The Last of the Oranges

                                                           

During the winter months here in the desert we are blessed with an abundance of fresh backyard oranges.  Which means, naturally, that we have fresh squeezed orange juice almost daily. In my book, there's nothing better!  We have, however, just used the last ones, so I found myself scouring the ads this afternoon looking for deals from the grocers.....something I have not had to do for a while.

Right before Christmas we bought and planted yet another citrus for the yard. It's a Trovita Orange, a juicing orange, and is supposed to be a particularly sweet orange in our climate.  Evidently in this case the warmer the climate the sweeter the orange.*It's supposed to make a very good patio tree and can be brought into the house to overwinter in colder climates. It's a late producer too so in the coming years we won't run out until later into the Spring.  Which will be a very good thing.

Obviously we will have no oranges on this tree this year, but the last week or so it has began to burst forth with dozens of the most heavenly smelling orange blossoms!  Since it is planted right behind our backyard swing, it is making for the most delightful of afternoons.  My family sometimes finds it amusing that I like to take a nap outdoors. But to my way of thinking, "who wouldn't? ".......not with this kind of stuff going on out there!  Right? 

Hope you're enjoying your Spring!

I am linking up with:

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Feathered Next Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time

Friendly Friday Blog Hop @  The Clumsy Coquette

Friday Follow Over 40 @ Never Growing Old

Todays Flowers @ Flowers From Today

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

I know this clip has been on countless blogs and all over Facebook, having recieved over 9 1/2 million hits on You Tube already.......but I just couldn't reist putting it on "At Home 'n About" anyway because I just love it and it's my blog and I can do what I want. How's that for a reason? :)

I think you'll enjoy it as much as I do.....if this doesn't just thrill you and get you in the Holiday Spirit.......well. Wouldn't you like to have been there? Certainly makes me want to start wishing you all a

Merry Christmas!

Enjoying the Reason for the Season,

Gingerbread Ornaments

This is a post from Christmas 2008. I'm linking today with Chari @ Happy to Design for "Sunday Favorites" where we can post some of our favorites from the past. I'll be making more of these little guys tomorrow since I need a fresh batch this season

For quite a few years now I've been making gingerbread ornaments for our family room tree. They keep their scent for a couple of years and they're so easy to make!

There are only two ingredients to buy. The recipe is simple because the ratio is 1 to 1.....1 cup of cinnamon 1 cup of applesauce. Easy peasy. You can make as many or as few as you want. This year I made the recipe using 3 cups of cinnamon and 3 cups of applesauce and I wound up with 28. I found that my little guys from last year were still very fragrant and only a handful of the them were broken.....so I needed only a few for the tree this year.

Mix the two ingredients together just as you would for cookie dough . Remember, these aren't cookies......it won't hurt you obviously to eat them, but they don't taste very good because there's not enough sugar in the applesauce. Mix well. It will probably seem a little sticky to you so before you go to the next step.........and this is the fun part.............

powder your hands with cinnamon.

Turn the dough out onto a cinnamon-dusted cutting board or sheet. Pat out to about a third-inch thickness.

Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter cut out each ornament and place carefully on a sheet of waxed paper
.

When you're finished cutting them out, take a big fat pencil eraser and poke a hole in the head. This is so that when they're dry you can take a length of red or green ribbon ( about an inch and a half piece) and make a loop for them to hang from.

Here they are on my kitchen counter where they'll stay for the next 3 days to dry. Give them at least that long to dry.....here in Phoenix with our dry air it takes about that long. In other more humid climates it may take a day or two longer.

 

The finished product. These little guys are from last year. When Christmas is over I usually keep them in a tin or box cushioned with tissue paper and they will be ready for next year.

Believe me.......any room you hang these in will smell heavenly! So Christmasy!!!

 

The Seasonal Romantic

When the weather begins to cool down isn't it fun to cozy up your house a bit, whether you live where the winters are very cold or just mildly chilly? I always enjoy changing things around according to the seasons and with winter coming on I've been doing a few things here and there with that in mind.

This is a smallish print by the popular Scottish painter Jack Vettriano that I love to have in our Master Bedroom, especially during the winter. The colors seem "just right" and the title of this incredibly romantic scene is "Back Where You Belong".

