Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas for so many reasons:

• I love the lights and sounds.
• I love the smells of yummies baking in the kitchen.
• I love the joyous laughter I hear in children.
• I'll even admit that I love the shopping.
• Most of all, I love the promise of Christmas--the promise that God fulfilled when He sent His only Son into this world to be born.

Jesus Christ's birth changed the world over 2000 years ago, and it changes it still today. If you haven't lately, read Luke 2 again. Then, turn to John 3:16 and remember why it matters!

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Traditions

What is your family's favorite Christmas tradition?

We have several, but here's a hint to one:

Yep, you guessed it. I'm in the kitchen ALOT, but at Christmas the baking and candy-making seems to turn up a notch!

Recently, I had the opportunity to share a little bit about our family's traditions with my new friend Karen. I sent her this cute apron, a new recipe book with a few of our favorite Christmas recipes, and some homemade marshmallows. Here's my marshmallow recipe. It's yummy!

• Prepare a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil and greasing the foil with Vegetable shortening.
• Put 1/2 cup cold water in the large bowl of your stand mixer.
• Sprinkle 3 envelopes (3 tbsp.) unflavored gelatin over the water and let it sit.
• Place 2 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 cup light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup cold water in a 2 quart saucepan over med-low heat.
• Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling.
• Cover the pan for 3 minutes.
• Uncover and raise the temperature to high. Insert a candy thermometer and let the syrup cook until 240 degrees. Do not over cook.
• Remove from the heat.
• While your mixer is beating at medium speed, pour the syrup slowly into the gelatin mixture.
• After all the syrup is added, turn your mixer to high and beat for 10-15 minutes until the mixture is lukewarm, white and a whipped consistency. Add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract towards the end of the beating. You will also need to scrape the bowl occasionally. (My big Kitchenaid doesn't take quite 10 minutes. Something less powerful--I don't know.)
• Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and smooth. (It is super sticky-so be prepared!)
• Let the marshmallow stand uncovered at room temp for about 12 hours. I usually leave mine overnight.
• Sift powdered sugar over your cutting surface.
• Invert your marshmallow over the sugar and remove the foil.
• Sift powdered sugar over the top of the marshmallow.
• Cut the marshmallow into 1 inch cubes using a long, sharp knife. It helps if you grease the knife first. After the first cut, keep the blade covered in powdered sugar.
• Roll each side of the marshmallow in powdered sugar to coat.
• Store these in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney with Care

By special request:

2 new Christmas stockings for 2 very special boys. Hope you like them Jane!

For those of you who would ask: No, I didn't use a pattern. I traced my own stocking and added a seam allowance. The stockings are crepe-backed satin with a micro-suede cuff. They are lined with a green/navy plaid taffeta. The star is free handed and machine appliqued. The trickiest part--I couldn't use fusible interfacing for the applique because it doesn't seem to work with lame'. Instead, I scotch-taped the star in place and removed the tape as I got to each arm of the star.