Moist poppyseed bread, along with a side of sausage balls, will always remind me of Christmas morning breakfast. For years my mother has made this recipe given to us by our friend Rosemary and we think it is exceptional. If you need a Christmas breakfast idea that you can prepare ahead of time - or a last-minute gift for some friends, this is the way to go!
This time I didn't have quite enough poppyseeds, but since they don't provide a taste of their own, really, it all turned just fine. =)
3 eggs 2 ½ c. sugar 1 ½ c. milk (I did half skim milk; half heavy cream) 1 ¼ c. canola oil 1 Tbsp. poppyseeds 1 ½ tsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. salt 1 ½ tsp. vanilla (or vanilla bean paste) 1 ½ tsp. almond flavoring 3 c. all-purpose flour Glaze: ¾ c. sugar ¼ c. orange juice ½ tsp. vanilla (or vanilla bean paste) ½ tsp. almond flavoring 2 Tbsp. butter Cream eggs and sugar. Add milk and remaining ingredients for bread. The batter will be somewhat thin. Grease and flour loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour 10 minutes for 2 large loaves; 50 minutes for 4 medium loaves; or 35 minutes for 6 small loaves. Watch closely, though – don’t let the outside edges get too brown. Administer the toothpick test to check doneness. Better to err on the side of "almost done." Glaze: Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Make LOTS of holes with toothpick while bread is still warm. You want to give the glaze plenty of places to seep in. Pour warm glaze over warm bread. Cool completely before storing.
P.S. Before I go, I have a few more songs to make your Christmas merry! I just love Mindy Smith's Christmas album, but these are probably my three favorites. I'm pretty sure that all three are original to her - and I'm crossing my fingers that she releases another Christmas album sometime. She's just GOOD at it.
I would be extremely remiss if I never mentioned anything here about the song "White Christmas" during this festive holiday season. The reason is that it was always my grandmother's favorite song...and although I think of her often throughout the year, I think of her even more during this time of year, when this song is sung and played and hummed, in all of its varieties.
My mother's mother was an excellent Christian woman, a warm, soft-spoken, and very kind lady...a true First Lady of Freed-Hardeman University for many years. One could not dare to dream up a better grandmother - she, along with my Grandaddy, always took great care of our family, buying gifts we would each truly enjoy, cooking things specifically for a certain set of tastebuds. She always made sure to have macaroni and cheese on hand for Bennett, our picky eater. She always baked apricot turnovers (a recipe that's certainly an act of love) for my cousin Nick when he was here - and she always sent the requisite pigs-in-a-blanket back home with these Arkansas grandkids. I'm pretty sure they never lasted even halfway back to Hot Springs.
My grandmother was an incredible hostess - so organized, so busy. She was forever ready for visitors and excited for a party. Especially at Christmas. I remember the embroidered red Christmas placemats and the tabletop ceramic Christmas trees. I remember the bustle of her kitchen, now our kitchen, because we now live in my grandparents' house. Last year when Jeremy wrapped our white porch columns with red ribbon, it made me feel so at home to remember my grandparents' house looking just so this time every year.
Just a dusting of snow...
A new wreath on the side door!
With a definite fondness, I can stand in any room in our home and "see" memories playing out. Our kitchen doorway, which now houses a newly made wreath, reminds me of a Santa face that my grandparents used to hang there when the youngest grandchildren still "believed" in him. It had a big red nose that Madi, who is now close to graduating high school, joyfully pressed over and over again to hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
Downstairs we often cuddled up together on couches, snacking on Aunt Claudia's Chex mix and my mother's fudge, and watched our favorite Christmas movies - "White Christmas" and "Christmas in Connecticut" and "Ernest Saves Christmas" being at the top of the list. I know, we're nothing if not eclectic. There were the usual arguments over who got what blanket and "please-sit-up-so-more-people-can-fit-on-the-couch" pleas. My grandmother always fell asleep before the end of the movie, though. We all teased her then and now many of us are just like her. =)
Our little Tennessee town didn't see much snow during my growing up years. In fact, I got a sled for my 12th birthday and then never got to use it. During the last few years, though, our area has had more snow than I've ever seen in person! It's been so beautiful...and my grandmother would have LOVED it. Her love of Bing's version of "White Christmas" was always a grand wish for a white blanket of snow to magically appear over our hometown.