I think the painting goes especially well with yet another hydrangea arrangement that I recently put together. I wasn't planning on bringing anymore hydrangeas home from my father-in-law's San Diego garden, but when I found out his gardener was planning to prune them all down this month.....well I just couldn't help myself.....I had to bring some more home. I promise this will be the last hydrangea post I'll be doing for awhile....I think.

In the evening this little table-top vignette looks so pretty when the wall candles are lit and it smells heavenly with the aroma bowl burning as well. My current favorite essential oil to burn in this room is Jasmine, but there are so many lovely fragrances to pick from it's hard to stick to just one. I'm currently on the search for a pleasant little "Christmasey" aroma that isn't too overpowering. Any suggestions?

Here's to the beautiful, romantic holiday season coming up,

Look What the Rains Have Brought

I'm going to miss our winter rains which were deliciously plentiful this year. This is the view from my office window looking out over the backyard. Such lovely afternoons spent here in recent months. Now it is Springtime, traditionally a much drier time of year in the desert.............but take a look at what this year's showers have given us!

The Sonoran Desert is now a carpet of green beginning to burst with color!

Wildflowers everywhere!

Such a lovely place to be this time of year.

Today I'm linking to Shadow Shot Sunday at Hello Harriet.....be sure to check out all the interesting photos on this site.

Also there are some gorgeous flowers at Today's Flowers and beautiful scenery at Scenic Sunday . Then for an interesting look around the world go to Sunday's in My City at Unknown Mami.

Finally I'm joining My World Tuesday G o on over and see what's going on in different parts of the world and Outdoor Wednesday for lovely outdoor shots.

Don't you just love a child's ability to have fun wherever they are, whatever they're doing?

A snowy day at Christopher Creek Arizona

Summer in San Diego

It's a good quality to have, don't you think?

I'm linking today with , Outdoor Wednesday, and Three or More Tuesdays. Be sure to drop by these lovely blogs and take a look. You'll be glad you did.

Christmas in July Part 5

What is your idea of an ideal Christmas? Ask fifty different people and without a doubt you'll get fifty different answers. We each have our very own collection of memories, of impressions........of sights and sounds that bring a smile to our lips and a warmth in our hearts.

So why have someone else's Christmas? The great advantage of a little advance planning is that you have the luxury of time! You have time to really consider what you want and what your family wants. You won't wind up doing things you don't really enjoy, things that mean little to you just because you're so rushed you just do whatever it takes to get through the season!

Not a Good Thing!

Now when I say advance planning I don't mean you to have to spend long hours planning details..........for one thing it's impossible in many cases to know exactly how the holidays are going to shape up five months in the future. There are so many variables, including other individuals outside your immediate family who will have their own plans. The idea is to begin to think of the things that are in your control. Do a little dreaming. Begin to think about the things that make Christmas special to you. What kind of atmosphere do you want to create? What activities would you miss if you didn't do them? Be sure to ask those that live in your household what they enjoy most about Christmas. Write it all down.

Then slowly and surely, over the next few months, begin to work on those priority items. Right now Christmas seems so far away! If we're honest though we know that 152 days (as of this posting) is not a very long time. I think we sometimes forget that when the holidays come along they are "in addition to" everything else that goes on in our lives! I know I've been guilty at times of thinking that somehow, magically, extra hours are going to be given to me in November and December! Doesn't happen, does it? So now is the logical time to start snatching pieces of time here and there so that you can have the holidays that you want.

Planning Tips

*Start off by visiting a few Christmas sites on the web just to get yourself in the mood. A favorite of mine is http://www.organizedchristmas.com/ You're gonna love this one!

*If you're not familiar with Flylady you need to check out her site http://flylady.org/pages/site_index.asp. There you'll have year round access to her Holiday Cooking and Decorating Plan .....and closer to the holidays themselves she posts daily videos about getting ready for Christmas.

*Another fun little site is http://www.xmascookies.blogspot.com/

*http://www.christmasorganizing.com/ has activities going on all year and for a year round Christmas Store try Bronner's Christmas Wonderland at http://www.bronners.com/

*Another way to get in the mood for planning is to listen to some Christmas tunes......either get out your CDs or tune in to one of the internet radio sites.....right now I'm listening to http://www.pandora.com/ . You can type in the name of a Christmas song you want to hear and it will automtically make up a radio list with similar songs and play them for you........and it's free!

