Christmas Countdown - 2013

[Ryan]

Good morning friends. I hope you all have a great Monday!

 

[HomemakinGirl]

Good morning!
I'm heading out to Target soon for more wrapping paper. I wrapped a little bit last night but I didn't even make a dent in it. And Bentley was being a little devil cat, like usual. He was jumping in the boxes, tearing up the tissue paper and stealing bows. I'm going to have to lock myself in my room today so I can make some progress.
I can't believe how close we are getting to Christmas :-D
I hope everyone is well and has a happy Monday!

 

[graywolf70]

Thank you, HMG! Pacing myself...good tip. I will try that. The worst part for me is actually cutting the paper the right size, LOL! I always end up with a big blob or not enough. Not enough is the worst - then I have to tape some on top!! I love all of the glittery tags and the shiny ribbons!

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

 

[graywolf70]

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut earlier - my mom's fever returned! She has had the fever for 6 days now and there really hasn't been much of a change. I don't think it's a virus but who knows! We have to play the waiting game until Monday so that she can get her blood work results and her sonogram results. I hope it's something simple where she can be given antibiotics or that it goes away on its own. We have Christmas cookies to bake this week! Otherwise, I'll be baking solo (oh boy) or not at all!

I am so so sorry her fever returned. I pray she will be well very soon and her test results are simple and easily healed.

 

[graywolf70]

I have a few questions for all of you Christmas cookie bakers!

1. When do you start baking your Christmas cookies?
2. Do you put them out immediately or do you freeze them?
3. If you freeze them, how do you store them in the freezer? Freezer bags? Sealed containers?
4. How do you store your cookies to keep them fresh?
5. How do you store the cookies that you keep out for everyone to eat?

My mom and I usually bake the week before Christmas, so we never freeze our cookies. We put them in containers that have an air-tight seal. As for the cookies that we place out on the platter, we usually just cover them with saran wrap. We are looking for a new way to seal/cover those because people never cover them up good when they grab a cookie, which causes them to go stale quickly. The other cookies that we store never last long, either. We obviously spend a lot of time and effort baking so we're hoping there's a way to keep them fresh longer. We've tried storing them with bread and that helped slightly. We bake pizzelles and never have a problem with their freshness, but our sugar cookies and wine cookies like to get rock hard and stale fast!

While I'm at it...anyone know how to make your chocolate chip cookies stay fluffy? My mom and I have literally tried just about every tip out there, but they always flatten and fall when they are cooling!

Thanks!!

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

 

[graywolf70]

We got our snow last night---very pretty before we went to bed. In the wee hours the temp rose a few degrees and the snow got wet and heavy, so it was awful to shovel this morning. Now the temp has plummeted again, and everything wet is freezing.

Throughout the several years I've had it, my Christmas cactus has bloomed a couple blossoms at a time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, for the first time, it set all its buds at the same time, and the entire plant is in bloom at once! It's a beautiful sight! The big poinsettia is holding up well too, so with the blooming cactus, the poinsettia, the Christmas tree, and the snow, it looks really seasonal here!

Wish there were more than 10 days left to enjoy it all … I have one more day off (tomorrow), then it's back to work until Christmas. Maybe I'll crochet some more ornaments between jobs, like I did last Thursday (at my supervisor's suggestion!). That was festive and fun, and seeing me make Christmas ornaments seemed to get my co-workers in the mood.

Yea!! Love it when Christmas cactus blooms!

I know - the time is running down to quickly.

 

[graywolf70]

Good Sunday afternoon, my Christmas friends!

I haven't been here since the 11th...that's just crazy-talk! My computer at work still isn't fixed, and when I get home we get in the car and go somewhere...EVERY DAY. We went to Statesboro on Thursday night, Savannah on Friday, Savannah again yesterday, then to Statesboro last night. We just got back from church and we're getting ready to go to my mom's. Whew.