Nowadays things are different - but still the same - for our family during Christmas. Our beloved mother and grandmother has been gone for nine years now, but we still carry on the traditions that she held dear. We are always together at Grandaddy's new house at Christmastime, eating and playing cards and watching Christmas movies, and we have at least one meal at our house, their old house, while everyone is in town.
Grandaddy "getting the dread off his mind." =)
My mom and Aunt Pat getting ready for Christmas lunch
at Larry and Becky's
My cousin Adam, last year's present-giver-outer
Aunt Claudia, the bringer of the hats, and Grandaddy
The grandkids with Grandaddy: Nick, me, Beth,
Adam, Madi, and Bennett
You have no idea what an funny ordeal this picture was!
We think of my grandmother often...and remember her hospitality and her meals and her laugh and her general joyous demeanor. We miss her, but in our own ways, I think we each strive to be like her. I'm definitely lacking in her superb organizational skills, but I am proud to say that I was able to inherit her love of entertaining and cooking. I want to be just like her when I grow up. =) As do we all.
Merry Christmas to each of you! And here's hoping for a White One!
Of course I love the traditional Christmas songs, but I also totally enjoy hunting down some newer, completely original stuff to add to my stash. There's a lot of junk out there, it seems, and I am pretty picky. I mean, it has to actually be GOOD. This song is one I found on iTunes a few days ago. So cute and upbeat and fresh and still incredibly Christmasy.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you're good (and, you know, Santa IS watching) I might just tell you about the recipe for Pomegranate Fudge cookies, pictured above. They were pretty marvelous.
This Christmas tree makes me giddy. I think it's beautiful, but not just because of the colors or the sparkles, though those are enough to induce giddiness themselves. The memories that each ornament sparks make trimming our tree an entirely pleasant occasion.
But first...the tree itself. Growing up, my parents always, always bought a live tree, a Fraser fir, every December. The shape was attractive and the scent was heavenly. But my mother likes an enormous amount of little lights on her tree...I mean, each branch was wrapped. Each. Branch. Was. Wrapped. It took a looong time and luckily, I was always excused because she thought it might "get my allergies going." I am still thankful for that! But all I wanted was to get in there and put the ornaments on and what in the world was taking so long???
Somewhere along the way, when I was almost grown, she finally gave in to the siren call of the pre-lit tree...and has never looked back. And although I always said that I would have live trees when I had my own house, well, a trip to Target four-ish years ago changed all that. Due to a mislabeling incident, I lucked out with paying only $50.00 for the tree. This big, tall, realistic-looking tree! That would have been at least $300.00! I couldn't believe it. So, obviously, it was meant to go home with me and be my tree. It did and we have been very happy together. We're even happier because I get to burn my Yankee Candle What's My Pine soy candle (purchased much cheaper at TJMaxx) to get that delightful fresh-tree scent.
The ornaments that are pulled out, carefully unwrapped, and placed on this tree are the next layer of sweetness. My mother had the great foresight to start my collection of ornaments from each of our travels through the years. I am highly trained in this endeavor and I am very picky. There will be no vague ornaments, such as a pair of flip flips sporting a tiny plaque reading "Charleston, SC." Oh, no. Yes, I admit - the beachy themes are cute, but they can be found at any beach. I need a little more creativity. I ask a lot of my travel ornaments.
A thistle from Scotland
A scottie dog, also from, well, Scotland
Niagara on the Lake
Charleston in the foreground, Venice in the background
Biltmore Estate
My mother was in an ornament swap for many years. Both my dad and I have also, unofficially, been a part of the swap because we, too, have spent hours in planning, consultation, and construction of the ornaments each year. We are all partly sad but partly relieved that my mother gave up the swap a few years ago. It takes a great deal of time, but we do have an enormous amount of beautiful and unique handmade ornaments to show for our trouble.
