Lighting Up 2021

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Happy Holidays to All,

We are finally getting it together here, still without snow

but, I just had to share the photos of our yard and our have-to tradition.

Our home sits second in the subdivision, so when you turn in ....there we are, 

the Christmas Musical light show.

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Remember last year---we purchased these fun guys---here on this POST HERE

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They stand guard at Santa's Workshop(the garage), and are securely tied down---or they will walk around the corner of the garage with our windy weather.

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Earlier this year, I showed you the re-do of our herd of reindeer. Many had been damaged by a falling tree limb.

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Here's Santa---and all nine of the reindeer, pulling the  sled.

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A view from the house, shows the entire 'mound'. 

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Greeting our family on Cookie Day-Sunday, will be this great Gingerbread man on the front porch.

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We used less lights around the house this year and concentrated on the 'mound'.

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The Walkway to the house with a snowman greeting you at the end in our biggest flower pot.

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The Mailbox, has some snowflakes that are simply gorgeous and they change colors. 

I literally couldn't pull out the green plants because of their root systems, so I left them and added some twigs for the lights to hang from.

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In the background, the arbor and my hubby's imaginary hill for the penguins to slide down.

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Under the Hawthorn Tree, we have some of our oldest blow mold soldiers.

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It's hard to get photos as the lights change with the music, so everything isn't always lit.

Our HUGE  Snow Bear blow-up, passed away last year, so hubby found three new ones to place around the yard,

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The Reindeer Petting Zoo...this is really cute in person. Our house is a neighborhood walking destination...and the little kids love it!

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Another classic Santa...again the bush blinked off!

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The white blob is a snowman---that of course blinks off  and on too. We really need some snow to hide all the wires. 

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At the end of the driveway is the elf mail box, and our lampost with a great green wreath.  

This is a LOT OF WORK  more than 5 days to put up---and we are hoping we can continue the tradition, even though we are deep in our 70's now. But the smiles and waves from the kids and parents in cars are worth it!

What is YOUR

 Have-to-do Tradition for the Holidays?!?

Please share in comments, I'd love to hear from you!

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, unless otherwise designated. Please do not use my photos without permission. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts, or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Sandi 

Christmas Traditions: Rice Pudding, Danish Rolled Pork Roast, Red Cabbage

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In 52 years, I've only cooked Chtristmas Dinner for two twice!

Even when traveling to my mom and dad's place, I've always cooked Christmas Dinner for a bunch. Covid has had us all changing our Holidays around. We have always celebrated Christmas Eve with a special Danish Dinner. The menu changes with a few staples that HAVE to be served: rice pudding and red sweet/sour cabbage. The main course may be duck, goose, turkey, pork roast, and in recent years when we have had LOTS of friends and family--and ham.

The last time I cooked for two---we had just had a son two weeks before and were in Northern Wisconsin far from family. I think my husband cooked, I don't even remember 1974 Christmas, baby brain I suppose?

Yesterday, setting the table for two ---was extremely strange. I didn't bring out the porcelain or the silver. The silver boxes are taped up to help with tarnishing and the dishes are all so carefully packed, that to drag out two of everything didn't seem necessary. Horror, I used paper napkins, and cobbled together place settings from this and that of my everyday dishes and treasures. I usually use blue and white for Christmas in my red and white kitchen. 

The first thing started is the RICE PUDDING. For two---I used 1/2 cup of rice and whole milk, this is simmered all day(at least 5 hours) adding milk continually until it reaches a thick consistency.

Meanwhile a jar of sweet sour red cabbage simmers on the stove with one shredded apple. Usually a clump of butter is added, but we were trying to stay a little more healthy on this Christmas.

Just put this on low heat and cover, simmer all day. The smell is delicious...and it's not Christmas until the scent fills the air.

I took a 1/4 of a Pork Loin and carefully sliced it into a long piece. Just keep unrolling the pork as you slice. My thickness ended being about 3/4-1" thick. 

