Rolling In The Dough -Week Three Of The At Home British Bakeoff

It's Bread Week in our at home version of The Great British Baking Show. If you don't know what I'm talking about read this post-Bamboozled By A Battenberg followed by this post-Waltzing In To Bakeoff Week 2 to catch up. 

This week's technical challenge had contestants baking a 7-strand plaited bread wreath in two hours, thirty minutes. They weren't given a recipe, just a list of ingredients. Paul demonstrated the plaiting technique before they got started and daughter2 and I agreed we'd probably watch that bit at least ten times before we tried it on our own. 

Okay, first of all we're not on the clock-ha! 

Secondly, we used a recipe. Our house, our rules. 

Neither of us are bread bakers on a regular basis and we were excited to try this. Plus fresh bread? Yes please. 

Not exactly like braiding hair, but it's the same general idea. Rolling out the 'octopus' was the hardest part of the process. I didn't feel like my strands rolled as easily as the contestant's did, but I got there 

Look at me all official with my proving bag.

my finished wreath

I have to say this turned out surprisingly well. I credit years of raising daughters who regularly wanted their hair braided. 

My daughter’s wreath 

I told my daughter she was star baker this week. 

Now,  did  I make a kitchen mess? You betcha. In fact hubs may have stated he hopes we don't do this again next year lol. Except I think he was serious? Whatever. He's not turning down freshly baked bread, and it's been fun baking with my daughter, comparing notes, trying something new, and realizing I could never be an actual contestant on the show-ha.  

I'm sure Paul Hollywood would say mine was 'slightly underbaked' but I tapped it like an honest to goodness contestant and it sounded hollow, which apparently is the sound you need. The texture was really good. 

Next up-caramel week. We're going to hold off on the actual bake for another week because we both have some travel scheduled and we don't need the extra pressure. Plus! we anticipate being in the same kitchen next weekend so our plan is to do the caramel bake together. Double the fun...

No doubt double the mess too. Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

Waltzing In To Bake Off Week 2

We didn't exactly waltz but we managed. 

I shared last week that my daughter2 and I are long time fans of The Great British Baking Show and we've committed to baking the technical challenge each week on our own. If you don't know what I'm talking about read Week One's post here-Bamboozled By A Battenberg. 

Fun random bit of trivia for you...The UK calls this show The Great British Bakeoff. I read that in the US they have to call it The Great British Baking Show because apparently Pillsbury called dibs on the term bake off. 

Moving on to Week Two-Biscuit Week. Or as we say in the US of A-Cookie week. We were excited about the theme because we are big cookie bakers here. If you know my mama you know we come by it honestly. 

The technical challenge in Week Two was something called a Mint Creme Biscuit. It's basically a thin buttery cookie base with a mint cream disc on top, then the whole thing is coated in tempered chocolate so it has some shine. We both immediately turned our nose up at that, not so much at the difficulty but more the taste. While I do love a little bit of peppermint in a cookie it can sometimes be too much. One of the contestants used the word toothpaste and I get it. 

Since we're the boss of us we decided to try the signature bake instead-Viennese Whirl. These are shortbread cookies piped into a spiral shape, then sandwiched with jam and buttercream. Prue (one of the judges) did warn these sound easier than they actually are, but we're game. 

Another week of baking, another mess in the kitchen. Even my phone is sticky. Here's how it went-

Daughter2 did her bake before me so she was able to give me a few helpful tips. I still made a mess but at least I knew to expect it. Also, you're not going to get a lot of pictures. It might not be a Battenberg but the Viennese Swirls were also pretty labor intensive. 

Daughter2's Viennese Swirls

Here's the good news-they are absolutely scrumptious!! 

my Viennese Swirls

And they look pretty good too. We admit Paul Hollywood would say ours are not uniform in size but we're calling this a win. 

I feel like mine were a little large. If I were to make them again (I won't) I'd make them smaller and the swirl higher. Hubs took one bite, swooned, then took another declaring them delicious. Daughter2's taste tester, my 2-year old grandson, agreed. 

A couple of things...I have not mastered the art of piping. In my defense this dough is super thick and no matter how much or how little you put in the bag it still wanted to pop. I'd read some comments beforehand and everyone said the same.  You cannot pipe with a baggie on this one. I ordered this piping set (Amazon) for my daughter and one for myself before we got started to be sure we'd have enough-

It was a good thing too, since I think I went through six bags by the time I'd finished the cookie plus the filling. 

