Christmas Made Easy with my New Hobby - Painting!

I've been getting so many great comments on my blog and on Facebook about the artwork we displayed at the Art Reception in December. In case you missed it you can read about it HERE. Thank you all so much!

One of the best things about my new hobby is that I can share it on my blog and it also made Christmas gift giving a bit easier. 

If you're a regular reader you know that my sister and I have a good friend named Lupe. The three of us get together at Christmas time and we go out to a nice dinner and we exchange gifts. Lupe gave me a beautiful set of Wine Glasses which I desperately needed and Lisa gave me a beautiful Scarf, which I desperately wanted! 

To Lupe I gifted this Christmas decoration/wall hanging that I painted. 

I tried to make it in colors that if she wanted to she could leave it up all year and not have it look like a left-over Christmas decoration but yet if she only hung it at Christmas it fit in. I was very happy with the way it turned out!

I also wanted to do something special for my co-worker Angelica as she and I always make it a point to have a nice lunch somewhere special and exchange gifts as well. She gifted me something spectacular that I had been wanting forever! 

Not the Calendar, although I really needed a new one for 2017 an who doesn't want a whole year of Las Vegas???

No, I mean the Wax Warmer with the Butterfly on it. You plug this baby in and add a little block of scented wax and all day long you have a delightful scent wafting through the air. I thought it would be perfect to put in my bedroom but so far I've been enjoying it so much at the office that I've decided to leave it there. Thank you Angelica!

I wanted to do something special for her and she knew that I was going to paint something for her. She had actually hinted that she would like something Parisienne but it was too late because I had already painted this for her.

The photo doesn't really do it justice since the background was a much more vibrant yellow. Here's a photo she posted on Facebook that's much better than the one I took. 

Since it was so much fun to do that one for her I decided I would do a family Christmas painting for each of my brothers and my sister Lisa.

Here's the one I did for my brother Fred and his family. I loved painting the white dots around the picture and doing those ribbons on each ornament and using glitter! 

This is the one I did for my brother Jaime and his family. I loved this one because Jaime's wife Connie was the one that came up with the color theme for my mom's surprise 80th birthday party of black, red and gold, so I painted this one in those colors just for her!

The one for my sister of course was my favorite one to do because I wanted to do a camping theme for her and her husband since they love to go camping and have really nice trailer that we get to use when she and Lupe and I go camping for our girls weekend. 

So I found a sort of retro camper and came up with this design which is done in a photo program called PicMonkey.

This was the end result. I ended up not adding as much Christmas decor in case they wanted to hang it up in their trailer they could leave it up all year.

I wish that I had thought to take pictures of them when they were all framed nice and pretty. Lisa's looked especially nice because I was able to find a white frame for hers. These are all painted on 11 x 14 picture boards which makes them easier to frame. I meant to take pictures of them as they opened them but you know the chaos that is Christmas and the whole family was there so these will have to do.

I'm still painting and practicing and thinking I am getting better with each new piece. If nothing else I am enjoying myself and de-stressing. I hope to be sharing new stuff in the near future. I know that I have promised Baby Jae that I would paint an Elsa for her so I need to find a simple yet pretty one for her. Wish me luck!

The Biscocho Christmas Cookie - Low Carb Remake

We have a cookie that is a tradition in our family. It's call the Biscocho. It's a crisp little Cinnamon and Anise cookie that we've all grown up having at Christmas and other special occasions. It's as much a part of Christmas to our family as Tamales are.



Ever since 2010 we have been making these on my moms birthday. This year she said she would rather do a Chili Bean feed for her birthday but she still wanted these cookies, so I made them today.

If you would like the recipe to the original Biscocho you can find the link HERE.

After I was all done making them I wondered if maybe these could be made low carb and I came up with a low carb version that was just as satisfying as eating the real thing. My version doesn't have eggs and is made with Almond Flour instead of regular white flour and I use granulated Splenda instead of sugar.

Here's my version:

Recipe:

Oven Temperature: 350 degrees
Servings - 30 to 40 (I got 40)

2 cups Almond Meal
1/2 cup sweetener - I used granulated Splenda
1/2 cup melted Butter
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Cloves
1 teaspoon Anise

Preheat your oven.
Cream the Almond Meal and Splenda and Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, Cloves and Anise and blend until creamy.
Add the Almond Meal and mix until dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface (use almond meal) roll out the dough. I would chill it for about 10 minutes next time to make it easier, or you could roll it into a tube then chill and cut slices with a knife.

Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.

As you can see, this is less than 1 carb per cookie! Of course I made these small so it just depends on how big you make them as to the carb count.

I was really feeling a bit sad that I would not get to enjoy a Biscocho today but I actually did and they were good. They were crispier than the original Biscocho but they had that Anise and Cinnamon taste that I love.

Hope you make them and hope they become a Christmas Tradition to you and your family!


 

Baby J Sunday - Ooh Pretty!

Saturday I decided I wanted to put up my Christmas Tree because I knew Baby J would be coming to visit me on Sunday and I couldn't wait to see the expression on her face!

I bought a new tree this year. The one I had in previous years was a small one, about 6' and it was one of those that come pre-lit and after a couple of years the lights don't work any more and you have to add your own anyway. This year I bought a beautiful one that's 7.5' tall and very full! So full in fact that normally I would put a bunch of ornaments on ornament stands around the house but with this one I used all my ornaments and have room for many more!

As you can see in the picture below our puppy Chorizo really loved it and immediately claimed the chair nearest the tree so she could gaze at it and nap. Today she was over it!

I completely forgot to grab my camera this morning when Baby J came in but she was in awe! When she first came in the house she and her daddy came in through the kitchen door and she noticed my Nativity Scene right away. She ran to it and exclaimed "Pretty!!!" I showed her Baby Jesus and she picked it up and kissed the baby. I was frantic thinking she might drop Baby Jesus but she was very gentle with him!

You can see the Nativity below. I've posted this before. My mom made this set for me back in 1983 when she was taking a ceramics class. I can't believe this Nativity is older than my son who was born in 1985!!! It's painted with a pearlized glaze which has several pastel colors in it and it picks up all the colors of whatever color lights I use. This year I used multi-colored lights but used a red garland as red is moms favorite color.

My new addition to my holiday decorations are the Snowman and Snow Woman pictured above. A gift from my mom. I just love them and so did Baby J. The one thing she did NOT LIKE and I had to remove from the room right away was my Nutcracker! I was surprised she took such an instant dislike to it.

Here's a picture of him in a window display that I haven't quite finished yet so this is all I can show you. I think he's awesome! Love his mustache but I think she disliked his teeth. He's about 36 inches tall and was a thrifting find about 5 years ago. I'm thinking of starting a collection of them and purchased a small one of these in green which I'll post about later.

The one thing she really loved was my set of Christmas Tree and Polar Bear refrigerator magnets. My mom and I were laughing so hard at her because she would take the bigger pieces and slam then onto the refrigerator but when she would put the small pieces on she was super gentle with them. She's such a unique little thing!

Her mom has taken to straightening her curls and while she looks very pretty and grown up with straight hair...I do so miss her curls! So that's it for Baby J Sunday, another fun and happy morning spent with the apple of my eye!

Meatball Sunday!

I finally broke my crock pot out of the box it came in when I bought it over three months ago and made those meatballs I told you about earlier this week. You remember, the meatballs I bought and then had to wait in traffic for hours before I could get them home to the freezer?

Well they made it home still frozen and today I tossed them into the crock pot along with a whole bottle of BBQ sauce and a jar of grape jelly (grape jelly is the secret ingredient that I didn't tell anyone about because I didn't think they would try them if they new grape jelly was in there).

I found the recipe at The County Cook and I followed it to the letter but they didn't look as pretty as hers, mine were a little bit darker. Maybe the BBQ sauce I used? Not sure.

I didn't take a photo of the ones I made and the results were mixed. Mom said they were ok, but she's not a big fan of ground beef. The son loved them! The daughter said she liked the flavor but not the texture of the meatballs. I'm kinda with the daughter, I liked the flavor but not the texture. Maybe next time I'll make my own meatballs.

I'm trying to make something new each Sunday. My kids keep asking for the same old tried and true recipes but I'm determined to benefit from the many hours each I day I spend pinning recipes from Pinterest!