I have quite a few of these on our tree - not only one each of the ones we constructed but also because I worked for the husband of another lady in the swap. Ms. Hope has always made extra ornaments to give away as gifts and I have often been one of the lucky recipients. One year I saw a very familiar homemade ornament at my dentist's office. I kid you not. Right then and there I knew that Ms. Hope also went to this same dentist - and I also knew she was Superwoman. Well, I had already known that, but this confirmed it. =)
There are quite a lot of ornaments that were part of my life before Jeremy entered the picture, but now we are collecting them together. I don't know if he's as excited about it as I am, but deep down, I think he approves. Deep, deep down.
My friend and former roommate Rachelle gave me these as a present a couple of years ago. Or last year? It all runs together. Anyway, Jeremy hung these this year and I thought it was so cute that he hung them this close together. I mean, I would have hung them "together," but more along the lines of being five inches apart. You know the rules. Hanging them so close to each other was surprising and sweet. =)
Now for our recipe. If you live in Tennessee, you need to know about Demo's. It's our very favorite restaurant, but there's not even one near us. But when we travel, we scheme up ways to make a stop there, usually in downtown Nashville - but sometimes Murfreesboro. There's also one in Lebanon, where his brother lives. (Come to think of it, we need to visit them more often.) And I believe there's one in Florence, AL. We haven't tried that one yet, but we need to add it to the list.
Demo's is an family-owned Italian steakhouse. But it's just more than that. You can even get chicken salad served in a pineapple half. And everything I've ever had there is incredibly delicious and plenteous. And not expensive! It's so, so good. The restaurants are pretty large, which is good because there is always a crowd. It's got brickwork inside and pretty gas lanterns, both of which I am a huge sucker for.
Jeremy almost always gets the chicken alfredo. I usually alternate between the garlic brown butter spaghetti (the menu notes it's "why Doris married Jim" - and I think it's totally a legitimate reason to marry someone) or the chicken salad. Whatever you get, you have the option for soup or salad. I always, always get the baked chicken soup. Because it's awesomely delicious. With the primary insights from my friend Heather (who is a lucky girl to live near a Demo's in Lebanon) I came up with the following recipe, which tastes almost exactly like the real thing. The lemon juice is the key. It was such an exciting discovery! Especially since the recipe is incredibly simple. Merry Christmas to me!
5-6 cups chicken broth (or more, if desired)
3 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups Minute white rice
2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in cold water
2 cups cooked chicken (more chicken than theirs has - already had it cooked/frozen. Also, mine was chopped in chunks; theirs is sliced)
juice of one large fresh lemon, or to taste
Italian spices, to taste (I used garlic powder, dried basil, thyme, oregano, poultry seasoning, and cumin)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup milk or half & half
Heat up chicken broth in stockpot. Dissolve butter, once broth is warm enough. Add rice (must be minute rice to cook quickly) - cover pot to bring to a boil. Keep boiling for another minute or two and then uncover and reduce heat to medium to add cornstarch (already dissolved in cold water), cooked chicken, and fresh lemon juice, starting with juice from just one half. You want to taste the brightness from the lemon without it becoming a "lemon soup." I played with the spices also...if you are doing the separate spices, as I did, give a generous sprinkling of each and adjust after tasting the soup. Add the salt and pepper, also testing to make sure the rice is done. You may simmer the soup for a bit and then add the milk or half & half to heat through just before serving. A green salad and cheesy bread (just like at Demo's) would be a wonderful way to round out this meal.
This is naturally a thin, brothy soup. I found that the soup thickened up considerably once cooled - since the rice soaked up more of the liquid. In reheating the next day, I added more chicken broth and a little more spices and lemon juice to thin it again.
