sauce for the cherries.  At V’s suggestion, I also added a can of drained mandarin oranges, put it in my really large loaf pan and into the freezer.

If you don’t have the extended loaf pan, you could make it in two loaf pans or a 9x13.  Oh, I used a large can of crushed pineapple that I drained, not a small can. And yes, it’s yummy!  Not as colorful as the cherry one, but very good!

Here’s the original recipe, just omit the cherry pie filling and substitute whole berried cranberry sauce

Then I made the Killer Cranberry Salad that I posted a few days ago, I made it in a 9x9 square pan.  Here’s the link again.

And finally the pumpkin roll

We’ve made it forever, it’s a family favorite.  Here’s the link, Moms recipe is the same one Libby uses.

2 Year Old Dancing The Jive To The Jailhouse Rock

Oh my, this little kid has the moves down! Cutest thing I’ve seen in ages!

My friend, Mary, posted this on her FaceBook page.  Had to snag it and share with all of you. 

My Grateful Journal 11.19.12

The Haters Guide to the Williams Sonoma Catalog, Great Spoof!

Okay people, I realize my stupid Grateful Journals are no longer funny, but this, this is funny!  My sassy daughter-in-law, Lindsay, sent me this link this morning and I’m sitting here laughing so hard, I just had to share this!

Now, you all know that I’m a total Williams Sonoma groupie, but this just cracked me up!

So here’s an excerpt, and the link to read it, enjoy…

Williams-Sonoma says: "Baked by trappist monks at a monastery in the Missouri Ozarks. Order early. Supply is limited."

Price:$39.95

Notes from Drew: Everything about that sales copy just blew my skull. There are trappist monks in the Ozarks? Do they brew artisanal meth? I don't trust fruitcake to begin with. I sure as shit am not trusting fruitcake that comes from a redneck friar. They'll swap out uppers for candied fruit. And yet, supply is limited. Apparently, the market for $40 Ozark fruitcake is ENORMOUS. White women from Bridgehampton ALL THE WAY to Westhampton rely on the monks to deliver their holiday fruitcake every year. Ina Garten's ADORABLE HUSBAND JEFFREY WHO MAKES A LOT OF MONEY loves the sight of a fine white-trash-monk fruitcake any time he comes home. TIE IT UP WITH THE TWINE!

Read the entire article, here!  Good job, Deadspin!

Grateful Journal, 11.18.12

Out of the mouths of grandchildren…

This was my daughter-in-law Lindsay’s Facebook post this morning.  Oh my, Abby also told the guy at the Chic fil drive thru window yesterday that her mom drives “REALLY FAST.”  Poor Lindsay, it’s only just begun.  Of course Grammie thinks she is hilarious…

I find it alternately horrifying and entertaining to see my behaviors and hear my words parroted back at me in the form of a 3 year old. After explaining to Miss A that a sucker and gummy bears were not, in fact, an option for breakfast, she looks at me like I'm short and calmly tells me "Stick with me, kid. I'll teach you some things." I choose not to examine this too closely.

My Grateful Journal, 11.17.12

Grateful Journal, 11.16.12

Inner Peace after this election….

I’m all about the jokes today, read this and just about fell off my chair, laughing.

Too funny  not to share…

I'm passing this on because it worked for me today.

A doctor on TV said that in order to have inner peace in our lives after this election, we should always finish things that we start. Since we all could use more calm in our lives, I looked around my house to find things I'd started & hadn't finished.

I finished a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminun scriptins, an a box a choclutz. Yu has no idr how fablus I feel rite now.

Sned this to all ur frenz who need inner piss. An telum u luvum.

Killer Cranberry Salad

Sometimes a recipe comes along that is just really special.  And since Thanksgiving is just a week away, I wanted you all to see this.  It’s sooooo good, everybody that makes it loves it.  It’s my daughter-in-law Lindsay’s family recipe, I just want you all to know about it in case you’re looking for something really yummy this Thanksgiving. 

You can click the picture to enlarge, or here is the direct link.

I don’t use a mold, I just make it in a 9x9 pan because we like it thick.  A 9x13 works, too, whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy ~ Jan

Grateful Journal, 11.15.12

Elf On The Shelf

What a great idea this is for your little one’s Christmas.  I heard about Elf on the Shelf from my daughter-in-law Deanna, who’s a fan, and my girlfriend, Nisha, a first grade teacher that clues me in on so many wonderful things for children.

If you’re not familiar with Elf on the Shelf, you buy the elf, it comes with a book, read it to the child and every day during the Christmas season you move the elf to a different place, so the child can find him every day.  It’s a great tradition.

You can buy it on Amazon,  I ordered one for Abby today.  They have girl elves now, too, but I think of elves as boys, so Abby got the original little boy elf.  It will be great for Ben, too in a few years.

