day 201: turkey toasted sandwiches

the very good, very delicious way to use leftover turkey.

day 201 and we are at that day we you have a WHOLE lot of turkey that needs using!  off to pinterest i went to find some solutions.  the weather has turned a little cold today and we are all a little tired, so turkey toasties for dinner sounded ideal.  i came across this turkey cranberry monte cristo from paula deen and also these turkey, brie, and cranberry panini's from annies eats.  i liked bits of both recipes and thought i would use those bits to create some turkey toasties of my own :)

i used wholemeal pitas, basil pesto, cranberry sauce, brie, and turkey to make these toasties.  i layered the ingredients onto the split pitas and put them into the panini machine.

what was used :)

the layers ready to be sandwiched together

goes well with champagne too!

outcome: mmmm ... good way to have left over turkey!  pollyanna and i really enjoyed these, the rest of the clan had turkey and reheated vegies with gravy ... i think they had a bit of food envy though, so i gave one to ben who seemed to regret his decision to have vegies instead and he thought they were so good we should have them again tomorrow!  i thought that was a good idea and any leftover turkey after tomorrow is heading down to the chooks!    almost had my fill of turkey for this festive season, champagne's still good though ;)

my thanks to paula deen and annies eats for their inspiration to make our turkey leftovers so much more tasty and inviting than plain old cold turkey ... nothing wrong with cold turkey but as we had it for lunch it was definitely good to disguise it in another way :)

day 200: happy boxing day and a bacon blanket for the turkey :)

this was so delicious and looked so cool!

 day 200 and its boxing day ... love boxing day as it's the day we have our big, but relaxed christmas dinner complete with turkey, ham, roasted vegies, and all the trimmings.  my creation for today is a bacon blacket for the turkey, loved the idea when i saw it on pinterest so it was an absolute must for today!

the idea comes from mother earth news and is pinned to my christmas is coming board.  all you need is the turkey (ours is all stuffed and lightly seasoned with the legs trussed up) and some streaky bacon.  then you weave the bacon on top of the turkey starting in one corner.  once the blanket was finished it was covered in tinfoil and placed into the pizza oven for three hours.  we use our pizza oven for roasting during the summer months as its too hot to have an oven going inside ALL day, plus it means i don't have to clean it so often!

you need a turkey and some streaky bacon!

start in a corner and add a piece each way
for the lattice works really well

ready for the pizza oven once covered in
tinfoil :)

crispy bacon, perhaps a little too
crispy in places but it actually
tasted great with the turkey!

outcome: i was really intimidated when i thought about undertaking this given i have no experience in weaving anything, let alone bacon!  but starting in one corner and adding a piece each way works wonders and it was actually really easy ... love that :)  it looked awesome going into the pizza oven and it came out looking even better.

my thanks to mother earth news for this great idea, it was totally worth doing and really enhanced the flavour of the turkey lurkey ;)

day 199: MERRY CHRISTMAS and a table setting fit for the season :)

merry christmas

i wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry christmas and to thank you for visiting. this journey, so far, has changed my life. i definitely saw my life becoming more handmade, which i am totally loving, but what i didn't expect was the great support i get from you guys.  i absolutely love the friendships i have made.  thanks so much to those of you that comment and/or follow me for the wonderful support and interest ... you guys really have made this journey so much more enjoyable than i ever could have imagine.  so thank you from my heart to yours.

 wishing you all a very safe, merry, and wonderful christmas with those that mean the most to you

the finished table setting!!!

for day 199 it just had to be an outdoor table setting for our christmas breakfast ... this idea i saw on pinterest instantly resonated with me and so it was pinned to my christmas is coming board.  this idea was highlighted on centsational girl (totally following this AWESOME site now!) and originated from sweet something design.  

each christmas day we have a big cooked breakfast to start the day after making our way through the amazing stockings and present unwrapping.  in our house for the last 20 years we have always had our big traditional turkey dinner on boxing day.  my sweet mum turned christmas into a three day festive - 

