Merry Christmas 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE COSTA FAMILY!

Dried Orange and Apple Ornaments

I cut apples and oranges into 1/4 to 1/3 inch slices then soaked the apple slices in lemon juice for about 15-30 minutes flipping occasionally. I dehydrated them overnight until they were dry and leathery. 

I found wooden beads at Micheal's and painted them with acrylic paint. I used about a half inch wide ribbon and a yarn needle to string up my dried orange and apple slices as well as bay leaves. I just layered them with a bead at the top and bottom and then tied off the bottom tail. I tied the dried fruit ornaments onto the tree with the extra ribbon at the top.

I love that the spice and dried fruit ornaments give my dining room tree a primitive homemade look.

Cinnamon and Clove Ornaments

 

Cinnamon and Clove Ornaments

1 cup ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground clove

3/4 cup applesauce

Mix well. If too dry add 1 tablespoon of applesauce at a time. It too wet add 1 tablespoon cinnamon at a time. Pour 1/4 of the mixture onto wax paper, parchment or a dehydrator sheet like I did. Press dough together. I used plastic wrap to cover the dough so my rolling pin would not stick. Roll the dough 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters then make a small hole at the top of the ornament with a straw or skewer. Place on a baking sheet to bake at 200 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or place them on a dehydrator sheet to dehydrate them for a few hours. They can also be left out for a day or two on the counter to dry.

 

 Be careful while threading ribbon into the ornaments. I may have rolled mine out too thin making them more fragile than I would have liked.

I grew up with a tree in every room. Each had their own theme. The living room tree held all of our family ornaments, handmade ornaments and ornaments collected on our travels. The kitchen tree was one of my favorites. It was decorated with miniature utensils and pans, gingerbread men, candies, foods and a candy garland. The dining room tree was also a favorite because it held vintage glass ornaments that belonged to my mamaw and papaw. My tree was decorated with a Victorian theme. Lots of pink, lace, pearls, and faux candles that clipped to the ends of the branches. My brother's tree had a woodland/hunting theme. 

Since getting married 6 years ago we always had one tree in the living room until I was able to talk the Mister into getting another tree to put in our dining room this year. It's a a decent size 4ft tree for our cozy little cottage. It sits on the fireplace hearth. I decided from the beginning that I wanted to use a primitive homemade theme for decorating it.

The ornaments smell Ah-Mazing! Every time I walk by the tree, the Christmasy scent of cinnamon and clove fills my nose and makes my heart happy.

Colonial Williamsburg pictures! December 2010

Here are some pictures of my beloved Colonial Williamsburg!! This time there was snow! Although my toes felt close to frost bite, it looked so magical.  Especially when it gets dark and the candles in the windows flicker a warm glow.  It's pretty much perfect.

This is one of my favorite shops in Colonial Williamsburg. Tarpley's store is full of all sorts of goodies. Colonial toys, tools, decorations, dishes, candles, soaps, dried fruits, hats, ink wells and feather pens. We bought Amelia a little bonnet.  She loved wearing it. She can grow into it for sure.

The decorations! Every building is decorated differently. Natural elements are used like dried or fresh flowers and fruits, sea shells, tobacco, as well as colonial objects like pipes, tools etc. I read that a lot of the fresh decorations have to be replaced daily! The decorations are judged and awarded ribbons. While we were there we spotted a few winning ribbons on buildings.

The garden section was open. They displayed different plants and garden elements for sale.  I bought one of the bottle bird houses you see at the top right. Still waiting to hang it up. Come on Spring!

I don't know if you can tell but there are apples in the holes on the front of the house.  The holes were left by posts used during constructions. The apples have to be replaced often because of birds and squirrels.

These torch posts also know as Cressets, can be bought from the Williamsburg Marketplace.

There were lots of carriages around town because of the holiday season.  Riding in a carriage when it is snowy outside is so cozy. Amelia could spot them a mile away. She would get so excited.  We bought her a stuffed Colonial horse named Lancer to remember our trip.

Amelia was such a good sport even though it was freezing.  She just kept trying to get in the snow.

Va in December

We spent a month in my home town of Amelia, Va.  It was great being back home for Christmas.  It snowed twice! I love snow at Christmas time.  I tried several times to blog I promise but I stayed busy cooking or watching children.  I can't complain.  I loved every minute of it.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a consistent blogger.  