The final verdict? We both said we absolutely loved the flavor and texture of this cookie. Would we make it again? Probably not. It's a lot of work for just a few cookies. Would we buy one in a bakery? Definitely.

I will also add that to me the swirl was similar in taste to a Thumbprint which I make every year at Christmas time. The swirl has a slightly lighter and more buttery flavor, but it's close. And thumbprints are a lot less work…no piping! 

Next up is bread week and my daughter already told me she's sent me proofing bags because she thinks we'll need them. I'm not a bread baker on the regular but at least there's no piping. There will be plaiting but I have daughters so surely I can braid some dough. 

Have a nice weekend everyone! 

Bamboozled By A Battenberg

Do you watch The Great British Baking Show? My daughter2 and I have watched every season together apart. By that I mean she's in her house and I'm in mine, but we start the program at the same minute and then text throughout the show. 

We decided this season we were going to attempt to bake the 'technical challenge' from each week's show. Both of my girls love to bake and are excellent bakers, but daughter1 is currently in a rental home several time zones away so she's not joining us in our little kitchen endeavor.  

If you don't watch the show here's the 411...

The season begins with 12 home bakers and then each week one is eliminated until a 'star baker' is named. There are three parts to each episode-

• the signature challenge (where the bakers put their own spin on the same dish; they've been able to practice this one ahead of time at home)

• the technical challenge (where the bakers follow a surprise recipe, usually an incomplete one at that)

• the show stopper (showcasing their talent in a showstopping bake, also one they've been able to practice at home). 

We're doing this at our own pace and a week ago watched the first episode. In the technical challenge contestants had to taste a mini Battenberg cake, then replicate it without a recipe. 

prepping the pan...two batters, one pan

Spoiler alert! We used a recipe. In fact at one point I was working with pieces of three different recipes because whew, this was not easy. I had to watch a youtube video just to get the pan set up. 

If you don't know what a Battenberg is it's a light sponge with various colored sections held together with jam and then covered in marzipan. The cake calls for homemade jam and homemade marzipan but we both bought the apricot jam and tried making the marzipan ourselves. Three ingredients. How hard can it be? 

Harder than it should have been that's for certain. 

I do not care for marzipan. After making this cake I especially don't like it. In fact I use almond paste to make macaroons at Christmas time and I told my daughter I'm not sure I'll make them this year because I may never get the smell of almond paste out of my head. 

I had this notion I'd snap pictures documenting the process but y'all! Ain't nobody got time to take pictures when they're trying to put a Battenberg together. I was three quarters of the way through when company dropped by so I paused. The cakes were baked (that was simple) and I'd made one batch of marzipan that was so sticky you couldn't work with it so I froze the cakes and figured I'd deal with the rest another day. 

Hubs took the spackle knife to the countertop (only slightly kidding) and then it was actually something like four days before I could face it again. And I waited til hubs was going out because he for sure couldn't face it again-ha! 

The TV bakers got it all done in two hours and mostly succeeded (although theirs weren't perfect either). Watching them make their cakes had us thinking it wouldn't be too hard, but we both struggled. We sent a million hilarious (to us) texts, our kitchens and ourselves were a hot mess, and while we wouldn't call the finished product a complete disaster it came awfully close. 

my finished cake

My daughter set hers in front of her 2-year old son who asked her to 'take the lid off' (that would be the marzipan) and then he left the cake and enjoyed the lid. Pure sugar so of course. 

my daughter's finished cake

This is not a cake I would ever make again, order in a restaurant, or serve to a guest. Unless maybe I bought it from a British bakery. 

Week 2 is Biscuit (Cookie) week. We consider this our wheelhouse so here's hoping!

Indulging in The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you're visiting from the A-Z Blog Challenge you'll find my post on Letter K by scrolling down to question #8.

For all you Hodgepodgers here today, please note we'll be on Spring Break next week. I need a breather about this time every April, so thanks for understanding. There will not be any Wednesday Hodgepodge next week, April 20th. The Hodgepodge will be back in action the following week, April 27th. 

The A-Z will be here all month long though, which I guess is why they call it a Challenge.

Okay, back to the here and now...this week's questions and my answers. If you've played along today add your link at the end of my post, then go say hi to your neighbor.

1. What's the last thing you did that could be described as 'taxing'? 

Hmmm...I'm going to say coming up with Hodgepodge questions and a post for the letter J on Tuesday, followed by answering the Hodgepodge questions and coming up with something for the letter K today. 