• with hot ham, cutting of the christmas cake, and hallmark decorations on christmas eve, 
• christmas day we have stockings, presents, and a big breakfast with the rest of the day spent playing with presents and grazing on ham, home made bread, and all the goodies from santa not to mention the christmas baking!  
• and on boxing day evening we have our big traditional christmas dinner in the early evening.  

my mum always felt there was too much to fit into christmas day to enjoy each part of it and rather than just opt out of things she spread them over three days.  it works so well and i never have that empty feeling after christmas is over because of it.  i love that we get to enjoy each part of christmas without feeling overwhelmed by trying to fit it all in, in one day.  so while we joke about our three day christmas festive, its actually my favourite family tradition and something that my husband and i have carried on ourselves.

it's summer here in new zealand, so we are all about the outdoors for christmas.  this year (weather permitting) i wanted our christmas day breakfast to be outside as well.  the inspiration of sweet something design i found on pinterest looked perfect, especially loved the tartan rug as the table cover.  so to work steve (my sweet) and i went to create our own table setting for christmas.  we went with the outdoor them, using native timbers, reds, greens, and silver for bling :)

as our tarten rug was red we went with it and silvers to
go with the rustic look :)

today we had purchased crackers, tomorrow
for our big turkey dinner we will have the
home made ones :)

we had the nicest time and everyone loved the extra effort put into the table setting

trifle for dessert was the BEST!

outcome: merry, cherry, and bright with amazing company and the yummiest food and wine! working with my sweet, it took us 20 minutes to pull this table setting together and the family kept saying how nice it was to sit down at such a beautiful table ... they were so sweet, but it really did sparkle.  i loved the rsutle nature of it and the fact it barely took anytime and we used what we already had bar the candles which i purchased the other day.  i'd say it was the perfect place to have a christmas meal :)

my thanks to sweet something design who was highlighted on centsational girl, all it takes is a little inspiration, a little time, and a little effort to make something to be proud of, and i totally was with this ... maybe not perfection, but my family didn't no otherwise.

day 198: old fashioned honey glaze for the ham

yummo ... talking about the ham but the man is not too bad
either!

day 198 and i am beyond excited ... steve's parents have arrived safely and we are having the best day relaxing, just being together enjoying each other's company.  part of our christmas traditions is to serve up hot glazed ham for dinner on christmas eve with fresh home baked bread, it's something i really look forward to.

today i wanted to find a glaze for the ham on pinterest and try something new ... we usually just glaze it with apricot jam :)  i found this recipe that looked ideal, an old fashioned honey glaze, the pictures from what's cookin chicago looked divine so it was pinned to my christmas is coming board.

we had everything bar the apple juice, so we substituted that for cranberry juice instead.  apart from the juice replacement the rest we did according to the recipe.  it was them into the pizza oven for 2 hours to do its thing.

the mustards (we mised two together to make a dijon whole
grain mustard

rubbed the mustards over the scored ham and then added
the other parts

into the pizza oven it went ...

... we lifted it off the floor so the bottom doesn't burn

the beautifully glazed ham ... honestly it was
soo gooood!

outcome: AMAZING, oh my gosh it was so good i ate too much!  yip christmas has definitely started and i had better start that treadmilling tomorrow if my hot ham eating was anything to go by :)  the glaze was beautiful and i absolutely loved the warmth the mustard provided, so very very good :)

many thank you's to what's cookin chicago, totally inspired recipe they have highlighted from bon appetit :)

see you all tomorrow for the big day, can't wait but that's it for now as i have some serious business to attend to ;)

day 197: hot chocolate spoons

hot chocolate spoons :)

day 197 and it's time to relax a little so today's creation is a nice simple one you can do with the peeps :)  these hot chocolate spoons are such a great idea and a really nice gift you can give to friends with a box of hot chocolate i reckon.

this idea is pinned to my christmas is coming board and comes from make'n mold, a great website for making ALL sorts of treats, especially their christmas treats!

all you need are some spoons, chocolate melts, and goodies to add to the melted chocolate.  if you are gifting these it's also a good idea to have some cellophane bags to wrap them in.  once collected melt the chocolate, dip the spoon in, twirl, place on parchment paper, and add some goodies (eg: marshmallows) to the top, and wait for them to set.