Here’s a video about how it all started.

CBS has an Elf On The Shelf Television Show, airing December 14th at 8:30 Central time.

There’s also a website where you can register your elf, send a message to Santa and lots more.  Here’s the link…

This will be so much fun!

Hitched for the Holidays, Mary Lou Henner

I’ve always been a fan of Mary Lou Henner, she still looks great, has so much energy, maybe there is something to the way she eats.  Hmmmm

Anyway, she has a new Hallmark Movie, Hitched for the Holidays, airing on November 26th, 7pm central.  I’m a fan of cheesy Hallmark  Movies, they’re lots better than Lifetime, for the most part, and they often feature older actors, which of course, I find wonderful, because I can relate to them.

I post often about upcoming movies, and get emails from people telling me that they appreciate it, they would have missed them if wasn’t for my blog.   I equate these little movies to watching instead of reading a romance novel. Same thing, just more visual.

So here’s a quick synopsis of this one for you….

When commitment-phobe Rob Marino (Joey Lawrence) breaks up with his girlfriend before Thanksgiving, he is criticized by his big Italian family about his inability to keep a relationship through the holidays. Wanting to prove them wrong and fulfill his dying grandmother’s (Paula Shaw) wish to see him happy in love, Rob goes online and finds Julie (Emily Hampshire), another single New Yorker who’s meddling Jewish mom (Marilu Henner), has driven her to seek a temporary boyfriend. Rob and Julie agree to pose as a couple through the holidays to get their families off their backs. But things get complicated when Rob’s Catholic clan and Julie’s Jewish family get involved. With Christmas coming and Hanukkah around the corner, they double their efforts to keep the charade going, only to discover their fake feelings may be a little too real.

My Grateful Journal, 11.14.12

Romp, Kellie Martin’s Online Toy Store

I love it when actresses branch out and do something constructive.  Kellie Martin has launched Romp, an online toy store, everything is wooden, eco friendly, lots of retro toys.  I thought some of you might like to check it out.  Christmas is a comin’……

Here’s the link…

Grateful Journal 11.13.12

My Grateful Journal, 11.12.12

November always takes me back to my childhood…

The early days of winter are upon us.  I love November, everything about it takes me back to my childhood.  It’s the month of my birth, November, and that in itself makes it special.  So many memories are associated with our birth month, and I often  think back to my early Novembers and the simplicity of my life.

Winter came earlier in November than it does now when I was a child.  It would be cold by this time of year and there would undoubtedly have been a hard freeze. I would be wakening to frosty mornings, with ice on the windowpanes, a cold house, staying tucked into bed underneath quilts until Mother got a fire in the coal stove going.  There would be new flannel pajamas, always a small floral print, with great big white pearl two-eyed buttons down the front that she would have sewn for me on her Singer machine.

The cornfields that surrounded our house would have frozen stalks, and often a dusting of snow, and I would watch out the frosty windows, looking at the hunters trudging thru the fields, with their braying hound dogs, and the occasional crack of a rifle, when they found a covey of quail.

Weekends weren’t spent shopping, we did our chores and stayed home on Saturday.  Mother would make a big country breakfast with her homemade sausage chocked full of sage, spices, and lots of pepper flakes, fried in her black iron skillet.  We would have eggs from our hens, with yolks so golden that they are still, to this day,  unforgettable.  And homemade buttermilk biscuits, wonderful fluffy biscuits, slathered in butter and topped with homemade blackberry preserves.  There were always outside pets, dogs and cats to feed and play with, a parakeet or a canary in a cage in the kitchen, and phone calls to make on our big old fashioned oak wall phone, two longs and a short, that was our ring.

There was no television in my childhood, I would listen to the radio, play the piano, read, spend time with my dolls, and most Saturdays there would be a pot of soup simmering on the stove for supper that night.

Sundays were spent at Grandma’s house, we always went for Sunday Dinner, and since Mother came from a large family there would be plenty of cousins to play with.  Grandma would make us paper dolls and snowflakes from old newspapers, we would play in the barn, and sometimes we would get to help milk the cows.

An idyllic childhood, oh far from it, it was a hard life for a woman and a little girl living in the country on a dirt road with no running water or indoor plumbing, but it was all I knew, and it gave me roots.  I was nourished, I was warm and I was loved.  That’s all a child needs to thrive.

I read a quote today that really hit home, “When we look to the outside world to fulfill us, we are usually disappointed.”  I learned this lesson early in childhood, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.  The only things that are truly meaningful are family and good friends, the rest isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.

Oh my, I’m nostalgic, it’s just November, it always does that to me…

My Grateful Journal, 11.11.12

My Grateful Journal, 11.10.12

My Grateful Journal, 11.9.12