I did manage to put the city's new Nativity Scene out just a minute ago. I put it on the deck of our train depot (the depot has been restored for appearance only), then screwed eyebolts into the deck and used fishing string to anchor down the standing characters. The wind is just blowing too hard, and it cost too much to chance it.

I plan to check the pictures on the StealthCam this afternoon. It's been two weeks since we were out there. Surely it's spotted something cool since then.

I hope y'all have a great day! I plan to be back on the air tomorrow. cheesy

I'm glad to be back! :smile:

Hope you see something wonderful! Glad you're back too!

 

[MerryBells]

Good morning, everyone! It's a cold, gray day here in Maryland (yay!), and maybe we'll have more snow tomorrow. I hope so!

 

[graywolf70]

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.

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Aaaaawwwwwww HMG - thank you for taking the time to find his home!! What a sweetie!

 

[graywolf70]

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!

Hope you enjoy it! Bud has assemblies at schools through till Friday. I was surprised there were still schools in session up till the weekend, let alone ones that would still have assemblies.

I just noticed you're in Ogden. LOL Last year Bud did a school Odgen, then West Valley, Kearns, Provo and Tooele. Area is beautiful!! Was the first time Bud saw the Flats.

 

[graywolf70]

Cold -12c (10f) but sunny after yet another night if snow . It looks beautiful this morning !

Thank you so much for sharing those!!! They're so beautiful! Makes me homesick.

 

[graywolf70]

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!!!!!!!!

Ugh!! I'm sorry she was rear ended but glad it wasn't bad. Merry Christmassy day to you Made!!

 

[graywolf70]

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:

Good Morning Frosty!! Hope your knee heals quickly!!!

 

[graywolf70]

Good morning!
I'm heading out to Target soon for more wrapping paper. I wrapped a little bit last night but I didn't even make a dent in it. And Bentley was being a little devil cat, like usual. He was jumping in the boxes, tearing up the tissue paper and stealing bows. I'm going to have to lock myself in my room today so I can make some progress.
I can't believe how close we are getting to Christmas :-D
I hope everyone is well and has a happy Monday!

ROFL @ Bentley!! LOL

Good luck with your wrapping! I haven't started on mine since I only have one gift in the house that could be wrapped. LOL Everything else is in finishing stages or still being delivered. Everything should be here this week though. I start getting stressed if gifts being delivered aren't here by the 21st.

Hope you have a blessed day!!

 

[graywolf70]

Good morning, everyone! It's a cold, gray day here in Maryland (yay!), and maybe we'll have more snow tomorrow. I hope so!

Good morning MerryBells!! Hope you get your snow.

 

[snowflake22]

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:

Thinking of you & wishing you a speedy recovery!!


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[Bradmac]

Good Monday morning, my Christmas friends!

I had to relocate my computer to the conference room in the main office building, but I'm back online, baby! Hopefully, the replacement switch for our annex building will be here today and I can move back into my office.

Our church party was a lot of fun last night...Santa came by!

I had 369 pictures on the StealthCam, and 300 of them were raccoons. One even sat down in front of the camera and raised up on his behind like a bear, looking at me LOL! There was one quick picture of a deer passing through. I need to "sweeten the pot" with some corn.

I hope y'all have a great day! cheesy

 

[sugar142286]

Good morning!
Well the snow turned over to rain last night and washed all of the snow away. At least I don't have to drive anyone to work today. I was back and forth to the outlets 6 times yesterday!
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!
Anyway, not too much going on here today. My husband has been painting like crazy, trying to get it all done. I still don't have a tree up. I'm not going to wait much longer. He'll have to work around the tree!
I'm going to do some more wrapping today. And finish up my Christmas cards.
I hope everyone is well and has a wonderful day!


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Congrats to your daughter's boyfriend! That is so awesome!

 

[jennifer91]

I am so excited! My parents and brother are all off from work next week. I am really looking forward to having everyone home - Christmas will be extra special!

 

[MerryCarey]

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!