Anyway, Friday was my company's holiday luncheon in Fresno which is about 2 hours north of Bakersfield. It was fun and I always love seeing my co-workers from our Fresno and San Jose offices, since we only see each other once a year but talk to each other almost every day. It was tough trying to gather everyone together for a photo. As you can see, I was camera ready but everyone else was too busy socializing!

And then when they are all ready, I decide to move my head so I'm a little out of focus...or maybe it was the wine?

 

But finally we get all the socialites and rabble-rousers out of the picture and get everyone to focus and pay attention and I think we came out great!

 

 

 

Each year they set up a luncheon for us at  Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater in Fresno. The cast there puts on an abbreviated portion of the show currently playing which this year was Beehive. It was so funny and they are such great singers. They also host a raffle where you can win prizes such as Kindles and Ipods and Ipads and bottles of wine and baskets of chocolate and stuffed animals and gift certificates. All the money goes to charity and sadly no one at my table won! But we still had a wonderful time!

 



 

 

Saturday my sister and I took my dad to breakfast. He had a good time and bought himself a little 1955 Chevy model car that they had for sale, so he was a happy camper to have had breakfast with his girls and a toy to play with later!

 

 

 

Then my sister and I took off for Valencia to do some Christmas shopping and share in a little sister-time. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures except the one of the Guacamole and Sparkling Pomegranate Margaritas we shared, but if I had gotten a picture, we would have been smiling because we had a great day.

 

 

 

So that was my weekend and tomorrow it's back to the salt mines. Have a good week everyone!

Peace - Do You Hear What I Hear

It's been a long day. I admit that I watched the clock big time today at work, and that last hour lasted forever! I could hardly wait until 5pm!

Then the magic hour got here and I shut down my computer, gathered up my purse, cell phone, sweater, travel coffee mug, lunch bag and keys and got into my little putt-putt and remembered I had to stop at Smart and Final and pick up a bag of frozen meatballs for a little recipe I pinned on Pinterest that I want to try.

Photo Courtesy The Country Cook

Don't those meatballs look delicious? I had them many years ago at a Christmas party. The secret is grape jelly....but shhhh, don't tell my family. If I tell them grape jelly is in there they probably won't even try it. Check out the recipe at The Country Cook (plus she has a really great blog with tons of great recipes!)

I stop and pick up my meatballs and hurry to my car because it's freezing (well freezing for Southern California, it was like 68 degrees!) I start heading home when my son texts me to remind me that I have to return some Christmas lights that are in the trunk of my car...darn it!

So I think I'm going to outsmart traffic by taking the road less travelled, unfortunately everyone in Bakersfield took the road less travelled because I could see Highway 99 to my left and it was flowing smoothly while I was stuck in a single lane of traffic all waiting for the light to turn green so they could turn left while I was the only person that wanted to turn right but couldn't because all the lefties were in the way and the only way I could have done it would have been to booney-bounce all over the shoulder and I just got new tires and had them aligned ..so that wasn't happening!

And I'm hungry and cold and I know my meatballs are melting and the traffic keeps going slower and slower and I'm thinking, "why me?" All day I looked forward to just going home and here it's 6pm and I'm stuck in traffic and I forgot and changed purses this morning and left a bag of MandM's in my old purse so I don't even have anything to snack on and I know I'm going to starve to death and tomorrow they would find my cold, dead body and melting meatballs!!!

I'll admit, I'm cursing and debating whether I should just make a U-turn and go home and try to return the lights tomorrow. All of a sudden I hear this golden voice coming out of my radio. Here...take a listen.




Instantly I felt the stress and road rage slip away. I sang along with Bing and marvelled at what an impact this one man had made on the world with his talent and his beautiful voice and I counted myself lucky at being able to enjoy this moment and have his music touch my life.

So go listen to your favorite Christmas music and unwind, let your cares, worries, stress and most importantly road rage just slip away.

What's your favorite Christmas song?

The Year of the Classics and a Giveaway!

I think 2013 is going to be the “Year of the Classics”.

No…I’m not talking about classic cars, or music classics such as the Beatles or The Rolling Stones, or classics as pertains to vintage clothing.

I’m talking about books.

I think 2013 is going to be the year that I “read the Classics”!

You can get them for free online and yet I go out and buy books when I could read these? What am I thinking?