*You get the idea.......just have a little fun surfing around......there's no telling what you'll find and the kind of ideas it will spark in you!

*I highly recommend that you put together some sort of Christmas Notebook where you keep all your Holiday plans organized. At the first site I mentioned , Organized Christmas, there are dozens of free printables to get you started. Whether you use theirs, find others on the Web, or make up your own......just be sure to devise some type of book to keep all your thoughts and plans in. It makes a huge difference!

*Peruse through any holiday books that you might own. When I'm in plannng mode this time of year I usually keep one or two Christmas books stacked on my nightstand so I can look through them before I fall asleep. Jot down any ideas and recipes that you might want to try. You may run across gift ideas.....start making some preliminery lists. Remember it almost always takes longer than you think to make that special gift you've been planning. Try to make some concrete decisions on anything that is going to be complicated or time consuming. Even if you don't do homemade gifts it's always better to order or purchase special gifts ahead of time.

*If you don't own any holiday books you can always check some out at the library or purchase new or used at Amazon. Thrift stores almost always have a few holiday books around. I just enjoy having my own little collection around to look at whenever I like. :)

*Finally, just enjoy yourself. Even if you're not a natural planner, even if you think you really dislike planning ahead, even if you think it's way too early to think about it.........do just a little. Whatever you do now will pay big dividends in just a few short months! You'll be so glad you did. :)

Christmas in July Part 4

     I'm hooked on having our "Christmas in July" every year. Some of you have asked me if we go all out and put up tree and all our decorations. The answer is definitely not.....way too much trouble! I do usually pull a couple of things out of storage for a tablescape or two as in Christmas in July Part 2, but that's about it as far as decorations go. When Christopher was younger there were years when we'd get a little ambitious and put up the little tabletop tree that he liked to put in his room over the holidays. Most years we just concentrate on the Christmas "doings" rather than the decorations........we have several mini-holiday meals, watch lots of Christmas movies, and some years buy one another little gifts. This year we gave each other gift cards to favorite stores. I try to keep it simple so it turns out to be fun...not work.


     At every holiday meal, including Easter I might add, we have my Mom's Banana Pudding. For years she was the one who always made it. For a long time I was hesitant to even try it, but in 2001 when she was here visiting for Christmas we carefully wrote down the recipe as she showed me each step.......as with many old family recipes, I don't think it had ever been written down before! Now after a few years of making it myself I'm fairly confident in doing so....but to me it still never tastes quite as good as when my Mom makes it! I think it's the love factor! Nothing ever tastes as good as something your Mom makes for you.


      So this year for our "Christmas in July" I made the Sweet Potato Pies (see Christmas in July Part 3), and the Banana Pudding. Though we haven't had Christmas meals all week, we have had these desserts in the fridge to enjoy........turns out to be so handy too because as some of you know I'm really big on cooking ahead because of the summer heat.

So here it is..........

Mom's Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 cups evaporated milk

2 cups whole milk

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 stick of room temperature butter

1 12 oz. box of quality vanilla wafers

6 or 7 medium bananas sliced into coins

To make:

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 cup of the milk into a large thick-bottomed sauce pan. Mix well, then add eggs and remaining milk. Blend well ( a wire whisk works great) and cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken. It is very important that you stir continually ( especially once the mixture begins to heat up) to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Remove from heat  and add vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is completely melted. In a large bowl layer bottom with vanilla wafers, some of the bananas, then pour in small amount of pudding. Repeat the layering process until you reach the top of the bowl. Garnish by standing more vanilla wafers along the top edge of your bowl and topping the final layer with a generous handful of crushed wafers. Serve chilled.

I've spent some time this past week doing a little advance planning, going on a few Christmas sites, flipping through some of my Holiday books, and in general having fun thinking about what I'd like Christmas this year to be like. I'll be sharing a little bit of this Saturday on my last post in the "Christmas in July" series. Please join me. :)

I'm participating this week in Hooked on Fridays at Julia's place. Be sure to go by over there and see what other's are hooked on today! ALSO.................

  For lots more yummy recipes be sure to drop by Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

and Food on Fridays at Ann's place!

Christmas in July Part 3

Once again I had to do the baking in the morning because of the heat......but once the pies began to bake the house really did smell like Christmas. My post today is a recipe for Southern Sweet Potato Pie, my Dad's recipe. I can't remember a Christmas when we didn't have several of these sitting out on the counter during the Holidays. While I realize sweet potato pie is something you can enjoy year round, to me it just says Christmas so I have to include it in our little "Christmas in July" celebration.

Daddy's Southern Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 can evaporated milk, 12 oz.

1/4 stick of butter, cut into 6 pieces, room temperature

Boil sweet potatoes with jackets on until they are tender. Place them on foil or wax paper on counter until they cool. At this point the jackets should slip off the potatoes very easily. In a large bowl mash up the sweet potatoes until they are smooth but still course in texture. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and the sugar and mix well. To this add the beaten egg, evaporated milk, and butter. Butter pieces do not need to be mixed in completely. Pour into two 8 inch pie crusts or into 1 large deep dish pie crust. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 - 50 minutes. Pies are done when toothpick in center comes out clean. When pie cools serve with a big dollop of whipped cream!

Enjoy..........

.............a little planning in July goes a long way in December. Join me next week for tips, book recommendations, and some really great links!

There's a great Recipe Swap going on over at www.lifeasmom.com Go on over for some great cooking ideas!

Drop by at Designs by Gollum for more delicious recipes

Also Ann has some great recipes over at her site today.

Christmas in July Part 2

For over twelve years now we've been having "Christmas in July" at our house. It began as just a fun way to pass the time when my youngest son was just a little guy and we wanted ways to keep busy during the long hot summers. Each year is different. There are no set rules. We make up the rules as we go along......sometimes its only for a day or two, sometimes for as much as a week. It all depends on what we all have going on in July. Now that Christopher is college age there's certainly no reason for us all to be looking for things to do to keep busy during the summer......but still we keep on doing this crazy little thing every year. There are a couple of reasons I think. Number one is that it is a deeply ingrained family tradition by now, and number two is that it is still just plain fun. I'm pretty sure Jim and I will still be doing this when we're empty-nesters!

Part of the tradition is to have a few favorite dinners that remind us of Christmas. This morning I made Navy Bean Soup in the Slow Cooker. When everyone got home this evening it was ready to eat with the little mini-cornbread muffins I had baked a couple of weeks ago and put in the freezer. No dessert tonight because I plan to make a couple of our Christmas favorites over the next couple of days .........we're going to have way too much dessert over the weekend! Well, after all, it is Christmas around here.

Slow Cooker Navy Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups of Navy Beans or White Northerns

2 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 onion, diced

2 or 3 medium carrots, diced

3 ribs of celery, diced

2 Bay leaves

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Place beans in crock pot and cover generously with cold water. Add the rest of the ingredients then set the temperature on your slowcooker according to your manufacturers recommendations. I cooked mine most of the day, 6 hours on high. Obviously this meal makes itself and then looks so deliciously cozy when poured into a beautiful soup tureen.

Over the course of the next few days we'll be watching a handful of our favorite Christmas movies. Because of this our meals are going to be eaten in front of the television.......our nod to summer casual even though, like I said, it's Christmas around here. Of course, instead of eating around a roaring fire we'll be cozied up to our fans instead.

My tablescape tonight was set on our familyroom coffee table. I simply used a folded snowflake patterned table runner as my table covering. The white soup tureen was a birthday gift from my Mom .

I love the ladle that matches the tureen.

Basket of cornbread muffins............

I bought these little Christmas themed spreaders at a kitchen shop a few years back. They make perfect utensils for putting butter on hot cornbread muffins.

Sometimes at Christmas I use my "Love, Joy, Peace" tray as kitchen decoration along with the small canisters that make up the set. Here I thought it worked well to put the white ironstone bowls and soup spoons on. Every so often we like to set up our meals in here instead of at the kitchen table. Tonight it worked really well......we had everythng we needed to enjoy our meal while we watched our dvd. And as it turned out......when we sat down to eat it started to rain.....no kidding! Around here that's a big thing! :) We were able to open the windows and enjoy the showers as we ate. Christmas cozy!

As always, enjoying myself............

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a couple of favorite Christmas Season desserts!

I'm participating in Tablescape Thursday today with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. You really need to go over to her lovely blog and see the beautiful tablescapes there.

Also Sandra is hosting Slow Cooking Thursday at her great blog Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Be sure to drop by for some slow cooker recipes for these hot summer days.