2.  If you cold plant a garden of anything, what would be in it? 

I'd love to have a whole big bed of purple iris. 

3.  April 10-16 is National Library Week...will you celebrate with a visit to your nearest library? When did you last make a trip to the library? What are you reading right now? What's one title on your want-to-read list? 

I still love the library. I love browsing the shelves and checking out real books, so yes I'll make a trip there this week. I was actually there yesterday returning a book. I'm currently reading The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr, but I just finished a book I absolutely loved-My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. You can read a short synopsis by clicking on the title link. So good!!

I have a very long to-read list that I add to almost daily. One near the top right now is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. 

4. Share a saying or an old wives tale you heard while growing up, you believed to be true or that you paid attention to 'just in case'. 

Chicken soup cures the common cold. It might not cure it, but it definitely helps! 

5. Are you a fan of onions? Garlic? Ginger? What's a dish you love that contains one, two or all three items listed? 

Yes please. I like all three and I love Thai food which typically features any or all on the list.

6. Where does nurturing end and indulging begin? What are some skills or qualities you think a person needs to posses in order to be viewed as mature?

I wanted my children to grow up with the expectation they would work for what they wanted in life. I also wanted them to understand there's a difference between needing something and wanting something, a message I think is contrary to what society tells them. When we begin protecting our children from the consequences of their own actions, their laziness, poor planning or lack of planning, we've become indulgent. 

A mature person is someone who sees a job through to completion, even the parts of the job they don't particularly love. They can admit when they're wrong, handle constructive criticism, and they don't hold a grudge over small slights. Maturity means you pay bills before buying that new iPad, and in general take responsibility for your own actions.  

7. What leading figure in any field would you like to hear speak, and why?

This is a hard question...Bill Gates, Rick Steves, Thomas Sowell, Condoleeza Rice, Peyton Manning. I'm sure there's loads I can't think of right now. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Using this space again today for my A-Z Blog Challenge post...

K is for The Keeping Room

Do you love your kitchen? Is the kitchen the heart of your home? I've always spent a lot of time in my kitchen because I like reading cookbooks, preparing meals, and in general enjoy the conversations that seem to happen so naturally in that particular room of the house. 

When my girls are home we spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We chop, we stir, we cook. We drink hot tea brewed in pretty cups and solve all the problems of the world. Washington could use a cozy kitchen, don't you think? 

Hubs and I spent a whole day at the cabinet makers and made two trips to the appliance shop to get the kitchen just right. Then hubs made a third trip to add another piece to the puzzle and then later still I made a phone call to change my oven from gas to electric. 

Initially I'd opted for a gas cooktop/gas oven, but after talking to real cooks I decided to go with what I know and choose a gas cooktop with an electric oven. Like everything else in a home build, there are a bajillion decisions to be made when it comes to selecting appliances, plus it feels a little like a shell game...if you buy range x you get dishwasher y for free, but if you buy refrigerator A you get range hood B for free. Huh? And our microwave is a drawer not a cabinet, which is one trend that makes sense. 

My new home will also have what's called a keeping room. The name originated back in Colonial Times, but essentially it's just an extension of the kitchen offering some extra space for cozy conversation. In Colonial times it was a necessity since heat from the kitchen helped make the space warm, but that's not so much an issue in 2016, especially in South Carolina. 

Still we'll have a fireplace and a couple of comfortable chairs, and I like to imagine hubs and I will sip our coffee there on cool winter mornings. I don't have a photograph of the space, and it's still unfinished so not sure a picture would help much anyway, but here's what I call my 'washing dishes view'. Minus the cross bar of course, and with actual glass in the frames. 

I know I post too many pictures of the view y'all, but until the house is built it's all I've got. 

Summertime and the Hodgepodgin' is Easy

Welcome to another edition of the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then add your link IF you've played along. The first three questions are a tad heavy for early July, but sometimes that's how we roll. In my defense, they didn't feel heavy when I wrote them, and if it's all too much just know there's chocolate in question #4.

Okay here we go-

1. When did you last 'swim against the tide'?

It's hard to swim against the tide. Exhausting in fact, kind of like I imagine swimming against a literal tide would be. It does not come naturally to me, but there are times when circumstances force us to say/do the hard and unpopular thing. I suppose I swim against the tide in terms of prevailing political opinion on a whole host of issues. 

In my experience it's much easier to swim against the tide if you're part of a 'school of fish'. Much harder to be the lone fish. While it's not often I'm the lone fish,  a particular conversation does come to mind and what I remember most is that it absolutely wore me out. At the end of the day my integrity was still intact, which I think is important when you're swimming upstream.  

