“Holiday Wishes Christmas China”

“My Christmas outfit from Walmart”!

“Jake and Maggie catching snow balls in our yard”. “They love the snow”!

“Jake and Maggie enjoying their new presents on Christmas Eve”

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and got everything they wanted.  Thomas and I felt blessed to have Jake and Maggie with us and we all enjoyed our first Christmas together.  We got the pups plenty of new toys to play with.  They got new dog beds in a holiday theme from their Aunt Carla and Uncle John and a family of toys from grandma and pap pap :-).  The rooster and dinosaur are made by GoDog with a chew guard technology.  Chew Guard Technology is a manufacturing process that adds a durable, super tough liner to soft plush toys.  The chew guard lining was especially engineered to withstand tough play. All seems are double stitched and reinforced.  Jake and Maggie were so spoiled with toys for Christmas that I haven’t given them their little rooster and dragon yet because toys are scattered all over for them to play with.  Once we try Mr. Rooster and Mr. Dragon out, I’ll keep you posted on this chew guard technology.  Jake and Maggie are p..r..e..t..t..y..y..y hard on their toys and can demolish them in seconds.  

My sister got me in the spirit by talking me into going to Walmart and picking out a very colorful Christmas outfit.  I even got reindeer antlers and socks to match my pants and sweater.  I wore earrings in red and silver and a necklace and ring with a poinsettia style dot from Style Dots Jewelry to complete the outfit.  I even got Thomas to wear a matching t-shirt to my outfit with a big Santa on the front of it!  The candles were lit, the table set in our “Holiday Wishes” china from PTS International (which I actually found at Home Goods).  I chose to do a black and red theme this year for something different for the dining room Christmas Day and a red and cream theme for the kitchen table for Christmas Eve.  I had made a spiral ham for the first time in years and was nervous I would dry it out but it turned out moist and delicious.  I mixed honey and brown sugar heated together on the stove to make the glaze; a recipe I found from Tricia Yearwood when Thomas googled recipes for “glaze for ham” and then combined half the packet of dry seasoning that came with the ham.  These three ingredients melted together and I basted the ham twice mixing it with the juices at the bottom of the pan.

Thomas is always a huge help during the holidays.  From decorating, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning, we are an awesome team!  We made pierogis together and he made all of the homemade pasta (Fettuccini and Angle Hair) for Christmas day.  We bought a 7 pound rib eye roast which I made with carrots and potatoes.  I made both a red sauce and white sauce and thought I’d share all of these recipes with you.  They are super easy and fast to make.  

Pierogis: 
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup of water
½ teaspoon of salt
Potatoes (it all depends on how many you want to use.  We used almost 5 pounds).  
1 package of grated extra sharp cheese (this all depends on how cheesy you want your potatoes to taste).

Cut and cube the potatoes to boil.  Once boiled and soft, mash and throw in the cheese.  We used a round plastic measuring cup to cut out the circles and filled the middle circle with the cheesy potatoes.  Fold over and seal using a fork on both sides.  Boil until al dente.  We then filled a crockpot with butter and onions for the next day.  The rest were bagged and frozen for another day.  

Pasta:
2 cups of flour
3 eggs
½ teaspoon of salt
We used a Kitchen aide Mixer to pull the pasta through into noodles.  

Red Sauce:
1 24 oz jar of Classico Four Cheese Sauce
1 teaspoon of mashed fresh garlic
1 teaspoon of fresh parsley
1 teaspoon of basil
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Sauté the garlic in olive oil until fragrant, throw in all of your spices and let sit on medium heat for a few minutes.  Add your sauce and cook on low.  

White Sauce:
1 qt of Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 stick of Imperial Butter

Combine all three ingredients together on low to medium heat.  The garlic powder can be added to your liking.  

Roast:
7 pound rib eye roast (without bone)
1 large bag of baby carrots
1 pounds of potatoes
1 shallot
2 32 oz cans of beef broth
1 small jar of Better Than Bouillon (Beef)

Season the meat with salt and pepper.  Add all the ingredients, a cup of water, and cook for approximately 3 hours at 325 degrees or until done.  (use a thermometer and take out when the meat gets to 165 degrees).

Can you believe New Year’s Eve is Sunday night!!!  We have dinner reservations at McCormick and Schmick’s at 4:30 pm for an early dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.  Then we will continue with our tradition of them coming over later to play cards and Dogopoly and enjoying some of our favorite drinks and munchies!  For those of you who have never heard of Dogopoly, it is Monopoly only in a “dog” themed board.  Happy New Year to everyone and wishing all of you a safe and happy holiday.  We will take it easy on the 1st by going to my parent’s house for dinner.  My mother makes the best sauerkraut and kielbasa, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie!!  We’ve made our new year resolutions already!  What are yours?