Slowly But Surely

"Slowly, but surely" can be used in a number of ways on the Phillips homestead. Today, however it is being used for my Christmas baking and candy making..... Slowly but surely I am getting it all done and into the freezer.

Today was another cold day on the prairies and the best thing was to stay in, keep warm and do some Christmasy (is this even a word...blogger doesn't think so) things.

I found it to be another productive day in the kitchen.

First I made these flat Truffles.

Now they are cut and ready to go into the freezer.

I moved on to Peanut Butter Cups, Only this time I made them as squares.

These still have to be sliced and put in a container. I will do that later tonight. Saved lots of time doing them this way for a change.

Onto the next goodie for the freezer. Chocolate Mint Snowballs.

These lovely morsels of chocolate goodness will be rolled in icing sugar just before serving.

Lastly I made something I did not get a chance to make last year and they were dearly missed by everybody in the family. Caramels!!!!!

These still have to cool a bit before cutting and wrapping. I know what I will be busy doing tomorrow after Mass.

Just a few things left to do and I can safely say my baking and candy making is done for the holiday season.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

I have had back pain this week and today is actually the first day I have been pain free. In fact I feel wonderful.

I don't know whether our cat Shania was sick in sympathy with me or not, but after a week of her.....well vomiting, and other not so nice things happening she seems better today as well.

 

Here she is after getting fed her treats and me stepping on a couple and smashing them to bits. She is not impressed with me and the mess I made at all.

The rest of the day was spent doing my regular Thursday chores and smelling the glue that Harvey is using to do some woodworking in the basement.

I did manage to get most of the Christmas cards ready for the mail, and a parcel as well.

Only a couple left and those get a nice long letter. They are for two girls I went to University with, oh so many years ago.

Well it is time to get back to my knitting. This afghan for Kris is taking so much longer than the others. Hope I can get it done in time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Middle of the Week

It is the middle of the week and I am busy attending meetings, doing my regular household chores and of course getting baking and candy making underway for when Kurt and Kris come home. I have even started my Christmas Cards and hope to get them done by tomorrow (sure helps that I have cut down the number of people I send to over the years).

The snow has been coming down since noon today and the temperature has dropped considerably. I think winter has arrived!

Today I made Melting Moment Cookies (a type of shortbread cookie) and Peanut Brittle.

Here is a picture of the pile of cookies.

And here is a picture of the Peanut Brittle.

Tomorrow I think I will make some truffles and Sugar Cookies.

I love how my house smells this time of year.

My evenings are spent knitting. I sure hope that I can get the afghan finished for Kris in time!!! This one seems to be taking much longer to do. Procrastination is not a good thing.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

The past week saw us using up lots of leftovers from previous meals so I did not post my weekly menu plan.

This week we are starting free and clear so I am posting once again.

Monday

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots. Nice comfort food as winter is creeping up on us.

Tuesday

I have a meeting so Harvey can have the leftover Sweet and Sour Ribs and Rice.

Wednesday

Chicken Breasts, I am thinking of doing them in the oven along with some roasted veggies.

Thursday

Leftover Ham and pasta casserole.

Friday

Salmon Casserole

Saturday

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce along with a salad.

Sunday

This is the Grey Cup and I am so tempted to order a pizza. I will be strong and make a pork roast, roasted potatoes and beets instead.

So there are my menus for the upcoming week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

It has been another miserable day outside and so the best thing was staying in and making the best of the day.

We went to Mass and that was the only time we were outside. The roads were icy and driving was not nice at all. People seem to forget that once snow arrives driving conditions change.

This is what it looked like outside first thing this morning.

This was taken after Harvey cleaned off the vehicle a little bit. The snow continued to fall until late this afternoon. Hopefully it is done now.

We did not have a homily today. Instead we watched a DVD put out by the Archdiocese on how the Annual Appeal helps the various Ministries in the Diocese. As a lay person it was interesting that most of the video was based on Lay Formation, Youth, and Visitation House. These are all Lay lead ministries in the church. Nothing was said about how the Appeal helps pay the tuition fees of Seminarians. Hmmm, perhaps the Church as a whole has realized how much an informed laity can help the church.

I only baked a bit today. I made English Shortbread and it smelled wonderful.

One more thing to put away for the boys to enjoy when they are home for the holidays.

I hope to get a few other items done tomorrow. Cookies seem a very good idea right now. I am leaning towards Whipped Shortbread and Sugar Cookies.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Winter Is Here

Today started off cloudy but there was no wind and no sign of snow. Yet by this afternoon snow started to fall. Not much at first and it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.

The temperature started to drop and by 5 pm this is what the outside looked like.

Now there is a lot more and it is still coming down. Looks as if winter is here to stay as our temperature is not supposed to get above freezing any longer this month.

This turned out to be the perfect day to get a few chores done around the kitchen (tomorrow is supposed to be the same way).

I pulled out the slow cooker and started to make baked beans.

This is what they looked like when I started, and here is the finished product.

 

Just waiting for them to cool down enough to put into the freezer. Yummy goodness to eat later on this winter.

Then because making beans did not keep me busy enough I started my Christmas baking.

I made this Almond Bark first.

Next it was on to Butter Tarts. Sorry there is no picture of these beauties. I made 3 dozen and stuck them in the freezer as quickly as possible. If I leave them out for any length of time Harvey has a bad habit of snacking on them.

This was a very productive day in the old homestead. I just love the way the house smells getting ready for the Christmas celebrations. Between times I get to do crafty things!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

It is almost the end of another week, putting us just that much closer to Christmas and family time. So looking forward to that (well at least the time with my own family). So far nothing has been said about a family get together so perhaps this year we will all be on our own. Quite what I would like.

I worked today with a student that has no verbal communication beyond the word hi, and grunting. My mind was mush by the time I got home, and of course because my mind was mush I just do not feel like doing much of anything.

I pulled out my knitting (on the third Christmas afghan) and I am hoping to get one ball of the yarn used up.

This afghan will be for Kris. The surprise to me was that he wanted this colour........

I am surprised that after 32 years I finally know that his favorite colour is purple!!! To make it a little more masculine I plan on using some grey and cream along with purple, making it striped instead of one solid colour.

Hopefully I will have a picture to show you all within the next few days with at least the start of a stripe or even two.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.