Homecooked Holidays

At 11:59 this evening the winter holidays will all be over.
Thank goodness.
Once again silver and gold turmoil made it’s decent upon my house two weeks earlier than most. Hanukkah, while less publicized than it’s Christmas cousin, comes with all the same work.

Our home has hosted 4 major dinners since Thanksgiving.
Turkey, of course with all the trimmings.
Hanukkah tried my hand at, short-ribs, latkes and kugel, apple-pear sauce and roasted winter veggies. This year included parsnips for the first time – yummmm.
A visit from the hub’s family brought grandma Moppy and good southern comfort foods. Fried pork chops with gravy, mashed potatoes and roasted green beans.

The girls and I continued our annual tamale and bloody mary tradition. 300 red-chili tamales later I bet you can guess what we ate for Christmas Eve with the in-laws. Homemade tacos, beans, rice, chili-con-queso and yes tamales.

Christmas night inspired a new tradition.  Like all good Jewish families, we ordered in Chinese.  I could not eat another tamale or cook another meal.

Tonight we will end the year with great friends, a few martinis and whole lot of Scrabble. I’m told there will be PrimeRib. Honestly as long as I don’t have too cook it, I don’t care. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

Tags: Christmas, food, holidays

Handmade and Heartfelt

Somewhere between cooking and hosting, visiting and decorating, I managed to turn out a majority of handmade holiday gifts. I truly tried my best to either make our families offerings or buy from local independently owned shops.

For all the Grandmas…  Scrapbooks filled with pictures of the kid playfully mounted to an assortment of his school projects. This was the second year for this type of gift and they love seeing him grow and his artwork progress with the year. It also relieves me of the guilt of discarding mini-masterpieces.

For my Mom… A three-dimensional wall collage of four generations of women. My Great Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and Me. A camera strap for her prized SLR made from a pattern I purchased from OneSweetPattern.Etsy. Also a semi-collaged journal filled with hand-drawings and collected ephemera to inspire her to write.

Moppy and Mrs. Ibarra received appliquéd dishtowels, matching napkins and placements to match.

My Father-In-Law(s) got tamale baskets with homemade salsa.

Boxes of Mexican wedding cookies traveled from my oven to Texas as a thank you for friends.

And pj’s for all the kiddos. Pink fishy flannel and orange polka dots for the girl, firedogs, fighter planes and pirates for the boy.

Last, a trip to the pottery shop for a personally painted coffee-mug for Pop-Pop.

Tags: Christmas, gifts, holidays

We need a little Hanukkah…

If you have never shopped for them, you wouldn’t be aware of the atrocity that is store-bought Hanukkah decorations.  Cheap, plastic, gaudy and not at all in the endearing way Christmas kitsch can be.

After scouring all my favorite shops online and otherwise, I am forced to make my own. Maybe by next season my creations will be available in the DimeStorePretty.Etsy shop. If you are interested let me know and I will put together a special order for you.

Hand cut and glittery white star shaped paper snowflakes are strung on yards of white satin.

A hundred shiny stars cut from vintage embossed foil and strung on silver yards.

A Hanukkah house made from Matzo and Gelt. This one took first prize at our community Gingerbread House competition.

Next year I plan to complete a collection of handmade Hanukkah ornaments and an Eight Night Advent Calendar.

Tags: Christmas, decorations, hannukkah, Holiday

Holiday Countdown

It seems the holidays are quietly creeping up the calendar once again. After much deliberation my son has decided to be a magician for Halloween. That  defined I have created the most magical of crushed velvet & satin capes, complete with double chain vest , top hat and rabbit to pull out of it.

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it and so it was time to cook the surplus turkey I had stowed in the freezer from last season. Delicious and I am ready for another. Even though this may mean short-ribs for Christmas, I am ok with it.

A rash of birthdays, Christmas and Hanukkah are just around the corner and so I must begin my crafting for that as well. It  doesn’t seem like more than a few months ago my girls and I were churning out tamales by the dozen, yet here we are again.

 As you embark on your holiday countdown, please keep an eye on the DimeStorePretty.etsy shop for lots of wonderful handmade one-of-a-kind gifts. Hairpins make lovely gestures for sisters and friends, fine china tea-candles are great for teachers and co-workers. Aprons are always loved by Mom’s.

Last, please consider, for those gifts you cannot find at DimeStorePretty, shop local and shop handmade. Keeping your dollars in your community are what allow small businesses to thrive. Supporting artists handmade works are what make our homes, lives and global world a more unique and beautiful place.  Anyone can run to a mall, make the  choice to seek out something more personal.

 Cheers to another season!

Tags: Christmas, Halloween, holidays, Shop Handmade, Thanskgiving