And last of all...I promised you a song. All month I plan to be sharing my most favorite Christmas songs and this is one of those. I have fallen in love with it just this year. Brand new stuff from Dave Barnes...it may take a few seconds but it'll load. =)
First of all, thank you all for reading my Autumnal Cheer series - I'm not quite done with it...meaning, there's been no fall recipes yet! But I just have twenty gazillion other things I want to share with you, too. And really, the time to pick your photo Christmas cards is planted firmly in the fall. If you wait too late, well, you'll be sorry.
Or not. Because you can do New Year's cards. I mean, who is expecting THAT?! Really. It's been done by yours truly right after we got married two years ago and they had snowflakes and wedding pictures and it was incredibly cute, even if I do say so myself. =)
Well, I found out this awesome promotion from Shutterfly from my friend Becky's blog and I had to jump on it! Here's the sequence of events...(Edited because I made an error - it's 50 free cards, not $50 in free cards. Still awesome.)
2. You get an email back that tells you exactly what to do, which involves blogging about the completely adorable Shutterfly photo holiday cards and then submitting your blog post.
3. THEN you'll get a special code emailed to you that awards you 50 FREE Christmas cards! If I could capitalize numbers, I would. Wait, here - FIFTY FREE Christmas cards!
That there is a good marketing plan. Excellent job, Shutterfly. I'm sold.
Now comes the part where I talk about how cute their cards are. Seriously, no one would have to twist my arm to get me to tell you that they are adorable. FREE cards or not. I love, love all the variety and the only problem I'm gonna have is deciding which card to actually design and send! See, we just got back from Savannah, GA, and I have thoughts in my head of which pictures would go best on our Christmas card. We took some beachy pictures where we turned that whole "white shirt, khaki shorts" thing on its head! We both wore BLUE. (Take that, stereotypical beach pictures!) And so I'm thinking that I need to find a card with some pretty blue in it to tie it all together. I took a gander at their card selection yesterday and there were plenty cards-involving-blue for me to choose from. And I want it to actually say "Merry Christmas!" on it. But after that, I'm going to have quite a time deciding if I want it more elegant, more trendy, or more just-plain-cute. (Check out those links I just slipped in there.)
Help! This could take awhile. But I love this kind of thing, so I'm totally O.K. with that. =)
And if you are a busy bee this year yourself, don't forget the whole New Year's card idea. Look how cute these are!
Get to it, fellow bloggers! And if you don't blog, well, you can still make use of Shutterfly's huge selection of holiday cards. They're super cute and there are, like, seven hundred something to choose from.
And since I've already been listening to Christmas music for well over a month now (I'm totally fine with overlapping seasons), here's a little happy for you. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs ever...Sarah McLachlan's version is perfection. Enjoy!
So, a couple of my friends have gotten married lately and my cousin is getting married in a few days, so weddings have been back on the brain. While a good elopement has its place (amen!), that doesn't exactly make for good blog postings...we're going to talk weddings. These southern weddings have been beautiful, even during the stifling weather. (And boy, has it ever been stifling! We've finally gotten a little reprieve and it's been more than delightful.)
Our friends Nicole and Michael got married on July 31st. He got her flowers for their one-month anniversary...isn't that cute? Love it. There was this one time that we had Nicole and Michael over to eat dinner and we talked wedding plans all evening. We consoled them when there were some things they couldn't agree over. And we all realized that Nicole and I are pretty alike...and Jeremy and Michael are pretty alike. It was a little scary and a lot hilarious. Then I served everyone peanut butter pie and promptly found out that Michael hates peanut butter. But that's neither here nor there. Let's get back to weddings!
One thing I always look forward to in weddings is the music. Do you know how hard it is to pick the right music for your wedding??! Really. I mean, if you want something a little non-traditional anyway...as in, not an organ-heavy rendition of the wedding march. I spent hours on the music for our own wedding. And I know Nicole and Michael did the same. There were some songs I hadn't heard before and then I ended up loving! And that's always happy to me. Especially since the songs will always remind me of their wedding.