There must be a reason these books have been read by countless generations, right?

Books like…

Pride and Prejudice
Moby Dick
The Scarlett Letter
Wuthering Heights
A Tale of Two Cities
Oliver Twist
Frankenstein
David Copperfield
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Jane Austen
The Great Gatsby
Vanity Fair
Treasure Island
The War of the Worlds
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Adventures of Don Quixote
The Last of the Mohicans
Emma
Lorna Doone
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Red Badge of Courage
Robinson Crusoe
A Christmas Carol
David Copperfield
The Brothers Karamazov
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Les Miserables
The Phantom of the Opera
Ivanhoe
Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Journey to the Center of the Earth

How many of those listed above have you read? Which would you recommend?

I have read these…
Great Expectations
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Secret Garden
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Black Beauty
Little Women
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

So I guess it’s going to be a busy year for me in 2013 because I do of course, have a stack of books by my reading chair that I have already bought that I have to get through also. Not to mention the ones I read for my online book club From Left to Write!

And speaking about the From Left to Write book club, we are hosting an awesome giveaway just in time for Christmas gift giving. Crown Publishing has put together an amazing book bundle. There's enough to keep some for yourself and gift to others.

Go to BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY to see the list of books you can win and enter!

What about you? What's on your reading list for 2013?

 

Back to Work

This year I took a a couple of vacation days, the day before Thanksgiving and the following Monday, which is today. That made for a nice, long vacation. I had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off and I am so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.

Wednesday I got up early and my mom and I went into the city (Bakersfield) and had a nice breakfast and hit a couple of Goodwill Stores. My mom and I love thrift store shopping! I was searching for Christmas decor but didn't find anything. After Goodwill-ing, we went grocery store shopping for Thanksgiving items, all the pie, stuffing and mashed potato fixings.

Once we got home and put everything away it was time to make the pies. We used to make the crust from scratch, but since frozen pie crusts have gotten so much better we use those, but we do make the pie filling from scratch...well from a can but that's from scratch for us!

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving and we spent the morning straightening up the house, getting the extra chairs all ready and making the stuffing and turkey, then the family arrived and we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed seeing each other all together again.

We barely remembered to take pictures. Here's my mom and standing next to her my sister Lisa and then sitting is me and my brother Fred and his youngest, Melissa, the baby in our family and isn't she beautiful!

I had to get a picture with just me and Melissa of course!

Here's a picture of my godson and Melissa's big brother, little Fred.

After everyone left I spent about two hours getting everything cleaned and put away in my kitchen. Friday was a relaxing morning and then we all met in Bakersfield again to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad. We took dad to Golden Corral because he loves buffets. I had a great time having all my family together again and I know dad really enjoyed it.

Here's the only picture I managed to get. This is my dad and on the right is my son James and on the left is my sister's son Isaac, who also is my Godson! Can you believe that my dad is 6 foot and both his grandsons are taller and bigger than he is???

Saturday I had to go and get new tires put on my car. My son James, (in the picture above) went with me. We had a great time considering we had to wait for two hours at Big O Tires! We spent the time playing Monopoly on his cell phone and I won!!! Of course he helped me to win and when I was almost losing he bankrupted and gave me all his money and property. Wasn't that nice of him?

Sunday I went on STRIKE and said I was not doing anything the whole day...and I didn't. I just watched movies on NetFlix and played on the computer and watched TV and read my book and chillaxed all day. My daughter's little puppy Chorizo was as exhausted and I was and laid on the little bed we've set up for her in my bedroom. Doesn't she look comfortable?

So today, the whole world went back to work...but not me :)

I decided to spend the day putting up the Christmas Tree and decorating the inside of the house. This year I decided not to put the Martha Stewart ribbon and garland that I love, love, love. I decided to try something different. I don't like it! Not sure if I am going to do it over or just live with it as-is for this year, but it's just too plain! I do love that where I put the tree this year it's reflected in the mirror, double the lights and sparkle....love that!

So tomorrow it's back to the real world and for once I'm not really looking forward to going back. I had a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful time being off. Can't wait for Christmas and tamale making and Biscocho baking!

How are your holidays shaping up? All your shopping done? To tell the truth I haven't even started, so don't feel bad if you haven't either.

