Christmas Countdown - 2013

[Virginia]

Good Morning to all! Just sitting here listening to beautiful Christmas music and planning out the week. I had knee surgery Friday and it's still sore but getting better. I still have some gifts to paint so I'd better get busy on it. I hope you all have a great week! :smile:

What are you making frostyman?

 

[snowflake22]

Lunch hour is almost over...so I guess I will get back to work. I just wanted to mention that as Christmas Eve approaches I know we all are thinking about Louann in our own special way. I think about her every morning on the way to work as I listen to the local radio station that is playing the old Christmas tunes by Perry Como and Judy Garland Nat king cole..I don't know why but that is when she comes to mind. Brandi kind of bonded with Louann too and they chatted once in a while. Everyone has their own special way of remembering her and me and Brandi will surely remember her when we light the candles at Christmas eve mass.. I know her and her sister always enjoyed going to those. I know we will all have her in our hearts this year!!

Yes, I miss her dearly as well, especially our regular evening chats. She will always remain in my heart

I especially missed chatting after all of the ornament premieres! We really enjoyed comparing notes.

((Hugs))


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[Virginia]

Good morning everyone! It's Monday but just not any Monday!....it's the last Monday of work until 2014. This should be a short week just 3 days of work until the break but that did not make it any easier for me to get up...for some reason the cold is getting to me today. My teeth and body are chattering and shivering so much it is making me mess up more than I usually do with my typing!! no really is it!!! I guess I slept with the heater too low cause this 4F temps are getting to me this morning! I hope everyone has a great morning, I just can't believe next week is the big week this year it has gone by too fast...it's just amazing!

...and here in Australia I had to kick off the sheet because I was too hot to sleep!

 

[sugar142286]

Good Morning MMC!!!!!! It's going to be another cold day here in central Indy with a high in the mid 20's. We got about another inch and a half of snow last night. Which normally wouldn't be a big deal but apparently the city didn't send the full fleet of plows out and the roads were terrible this morning. In fact, my aunt got rear ended again by a teenage girl. Luckily it wasn't as bad as it was a couple of months ago but she is going to need another rear bumper cover. The snow has stopped now though so it's time for me to get out there and shovel. I also need to spend the day cleaning the apartment. I hope everyone is having a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!

So scary about the snow - glad to hear that was okay though!

 

[Virginia]

Ohhh coach. Tell the parents to get ready for that 1am phone call on Lovemas ...... Ommmmm,gggggg. Ommmmggggg love love love love. Yabba. Lovemas. Ohhhhhhh yessssss. Made. Get the brew going. Yabbaaaa

I went to Gloria Jeans to see if they had cinnamon coffee beans that was advertised in one of my older Christmas recipe magazines but they had maple instead this year. Will be grinding them with a pestle and mortar... there doesn't seem to be any grinders around now with all the coffee pods available.

 

[sugar142286]

Good Morning to all! Just sitting here listening to beautiful Christmas music and planning out the week. I had knee surgery Friday and it's still sore but getting better. I still have some gifts to paint so I'd better get busy on it. I hope you all have a great week! :smile:

Glad to hear you're recovery well and keep feeling better, frostyman!

 

[Virginia]

I am just catching up on posts today, missed Sunday posts altogether working on a project. So didn't scroll down to see who else posted answers and hope I'm not just duplicate posting. LOL

1 - I bake off and on through out the month. I ship some of baked goods, so those I do earlier in the month to make sure they arrive in time.

2 - Freezing depends on how early I make them. If it's just a week before Christmas, no I don't freeze them. They usually don't last that long. LOL

3 - Depends on the type of cookie. Some cookies like highly decorated sugar cookies I would never put in a freezer bag because they would break. I use storage containers. Others, I do use freezer bags.

4 - The cookies I store in the kitchen or fridge I use storage containers.

5 - The cookies I leave out on tables, I use cake plates with domed covers. Makes the display very pretty and it's hard for people to not put that back correctly. I also like cookie tins, they're pretty, traditional, and work great for keeping cookies fresh.

