Not So Green Thumb

I've successfully got my orchid plant to re-bloom.  I have two orchid flowers and a few leaves growing from the stem.  I should feel proud, but my orchids are upside down.  I have no idea what happened.  I watered it properly, fertilized it, gave it the right amount of sunlight, and even regulated its night and daytime temperatures to help it to bloom.  I gave so much time to caring for it.  But the flowers grew in upside down.  I thought flowers knew how to grow right side up all by themselves.  Any thoughts on how to make my flowers grow the way they are supposed to?

Christmas Baking

I have been wanting a cast iron dutch oven.  I keep reading recipes that you need a dutch oven to make, but alas no dutch oven.  However, Christmas is a great time for wishes to be fulfilled and I am now the proud owner of a red, enamel covered, cast iron dutch oven.

When I got my dutch oven, I knew the first thing I wanted to try making was this.  My sister-in-law Alissa is an amazing cook and she made this delicious bread for her daughter Ella's birthday.  I've been dreaming of making this bread since we had it.  Hard crusty crust, but soft and airy inside.  I've never been able to pull off bread like that.  So, I gave Alissa's recipe a try.  It turned out better than I thought it would for a first try, but it wasn't anything compared to Alissa's.  Now that I've tried it once I think it will turn out better next time.  Thanks for the delicious recipe Alissa!

Christmas Spritz Cookies

Brad got a cookie gun for Christmas so we decided to make some Spritz.  We called Grandma Packer for her recipe.  Turns out that it is her mother's, Great-Grandma Scofield's Spritz Cookie recipe.  Yummy.

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp almond flavoring

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

food coloring

colored sugar crystals

Mix butter and sugar well.  Add egg & flavoring.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Dough will be kind of stiff.  Can add food coloring.  Put in gun and pump out shapes.  Can sprinkle colored sugar.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.  Take out before brown as they will continue to bake on the pan.

(As a side note, we did not have almond extract.  We substituted vanilla, but it would have been better with almond.)

Merry Christmas - Part 2

We've had the most wonderful Christmas in Minnesota.  It was just us and Brad's parents, but we had a lot of fun.

We made a lot of carmel popcorn with nuts for the neighbors and some just for us.

We also went to Fleet Farm (Doug's favorite store).  It's kind of like Home Depot, Cabela's, Cal-Ranch, and a military supply store all in one.  While in Fleet Farm we found this giant fish pillow and an inflatable snowman dressed for hunting season.  Brad also got a blow gun for his stocking there.  We even spotted some birds flying around inside.  I guess you never know what you'll find in Fleet Farm.

Christmas Day was awesome.  We had to sit at the top of the stairs and wait for "Joy to the World" to be played so we could come down.

We got a lot of wonderful gifts.  I got a lot of new clothes.  Brad particularly liked this one.  He calls it the Barney shirt, but I like it.

Brad got me giraffe and zebra shower caps.  Hilarious.

Brad did redeem himself with his other gifts.  He got me a white and black diamond infinity pendant necklace which is gorgeous.

I surprised Brad with another gift!  Brad wanted some gloves that he could use with his camera when it's cold so his fingers don't freeze.  He wanted thin gloves so he still has dexterity and is grippy so he can keep a hold of his camera.  He didn't think they existed, but I found them.

Brad also got a few other things for his camera.  He got a new 16 GB memory card.  He also got a book to teach him how to use his camera.

Janet got a new toaster. But it already had toast in it with a picture on it.  It was a picture of a closet, because Janet is getting a new closet as part of Christmas.

Any Christmas with the Packer's isn't complete without French Pancakes.  Yummy!  Love the apron Doug.

It is also Packer tradition to put together a puzzle for Christmas.  This was the one from this year.

We also got to play a lot with Chance.

It was a great Christmas with Brad's family.  For as short as we were out there for, we were busy.  Lots of cooking, shopping, checking out gifts, playing games, eating out, and so, so much more. We even went to a reception for friends from our old single's ward.  It was a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas - Part I

Since we were headed out to Minnesota for Christmas, we got together with my family on Monday to share family gifts.  Here are the highlights of the night.

- Celebrating my mom's birthday by going to Macaroni Grill.
- Byron getting a nerf gun and the fight that ensued.
- Wilton Cake Decorating set, complete with tips, gel colors, piping bags, and icing spatula.  Oh yeah I'm excited!

- Adrianne getting pearl bracelets to match her pearl necklaces.

- Malinda getting new cookbooks for when she needs ideas as a starving student.

- We got a double sleeping bag which is huge.  Huge.  The stuff sack alone is about 3 feet tall and 1 1/2 feet wide.  We won't freeze while camping any more.

- FINALLY surprising Brad with a gift!  I've never, ever surprised him with a gift.  Not at Christmas, not even on his birthday.  He ALWAYS knows! Well not this Christmas.  He got a back massager which he loves.

A Momentous Day

The Dodge hit 100K miles a few days ago.

And it's going down hill from here.

It's Elf Season

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards