rosemary almonds

Hello there.  I am about to share a recipe called Rosemary Almonds.  You will need an exit plan from these once you make them.  Like give them away, take them to a party, just for the love of all that is good and holy, don't keep them in your house!  You will need a twelve step program.  They aren't good.  They are Goooooooood.  You've been warned.  If you still wish to proceed, gather the following:

3 T butter
2 T fresh rosemary, chopped (or dried and crushed)
3/4 t salt
1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 cups raw almonds
(I doubled the recipe, so don't pay attention to some of the measuring spoons in my pictures)

Melt your butter.  Add the salt...

your brown sugar...

your cayenne...

and your chopped rosemary.  Stir well.

You can use dried rosemary, but be sure it's crushed well so it can integrate with the almonds.  I just happened to have a little rosemary plant sitting in my kitchen window!

Add your almonds to your butter/spice mixture.

Stir almonds until well coated.

Spread out on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Be sure to remove any plasticware your little girl may have put on the pan.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350, stirring halfway through.  They will be done when browned and fragrant.

You want to cool these completely before serving.  They will actually taste better after 12-24 hours, so don't worry if they aren't very good right out of the oven.  They get crunchier and more flavorful after you let them sit a day or so. 

I get rave reviews when I make these.  They are quick and easy, too, so doubly good.  Happy baking!

the train to see santa

Fletcher is 3.  Fletcher is a boy.  Therefore, Fletcher is obsessed with trains.  It's like a proven scientific fact.  So last year, since we had a great time taking him on the Santa train, we thought we'd do it again this year.  Although the South Carolina train museum is much smaller than the Illinois train museum, Fletcher still loved it. 

We did not expect the loooong ride, though.  Last year, it was about a half an hour, and then you got out to see Santa, waiting in line to sit on his lap.  This year it was an hour and a half round trip, and Santa was on the train.  So we went for about 45 minutes one way, and then the train went back for the other 45 minutes.  It was about that 45 minute mark that the natives got restless.  Luckily my kids enjoyed it and were happy, but there were other kiddos on the train that were READY. TO. GET. OFF.  Or to just see Santa already.

And of course Rowan was happy anytime you handed her a snack.  She's easy that way.  The only time she got upset was when the guy leading the sing along moved onto another song than "Jingle Bells."  That's her favorite.  And it's the only one she knows the words to sing along to.  Although she is getting pretty good at "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel."  We kept them happy with tickles, snacks, toys and books.  And with incessant renditions of "Jingle Bells." 

The littles also entertained themselves by watching the countryside out the window, and occasionally licking the very same window.  Yuck.

And since mama reacted so strongly AGAINST licking the window, they liked to keep on licking just to rile me up.  Fun.

And then came the main event.  Santa!  Fletcher enjoyed talking to him and telling him what he wanted for Christmas.

But Rowan?  Not so much.

After Santa moved onto the next child, Fletcher asked, quite loudly, "But where's the REAL Santa?"  Oops.  After trying to hush him, I told him that it WAS the real Santa, and that he was just visiting from the North Pole.  But Fletcher was not convinced. I think maybe the thick southern accent really was a give away.  Santa's not from the South, OK?  Sometimes Fletcher is too smart for this mama. 

They both kept their eye on Santa the whole time he was in our train car.

After the train ride was over, we checked out the caboose and some Pullman cars.  Fletcher's favorite is the caboose.

Later when we went out to dinner that night, we saw the "real" Santa, according to both Fletcher and Rowan.  There was a man waiting for his table in the waiting area with us.  He was in regular clothes, but he had white hair and a real white beard, and glasses.  And he was very round, indeed.  He winked at the kids, and Rowan got all excited, pointing and saying, "Santa!"  She even approached him a few times to say hi.  She was much more talkative and friendly to this Santa.  And he leaned down as he was leaving to tell Fletcher to be a good boy.  Fletcher's eyes got all WIDE and he smiled so big.  Perfect ending to the day!

