Holidays – Page 16 – Thimbleanna

Happy Easter!

14 Comments / March 23, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Holidays

Inspired by several UK bloggers, I decided to try some Hot Cross Buns. Wow, that was fun!

I used this recipe, which I think is more traditional (but I could be wrong?) I wanted to try the English version of Hot Cross Buns, rather than the American version, but I have to admit the American in me kind of wanted some icing (LUV icing!) on those buns(it looks like icing in the picture, but it’s just a lighter colored dough.) I substituted milk for the water and milk powder, and I used golden syrup for the glaze. They were yummy and I’d like to make them again. This batch didn’t rise quite as high as I would have liked — the dough stuck to the cloth that I had covering the buns while they were rising and when I removed the cloth, they fell back a little. They were still great, but next time I’ll be more careful.

I just love all of your blogs and all the inspiration I get from them. I hope you’re all having a wonderful Easter!

XOXO,
Anna

An Easter Banner

35 Comments / March 17, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Holidays

Whew! We had a busy, busy weekend here in Thimbleannaland. I don’t think I turned on the computer for most of it, so now I’m really behind with all of your blogs! Thanks for all your Hester concern — I had a message on my answering machine today that she’s recovered and ready to come home. Can’t beat that service! I’m assuming it was a fried power supply but they didn’t really say. Unfortunately, I can’t pick her up until Saturday, so we’ll have to find other entertainment around here this week.

SweetiePie’s shower was awesome this weekend. I’m still going through pictures so it will be a few days before I can show it to you. In the meantime, I thought I’d give you a wedding break and show you the little crocheted Easter banner I made.

The letters in this banner are from Martha Stewart. I crocheted around each letter and then joined them all together with a chain stitch.

The pictures are from The Vintage Workshop and I crocheted around them in the same manner that I crocheted around the valentine cards that I made, except that I used an edging more like the one I did around the letters in this banner.

In case you’d like to make a Happy Easter banner for yourself this year, I’ve written up some instructions here. Each letter took me about 20 minutes to crochet, so you still have plenty of time between now and next Sunday!

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing wedding stuff here, but I’ll be back soon anyway, with bridal shower tales!

XOXO,
Anna

Happy Valentine’s Day!

32 Comments / February 14, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Cupcakes, Holidays

To heck with the pre-wedding diet — it’s Valentine’s Day so I ate a cupcake!

I used the Magnolia Cupcake recipe and it was the maiden voyage of the spiffy new cupcake pan from Williams Sonoma that TheFirstChild and SweetiePie gave me for Christmas. It’s awesome — it holds 24 cupcakes, it fills the whole oven, and I love it!

If you’re on a diet, give it a rest and have something fattening today. I hope you very sweet bloggy peeps have a Divine Valentine’s Day!

XOXO,
Anna

Happy New Year!

19 Comments / January 2, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Holidays, Recipes

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s celebration! We had a fun time at MeMum and BigDaddy’s house last night ringing in the new year. MyDadLovesMeBestSister got a new fondue pot for Christmas, so we got our fondue pots out and had one with oil for meats, one with a cheese dip for veggies and bread, and a YUMMY pot full of chocolate with lots of fruit dippers. We pigged out with lots of other appetizers, played games, watched fireworks down the street and had a grand time!
Then today, everyone came to our house for our traditional New Year’s Day dinner. We always have what to some people is their traditional Christmas dinner — standing rib roast, twice baked potatoes, green beans, and 24-hour salad. Some years, if we’re feeling superstitious, we’ll have black-eyed peas, but we weren’t motivated enough this year. I sure hope that’s not a bad omen LOL!

Many years ago, MeMum found the perfect standing rib roast recipe. It’s fool-proof. No thermometers and no waiting around when everything else is ready, trying to figure out if the roast is done. I hate making beef tenderloins because I can’t ever figure out when they’re done (I’ve only ever done two of them), but I never have that problem with this standing rib recipe!

Easy Peasy Standing Rib Roast

Bring roast to room temperature 1 hour before cooking. At noon, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season roast with salt and pepper. Put uncovered roast in preheated oven. After one hour, turn off the oven and do not open oven door. (I put tape over the door handle with a big “Do Not Open” sign to remind everyone!) Approximately an hour before serving, turn the oven on again to 375 degrees. Remove the roast from the oven after 45 minutes and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. This method seems to work for any size roast, but it’s ideal for 3 – 4 ribs. We usually make a 5 – 6 rib roast (love those leftovers!) and it’s pretty rare in the middle, but that’s ok for us as we have a few family members who love rare roast.

Well, now all the fun’s over and tomorrow it’s time to take down the decorations and clean house. Ugh. I hate that job — it usually takes me 2 days ’cause I’m easily sidetracked. Hopefully, your decorations are all cleaned up and you can play for a few days!
XOXO,
Anna

Gingerbread Houses, Part 2

20 Comments / December 31, 2007 December 29, 2011 / Gingerbread Houses, Holidays

Wow. It’s the last day of 2007 already. We had a fun year here in Thimbleannaland. I’m once again very grateful for a good year in which we all managed to stay healthy. You can’t really ask for much more than that!

To finish off the holiday season, we finally managed to get together for our annual gingerbread house competition. (I know you’ve all just been waiting on pins and needles for the results LOL!) I’d like to apologize ahead of time for the inappropriate behavior of some of my family — hang in there to get past the offensive parts!

The defending champion frat team of TheSecondChild and TheManoftheHouse (along with one of TheSecondChild’s friends) continued this year with the party theme. They created a bar, complete with malfunctioning neon lights, jam wrestling, a bucking bronco and a bartender. (Apparently, a bar was their concession to clean things up….rumor has it that a brothel was in the works. Men.)

Appropriately, MyCrazyBIL and my 13 yr. old nephew created a Funny Farm. Their accessories included a gingerbreadman in a straight jacket and a crazy lady escaping out the back window while an inmate looked up her skirt.

In an attempt to bring a little dignity back to the competition, MyDadLovesMeBestSister and my 10 yr. old niece made a cute little Candy Cane Cottage. They get a special prize for the best use of Captain Crunch cereal. I was so busy taking pictures that I didn’t notice the cute little gingerbreadman snowball fight until after everyone had gone home.

In third place, we have the team of MeMum and BigDaddy. We all cracked up when we saw their Santa’s Home for the Aged. BigDaddy is always good for a laugh! I thought he did a great job on the roof too.

My 15 yr. old niece and I cornered enough votes for second place. We made a little Peppermint Cottage. My niece had to carry the ball on our house, as I had to keep leaving her to take pictures and refill icing tubes.

And the first place winners this year were none other than the bride-and-groom-to-be, SweetiePie and TheFirstChild. They created a cute little wedding chapel, complete with attendants, stained glass windows and a steeple.

I didn’t get a great picture of the steeple, but you can catch a glimpse of it in this picture.

So, a fun end to a great year! Thanks to all of you for being a part of my 2007. I’m WAY behind on reading my comments/e-mails — hope to fix that in the new year. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year’s celebration. Be Happy AND Safe!!!

XOXO,
Anna