Sunday, November 27, 2005

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

All around the house....We've been busy this weekend putting up our Christmas decorations.


This is our tree. Our old tree was destroyed by the hurricane, so I went out and got a prelit tree. It is smaller than our old tree, but just as pretty.




This is the oldest nativity I have. I bought it in Italy the year Cody was born. At the time, I thought is was so ugly, but since then it has become my favorite. Oh, I got the stable last year at Wal-mart. The people didn't have a stable with them, so they stood out in the open for 12 Christmases.

This one is my Fontanini nativity. The irony of this is, I didn't get any Fontanini figurines while in Italy. I started collecting them after I returned Stateside. I used to have a Fontanini globe ornament--limited edition--but it was destroyed in the hurricane. It is the only thing I cried over. I did get the people out, but the globe was completely shattered.




Finally, here are a couple of candle arrangements I made. I was rather proud of these since I'm not usually very good at this sort of thing.

Cody is upset because he has to go back to school tomorrow. I have vacation all next week, so I'll be off. MMMM, I'm in the mood to bake something. But if I bake it, I'll just eat it, so I think I'll post one of my favorite recipes instead.

Snickerdoodles

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter, sugar,eggs and vanilla together until well blended. Add other ingredients. Beat at low speed, scraping often until well mixed (2-4 minutes). In a small bowl, sift together sugar and cinnamon. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 1-inch *** and roll in sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake until edges are lightly browned (8-10 minutes).

3 comments:

Abbey said...

Your Fontanini Nativity set looks identical to the one my aunt and uncle gave my parents in the 70's -except that one was hand-painted by my aunt. The shape of the figurines must be some traditional / universal mold, perhaps originally from your Fontanini!

Becky G said...

First off, thank you for reading my blog. It may be true about the Fontaninis. I didn't start collecting mine until 1995, so I don't know what the older ones look like. What's funny is that I spent 3 years in Italy when I was in the Navy, and didn't find out about Fontaninis until after I'd returned to the States.

Anonymous said...

Enjoying the sketches and all your creative projects! You are quite talented; keep up the good work!