I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.
Harlan Miller
The trick is to find a collar that fits your puppy, is stiff and has a top button. All you do is cut directly under the collar stand and VOILA! You have a DIY fancy man holiday collar!
After I cut Ninja’s collar off his favourite holiday shirt 🤣 I decided not to waste and to try to make something out of the fabric on the back, so I cut out a rectangular piece along the seams.
And then just cut ties down the seams. Tada! A DIY holiday handkerchief!
Ninja made HBear a 4 layer confetti cake with raspberry filling, decorated like a gorgeous gift. While HBear made Ninja a giant Twix bar! She even made the shortbread and the caramel herself! They both had to make an edible gift.
SBean sewed me a beautiful winter themed bag! I’m so impressed with her creativity and her sewing skills! Oliver made SBean a cute painting complete with his paw print!
I love our homemade Secret Santa tradition! Hopefully next year I don’t get Oliver… again! 🤣💛
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Ep.360: Shave Your Nutmeg HERE! This week, we get together on Christmas Eve Eve to discuss: the Era’s movie, Egg Nog, Christmas movies, Christmas prep, PAMDA concert, tree hunting, last minute shopping, Canadian Xmas quiz, & country carols.
We always try to make the Kids a few special drinks over the holidays. Living in the valley, the Kids have learned a lot about grapes and wine making as well as hops and craft brewing but lately, with Ninja, getting more interested in mixology, the Kids have been interested in making some fancy mocktails for themselves! Ninja and I picked out a few festive non alcoholic drink recipes that the Kids tried over the month of December. They were all super sweet, uber festive, and enjoyed by all!
Grinch Mocktail
Lime Jaritto (or any other green juice of choice)
1 can of Ginger Ale
1 lemon
frozen cranberries
Ice cubes
Fill your glasses with ice cubes. Cut lemon in half and juice it, add the juice to the glasses, half a lemon per glass. Fill half of each glass with Ginger Ale. Fill the other half of your glasses with your green pop/juice and stir. Add your frozen cranberries and serve.
Candy Cane Mocktini
1 cup milk
12 oz cream soda
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2-4 drops peppermint extract
mini candy canes, crushed
Lightly coat the rim of your martini glasses in corn syrup on a plate. On another plate, place the crushed candy canes then rim the glasses by dipping the glasses that have been coated in corn syrup into the candy canes.
Mix the milk, cream soda, simple syrup and peppermint extract in a martini shaker. Pour mixed drink into the candy cane rimmed martini glasses. Garnish with mini candy canes.
Spiced White Hot Chocolate
8 oz white chocolate chips
4 cups half and half
2 cups milk
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
7 oz marshmallow cream
4 sticks cinnamon
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Place all ingredients in a pot and cook covered on low, stirring occasionally until the marshmallow is fully melted and the white chocolate chips are melted through.
Remove cinnamon sticks before serving.
Frozen Hot Chocolate
3 cups crushed ice
2 cups milk
2.5 heaping tablespoons of hot chocolate powder
Place the ice, milk and hot chocolate powder into a blender. Blend until thoroughly combined. Pour the frozen hot chocolate into the two glasses.
Crockpot Peppermint Hot Chocolate
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup cocoa powder
6 cups milk
24 oz evaporated milk
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Once the chocolate is melted through, pour into a festive mug, top with marshmallows and enjoy!
What a week! I am at that point where every day runs into itself and I have no idea what day it is! Hence, why this blog post was put out a day late this week 🤣. SBean kept Mr. Ice in the freezer for as long as she could but by the time we had our real tree decorated, Mr. Ice was Mr. Puddle. After all of the excitement of hunting for a Christmas tree, I took a much-needed rest day! Midway through the week Grandma and Grandpa came over for a pre-Christmas roast beef dinner, and some annual gingerbread house making! The next day Ninja wrapped potatoes and dropped off a homemade Gift of Bacon Wrapped Potato Wedges with Honey Sauce, Yorkshire Puddings and Gingerdoodles for my MMBesty and her husband. We had winter solstice dinner by candlelight, Ninja bought me some beautiful festive flowers, Ninja and SBean checked out the new Fresh Slice in town, Dad and J represented Sparkles at the Osoyoos Cottages Christmas Party. We drank holiday mocktails, played family games, and took advantage of the sunshine by reading Christmas romance novels on the balcony, topped off with a stunning first day of winter sunset!
Thank you to my Mother and Father-in-law for hosting my entire crazy family every Christmas 😂 and thank you to my Dad and J for hosting our crazy Castle Christmas every Boxing Day. Although I am completely drained, 100% exhausted, and will need to sleep for days to recuperate, I am overwhelmed with a sense of peace and gratitude. It was a wonderful Christmas for our family. Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family that are reading this right now. I wish you nothing but the best moving forward, happy holidays 🎄💛😘.