Lightly salt and pepper the entire surface. I used 12 soft prunes spaced evenly, thin cut apple slices soaked in lemon water, 1 medium onion finely chopped, 

1/2 bunch of parsley chopped, more salt and pepper and a good sprinkle of marjoram all across the whole loin. 

The next step is to roll this all back up and tie.

I don't have photos of this, but I skewered it as I went along, but it took 4 hands and there were none for the camera. Roll tightley, skewer, tie cotton string tightly around many times and across the ends.

I had prepared a pan with a layer of carrots, apples, onions and celery, sprinkled with the left over chopped onions and celery.  These will be my roasting rack and provide moisture and flavor for the gravy. Pork loin is notorious for not providing enough goodies for gravy alone.

I browned the roast on all sides in  some butter and vegetable oil, got a nice sear on it.

Placed the roast on the veggies, poured all the drippings over them.

I know I will have veggies left over---but these will be used for the next meal.

Lightly tented the roast is in the oven at 300 degrees for 1/2 hour then turned down to 275 degrees. Two hours later, the vegetables provide oodles of moisture as seen in the above photo.

Meanwhile the stove top is full. Carrots, potatoes, the red cabbage and rice occupy a burner. 

4-5 hours later. The roast is done, and resting before cutting. All the juice and drippings, potato water are boiled down for gravy, also made with whole milk and browned flour in butter. NUM. Normally the prunes should have also been in the bottom of the roasting pan...but I forgot. This addition makes a sweet dark gravy, so my gravy is simply veggie and meat flavorful and light...which is more than fine!

We start the meal with a cocktail and rice pudding. Normally an almond is placed in one bowl, and then passed around a table full of eager diners. Everyone eats their bowl of rice pudding, the one who gets the almond hides it until the last mouthful is eaten. A prize (a pig of some-sort) and candy or a bottle of wine is awarded the lucky person with the almond.

Strange with just two people we skipped all that!

The pudding is rich and delicious, creamy and so reminiscent of all the the Christmases Past, since I was a very little girl.

We had a light salad, greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and a bit of cheese.

Very refreshing after the rich pudding.

Hubby slice the roast. Baked long and slow, it is perfect.

Red cabbage, carrots, roast, asparagus and gravy.

I must say it was delicious! 

A friend dropped by with a lovely peppermint Poinsettia as a gift, and my thrift store ornament has a surprise.

It plays a selection from the Nutcracker Suite...! 

So dinner, music, and traditions with

coffee and Christmas cookies for a light dessert!

Time for  Facetime---for opening presents with the kids---it lasted an hour and a half, and was so much fun! 

Merry Christmas to All!

2020 Christmas wasn't bad at all. 

Joyful and with family---

Keep your traditions and Love and it will be perfect.

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I will read and happily respond to every comment and answer every question.

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

 

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Vintage DIY Terra Cotta Gingerbread and more

Family traditions are most important. 

Across the northern Chicago suburbs, I hope some of the several hundreds of terracotta Gingerbread houses in the 1970's-90's I made for craft shows are still lighting and warming homes.

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Our village collection is a smattering of those I made, and those purchased for a memory or likeness of something in our lives. We added the slide-in frame that juts out from the buffet, to give us some more village room. The frame has a lid, so the electrical, pond, streets all stay the same now and the whole thing is stored in the garage. Setup is now an couple of hours, instead of days.

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 Here is our house...of course not to scale, but certainly a good facsimile, complete with birdfeeder and bath and the tree in front with the lights. One of the four reindeer is left on the roof, and Santa must be down the chimney--because he isn't in the sleigh anymore.

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All the terra cotta houses/shops were all made with slabs of red clay--glazed with tinted froth--that was used on the ceramic trees so popular at the time and fired in a kiln. I used chromium green, a yellow, white, pink and blue frosting look and that's all. They were assembled with silicone tub caulk.