This is one of those...I think it's super beautiful and romantic and perfect for a wedding! The first time I heard this song, it was in the movie Hope Floats way back in whatever-year-that-was. Don't judge me, but I really disliked that movie. It was sooo depressing. And I generally love Sandra Bullock - she's funny and brilliant! And I love Harry Connick Jr. - he's dreamy with a remarkable singing voice. BUT. This movie did not showcase any of that for me. It was O.K. for a one-time viewing, but I've never been able to stomach it again. Wait...how did a bad movie review highjack Nicole and Michael's wedding post?
Ooops. Moving on...
Oh, dear, one more thing. This version (by Adele) of Make You Feel My Love outshines Garth Brooks' version from Hope Floats. There, I'm done. I hope.
To make up for all that pent-up negativity, I will post some lovely pictures from the wedding. ;)
These were so different and cool-looking.
Absolutely loved ALL of the flowers!
A very natural shot of the groom. Probably checking
some sports scores...
Are these not gorgeomous??
The bride wore green shoes. =)
"Back UP! You're totally crowding me."
Just kidding. Kristi-the-photographer is pretty laid back.
And her pictures are way better than these.
Coordinator Betsy threatening the bride to cool down...
or ELSE.
My friend Nicole is funny.
She ALWAYS makes me laugh.
The sun was in all of their faces, but I like to think of it as
God blessing their union.
Cake!
This dude had a cool hat.
And despite the heat, Nicole got to have the
outside reception she'd always imagined.
Love you guys! And I'm so glad I got to have a part in your special day!!
Yesterday was my dad's birthday. Aw, just forget I said dad...it is ALWAYS going to be Daddy. =) Anyway, we are having his family birthday party tonight at our house! It's going to be fun times, as usual. I love a good party and I especially love getting together with the fam! In honor of his special day (well, really, I advocate at least a special week...stretching all the way towards a month) I am posting a song that will forever remind me of him. No matter what - because it's one of the songs he used to sing and play guitar to when I was little.
I downloaded this version of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head awhile back because the song itself reminded me of my childhood....and eating banana sandwiches up in the attic with my daddy. We dined in the attic that day while my mom was gone because we could hear the rain better. It's such a nice memory for me.
Ben Folds Five creates an excellent version in their own right. I reeeally enjoy it. One very cool thing about this particular video is that the songwriter, Burt Bacharach, is there onstage with the band. This guy wrote a TON of good stuff back in the day. Click on his name up there and it'll take you to his Wikipedia page. I'm impressed.
Enjoy! And if you see my dad today, tell him Happy Birthday. Even if it's a day late. We're still celebrating. =)
This week has been crazy busy! I only have time for the shortest of short posts today...but wanted to share some music that I've been listening to as I check things off my list. I really enjoy The Weepies in general, but this song - A Painting by Chagall - in particular. It's lovely and upbeat with specific imagery. Happy! And I looked up Chagall, as I was not familiar with him, though I might have heard his name in passing. Here's a painting of his...
Appropriately enough, it's named Lovers and Flowers. Goes along with our song, I must say. =)
I loved Ingrid Michaelson before the Old Navy commercials featured The Way I Am. And while I don't blindly adore every single song she ever writes/performs (I don't really love Be O.K. - I admit it), there are many, many good...no, great...ones that I keep coming back to. Like this one: Giving Up. I like that there's a twist to it. Like you thiiink it's gonna mean she's giving up on the relationship. But no. She's giving up on "greener grasses" and other such things - because she's going to do whatever it takes to make the relationship work. There's one line in it that just gets me every time. Can anyone guess what it is? Step right up and make your guesses now!
