The Christmas Kitchen

Now that Nano is over, I am finding myself in need of something to keep from going into writing withdrawal. I don't really want to start editing until January.
Soooo...after schoolwork was done for the day (I'm writing this on Thursday), we converted the kitchen into Christmas mode. I had done some serious grocery shopping on Monday and now the cupboards that are packed like a South American bus. We had to set up a card table to hold all of the extra baking supplies.

There are just certain recipes that have to be made this time of year; whether as part of our gifting traditions for specific people or "just 'cuz". I think it's cute, but every year the guys that DH works with send home a stack of empty tins. No note. No instructions. Nothing but the implied request to "please, pretty please fill these with something yummy?" Cashew Brittle and Fudge are the stand by recipes that I make for them.

Today, we plugged Christmas with the Rat Pack and A Looney Tunes Christmas into the stereo and made one gigantic recipe of Multigrain Pilaf (which will serve our supper needs for weeks to come), one batch of Cider Cranberry Sauce, Two 9x13s of Fudge, and the 8 cups of mashed potatoes for the Potato Cakes that I intend to start tomorrow. We also broke in the shiny new 7 1/2 quart color coordinated brick red Crockpot with a batch of Potato Soup.

Recipes? I thought you'd never ask!

Multigrain Pilaf

16 cups water
16 cubes or 1/4 c bouillon, if desired
1/2 c. dry Oats (not Oatmeal)
1/2 c. pearled Barley
2 c. Brown Rice
2 c. Wild Rice
1/2 c. Amaranth
1/2 c. Quinoa
1/2 c. Buckwheat

In large stockpot, bring seasoned water to a boil and add Oats. Simmer 20 minutes and add Barley. Cook 5 minutes and add brown and wild rice. Cook 10 minutes and then add Amaranth. Continue cooking 5 minutes and then add Quinoa. Cook 5 more minutes and then add Buckwheat. Cook 15 minutes or until grains are tendier. Add additional water in small amounts if necessary. Drain any extra water. Cool completely, divide into containers and freeze. This makes about 24 cups of Pilaf, but it freezes very well. If you choose to cut the recipe in half, cut the amounts, but not the cooking times.

Cider Cranberry Sauce

6 c. fresh cranberries
1 1/2 c. cider
1 1/4 c. sugar
4-5 long strands of orange zest
2 t. lemon juice

In a non reactive saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook 10-12 minutes. Cool and store. Or you can eat it. It's your choice. Goes especially well with ham. Or ice cream.

Fudge

1 c. butter
1 c. milk
4 c. sugar
12 oz semi sweet chips
12 oz Brach's stars (if you can't find them, use milk chocolate chips)
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
18 large marshmallows
1 c. nuts, optional

In a reinforced saucepan, bring butter, milk and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over remaining ingredients (you might want to put them in a bowl first). Stir until your arm falls off or the marshmallows are completely melted, whichever comes first. Pour into a 9x13 pan and cool overnight. I got smart this year and let my Kitchen aide do the stirring. This is supposedly the Fannie May fudge recipe, but what are the odds?

Potato Soup

6-8 potatoes, cut up
carrots and celery (specific, huh? Well, I use about 2 c. of each)
1 large onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 quart chicken broth
2 c. milk
1/2 stick butter
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (Eh, why not? Throw in the whole package.)
1 container sour cream (I'm guessing it's the small container. What do you think?)

Throw all of it, except the sour cream, in a large crock pot and cook the begeebers out of it. Add the sour cream before serving. Cheese is good too; but isn't it always?

Cruise Reservations

This page, created by Mrs. Doglvrs, is such fun that it is the perfect end to our fantasy tour.
The tag at the top of the page has the words to Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska", which we will now all have stuck in our heads and which will make us all want to watch the movie, right?

Now I just need to see if I can twist some arms and get some of the other participants to post their completed books. At one time there was a yahoo group just for this project, but I don't think it exists anymore.

Reservations in Time

Very clearly, Heysukeyw is on a whole other plane of crafting existence than I am. In fact, I can't hold a candle to most of the participants of this round robin. First of all, she really took the "no limits" to heart and is taking us on an incredible journey back in time to visit with her Foremothers; a concept which I adore. To have even one day with the dear women of my past would be a treasure far beyond worth. But before we all need a tissue...
The depth of the colors and layers on this page are a feast for the eyes. Everything from the alien time machine to the burnt paper edges is genius. Do you notice how the flowers on the pocket line up perfectly with the flowers on the background making the transition seamless? Such attention to detail!
This tag with the wonderful old key pulls out of the pocket.

We'll head back to reality for one last trip tomorrow.

Reservations for Hawaii

I am pretty sure that if I ever got to visit Hawaii you would never, ever get me on the plane home. We have family in Hawaii and personal connections to the Islands in spite of never being there in person (that's another story). Which means that I LOVE everything about CW Sunseeker's addition to my logbook. The colors are fabulous and there is so much to look at! I could just lick the pages, they're so delicious to see!
Postage stamps, rubber stamps galore, tags with logos and miniature travel posters clutter the page. And when I say clutter, I mean that in a good way.

The mini Aloha postcard on the left opens into the postage and coin/sig stamp in the lower right corner of the picture above. The two "tea bags" open and are full of the little souvenir and tourist gear cards (which were stamps from the favorite vacations PLB ring).

**Sigh**

Reservations for Texas

Wild Hair presents a rather unique opportunity for us today: Bird watching in Texas with artist Lars Jonsson. This would be a dream come true for me as well...as long as I could take my Dad with me. Every other place in the world I would choose to visit with my DH and/or my girls. However, on a bird watching trip, both children and husband would get caught picking wax out of their ears in boredom, and so I'd rather go with my Dad, who would actually enjoy the trip and be able to contribute more than just "Yep. That's a bird."

The card with Lars' picture on it folds out accordion style to show some of his work in miniature and the details of the tour. The back of the card (not pictured due to techinical difficulties) is vellum and says "The first step is the dream" in black script.