2. What's the last self-help or self-improvement book you read?

I'm currently reading Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. It's so good I had to grab a highlighter. I try to read my Bible every day which, if you're looking for self-help or self-improvement, is the very best book out there. 

3. "Tolerance is a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness." (Sir James Goldsmith)

Agree or disagree? Discuss. With civility please, because i think we have a good thing going in our very diverse (in geography, age, religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, and cooking abilities) neighborhood here on This Side of the Pond.

I've really grown to hate the word. No offense anyone-ha! It's just that the word has become all jumbled up with judgement and name calling and the basest of the base. Ick. Tolerance is a virtue, but only to a degree. 

Tolerance is not demanding everyone be tolerant, bragging about how tolerant you are, and then when a viewpoint contrary to your own is expressed, calling that person a racist-bigot-ignoramus. Welcome to America in the year 2015.

Call me old fashioned, but I still believe there are some absolute truths in this world. Yes there are areas where we can agree to disagree, but there are also areas where we can't. And that's where I think the word tolerance gets lost. 

4. What is one of your most vivid memories of the kitchen from your childhood?

I have so many clear memories of the kitchen from my childhood home it's hard to choose just one. My mom still lives in that same house and the kitchen is the heart of it all. 

Christmas baking looms large in my mind (naturally!) and I remember standing on a chair beside the stove to help in the painstaking process of dipping freshly rolled buttercreams into silky melted chocolate. My mom's would be perfect, but I was impatient and mine often had a little swirl in the chocolate where I tried to remove it too quickly from the toothpick. 

I've carried on this tradition with my own girls, and I'm still sometimes impatient while daughter2 carefully waits out the minutes so hers are just right. Carousel of time people. 

5. How did/do your own children's summers compare with your summers as a child? If you're not a parent, answer as it relates to what you've observed about the current generation of children vs. your own childhood.

Very similar I think, mostly in the way childhood summers felt. Mine were a delicious concoction of carefree, outdoorsy, sunshiny, hours with plenty of time for day dreams. As a child I spent a lot of time outdoors, playing made up games with my sister and friends, swimming, and riding bikes. We read a lot of books, colored endless pictures, spent a week at camp and a week in Vacation Bible School, and some years made a trip out west to visit our grandparents, although not every year. 

I think my girls would describe their summer experiences in much the same way. They might add something about our awesome beach vacations too. We didn't take beach vacations when I was a kid. My parents did take us to the shore for the day, but only now and then which felt like a huge treat.  Because it was. 

6. Tell us what body of water you would most like to be on or near today, and why?

I'd love to be on 'our' lake. Technically it's not ours, but a small piece of the shoreline is. I'm more than ready to be sipping morning coffee on the dock. 

The dock which is not in place yet, but is under construction. Which is more than I can say for the house, still in the design-review-paperwork stage.  

If I can't be on our lake then I'd settle for my favorite Italian lake-Maggiore, or even a boat ride down the Thames. I'm not picky. 

7. Share a favorite song about water, or a favorite song with the word water in it's title, or a favorite song to listen to as you sit beside the water.

A favorite song about the water? Sailing by Christopher Cross. 

A favorite song with water in the title? An old camp favorite-Come to the Water. 

Song to listen to as I sit beside the water? Beach music please...anything by the Embers, the Catalinas, the Drifters. Throw some Kenny Chesney into the mix and I'm good. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today is my beautiful mother's birthday. Here she is at my daughter1's wedding-

Happy birthday mama! Thanks for loving me and Jesus and books and home, and for sharing those loves with me. 

Susie Homemakers

Anyone else feeling hard-pressed and harried or is that just me? As it happens I have a lot going on in real life this month, so the A-Z is kinda kicking my keester.  My theme this year has centered around photos I've neglected. The kind of photos I once held in my hand before carelessly tossing them into a brown paper bag beside my good intentions.

Do they even make brown paper bags anymore?

I'm using this challenge as a way to file, scan, organize, and blog if the photo subject matter warrants. Or if the picture is less than stellar, but fits the letter of the day.

Like today~H is for helpful.

H is also for helpless, and if you're a parent you're likely well acquainted with both terms.  For now I'm going to stick with helpful, because I think my little girl looks so cute brushing egg wash on those crescent rolls circa 1992.

Great shot, isn't it?
How about we view this scene from another angle?