I don't think I've ever had sugar cookies go stale or get hard. Are you referring to the ones that you put out and are covered with plastic wrap? I could see those eventually going stale, but I've never had that happen with storage containers or the cookie tins.

In regards to the chocolate chip cookies - I freeze the batter. Mix the batter, pop the whole bowl in the freezer for about 7-10 minutes while the oven in pre-heating. Not rock hard, frozen, just stiff. Scoop them out for the cookie sheet, bake, I let them cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack. In the case of chocolate chip cookies I always store them in an airtight container or storage bag, with a damp and rung out paper towel. The cookies absorb the moisture from the towel (if they last a few days you'll find that the towel does dry out completely over a 24 hour period), and they stay very moist instead of getting brittle and crisp. I like choc chip cookies to have a bit of crisp to the edge, but for the most part be soft. My chocolate chip cookies stay about 1/2"+ thick. Several times I did freeze them too long and had a batch on a sheet that stayed smaller because they wouldn't spread. LOL

Mine are eaten too fast to go stale. I find it hard to bake choc chip ahead of time ... we all like the chocolate still warm. I bake a lot of slices mostly because I'm a lazy cook; I can cut them to different sizes and they fit really well in the freezer too.

 

[VictoriaLT]

My oldest daughter found out that her ex-boyfriend just qualified as one of 10 Lugers who will represent the United States in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He's only 19, one of the youngest men to ever qualify for a spot on the U.S. Olympic luge team. He has worked so hard for this, he moved away from his family to Lake Placid when he was 15. We are so excited!http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1

This is amazing!!!

We found another lost dog this afternoon. Or I should say he found us. This little guy had his nose pressed up against my storm door, he was looking right at me and my husband. How crazy is that? My heart sank when I saw him, I picked him up and brought him inside. No collar, no tags. I decided to walk him up and down the blocks in my neighborhood. Thankfully it didn't take too long for the owner to find us. The woman said he gets out from under the fence. Well then maybe it would be a good idea to do something about that! Grrrr. Anyway, I'm happy they were reunited and he was safe and sound. He was a sweet adorable dog.

Bless you for saving this cute little boy. <3

Good Morning to all! Just sitting here listening to beautiful Christmas music and planning out the week. I had knee surgery Friday and it's still sore but getting better. I still have some gifts to paint so I'd better get busy on it. I hope you all have a great week! :smile:

Hope the surgery will go well. :]

***

Good evening everyone! Hope you all are doing fine. :] I had my exam earlier today and I am so glad it is finally over. It was supposed to be the most challenging one so I am happy it is already down.

Also, I had a nice accident this morning at the local M&S. I went there to buy my mum some of her favourite Indian chai tea and there were classical Christmas songs playing in the store. I have heard a lovely old lady singing one of them. Her singing was actually very neat and beautiful and I couldn't resist but tell her how much I like her singing and her voice. At the end, I ended up finding out that she use to sing when she was young. Also, I found out that she loves Christmas time as much as I do (and, of course, as we all do!)! It was very nice. ^^

Have a nice evening everyone! Best wishes. xx

 

[sugar142286]

I think she is feeling better with the medicine and ear drops. She hasn't been fussing with her ear at all. Thank you Graywolf!

Glad to hear Molly is feeling better!

 

[Virginia]

LOL I always unroll the paper, put the box on it and figure out which way it'll wrap the best using the smartest use of the paper, horizontal or vertical. Put a dot where I want to start the cut and then cut off the roll. Pull the paper around the box and then trim off the excess if there is any. The only time I ever had too little paper is when I had to wrap something really huge and there wasn't enough paper on the roll. Then it looks like patchwork wrap trying to find another paper that'll match it.

