Decking the Halls: Tree Ornaments

It's late...but Happy Thanksgiving, all!

I am continuously thankful for all 3 of you that continue to read my posts.
But really, I hope that everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving and that you are blessed with much to be thankful for.

In our house, the turkey-day leftovers are still quite abundant - especially in the potato realm. Why are there SO many potatoes left?! I am actually not a huge potato fan - especially in the mashed form. I am a sucker for a potato chip or a potato french fry... but not so much in mashed form. I have also learned that I am not a fan of the sweet potato (or yam). I just completed my first Whole 30 (I know you're SUPER bummed I didn't blog all about that!) and attempted to work sweet potatoes into my eating habits with no luck. Maybe if I had been allowed to cover them in marshmallows I would have been more inclined, but no dice.

Look at all those leftovers!!

Hmm.. weird potato tangent. Anyway... my point is that we are still working on eating up our leftovers from Thanksgiving as we transition into Christmas season - or Advent.  (And, sadly, we're still finishing up Halloween candy! I think these holidays are too close together!)


Yesterday, as many did, we jumped in our truck to brave the cold Oregon weather to go get our Christmas tree. The spouse and I still have many friends and family in California that had a 70+ degree Thanksgiving... not us. I think it is a brisk 30 degrees out as I am typing & we even had a few flurries yesterday as we were tree-hunting. True winter weather. But we couldn't wait another until another day to get our tree.

As I started to decorate our tree, I started looking through all our ornaments and trying to remember where we had found each ornament, or who had given it to us. Too many times I have skipped over all of the memories & sentiments of our ornament collection - but now my son is starting to understand more about Christmas and the traditions that are such a big part of the meaning of this season, I find myself dwelling over each ornament and its story.

A few to share.

This is the Christmas Pickle. Does your family have a Christmas Pickle? As the history goes, an ornament in the shape of a pickle (so it's not just a clever name) is hidden on the tree and the finder of the pickle is said to be rewarded with a prosperous year. Lucky for me, since I am the one who places the pickle on the tree, I am usually the first to find it... one prosperous year after another.

This little frame was the ornament I bought the first Christmas after we got married. It doesn't need much explanation - it's one of my favorite pictures from our big day. Bonus - the spouse looks like a Beatle.
(Apologies for it being sort of fuzzy...)

The soccer-playing penguin. This ornament is the Spouse's. I decided to include it for 3 reasons: 1. his mom gave it to him when he was in college, 2. it has survived this long and 3. I like this one better than the Ninja Turtle ornament, which was the other option.

I bought this Sparkle Acorn last year for our first Christmas in Portland. Simple and sparkly - just like me.

Finally, this ornament was given to us by my mother-in-law last year. She always gets us these cute personalized ornaments every year.  This one is one of my favorites.

What are your favorite ornaments? And what fun stories do they tell?

I'm excited to keep growing our collection with new ornaments and new memories. I know, I sound like a silly Hallmark commercial, but it's true.

Stay tuned for my next posts: Why Everything Must Sparkle and How Many Lights Can We Possibly Put Up?


XOXO
Amy

Labor Day Camping - Trout Creek

For Labor Day in Portland, we did what a vast number of Pacific North-Westerners do and went camping. Thanks to a friendly post over at Good Stuff NW we decided to try out Trout Creek in the Willamette National Forest. 

We were very pleased with our choice. We had a nice big site with easy creek access, close to the bathrooms & close to the water pumps.

Trout Creek campground is located about 20 miles east of Sweet Home - far enough away from civilization that you feel like you're off the grid (umm.. no cell reception!) but close enough to a town that when you run out of beer and milk you can run to Safeway and back within an hour or so.

Everyone had a great time. Drew enjoyed mucking about in the sand and dirt, Zoey enjoyed jumping around in the creek (also mucking about in the sand and dirt), Mom & Dad enjoyed stolen moments of peace and quiet around the campfire at night. Our good friend, Kaija & her frenchie, Dash, joined in the festivities as well. 

Below are just a spattering of pictures from our weekend. 

We highly recommend Trout Creek for anyone looking for a good family camp ground in the PDX area. However, I am keeping our site number top secret so it doesn't all-of-a-sudden become the most popular. Sorry, guys... have to protect treasures!  

Drew.. dressed by his dad.. checking out the creek.

Zoey - swimming like a champ!

Drew and Zo

Drew in the creek

Dash!

Drew & Dad 

Not sure if you can see Drew in this picture since he is wearing 2 different camo
prints - he blends in pretty well. 

