December 28, 2008 – 9:32 pm
Buttercream frosting is easy to make and delicious on cakes and cookies. I used it to frost the snowflake cake earlier this week
and also frosted DH’s birthday cake with it today.
The recipe I started with is here. In a nutshell, this is how I used that recipe.
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used clear vanilla extract)
1 tsp. almond flavoring (I added this to the recipe)
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
I beat the butter until smooth, then added the cream, salt, and extracts. When they were well mixed, I added the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
I needed about one and a half times this recipe to barely frost a four layer cake (two pans of cake, each cut into two layers). If I were piping some of the frosting to decorate the cake, I think I’d double the recipe. I could have used more this morning when I was frosting DH’s birthday cake. Better too much than not enough. I like to be generous with frosting. 🙂 And, besides, you need extra to make graham cracker cookies, don’t you??
~~Rhonda 🙂
December 28, 2008 – 7:34 pm
Today is DH’s birthday. I made his favorite…red cake. Used the leftover snowflakes from Monday night’s dessert to decorate the cake. DD put five candles on one side and four on the other to mark DH’s 54th birthday. “You HAVE to have candles!” Well, of coure you do!
I used a butter cream frosting instead of the traditional cooked frosting for the red cake. Easier for me, and all approved of the frosting choice, so it worked out well. 🙂 The traditional frosting isn’t my favorite. Tastes odd to me. I also dusted the sides with some cake crumbs just for fun.
First piece is for my honey. Happy Birthday!
~~Rhonda 🙂
December 27, 2008 – 10:02 pm
Most of the days following Christmas are pretty quiet. Today was like that. TV, movies and a few games. DD received “Ticket to Ride” for Christmas and she played it with her sisters. Later in the day we all played. It was a lot of fun!
While we played, Zak took a nearby nap.
We have a party scheduled for Tuesday evening. Other than that, our holiday festivities are about over. After the party, I think we’ll start taking Christmas down. May as well while I have the help!
~~Rhonda
December 25, 2008 – 11:47 pm
The day has come and gone. Always makes me a little sad to see it end. But we had a good day, with the exception that DD#1 is not feeling well so she didn’t enjoy the morning festivities as much as she might have otherwise. Hopefully, she will be back to good health tomorrow.
DH made some of his pancake art for breakfast.
Rudolph…
Max, the Grinch’s plucky dog…
and a wreath for DDIL…
And DS#2 made the traditional Christmas breakfast apple dumplings…
After breakfast, the living room tree and all those presents beckoned…
Before we exchanged gifts, DH continued another Christmas tradition, reading the account of Christ’s birth from the old pulpit Bible.
DD listens to the Christmas story…
DH received new juggling toys in his stocking.
Niko was willing to sit on DS#2’s lap any time at all.
The aftermath… 🙂
With the exception of DD not feeling well, we had a good day. A fun morning, a delicious dinner and a quiet afternoon. We even got to watch the grands on the web cam. 🙂
I hope you had a happy and blessed Christmas Day. ~~Rhonda
December 23, 2008 – 12:43 pm
The snowflake cake turned out beautifully. I initially tried white chocolate for the snowflakes, but it had a yellow tint to it, so I decided to use almond bark instead. Much whiter. I liked the way it looked.
I googled < snowflake clip art > and copied the ones I liked into Print Shop, where I pasted several copies, sizing them into small, medium and large. I printed several sheets and used them as patterns.
I melted the almond bark in the microwave at 50% power until almost melted, then stirred it until completely melted. I placed it in a piping bag using a very small writing tip, reheating the bag for a few seconds occasionally if the almond bark hardened.
I put a piece of waxed paper over the patterns and piped onto the waxed paper. If you try this at home, you may want to tape the pattern and the waxed paper down while you pipe to keep the papers from shifting as you work.
While they were still wet I sprinkled some of the snowflakes with edible glitter and some with sanding sugar.
When the snowflakes had hardened, I peeled them off the waxed paper and stored them on cookie sheets until needed.
Not hard to do. Just a bit time consuming. 🙂 After frosting the cake, I pressed the snowflakes into the frosting. They break easily, so I made plenty of extra. For the top of the cake, I leaned a few against each other and then leaned others next to them to make a pile of snowflakes. Very pretty!
~~Rhonda
December 23, 2008 – 10:51 am
Earlier this year, we donated a dinner for eight and a Christmas house tour to the local library’s annual fund-raising auction. Last night we were honored to host four couples for that dinner.