I want to recap the month of December so I can share with you a little of my decorating, baking, and snow!

My sweet little tree.  It consist of a crochet garland I made last year, vintage glass ornaments that belonged to my Grandmother, Amelia's annual ornaments, my childhood ornaments and ornaments we have collected on our travels. We had our own Christmas morning the Saturday before we left for Va.  It was so fun because Amelia was old enough to understand the excitement.

I bought this wreath at The Pottery in Williamsburg, Va.  My mom gave me the three little houses. I crocheted our stockings this year! I was so proud of myself for being able to pull it together.

We bought this table on sale from World Market as a Christmas present to each other.  We bought two benches instead of chairs. I bought the place mats and napkins from TJ Maxx. I love setting a table.  There are limitless possibilities!. We had our best friends over on our special Christmas morning to have a country breakfast with us. All the classics that we avoid most of the year; biscuits, milk gravy, bacon, chicken sausage, fried eggs, and some yogurt with fresh blueberries and granola to even everything out. lol

I found these charming salt and pepper shakers at an antique shop in Ventura, Ca over the Thanksgiving break.  I was shocked when I saw them and got really excited when I saw they were only $9!!!!

Making homemade biscuits to go with my homemade milk gravy. YUM! I recently learned from Gluten-Free Girl that rice flour is a great substitute for wheat flour when I need to thicken a gravy so next time I will try to make gluten-free milk gravy.  We will see.

I invited my best friend and her son over for coffee and gingerbread making day.  It was so fun.  The kids did really well.  They kept sneaking little pieces of candy in between decorating.

I mixed up, cut out and baked the gingerbread house pieces before they arrived so that we could decorate them right away.  Again, the kids ate waaay too much candy. 

Amelia was so meticulous when it came to putting the candy in the right places.  Ok, Ok, I did help but once I told her how to do something she went for it and did a really good job.  We saved the gingerbread house for our Christmas morning which was the Saturday before we left for Va.

Me and my beautiful baby niece Isabella.

This is the farmhouse my dad grew up in and now my sister and her family lives here.  It's so cozy when it's dark outside and the window candles are glowing. You can't tell but it is still snowing here and we ended up with 5-6 inches.

My papa got a kick out of my hair and red lips! He thinks it is so funny that I love vintage looks.  Granted I'm not as authentic as most enthusiast but I am learning and building up my courage.

I hope to get a post up soon about our trip to my beloved Colonial Williamsburg! Lots of pictures and lots of snow.  I also want to share my recipe for candied popcorn.  One of my papa Hastings' favorites!

Here We Come A-Wassailing

A Christmas wreath in Colonial Williamsburg

Everyone should know this old Christmas song;

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green;
Here we come a-wand'ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you
a happy New Year.

Colonial Williamsburg wrote an article explaining the history behind the curious word, Wassailing. 

 The meaning has changed over time.  It's original use was used as a greeting and evolved into a form of toasting during ritualized drinking. The word wassail came from the Old Norse phrase, ves heil and the Old English phrase was hál which meant, “be in good health” or “be fortunate.”

 Today we associate wassail or wassailing with Christmas. I personally associate it with the movie Little Women because the girls sing it while walking outside in the snow.  I love it. I also think of Colonial Williamsburg when I think of the word or song.  I adore Colonial Williamsburg.

I was looking through my old Southern Living Christmas books from the 80's.  They are filled with classic craft ideas, gift ideas and old recipes.  So fun.  Surprisingly I came across a recipe for Old Fashioned Wassail. It's like a nonalcoholic hot punch. It looks delicious. I plan on making this for Christmas.

Christmas with Southern Living 1986. I own a copy that belonged to my mom but I have seen them sold on ebay.

Old Fashioned Wassail

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 (3 inch) stick cinnamon

2 quarts apple cider or apple juice

1 quart real no sugar added cranberry juice

1 (46 oz) can pineapple juice

1 (12 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed and undiluted

1 (6 oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

Tie cloves and cinnamon in a cheesecloth bag. Place spice bag and remaining ingredients into a large soup pot; stir well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove the spice bag. Yields 1 1/2 gallons.

An inn in Colonial Williamsburg