what you need for a christmas cocoa night!

swirl spoons in melted chocolate, add marshmallows, let
dry on baking paper :)

happy spoons drying

the finished spoons bar the wrapping :)

outcome:  such a cool gift idea to get the peeps involved in making.  we had heaps of fun making these and they were nice and easy to do this close to christmas when we are all a bit tired ;)

my sincere thanks to make'n mold for inspiring us to make our own hot chocolate spoons, they turned out great and will hopefully be ideal for family to use during a good movie at christmas time!

day 196: christmas baking

delish cookies and the recipe makes plenty ... lots to love
about this recipe!

day 196 and it was a day spent in the kitchen making all sorts of yummy things for my sweet mum and husband to take to their works for morning tea tomorrow .... and hopefully a bit leftover for my helpers :)  included in the baking were these delicious looking cookies from baked to perfection, what's not to love about the name of these cookies, white chocolate and cranberry oatmeal cookies.  they were immediately pinned to my christmas is coming board when i saw them on pinterest.

as it was christmas i had all the heavy machinery out and this recipe does require the mixer, so no one bowl wonder here but it is the festive season so i was happy to make the effort!  apart for the beating requirement, this recipe is really straight forward.

ready for the oven

baked and ready to EAT!

outcome: awesome :)  REALLY yummy, totally up my alley as they have my two favourite baking ingredients ... white chocolate and cranberries!  these are the bomb as my peeps keep saying, love when new recipes are a big hit.

thank you to risa for this wonderful recipe, definitely adding this to our yearly christmas baking!

day 192: reindeer bottles

the completed reindeer, aren't they cute!

day 192 and i am adding a little decoration to a gift for the peeps grandpa today.  i loved these reindeer bottles of beer and thought that grandpa would appreciate a gift like this from under the christmas tree ;)  this idea is from kim at life of a modern mom and is pinned to my christmas is coming board on pinterest.

for this creation you need some form of beverage (mines beer!) in bottles, some brown pipe cleaners, red pompoms, some googly eyes, and a hot glue gun.

the bits and pieces required for this project :)

what do you call a deer with no eyes?
no idea!
my husband made me put that in...

my happy little reindeer bottles :)

outcome: perfect for a little something extra to put under the tree, especially if that person likes this type of beverage, which grandpa does!  they look really cute, and very festive, an ideal addition to under our tree.

my thanks to kim for making something everyday be fabulous for the festive season ... totally love projects like this, when the ordinary turns into awesome :)

day 190: christmas cookies in a jar

this was so much fun to put together!

day 190 and it's time to make some more gifts ... this time in the shape of christmas cookies in a jar :)  i see these all over pinterest and have been desperate to make one.  christmas is the perfect time of year to give such a gift because people love home-made baking but don't always have time to organise and shop for baking.  i pinned this christmas version from make it do and the recipe and layering calli uses comes from bakerella who does an awesome cowgirl biscuit jar.

i had the helpful assistance of pollyanna today to add the layers to our jar.  once all the layers are in the jar, we added a top and then some christmas fabric to make look pretty.  calli also provides these printable instructions to attach to your jar so the recipient knows what to do :)

the printable labels, i printed on some patterned paper
i had ... it's actually green not grey ... need to work on
my photography :)

fitted into this jar perfectly!

the filled jar with it's christmasy lid!

outcome:  these could become my new addiction! so clever and a great thing to give family and friends that want to bake but don't have the time to organise themselves :)

sincerest thanks to calli at make it do for the christmas version and labels and to bakerella for the fantastic idea and layering needed to complete this creation ... you girls rock :)

day 188: easy christmas truffles

christmas truffles

day 188 and we have had such a fun day today, ending with an awesome dinner out to celebrate steve finishing his student loan .... good times!  this evening i wanted to make something to take to our dear neighbours jocelyn and noel for their christmas get-together on saturday.  these easy christmas truffles by kerryanne at shabby art boutique were definitely the type of thing i had in mind!  they are pinned to my christmas is coming board on pinterest.