Now, Ingrid didn't write this one, but I am very, very fond of her version of Can't Help Falling in Love With You. Nothing against Elvis...I am fond of him, too. I just wanted something different for our wedding. And this was it. This was the song that the bridesmaids walked down to. And it was perfect. =)
Another one that has always struck a chord with me is Breakable. I really enjoy exploring Ingrid's lyrics...there's lots of layers in music and the words are such a distinguishing factor for me. I can reeeally like the sound of a song and listen to it over and over...until I finally realize what the song is really about or that the lyrics are ridiculously unoriginal...and then never want to hear it again. I hate when that happens. Or I can finally realize what a song is really about and become even more enamored with it. I love when that happens! Breakable is one of those that I liked alot...and then grew to love because of what it meant. Even though it's sad. Be warned.
Moving on from Ingrid...I discovered Mindy Smith a few years back because of her spectacular Christmas album (seriously, download it now so you'll have it ready in December...or September if you're one of those people). And I found that I really liked some (not all) of her other stuff, too. Especially Tennessee. What a beautiful song! I don't think she was the one who wrote it, but that's quite alright. To me, it belongs to her.
You might have heard of Sara Bareilles. She's pretty great. I don't think I've ever heard this song on the radio, though...not that I listen to the radio neeeearly as much as I used to, though, so I mighta missed it. Anyway, Gravity is a beautifully sad song and totally relatable for an extremely high number of people, I would think. I remember feeling that way myself, way back when...whew! Glad that's over!
Alright, you've probably heard of Colbie Caillat. Love lots and lots of her stuff...and just her sound in general. Very mellow. This song - Stay With Me - is super nice and it keeps me on my toes because I can't quite figure it out. I don't know if she's talking about a romantic relationship or just a strong friendship. I'm leaning toward the friendship angle. What think you?
One more: This one doesn't particularly fit with the rest of them, but I just think this song is so stinkin' cute. I want to pinch its little cheeks, it's so cute. You almost want to shake the guy for being so oblivious, but again, it's cute, so you end up forgiving him. The guy singing is Chris Rice and I have not explored many of his musical offerings because the little iTunes song samples didn't grab me like this one song. Oh, well. Maybe I'm missing out? I'll look into it further. Meanwhile, check out this little gem: When Did You Fall?
P.S. If you don't know Grooveshark, here is a quick lesson. You can click on any of my links of the song titles and it'll take you to a cool little website that plays whole (not just snippets) of songs. They pay the artists for how many times their songs are played. So, you're welcome, Ingrid and Mindy and Sara and Colbie and Chris. =) Live long and prosper!
Two posts in one day?? This one'll be a super short one, I promise. Just wanted to share some new music (or new to me) with you. And I'm playing with Grooveshark - saw it on another blog...we'll see if it'll work for me.
I have downloaded some Missy Higgins songs lately and am really enjoying her sound and her songwriting. This song I love...and the words are perfect. It's happy! Steer - Missy Higgins
Also, I'm loving this one from Ben Rector - Hank. It's a collection of some great and clever thoughts directed from an uncle to his young nephew.
I'm not sure how I happened upon this one, but I waffle between loving the sound of it and thinking she needs to snag a copy of "He's Just Not Into You." What think you? Angel Taylor - Chai Tea Latte'
Never heard of Steve Moakler until a few weeks back, but I like his stuff...especially this song. It's so...so descriptive of how many people feel about wanting/not wanting to tell someone that they...gasp!...love them, L-U-V. Yikes! Check it out: Hesitate
I'll leave you with a song I discovered a few years back - and have felt adoringly toward it ever since. Nickel Creek has some beautiful songs in general, but this song touches me EVERY single time I hear it. How many times can we compare ourselves to that guy Thomas - the one who is known for doubting? I feel sorry for him sometimes, but really, I'm secretly glad that he showed his humanity. He touched Jesus' side...and he believed. And that is the important part. Now...listen: Doubting Thomas
My life is a work in progress, which is how I think God intended it to be. I love spending time with my husband Jeremy and am trying every day to be a good Christian wife. I am totally intrigued with cooking (especially baking) and enjoy feeding family and friends. I appreciate symmetry and design; correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation; and lovely harmonies in music. I feel more than kindly toward helpful people and strive to be one also. I adore laughing. I'm terribly glad I'm not colorblind. I like to be positive.
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