*Bonus points to anyone who noticed that we're wearing matching shirts.  Yes, we are THAT nerd-ay. 

chilly

This week's You Capture theme is Chilly.  That is something it just hasn't been around here.  I know, I should feel happy about that, but hello, I am a Yankee, and Christmastime should be cold.  It has been in the seventies until *finally* a cold front moved in last night and it's been nice and chilly here in South Carolina.  And by chilly I mean in the high 50's, low 60's.  So not cold.  I miss the snow.  There, I said it.  You can stone me in the town square later.

So we get all excited when it's in the 60's and turn on the fireplace and pretend like it's freezing outside.  And some mornings are pretty cold!  When it's cold, Rowan likes to take a snack on the couch and relax in her cozy jammies.  Fletcher likes to test his feats of strength by taking off his pants and sitting on a chilly leather couch.

And nothing beats the chilly like a cuddle with papa.

And we tried to take Christmas pictures last weekend in only slightly chilly temperatures.  Like 68 degrees chilly.  Is that chilly?  Anyway, the littles liked checking out the big ball ornaments we put in the tree!

That's all I got.  I can't wait to check out everyone else's chilly pictures.  I'm sure they're much more authentically chilly!

isn't this normal?

A long time ago, in a village far, far away...  everything seemed pretty peaceful at first glance.

Just a nice, normal Christmas village that you might see in any home in suburbia.

But wait.  Who's this?

Yoda!  Look behind you!  Danger!

But don't worry, there are friends nearby.

This post is just for anyone who thought I might actually be cool.  Cause we're big nerds around here, having lots of fun with Brian's old Star Wars figures.  May the force be with you this Christmas season.

cookie #2: hello dolly bars

Another bar cookie!  And this one is pretty much the easiest bar cookie ever.  And really really delicious.  It's more like a candy bar than a cookie!  These have been made in my family for as long as I can remember.  And they rank right up there as one of my favorites.  If you want to enjoy the yumminess of hello dolly bars you'll need:

9 x 13 pan
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 can (15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Start with melting your butter.

If you can find the graham crackers already in crumbs, then good for you!  I could not this year, so my mom improvised by making crackers into crumbs with a zip lock bag and the back of my ice cream scoop.

Pour your crumbs onto the butter.

Mix the crumbs and butter together and press down into your pan.

Next add your coconut...

chocolate chips...

butterscotch chips...

and walnuts!

Now drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the whole pan.

See?  Wasn't that easy?  Now bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Here is Fletcher waiting for the hello dollies to bake.

Rowan waits for baking cookies by having a snack.

The cookies are finished when they are lightly browned.  It won't look all melted together, so don't wait for that to happen!

Let cool completely before cutting, or you will have a huge mess on your hands. 

They are truly delicious.  Happy baking!  I'll have another cookie recipe soon!

why i love pinterest: diy ornament wreath

Well, my parents left yesterday, so after the next couple of posts, you might not see my mom's hands for a while.  But they'll be back for Christmas, so don't worry.  Well, you probably weren't worried.  That would just be me. 

I saw this wreath tutorial on pinterest and it looked so easy, I couldn't wait to try it!  If you'd like to try it, you'll need:

1 wire hanger
50-60 ball ornaments
thick ribbon, preferably wired
glue gun & sticks (if needed)

I picked up two big containers of balls at Walmart for 5 bucks a pop.  They came with 26 balls in each one, but you really need a few more than 52 to complete this.  The original tutorial said to use hot glue to secure the metal cap onto the ball, but when I went to do this, I couldn't pry the off.  So I figured they were secure!  Yes!  But I did have to create a circular shape out of the wire hanger.  Not as easy as it might sound.  But the good news is that it doesn't have to be perfectly round to work.

Now just start sliding the balls onto the wire!

Here it is with all my balls.  You can see it left a pretty sizable gap, but that is the reason behind the really huge ribbon bow.

So of course my mom got to work on a bow.

She'll have to do a guest blog on how to make one of her big-ass bows!  Because although I watched, I'm not sure I can imitate.  She also wrapped the hanger so you wouldn't see it.

And that's it!  I was going to use smaller balls with the big ones on this, and that probably would have looked pretty nice since they would have filled in some of the gap-age.  But it turned out pretty awesome despite it!

You can't help loving a project that is so easy but has so much impact!