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I added new houses/shops each year and made special requests, the prices ranged from $20-$50. All were custom decorated with amber windows, little decorations---which have held up pretty well over the years.

Across the street from our house is the sweet house with a front porch and train decorations...it is has the lovely blue roof, and of course, real bottle trees, already 40 years old or so.

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Over the years have added a few meaningful pieces for various manufacturers.

Up the street is a Victorian, very close to the one we had in northern Wisconsin. Remember the movie "The Money Pit"---yes that was it--a three-story Victorian with original plumbing a monster oil furnace and a 1/4 of a lot. Only thing missing on this is the listing front porch...LOL.

Here is its lovely--all painted, shingled, roofed and lovely. It's perched on a small hill and all the neighborhood kids are sledding there.

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 Here is Snoopy and Woodstock sharing a house with a family pet. (They are vintage from the 1980's, I believe.)

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Just west of the Victorian is the Market---the meeting place for carolers...and like all good merchants, the entire place is on SALE, lol.

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Across the street in the park is the Municipal tree, and of course our armed forces represented, purchased when my son was in the navy in the early 1990s.

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The park has a playground for the kids,

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and icefishermen jaw as they fish the pond.  A few kids enjoy a bonfire and roast marshmallows---on the pond, lol. The three-year-old Grand did most of the figure placing...missed that. The ice is a mirror with stain-glasspaint on it, and the snow is just that---snow. It's magic you know. Great-Grandpa stands ont he dock with the fishing gear. Hope he has good luck to stock the Fishmarket.

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Across the street from the park is of course the Candy shop---complete with sucker decorations and candy canes. Yellow gumdrops are glazed on the front. You can see the texture of the glaze and the 'icing' dripping. The bicycle built for two must be ours...as we shop for candy for the stockings.

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 To the left of the Candy Shop is the main bridge over the stream that feeds the pond...trickling over rocks and piles of snow.

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 Also in the center of the village is the church--complete with steeple, glazed cross doors. I didn't tell you all the glaze was applied with squirt bottles for authenticity---and if it dripped, it dripped. The reverend is calleing everyone to 9:00 services ---see on the clock! Some of my lamposts have lost their tops---need to call the city maintenance teams about that!

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 You can see the Steeple on the church just to the left of the blue stream.

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The Bakery is all yellow and pink, see the cupcake painted on the side. The window is full of decorations, and unlike Chicago there is lots of snow!

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 One of my favorite shops is the Mercantile with its flat front and Victorian roofline. Goods spread out on the porch, everything from bread and fruit to animal feed. Santa is busy collecting for the kettle. And kids sledding between the shops.

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In the back corner is the Sports Shop, made for my boys in the 1980's as they got older and toy and bakery shops weren't that exciting. Behind is the Deer Grove-a real Forest Preserve near our house. When we moved here in the 1980's, we had deer, possums, pheasants, bull frogs, and a racoon that dragged clams up from the lake to wash in our little pond. I could tell because he left the clam shells smashed on the sidewalk.

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When I added floral designer to my resume in the 1990's we purchased this floral shop. It is very reminiscent of my shop BarberryLane in the Volo Antique Mall complex. I was there for 10 years, until my parents needed more care.

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We are avid fisher people, so the Bait shop was made for my husband and has tons of miniatures around it. Yes, that is a bobber display and Coke next to it. Lures and worm tins are in the window.
I had so much fun making this one-of-a-kind for my hubby!

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For my family history is the FishMarket. My Dad loved this...and the proprietor has quite a fish from right off the boat. The window is full of Fresh Catch---There's always good fishing here.

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Now a quick sleighride home, can't you just hear the sleigh bells!

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From our Village to yours....Merry Christmas!


Thank you always for stopping by, I will be happy to answer any questions and answer comments.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Linking at these fine parties:

Grammy's Grid All About Christmas
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Sandi