I'm beginning to see now why I tossed some of these photos into a bag. I blame my inattention to detail and my lack of focus on my then 19 month old.

Yes, her.

Oh my stars, she was too adorable for words, but insuring we both made it to her 2nd birthday required ninja like reflexes on my part, and at least one eyeball on her every waking moment. In 1992 her waking moments were approximately 20 hours out of every 24, so we're lucky there's a picture at all.

Washing dishes is way more fun when you're allowed to stand in a chair, don't you think?

My girls are helpful. In the dictionary of motherhood, the word helpful is defined as doing what needs to be done without complaining, because all mothers know that complaining dulls the shine of a freshly mopped floor. I think its human nature for children to complain when they're asked/told to do something they don't want to do, but as I like to say,

'that's why we call it work....if it were fun we'd call it leisure.'  

Kids love it when you say that. Ha! Did you have chores when you were a kid, because I did. A list every Saturday morning that included cleaning our bathroom, some dusting and straightening, and the dreaded job of vacuuming the stairs. 

Those jobs were never done perfectly and I think that's sometimes where we mothers drop the ball. We like things to be done a certain way, and for the most part a nine year old is not going to do it the way a 49-year old would...that needs to be okay.  

My girls were by no means overworked, but they did have responsibilities appropriate to their age and ability, as they were growing up.  Of course they were always more eager to cook with mom than clean their rooms, but we've had some of our best talks working side by side in the kitchen so I don't mind.

These days we share recipes and a love of kitchen gadgets.  It warms my heart to see my daughters automatically get up and clear the table after a big family dinner. The kind where you're left with a mountain of good china needing to be washed by hand, and every pot, pan, and utensil within reach needs washing, drying and putting away too...they just get to it. What was once a dreaded chore is now habit.

And if they've cooked the meal besides?

Well, that's just icing on the proverbial cake.

While visions of her to-do list danced in her head

Who else opened their eyes at 6 am and saw their to do list complete with timeline flash thru their head? A lot goes into a single meal doesn't it? But of course at the end of the day we'll say it was worth it.

Yesterday the sun was shining so we drove up to Highpoint in hopes of taking a picture for our Christmas card. It was cold and windy up on the mountain and someone, not naming any names, wanted to chase birds as opposed to sitting still for a picture, so it was a little challenging.

We laughed a lot though and that's always good. fyi-that is not the picture going on our Christmas card. As soon as we got home the girls and I donned our aprons and started in on phase one of the meal preparation for today's dinner.

We also made spaghetti and meatballs for last nights dinner so the kitchen was a-hoppin. Daughter1 made the angel pie...

Daughter2 made the cranberry relish and then chopped a lot of celery and a lot of onion that will go into our dressing and then helped me finish up the meatballs for last nights dinner...

This child has focus. Just sayin'.

Hubs spent the afternoon getting our patio heaters working. Yes, just in time for winter but still, they are finally working. We got them in the UK and the regulators have a bayonet style connection which you do not find anywhere in the US. We know this for a fact because hubs has been on a mission for the past year and has spoken to no less than 827 propane companies, electricians, plumbers, hardware stores, and hearth and home shops. Finally someone directed him to a farm and tractor store and they had a solution. Hurray! Not that we will be sitting on the patio anytime soon because, hello, winter is looming, but by golly he was going to get those things converted or go crazy trying.

We had a nice dinner last night and it makes me happy to see my whole little family around the table. After dinner hubs and daughter1 were sent to the market for some vanilla ice cream. We decided our spaghetti feast would not be complete without one of our favorite Italian dessert concoctions...Affogoto. It is so easy and so delicious-

Make a pot of espresso or super strong coffee.

Put vanilla ice cream into a mug and pour coffee on top.

Fantastico!

And its even better if you eat/drink it while lounging in your pjs on the couch watching Beauty and the Beast with your family all around. It does not matter one iota that there is not a soul in your house under the age of 20. It is still sweetness and perfection.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Show us Where you Live-The Kitchen

I know.

Two posts on a Friday but nobody actually reads blogs on Fridays anyway do they?

I wanted to link up with Kelly's Korner today for the Show Us Your Life series.

Today people are posting pictures of their kitchens...why not add yours?

I love my kitchen and spend more time there than anywhere else in my house.

I love how open it feels and I love the color.

Its not easy to take great pictures in there though because of the lighting.

We have recessed lighting and over the sink lighting and over the island lighting and over the table lighting.

Plus the kitchen opens up into my family room which has two story ceilings and big windows so the lighting is tricky.