Our guests enjoyed appetizers (mozzarella pearls, feta cheese, olives, cherry tomatoes, pickled red peppers and crackers with ranch dip) in the living room while DH shared the history of the house. Then he gave them a tour of the house while I put the finishing touches on dinner. For dinner, we served:
- Pear-Walnut Salad
I use 1/4 c. vegetable oil and 1/4 c. olive oil instead of the 1/2 c. vegetable oil called for in the above recipe.
- Marinated Pork Tenderloin
- Baby Baked Potatoes
I boiled the potatoes, then pinched them open, as described in the above recipe. I didn’t top them with sour cream. Instead, I poured a little olive oil on each potato and topped them with salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh parsley and rosemary, then placed them in the oven until the tops were crispy and browned.
- Green Beans with Mushroom Sauce
- Glazed Carrots and Parsnips
- Homemade Rolls
I double the recipe, but use the same amount of yeast as it calls for in one recipe, then let them raise twice. Takes about two hours, start to finish.
And for dessert, White Almond Sour Cream Cake with wild berry filling and buttercream icing, garnished with almond bark snowflakes…
And Speckled Chocolate Cake with chocolate ganache filling, chocolate buttercream icing, and Christmas Mice as a garnish…
After a very busy day of preparation, with the help of DD#1 and DD#2, the evening went off without a hitch. Our guests enjoyed both the house tour and the Christmas dinner. We thank them for their generous donation to the library! It was an honor to have them in our home.
~~Rhonda
December 21, 2008 – 11:11 am
Basket babies
Fresh from naptime…
Big sister…little sister
We’re looking forward to visiting them in January!
~~Rhonda
December 20, 2008 – 12:26 am
As last year, the Nathan Clark George concert was wonderful! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening! Nathan was joined by his good friends Mark Stoffel (mandolin and the violin) and Ross Sermons (upright bass). The threat of possible icy weather kept some people away, though the ice didn’t materialize, and a few people called in their regrets due to prior commitments. We hosted about 35 guests.
You can hear Nathan’s wonderful music here. Several people commented on how very much they enjoyed being at the concert in person, hearing the music live. An added dimension to an already beautiful experience.
After the concert, we served appetizers and finger foods, coffee and punch. Everyone stayed to snack and chat, and took the opportunity to look over the CDs and DVDs available for purchase.
One guest (in the yellow shirt below) realized he had heard Mark play at his grandfather’s house twenty years ago!
I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed the evening! It was great fun, as well as spiritually refreshing. We are already looking forward to next year’s concert! Mark told us that after three years in a row, it would be a tradition, and we’d just have to keep doing it year after year. Sounds like a good plan to me! 🙂
~~Rhonda
December 15, 2008 – 4:27 pm
Here are a few pictures of the decorations in the front hall, the living room and the dining room.
We hang our stockings on the staircase in the front hall. Family members at our house on Christmas morning get a stocking. All are expected to provide some stocking stuffers for everyone else. Family members who are not home on Christmas morning, receive a small gift-wrapped present to be placed in their stockings at home.
The newel post on the staircase…I hot-glued all the fruit, berries, balls, etc., on the garland.
To the left, as you walk into the living room from the front hall is the nativity set on the old box grand.
The large angel watching over the nativity was a gift from DH several Christmases ago.
The nativity was given to me by my mother years ago. It was painted by her brother’s SIL.
For the mantel, I framed Christmas cards that show the events of Christ’s birth.
Standing in front of the fireplace, looking into the dining room…
The dining room table was set with Christmas china for the house tour. We folded napkins into elfin boots. So cute! I’ll have to take pictures and write a post with directions for you. Here are directions for another elf boot found online.
Later, more pictures from the rest of the house. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
December 14, 2008 – 9:39 pm
It was quite a whirlwind getting ready for our annual open house last weekend, then the public house tour this weekend. My sister Genny was a tremendous help, coming six weekends in a row to lend a helping hand. Thank you, Genny!
Thanks goes, too, to all our church family members who helped in so many ways to prepare for the house tour. They cleaned and decorated and ran errands and helped advertise and then, after all that (and more!), they served as room hosts during the event. The tour raised $856 for the missions fund at church.
Here are a few of our wonderful helpers.
Brooke greeted our guests and accepted donations at the door. She was a tremendous help for weeks ahead of time, pitching in to help with decorating and cleaning.
Dave and several others helped with parking and helped guests with the front steps.
We had great help from the young people from church, as well.
Janice and Wendy were gracious hostesses.
Our thanks to all who helped! We love each and every one of you! ~~Rhonda 🙂