Topic: Holidays/Vacations
BooMama is hosting a Christmas Tour of homes today. Go there to peek inside a lot more homes of bloggers!
Welcome to our home. Our welcome bear is dressed for the season.
Our tree, decked out in collected ornaments from our travels, homemade ornaments, snowflakes, snowmen, ribbons and sometimes dried flowers. (I haven't bought any yet this year)
This is my Christmas card station, equipped with all the necessities like stamps, cards, copies of Christmas letter, address books and return address labels. But I also have to have my hot drink and iPod filled with Christmas music. Charles just got the last of almost 200 cards mailed!
Also in the dining room is our Week of Prayer for Foreign Missions prayer guide. Our denomination does a huge prayer and fund raising emphasis for our foreign missionaries in December, so it is a part of our celebration. This year we are praying for missionaries serving in West Africa, where AIDS is ravaging, orphans abound and demon worship is prevelent.
As we pass through the house, don't mind the silly girls on the couch. They are doing 'platypus' lips and we don't want to encourage them. Actually these are some of my favorite decorations, the kids and friends and family who come through our home and the smiles they bring!
This is our first nativity scene. My husband built it out of cedar (leftover scrap wood) from the building of our neighbor's new home in 1985. It was in Oklahoma and the new home was the parsonage, which had been destroyed by a recent tornado. Charles was the youth pastor and we lived next door. We set it out every year.
Thanks for visiting.....grab a peppermint biscotti on your way out...
I had some requests....sorry to not include this before! =)
Biscotti
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Crushed peppermint candy canes
Chocolate chips or candy bar, melted in microwave and put in small ziplok bag with the corner snipped off with scissors.
Preheat oven 325? Cream butter and sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add the peppermint extract. Sift flour, baking powder and salt, add to wet mixture and beat til smooth. Stir in crushed candy canes. On a floured counter, divide the dough in half and roll each half into a long roll, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. Set the rolls on a baking sheet at least 3 inches apart. Bake in the top third of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool the rolls for 5 minutes, slice diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay slices flat on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake another 10 minutes. (I just baked them once for about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack and then drizzle melted chocolate from ziplok bag onto one side of cookie. Cool and store in airtight container.
Enjoy these dipped in coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
by crickl
at 11:01 PM PST
Updated: Fri, Dec 15 2006 9:46 AM PST
Post Comment | View Comments (19) | Permalink | Share This Post
Updated: Fri, Dec 15 2006 9:46 AM PST
Post Comment | View Comments (19) | Permalink | Share This Post
