The Cat That Ruined Christmas

Olive loves the Christmas tree. She zeroed in on it the moment we put it up. Chewed the bottom lights, knocked ornaments off with her paws, chewed on the branches with her pointy teeth. She has ruined the Christmas tree...well the bottom of it at least. Then I finally wrapped a few presents and placed them joyfully under the tree. She saw a white shinny bow and attacked it like a barn cat would a mouse. I should have been more concerned when I saw the world ferrel on her paper. So now the presents are in the closet. I've been humming a tune lately with the lyrics, "The Cat that Ruined Christmas." The best part is we're going to Charlotte for Christmas to stay with Matt's family. I can only imagine what she will do with their tree.

Matt made another amazing meal. I should just give up on cooking. Honestly, I have quit making most of the savory things we eat. We order a meal at The Gulf Rim that has stewed pork, black beans, and sweet potatoes. Matt recreated a vegetarian version of it. Delicious.

Two Saturday's ago it snowed a little, very little, and Olive freaked out. I did too, but only because it was Harry Potter weekend on ABC family, I had been Christmas shopping earlier, and I had tomato soup for lunch, and it felt like a perfect winter day.

Thanksgiving

I was, no I still am, so proud of myself for completing 3 pies in 3 1/2 hours on Thanksgiving day. I'm a slow, drawn out baker and I tend to not completed what I start. But I popped up early that morning determined to get three pies knocked out. It required a lot of thought and planning, which is what I love about baking. I had already made my crust and froze them.

First up was the chocolate custard tart from The Craft of Art and Baking. I was worried at first because the word custard freaks me out. If you cook it too long the delicate texture will curdle and the texture will be like scrambled eggs. If it comes out too early then you've got a runny mess that doesn't slice well. I baked it a little longer than called for, but once the center was set I pulled out a perfectly cooked custard tart. It was dark and rich and one of the best chocolate desserts I've ever had. Next was the apple pie. I used the recipe from Bon Appetit's November 2010 Apple Pie with Oat Struesel.

I loved rolling the oats into the pie crust and the crumb topping was better than a regular pastry crust...in my opinion. It was fun too! Last I made Ruby Bowman's pumpkin pie, which I wrote my very first blog post about. I put too much sugar in it this time, but loved cutting out fall leaves and placing them around the edges. After all my hard work, I caught the tail end of Martha Stewart's Thanksgiving day special where she showed how to correctly crimp a crust. It was a great "Aha!" moment...about three hours too late.

Remembering Granny

My granny passed away Friday night around 11:00 pm in her sleep. She's been longing for her departure for years. Mom's prayer last night was for God to grant her peace and her prayer was answered. The news came as a shock. She has rebounded time and time from news of uncertainty. I thought we were all prepared for her passing, but I bawled upon hearing she had died, mostly out of guilt because I have been so absent from her life and how I could have provided comfort for her. She was skin and bones, but always had her mind and sense of humor, along with her many memorized sayings and songs. The last time we visited she commented on my red shoes, "When I was young I wore red shoes, now I'm old I wear black." That's not exactly how it went, but something like that. Then she laughed.

Memories of her have flooded my mind all day. She taught me how to sew by hand. We used a shirt sleeve that belonged to Poppy, sitting in her kitchen with the setting sun shining through the window. I remember countless stories of her and her childhood, the history of her family, farming, journaling, shoe making, sewing, church going. She was charming, simple, frugal, sentimental, imaginative, and smiling always.

Thoughts about Thanksgiving

Why just have one Thanksgiving? I'm thinking of trying to get together with several people this year and celebrating a few times. Of course the family will get together that evening with mostly traditional fixin's, unless Papa Buck demands BBQ this year. I would ideally like to make the following:An apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate tart...but I think that's a little too much. If I make an apple pie and chocolate tart I'll be happy. I'd also like to do a fresh cranberry chutney.

But I'd love to make exactly what I would like to have for thanksgiving, though that sounds selfish. Maybe friends will be able to get together before or after the holiday and we can do an easy and more relaxed version. Kale and sausage stuffed turkey breast, apple sourdough stuffing, potato and turnip gratin, sauteed green beans and mushrooms. Maybe an apple galette or pumpkin silk pie for dessert.

Can't you tell I'm all wrapped up in holiday cooking shows and magazines? Tonight I made corn bread and sweet potato casserole from Food Network's Thanksgiving issue.

Reasons I'm excited it's November:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out November 18th...holy crap

2. Thanksgiving of course

3. 4 days off from work

4. pies, pies, and more pies

5. Christmas decorations going up...

P.S I'll have to share a really easy recipe for homemade ornaments made with nothing more than apple sauce and cinnamon. Most of my ornaments I made last year and it cost next to nothing.

New Quilt

Yeah...I'm not finished with the first one. 12 more rows of stitching to go before it's complete. I do see the light peering at the end of the tunnel. Of course I get bored and start a new quilt. The thing about quilting is, the longer that blanket sets on your lap, the more you start to regret the colors you picked out, or start to notice how horrible the stitches look. At first you think it's the best thing ever, but then it starts to seem flawed.

My new quilt is a little more exciting. I'm copying the quit from Embroidery Companion by Alicia Paulson (Posie Gets Cozy). Currently I'm embroidering baby farm animals onto 6 pieces of linen. It's an expression of my recent barnyard craze. I found an old book my mom use to read me called Baby Animals. The main character is named Katie and she visits the baby animals around the farm. I also found a set of books about a bear named Patrick. Patrick takes a bath, Patrick Goes Shopping, and Patrick Eats His Dinner. I loved those books! "Nuts!" was my favorite thing Patrick said. I just checked on Amazon and other retailers and the books are going for 75 dollars. Crazy.

School is getting more stressful and taking up more time. The weekends are getting shorter. I think it's time for Christmas break.

A Home

I have been obsessing over trying to find a house to rent or buy. I seriously doubt Matt and I will be approved for any loan, but my head is up in the clouds, and hearing a refusal would probably pop my bubble and send me spinning back down to earth. So Matt and I are of course falling in love with houses daily. I imagine a garden, chickens, a bee hive, flowers, and freshly painted walls. Here are two we would love to live in.

Efland:

http://www.markpreddyteam.com/listing.asp?mlsID=930791

Things I love:

1. The wrap around porch

2. the stair rail that wraps around

3. the five acres of land!

4. the hard wood floor

5. the location

Glencoe Mill Village:

http://www.markpreddyteam.com/listing.asp?mlsID=1742497

Things I love:

1. The awesome open cabinets in the kitchen

2. The two old,claw foot bathtubs, one is even in a bedroom with a wrap around curtain!

3. hard wood floors

4. fireplace

5. it's cheap

I would really be excited if this houses were for rent.

Types of Dairy Goats I want...

Alpine kid. I want it so much!

La Mancha kid. I want it.

Saanen kids. I want them.