More cute Drew & Dad. Dad was explaining that Drew needed to
take the rocks slow & carefully since they can be super slippery. Drew did pretty well!

Kaija & Dashy

Someone came before us & put up these cool cairns.
I'm hoping they really weren't using them to mark their path since Drew
immediately knocked them down. 

My camp banner!

Open-Flame Cooking Champ: Dad!

Kaija & Drew posing for Instagram selfies - they turned out really cute

My selfie - just to prove I was there

Drew's version of a silly face
(we have some work to do on this!)

Being silly...

Zo & Dashy had a great time playing

XOXO

Lepper Colony Etsy Shop

It is official - I am a shop!

I opened my Etsy shop last week and it has been going so well - I made 3 sales within my first few days!

I currently only have a few things on my site but I am bound and determined to fill it up with awesomeness as soon as I can.

I pinky-promise that I will not incessantly post updates on my shop or its contents but I couldn't help but announce it's birthday.

Feel free to stop by... here is the address: Lepper Colony Etsy Shop

And... here are a few items currently in there. More to come... Promise. I love holidays so there will always be holiday goodies available!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Christmas Cookies: Ginger Snaps with White Chocolate

One of the big holiday traditions in my house growing up was Christmas cookies. My mom would bake at least 10 different kinds of cookies and we would eat them through out the holiday season. It was always fun to have all the different options to choose from for assuaging my cookie cravings. (If you didn't know, I have a pretty sizable sweet tooth.) I love to bake but can never seem to get my act together to bake that many cookies. Plus, I am not sure I need that many cookies in my house or else it could be bye-bye waistline! (or maybe it is "hello, bigger waistline?")

Every year I am invited to at least one cookie exchange and this year, for the first one, I made Ginger Snaps with a White Chocolate Drizzle. I like ginger snaps because they are very "Christmasy" and also fairly simple to make.

I apologize for a lack of photos but I had this really cute & helpful sous chef assisting me and he was not favorable to me stopping to take pictures.

It is always better with help. Especially help wearing a cute owl apron.

 Baking, baking, baking...

 Cooling, cooling, cooling...

The finished product - how festive!

I have to say, adding a simple drizzle of chocolate to things makes it that much better. 

Plus, everyone is impressed by it! 

Ginger Snaps with White Chocolate Drizzle

Source Unknown

Ingredients

1 cup - packed brown sugar

3/4 cup - vegetable oil

1/4 cup - molasses

1 egg

2 cup - all-purpose flour

2 tsp - baking soda

1/4 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - ground cloves

1 tsp - ground cinnamon

1 tsp - ground ginger

1/3 cup - white sugar (for decoration)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar, oil, molasses & egg. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon & ginger. Stir into the molasses mixture.

Roll dough into 1-1/4 inch balls; roll each ball in white sugar before placing onto baking sheets 2" apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until center is a bit firm to the touch & edges are slightly dark. Cool completely on wire racks. 

Place waxed paper underneath the wire racks. In a plastic decorator's bag (or sandwich bag), melt white chocolate (chips or chopped bark) in the microwave on half-power for about 2 minutes, checking the chocolate every 30 seconds to avoid over-cooking. When chocolate is soft & melted, snip about 1/4" off the tip of the bag (or corner if using a sandwich bag) and quickly drizzle over cooled cookies. 

Let chocolate set for at least 10 minutes. Serve or store in air-tight container for 3-5 days.

Merry Christmas!

Best Christmas Movies Ever!

My husband and I agree that Christmas is one of the best seasons of the year. He loves the weather, I love sweaters and boots. The food is more fun. People are more pleasant. There lights and sparkles on everything. *Sigh* How can you not just love it?!

And there are Christmas movies. 

Many blogs I read are benevolently providing their readers with gift guides - I am not that resourceful so I am providing you with my list of the top 10 Christmas Movies... in my opinion. 

#10: White Christmas

I think this is almost necessary to have on this list just because it is the iconic Christmas movie. It is a good story, however. And the best part is that the housekeeper is also the Sister Mary Lazarus from Sister Act. Yesss.

 #9: Just Friends

Not technically a Christmas movie but it is set at Christmas time and is hilarious. 

Notable Scenes: Anna Faris eating a tube of toothpaste while on painkillers; the interaction between Ryan Reynolds' character and his brother; the mom. Funny stuff.

#8: Mickey's Christmas Carol

A childhood favorite of mine. My friend, Marina, and I must have watched this movie about a million times. The birthplace of Scrooge McDuck. 

#7: Home Alone

This is just classic - all the pranks young Master Culkin plays on the unsuspecting burglars - oh, so funny. This is Daniel Stern at his finest. Plus, I love Catherine O'Hara, too. 