i used a packet of original tim tams for the biscuit base (as suggested by kerryanne) which you simply whiz up then add 80grms of cream cheese and whiz again.  roll into balls and chill for an hour or two before dipping in chocolate.  the lovely kerryanne double dipped hers to look like christmas puddings and they look so cute.  for now i have just coated mine in milk chocoate as i realised i had nothing red to adorn the top of them with so the white chocolate topping will have to wait until i do!

the ingredients

rolled ready for the fridge

chocolate dipped truffles :)

outcome:  ok these looked too good not to be tasted, so we did ... and then we ALL went back for another!  shame there is no longer enough for taking across the road on saturday.  not to worry, they are so easy to make i will buy another packet of tim tams and make some more! if you are in need of something quick and easy to take to a christmas party, i can definitely recommend these, but maybe buy two packets and double the recipe so you can be sure to taste them ;)

many thanks to kerryanne at shabby art boutique for a very simple christmas recipe that really does help put the home made back into the holidays, as this recipe is neither time consuming or stressful and i so appreciate both those things at this time of the year :)

day 187: christmas rocky road

honestly ... this is so good!

day 187 and christmas is getting so near i could burst with excitement!!  i love making christmas sweets and tonight i made a really christmasy version of rocky road :)  this idea was from patricia at technicolor kitchen and adapted from a donna hay recipe.  when i saw them on pinterest i wanted to make them then and there they looked so yummy but i didn't have the right ingredients so instead they were pinned to my christmas is coming board so i could make them today.

unfortunately i still couldn't find any freeze dried strawberries in our local grocer's so i have made some adaptions to the recipe.  the ingredients i used to make my version of a christmas rocky road are below:

2 c white marshmellows
1 c dried cranberries
1 c of red licorice
1 c of pistachio nuts
 of white chocolate
additional cranberries to scatter over the top

the goodies in this rocky road :)

my little helper adding pistachios!

once everything is added the the melted chocolate, mix!

pour into a loaf tin or cake slice if you can't find the loaf
tin ;)

the finished product, looks even better in person :)

outcome:  YUMMO!  for white chocolate lovers (ben and i) this is the bomb!  perfect colours for christmas and i will have to make this again because it won't last for christmas day!  seriously so good and so incredibly easy to make.  rocky road is so underrated is a sweet .. can't imagine why when you can make it so quickly and it tastes so good.

my thanks to particia at technicolor kitchen for posting her version of a christmas rocky road ... i will still look our for freeze dried strawberries to try them in a rocky road because i bet it tastes awesome! in the meantime, i will gladly eat today's creation and munch on the copious amounts of fresh strawberries we currently have growing :)

day 178: christmas mug rugs!

the finished santa mug rug!

day 178 and i spent the day crafting at my treausured friend dee's again today while the rest of the family went to the jet sprints in the waikato (more on that later!).  dee is such a talented crafter she saw these santa coasters i had pinned to my christmas is coming board on pinterest and designed a paper piecing pattern for us to make a mug rug using the same design!  aren't kelly ink's coasters absolutely gorgeous and the fabrics she used are beautiful.

dee's pattern worked wonderfully and i completed it with dee's idea of quilt batting on the hat and the very peep friendly googly eyes!  if fact, this one for pollyanna was such a success, i am going to make another one using exactly the same pattern but with different fabrics for ben :)

outcome: in ben's words ... "THAT'S AWESOME MUM"  ... i felt so proud, i'll leave the outcome at that, except to say THANK YOU DEE for the pattern :)

thanks also goes to kelly ink for putting her wonderful creations on flickr for the rest of us to be inspired by!

 ... it poured with rain ALL day so while i had the BEST time, everyone else was hampered by the rain and a bit miserable after their day.

yes, that is my usually cherry daughter unamused at the
cold and rain :(

apparently they were so good though and didn't complain!

this was where the water was supposed to be and not
coming out of the sky!

so while i was excited about making home-made crackers with the peeps as their book advent craft for today they were too tired, so we will make them tomorrow and do a monday double up with our crafting :)