Plus I stink at photography and have a puny camera.

Okay, I think I'm done with excuses now.

One of the things that convinced me this house should be mine was the island...

It's an unusual shape, a pentagon.

I like the angles and I love the granite, both the color and for clean up.

I have not allowed the island to become a dumping ground for mail or anything else.

Yay me!

Well, yay hubs because he's all over that.

I like to keep the island clear with the exception of a centerpiece of some sort.

Right now I have big pumpkin pie scented candles in hurricane jars with a fall berry wreath around the center jar.

The previous owners did not have a back splash behind the stove so I've put a big tray there for now which I love.

We may just leave it like that.

One of our house guests in England bought this tray for me after I took her to Windsor Castle. It's lovely and reminds me of England and good friends both.

I have some of my favorite pottery on top of my cabinets.

These came from a little town in Italy called Nove which is not far from Verona...

Here is a different view looking into our back hallway from my kitchen sink...

I also love the desk and cabinet above it which is filled with guess what?

More pottery.

Seriously, does anyone else feel happy just looking at this Fig pitcher?

We have a digital photo frame on the desk and when my girls are home we play a game where every time you walk by the frame you have to shout out the location of the current picture.

I think it's true that in many ways the kitchen is the heart of the home.

One of the reasons I love fall so much is all the cooking and celebrating and family togetherness it brings... weekend football games, daughters popping home for a few days of break and of course Thanksgiving dinner.

Plus the colors of fall match my house which is just a little icing on the cake.

Puttin' away the Punch Bowl

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year...the first few days after Christmas always feel a little funny. We've spent so much time getting ready for the day and waiting for the day and then it's here and its over. It sure was nice though.

My mom, sister, brother in law, and neice all arrived on Christmas Eve. We had a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings...I have the Portmerion Christmas dishes which I absolutely love. Gotta give a shout out to the beautiful pottery ya know...

My husband always reads Twas the Night Before Christmas to the girls before they go to bed. Well, actually, now that they are older we're pretty much the ones going to bed and they stay up late late late but you get the idea. And our book is in a box in the basement that has not been unpacked so he was forced to read it off a printed copy this year. He knows it by heart but reading the story is a tradition carried over from his own childhood and sometimes when he reads it the memories come a calling so it's best to have the words at hand.

We always open one gift on Christmas Eve and it is always jammies of some sort for all the girls.

We finish up the wrapping later in the evening and are all set for Christmas morning....

One of our Christmas morning traditions is to take a photograph of the girls sitting on the steps before they come into the tree room.

And this house also has a railing across the upstairs hallway so they were forced to stop smiled for a photo there too.

And we may have actually taken two or three or ten pictures on the steps because they're so cute plus its fun to prolong the anticipation of the morning. They may or may not agree.

.

We really do our stockings up big and like to take our time with those and watch everyone open...and we snack on bubble bread and a delicious cake my mom's neighbor gives us every year.

And our sweet pup may have also sampled the Bubble bread when we were out of the room and suffice it to say it is sticky. Very very sticky. Daughter1 tried to capture the cleanup in a photo but Santa wasn't laughing so she changed her mind.

It felt like we opened gifts all day. My brother and his wife arrived about 10 am from my sister in law's house where they'd spent Christmas Eve ... they were just in time for the traditional Christmas breakfast of sausage and egg casserole. My younger sister and her family arrived about noon...they have a 3 1/2 year old son and he opened his gifts from Santa at home before they drove up to our house. He got a Spiderman costume from my brother and sister in law and that was pretty much what he wore all day long. It was fun to have a very excited little boy in the house this year.

We had a super yummy glazed ham for Christmas dinner....my girls are such a great help in the kitchen

They both enjoy cooking which is really fun for me. Here is Audrey Hepburn daughter2 making the squash casserole.

I had Christmas crackers from England and we had fun with those. You absolutely have to wear the crown...it's the law you know.

As if all of this weren't enough excitement (not to mention calories!) my sister's birthday is the day after Christmas so we had a little party for her on the 26th. We took some family pictures too since we don't have everyone all together very often...

And then it was time for everyone to head home. Sigh. I'm always a little bit sad to see it come to an end...to pull out the vacuum and take the leaves out of the tables, and pack away the punch bowl. A friend of mine (thanks Donna!) posted this quote by Stuart Briscoe on her fb page recently and I told her I was going to add it to my blog because I loved the message so much...it is a lovely reminder that Christmas never really ends.

"The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world."