Traditions...

The weather cooperated and I was able to go home for Christmas.  Our Christmas is filled with traditions.  One is getting outside and seeing the wildlife.  I miss the sound of the geese.  Their honks filled the air.

Christmas presents are just a small part of the fun.  Cooking Christmas dinner is a family affair.  Everyone chips in and does their part.  Mom's kitchen is a carefully coordinated dance.  As you can see below, pies are the dessert of choice.  

 I'm making a family cookbook, so we really worked to get photos of everyone in the kitchen.  My dad never cooks, except oyster stew.  Funny thing is none of us kids know how to make oyster stew.  We still needed an action shot of him in the kitchen and a plan was hatched.  When he came upstairs, I asked him to stir the gravy and my niece, Sierra, took an action shot.  It was a well coordinated event.   We were successful.    We were so impressed with our little plan that we even got the hired man, Jr, stirring the pot.

 My niece and nephew got radios for Christmas.  They used them to guide the little guy to the trash barrels.  You can see him carrying all the bags, talking on the radio, and being followed by the always in the background farm cat.

For the first time since we were kids, my sister and I did not have to do Christmas dishes.  Instead the two older girls washed and dried.  The whole time pretending they were doing a podcast.  We were able to pursue other interests, like putting together puzzles with the little ones.

 There is only one way to end Christmas day.  We go sledding.  It is probably our biggest Christmas tradition.  Nothing says the holidays like shoving your sister's kids down a precarious hill.  

 Yucca plants, rocks, cactus, trees, and fences aren't going to stop the fun.  Of course, you have to see how many people fit on the sled and inevitably the spills are the best part.  We did break from tradition this year and stopped sledding, before somebody got hurt.  Usually, someone gets injured and heads to the house crying or limping.  I'd like to think we got smarter, but the truth is we just got cold.

It was a great Christmas.  It is good that some things never change.  On the trip home I was able to stop and see my 96 year old grandmother.  Since many of the recipes in the family cookbook will be hers, I asked if she would grant me an action shot in the kitchen.  She was more than happy to oblige.  

That is a run-down of our Christmas traditions.  It made for a great trip.  What are your Christmas traditions?  Do you go sledding?  Does everyone help with the cooking?  Who does the dishes?  What desserts do you have?  Whatever you do I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

 The quilt is coming along nicely.  I am enjoying the repetition of tracing and cutting.  Next weekend the sewing begins.  I'm excited about the new challenge.  Already I'm making changes.  The original pattern isn't for a quilt, but a bed runner.  I think it will make a lovely quilt. 

I don't have much else going on.  I'm wrapping presents, baking babka, and keeping busy.   Ella and I went for our weekly snowshoeing excursion.  It was crazy windy.  The winter solstice came and went quietly.   I am ready for Christmas, which makes the holiday more enjoyable.  Are you ready for Christmas?

New project...

 Here is my newest quilt project.  It will be against a yellow background, but I don't have the background material yet.  I have four down and six to go.   First, they all get cut out.  Then individually sewn on to the background fabric.  We'll see how it goes.

 My old snowshoes broke, so my husband got me a new pair as an early Christmas gift.  He knew Ella and I would both go crazy if we couldn't snowshoe on Sunday.  Bless Amazon's quick shipping.  We didn't miss a beat.  I really like them.  They seem to be lighter than my old pair.  I even have ski poles, so I'm right up town.

 She loves to run in the snow.  We've had some rather large lion tracks around this weekend.  She must know, because she kept close.  The lions must know mountain lion season doesn't start until after Christmas, because they always come around the cabin a few weeks before the season starts.  After it starts, I don't see another track.

Another weekend has come and gone.  We got quite a bit accomplished.  I'm happy to finally make progress on my quilt.  What are your winter activities?  Quilting, snowshoeing, skiing, crafting, or hibernating?

Goal achieved...

If you have read my blog very often you know I love bread.  Any bread, I'm not picky.  When I was a little girl our neighbors would make lefse.  A Norwegian flat bread made with potatoes, cream, and butter.   I was always a bit confused that it was a Norwegian bread, since our neighbors were not Norwegian.  That was the best bread!  I could have eaten a whole batch.  It has always been a goal of mine to make lefse.  For some reason, it seemed a very intimidating task.  Not anymore.  Today I made lefse for the first time.  It was far easier than I imagined.

First, I took a bowl of leftover mashed potatoes.  I  think it was about 3 cups.  I added 1/2 c. Cream, 1 t. Salt, 2 t. Sugar, 1/2 c. Butter, and 2 c. Flour.  I mixed all up and rolled them into little balls.  I set them in the fridge for an hour.

I lightly rolled them out, being extremely generous with the flour.

I then laid the flat bread on a hot griddle.  The dough will start to bubble.  After about 3-4 minutes, flip it.  Then let that side sit for 3 minutes.  Lay the warm lefse on a flour sack towel and cover.  Continue to stack them in this manner.  Wipe the flour off of the grill with a wet clothes before putting another piece on the grill.

I am super happy with the end result.  I was very thankful I found a great YouTube video on the process.  "Let's make Lefse" by bcgaub.  Those ladies were wonderful.

That was the highlight of my weekend.  I am so glad I finally just dove in and tried making lefse.  A little lifetime goal achieved.  What is something you have always wanted to try making?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

And it snowed about 25 inches.

 Our little Christmas tree was buried.

Luckily we have a tractor with a snowblower.  It made clearing the road short work.

 With the discovery of battery operated Christmas lights we put Operation Snoopy's Christmas into effect.  We scouted the steep hill going to our home and found the perfect tree.  Quickly we covered it in lights.  We were in and out without the neighbors seeing us.  If asked we will deny everything.  It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who did it since we are the only people up here with Christmas lights.  The thing is we are at the end of the road and nobody comes down here, so we've got that going for us.

What's Christmas without a little mystery? Do you decorate for Christmas?  Did you get hit with this last snow?