I used to be a wrap-a-holic, because I had the time to do it. LOL I would do the fancy ribbon wraps and make all those wild bows. Had a ton of fun with it, till I got to Noah's 4th Christmas. That's when the presents under our tree stopped looking fancy. LOL I always end up running out of time to wrap, so the paper may be on the box, but it takes soooo long to do the ribbon, when I'm the only one doing it - it's Christmas morning before I'm done. His 4th Christmas I was up till 4am doing the ribbon. He got up at 6. Got us up, and immediately dove into it. Then when he was older I started again, and he asked me not to do it anymore, because he said they were so pretty he felt badly undoing the time I spent making them. ROFL

Oh many years have passed and I still do a very rough marathon wrap because the paper ends up in the bin anyway. I feel guilty about the environment so I was buying foil wrapping to use again but it is pricey. Now I have paper bought in sales reeeeeaaaallllyy cheap, some from 10yrs ago (that's how much I have!) so I just wrap in lots of different paper - but I still save the little bits because I wrap EVERYTHING!!

 

[graywolf70]

...and here in Australia I had to kick off the sheet because I was too hot to sleep!

ROFL You and me both, though I'm relatively certain my temps aren't as hot as yours right now.

 

[Virginia]

This is amazing!!!



Bless you for saving this cute little boy. <3



Hope the surgery will go well. :]

***

Good evening everyone! Hope you all are doing fine. :] I had my exam earlier today and I am so glad it is finally over. It was supposed to be the most challenging one so I am happy it is already down.

Also, I had a nice accident this morning at the local M&S. I went there to buy my mum some of her favourite Indian chai tea and there were classical Christmas songs playing in the store. I have heard a lovely old lady singing one of them. Her singing was actually very neat and beautiful and I couldn't resist but tell her how much I like her singing and her voice. At the end, I ended up finding out that she use to sing when she was young. Also, I found out that she loves Christmas time as much as I do (and, of course, as we all do!)! It was very nice. ^^

Have a nice evening everyone! Best wishes. xx

I'm loving all the special moments Christmas brings too! Went out for dinner and there were some people dressed in sequins! LOVED IT!

 

[Christmasstar]

Charlie Brown Christmas is on YTV right now

 

[sugar142286]

My last day off from work before Christmas---aw, the day is already too short for all the Christmas I want to cram into it!

Hope your last day of work is going well!


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[sugar142286]

You guys should take a look at today's background image on Bing's homepage:

http://www.bing.com/
:merry:

Love it!!!


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[sugar142286]

We will be without computer since we are relocating all the wiring from the back part of the house. Have a great day, everyone!

Hope all that is going well! Miss you!


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[graywolf70]

Oh many years have passed and I still do a very rough marathon wrap because the paper ends up in the bin anyway. I feel guilty about the environment so I was buying foil wrapping to use again but it is pricey. Now I have paper bought in sales reeeeeaaaallllyy cheap, some from 10yrs ago (that's how much I have!) so I just wrap in lots of different paper - but I still save the little bits because I wrap EVERYTHING!!

LOL I do that too! I wait till the after-Christmas sales and buy all the pretty paper at 70% off and use it next year. I also have certain rolls of special paper that I've had for years and years. That paper is ear-marked for Noah's special Santa present(s). That's the one that Noah opens last. Yeah I have an order gifts have to be opened in. LOL From this one is just a fun gift to the "special" gift.

 

[MerryCarey]

I find it hard to bake choc chip ahead of time ... we all like the chocolate still warm.

Here's a tip: you can microwave chocolate chip cookies for 15 or 20 seconds to make them all warm and gooey again. It even works with store-bought cookies!

 

[MerryCarey]

Hope your last day of work is going well!

I wish it were my last day of work before Christmas, but alas … it's the last day I have OFF before Christmas. It's back to work tomorrow. I've been running around getting some things done today. My lunch is long overdue, and I'm going to take care of that next!

 

[sugar142286]

LOL I do that too! I wait till the after-Christmas sales and buy all the pretty paper at 70% off and use it next year. I also have certain rolls of special paper that I've had for years and years. That paper is ear-marked for Noah's special Santa present(s). That's the one that Noah opens last. Yeah I have an order gifts have to be opened in. LOL From this one is just a fun gift to the "special" gift.

We have special Santa wrapping too!