Want to decorate your home but don’t have a lot of time, energy or money? Here are some quick and easy ways to create a festive mood. Idea #1: Grab a few candles, place them in the center of your table and light them. The twinkling adds instant ambiance. If you have a decorative plate, […]
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Do you want something festive to serve at the Holiday Party you’re hosting? Or maybe you need an idea for something to bring to a Christmas Party Potluck. I have just the thing for you. It’s a yummy non-alcoholic Christmas punch. It’s hot and delicious and smells amazing. I love that everything is heated up […]
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The holidays are full of time for family and friends. Just thinking about making new memories fills people with the Christmas spirit. This Christmas, gather a few of your best girlfriends and host a cookie swap party. What is a cookie swap? It can be done at any time of the year, but there are […]
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Fruitcake has a bit of a bad name, doesn’t it? There are a lot of bad tasting fruitcakes out there that just get passed around during the Holidays. How’d you like to change that and bake up a version that tastes delicious? This is so good, I have friends asking me for a loaf of […]
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Each year without fail, a few days after Thanksgiving we get a Christmas card from my husband’s grandmother. It always makes me smile. And it’s a great reminder that I need to sit down and write my own Christmas cards. For a few days the card sits all by itself on a shelf in our […]
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Some of my favorite Christmas and Advent memories as a kid involved making cutout cookies with my mom and my little sister. We used the same recipe each year. I think we got it from our preschool. They honestly didn’t taste good at all, but they held their shape well and if you added enough […]
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One of the best things about the Christmas season is the family traditions we grew up with and get to pass on to our children. Early in my marriage it was sometimes a bit of a challenge, but also always fun to merge the traditions I learned from my German family with those of my […]
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My daughter went to a Christmas party for her 4-H group this week and made buckeye candy. Some call it cookies, some call it candy. Either way, it is delicious. I’ve eaten plenty of buckeyes (including some she brought home the other day), but I’d never made them myself. My daughter was excited to be able […]
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I love looking at all the fancy wrapping paper in the store. And without fail, I get some serious sticker shock when I look at how much it sells for. I’m just a little too frugal at heart to spend that much on something that will just be ripped up. Here’s what we do instead […]
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I love making my own homemade convenience foods and this buttermilk baking mix is my favorite around the holidays. It makes whipping up a fresh batch of biscuits easy as pie. The same biscuit dough makes a great topping for pot pies made from leftovers and this mix makes the most amazing waffles and pancakes. […]
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Did you put your tree up yet? We spend some time setting up ours over the weekend. My daughter has been very interested in traditions and where they come from this year. We did a little research on the history of Christmas trees and discovered some interesting facts. I thought I’d share what we found […]
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I don’t use brown sugar very often. Mostly in baking around the holidays. And without fail that bag of brown sugar I bought months ago turns into a hard brick by the time I get around to baking again. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make your own brown sugar in the quantity you […]
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I’ve been trying to find a recipe for the sauce that comes with take-out sweet and sour chicken. Everything I’ve found has had too much vinegar or is too sweet. – Mary Ann Whetstone From The Hillbilly Housewife Here’s my recipe for sweet and sour sauce. You can spice it up by adding some red […]
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This simple way to make a white gravy has been around for ages. You don’t need much to whip up a batch and it’s a nice topping for all sorts of savory dishes. In a pinch, it makes a filling breakfast served over toast or biscuits. For more simple recipes for homemade mixes and convenience […]
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With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I’d share my favorite dish to make with the leftovers. We traditionally have this either Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, but if you’re tired of eating the same food, you can freeze the dressing, and cooked turkey and make later. Don’t try freezing the gravy though… it […]
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