#6: Holiday Inn

Probably one of my all-time favorite classic films anyway, but it also works as one of my top Christmas movies. Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire - so good. Notable scenes: anything with Mamie the housekeeper and her kids ("Is you name Miss Linda?). Quality film-making.

#5: Love Actually

Such a cute story - very touching and gives hope to the love-lorn everywhere. Plus Rowan Atkinson is in it. 

#4: Scrooged

If you haven't noticed yet, I like funny movies. This is a classic, funny movie. Bill Murray is so funny as the "Scrooge" character. Karen Kane is the best Ghost of Christmas Present that there ever has been. If you haven't seen this, rent it (or whatever the kids do these days... stream it? download it? Ugh, I'm old.) You won't be sorry.

#3: Better off Dead

OK, so technically not a Christmas movie BUT has some of the best Christmas scenes E-V-E-R! 

Example 1: Teaching the French exchange student about Christmas. Cha-ris-muus... 

Example 2: The mom. She dresses up as a reindeer. She gives frozen TV dinners as gifts. She makes jackets out of aardvarks. We should all be so lucky to have her for a mom. 

#2: Christmas Vacation

In my opinion, probably the 2nd best in the Vacation series after the original. 

Why is the carpet wet, Todd? I don't know, Margo. 

Drum Roll......

#1: Elf

SANTAAA - I know him!

Oh, he's an angry elf.

I'm singing, I'm in a store and I'm singing.

I'm just a cotton-headed ninny muggin.

Syrup in coffee - why didn't I think of that?

There is no Christmas movie better than Elf. 

Again - these are my opinions. When I told my list to my husband he was not happy that A Christmas Story was missing from the list. Or A Muppet Christmas Carol. I am not saying these other movies are not good - they're just not my faves. 

Enjoy your holidays - and check out some of these films - you'll be pleased. 

Merry Christmas!

May the Fourth be with you...

Get it? Like May the Force be with you..? Force.. Fourth... Ha.ha.ha.


If you haven't guessed, May 4th is Star Wars Day. Admittedly, I am not a big Star Wars fan but I couldn't pass up the chance to make cupcakes with pictures of Yoda on them. I was going to try to actually create Yoda on each cupcake but I didn't prepare well enough & didn't have anything to make his ears out of. 


For next year I am already brainstorming ways to do Princess Leia using Oreos as her buns. Yes.....


Ok... so I didn't know what flavor they would have eaten in Star Wars... so I decided to make a simpel Chai Spice cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting. The original idea was to dye the frosting green, like Yoda. But then my sous chef found a container of green sugar and after much deliberating we decided to change course and just use the colored sugar instead.


Then we decided that festive cup cake toppers were a must. 

Happy Star Wars Day, everyone!

Chai Spice Mixture (adapted from Dessert First)

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamon

Combine the spices together in a small bowl.

Chai Cupcakes (adapted from Dessert First)

Makes about 36 mini cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons chai spice mixture
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg plus 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a mini muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Stir in the chai spice mixture.

Cream the butter and sugar together with mixer on medium speed until soft and creamy.

Add in egg and egg whites, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition to combine before adding the next.

Add in the flour mixture and milk mixture in three alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat just to combine each addition before adding the next.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full with batter. Bake in oven for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the cupcakes comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool in tin on a wire rack until cool before decorating.

Note: These cupcakes are super light & airy. It is best not to over-fill the cups or you could end up breaking the cupcake top if over-handled once it comes out of the oven.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

• 8 oz block cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• (Optional: 1/2 tsp vanilla)

Beat cream cheese with mixer on medium until smooth – about 1-2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar. Beat until completely mixed. Mix in vanilla, if desired. 

Cheers to the cook!

(and Happy Birthday, Mom!!)

Thanksgiving in Cal City

My husband's family has a tradition of going camping & dirt bike riding for the Thanksgiving holiday - this year was our year to go with them. Drew had just learned to walk right before Thanksgiving (luckily!) and had a great time exploring new terrain - literally. Plus, as a bonus, he went on his first quad ride with Dad. I can't quite tell by the big smile on his face, but we might have a future dirt bike rider on our hands!

Guest appearances: Melissa, Roger, Roxy the dog

Better Late than Never....

Slightly delayed but sincere, none-the-less...

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All...

photo credit: Ericka G. Photography

Herding Cats...

Trying to get 4 kids between the ages of 10 and 6 months to sit and smile for a photo is apparently impossible while at the zoo... 

So much for a nice Mother's Day Commemorative Photo.