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas - Mexican Style

A MEXICAN NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa,
Not a creature ws stirring -- Caramba! Que pasa?
Los ninos were tucked away in their camas,
Some in long underwear, some in pyjamas,

While hanging the stockings with mucho cuidado
In hopes that old Santa would feel obligado
To bring all children, both buenos and malos,
A nice batch of dulces and other regalos.

Outside in the yard there arose such a grito
That I jumped to my feet like a fightened cabrito.
I ran to the window and looked out afuera,
And who in the world do you think that it era?

Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero
Came dashing along like a crazy bombero.
And pulling his sleigh instead of venados
Were eight little burros approaching volados.

I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre
Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre:
"Ay Pancho, ay Pepe, ay Cuco, ay Berto,
Ay Chato, ay Chopo, Macuco, y Nieto!"

Then standing erect with his hands on his pecho
He flew to the top of our very own techo.
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,
He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea,

Then huffing and puffing at last in our sala,
With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala,
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos --
For none of the ninos had been very malos.

Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento,
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.
And I heard him exclaim, and this is verdad,
Merry Christmas to all, and Feliz Navidad!

Biscochos...a family tradition. Done for 2011!

Every year in our family we get together and bake Biscochos, a small, crispy cookie flavored with Anise, Cinnamon and Cloves. It's almost like a Mexican version of the Snickerdoodle. And it's very popular. One of my blogging buddies, Paula from Sweet Pea also made some recently. She calls them biscochitos. Her recipe calls for brandy! I never thought about adding Brandy.

We grew up eating these as children. Our Tia Nico would make batches and batches of these and everyone always went home with a big Folgers coffee can full of them. It wouldn't be Christmas to us without this cookie and without Tamales, which we are making next weekend.

Here's my mom, the Head Chef and Baker and her two lovely assistants, me and my sister. My sister had hurt her back a couple of days ago so she was barely able to move. She was mainly there for moral support and entertainment value!

Last year we had the whole family, including my brothers, their spouses and kids in an out throughout the day baking. It was a real family affair and you can see last years pictures HERE if you so desire. But this year because my sister had hurt her back and my mom has been suffering with pneumonia and bronchitis we figured we wouldn't make them this year, but at the last minute we said "What the heck!"

My sister's two boys, Sean and Isaac were there helping for a bit early on. Isaac brought his Ipod and played some wonderful music for us. The boy has great taste in music. Here's a few pictures of the boys with me, with my mom and with their mom.

Sean and me

Me with Isaac, he's my nephew and my Godson.

My mom and her grandson, Sean.

My Mom and her grandson Isaac.

My sister and her boys.

And here's the boys, helping? Brotherly love!

Ok, now we're ready to get busy. I like to get it started with some energy drink...in the form of Agavero Tequila! This is a delicious sipping tequila that my cousin Stella introduced me to. Unfortunately...right after this picture was taken my nephew/godson spilled it :-(

Oh well, no crying over spilt tequila when there's Biscochos to be made! Several years ago my daughter gave me this Pink KitchenAid mixer and I love it! It makes creaming the sugar, shortening and eggs a breeze. You just set it and forget it. Well except for having to scrape the sides now and again.

While this stuff is getting creamed, we sift all the dry ingredients together. Then we mix the dry into the wet slowly and you knead, knead, knead the whole thing. Then we roll softball size balls out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut with a little pizza cutter that has a curly edge, like a crimping edge. That's the little gizmo in the picture.

My daughter April had to work and didn't get to come and help and hang out with us. She always likes to use cookie cutters instead of the little crimpy pizza roller, so I made a special tray of Christmas Cookies just for her.

Then you bake and here's what you end up with!

These little guys are so good right out of the oven but they actually get better as they get cold and age. They get crispy and sweeter. We doubled the recipe and look how many it made! If you would like the recipe, please click HERE.

My mom was kinda dreading making them as they are a lot of work and she wasn't feeling up to Par and my own sis's back is broken. But between the three of us we accomplished another annual Biscochos bakeoff! Doesn't my mom look happy here? All the work was worth it just for this picture!

And so ends another lovely day in my life. Now I just have to get through a week of work and then we get to start all over in the kitchen and make Tamales next week. Tune in for that!