Christmas Baking Under Way!

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. ~Agnes M. Pahro

My daughter and I have been making plans for our big holiday baking day.  She's 12 this year, and has been thumbing through the cookbooks and magazines for her choices.  We've also been asking friends what their favorite cookie is, and we already have our decorative bags and gift tags. It's fun having a full fledged baking partner to help during the holidays:)

In the midst of our planning I realized I hadn't done my yearly check of our baking ingredients, which led to an idea for an article on how important it is to pay attention to the shelf life of items such as flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder.  I did some research and wrote the article, which you'll find here:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/The-Importance-of-Shelf-Life.html

I hope your Christmas baking and gift buying is going well!
~Brenda

The First Snow Plus Christmas Fun!

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

I'm writing articles this weekend in between decorating the house for Christmas. When I woke up this morning everything was coated in a beautiful white snowfall. It's just what I needed for holiday inspiration! I decorated the blog, as you can see, with pretty graphics. I'm always giddy when I look through the old fashioned pictures and postcards images I've collected over the years. I love decorating the blog almost as much as decorating my home.

Today I also wanted to share links to some of my favorite articles on Old Fashioned Living. Over ten years of articles makes for a lot of holiday tips and recipes:) I've been making homemade candy, cookies and crafts for 25 years now. The articles below I wrote with tips and recipes for making your own homemade gifts from the kitchen. I've given these gifts to teachers, co-workers, friends, family and special guests that drop in at the holidays. 

-Mixes for Tea, Chili and more...
http://oldfashionedliving.com/giftmixes2.html

-Gifts of Fudge
http://oldfashionedliving.com/fudge.html

-Savory Treats and Mixes
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/savory.html

-A Sandart Brownie Mix
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/jarbrownies.html

-Tea and Beverage Mixes
http://oldfashionedliving.com/giftmixes.html

-Homemade Candies from Nuts
http://oldfashionedliving.com/giftnuts.html

-Homemade Candy Recipes
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/candy.html

-Homemade Mixes for Coffee Lovers
http://oldfashionedliving.com/coffee.html

-Bean Soup Mixes
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/beanmixes.html

-Cookie recipes including gingersnaps and pantry cookies, 
which I've made for years and everyone loves them. 
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/gingersnaps.html

-Gifts for the Breakfast Lover-
http://oldfashionedliving.com/holidays/breakfastmixes.html

Lastly I wanted to share a picture I took this morning of the snow covered pine tree in our front yard.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,
Brenda

Christmas Tips: The Holiday Table

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ~Charles Dickens

Tomorrow is December 1st, and so begins the Christmas season, at least in my mind.  If we base it on when the stores started carrying Christmas items, then it began back in October, but as usual, I ignored that early marketing. This weekend we're putting up our decorations, and our Christmas tree, which I love doing each year. My tree is a hodge podge of ornaments, some from when my husband was a kid, as well as all the handmade ornaments my kids made over the years, and things given to us by friends and family.  I love opening the boxes, and looking through everything we've collected over the years. I hope all of you have special ornaments and decorations too.

The first article I wrote for this holiday season has tips on decorating the family table.  I share my own ideas plus a few out of a vintage book from my collection.  You'll find the article here: http://oldfashionedliving.com/The-Holiday-Table.html

~Brenda

Happy Thanksgiving!

We at Old Fashioned Living are thankful for all of our readers. You've been with us for many years and we are grateful for all of your support. Personally, I am thankful for the support and friendships I've made through OFL. I've known many of you before my daughter was born 12 years ago!

We hope you have a blessed and memorable Thanksgiving.

I finished another article just in time for the week's festivities:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/Old-Fashioned-Sweet-Potatoes.html

I'm sharing tips on baking and microwaving sweet potatoes and some old fashioned recipes. Remember, they aren't just for Thanksgiving:)

~Brenda

Thanksgiving Week: Pie Crust Tricks

Thanksgiving week is here, and it's almost time to get out the Christmas decorations! Despite the crowds and commercialism, I love this time of year. I remember as a kid listening to Christmas music and waiting for my favorite holiday shows to air, hoping it would snow before Christmas Eve and putting up the Christmas tree.  I still love all of those things, as do my kids, so we're looking forward to getting out all of our favorite things this week. Yes, even my 18 and 19 year old help decorate:)

I've bought most of the food for our dinner on Thursday, except for a few things I'm going to pick up on Tuesday when I go out for an appointment. This year feels odd since both of my boys have graduated high school, and are going to college plus working. We had to figure out when the best time would be for dinner, juggling everyone's schedules as best we could. Unfortunately, we can't travel to either of our parents' homes because my son and husband work the day before and after Thanksgiving, but the five of us will be together Thursday, late in the afternoon for turkey and the fixings. Serving dinner a little later than usual isn't a big deal for me. I'm just thankful that we can be together.  

This week I'm writing articles that I think will be helpful through the entire holiday season.  The first one focuses on traditional pie crust.  What is the trick to a successful crust?  I share recipes and tips from the 1930's and 1940's when most people made their own pies and crust for the holidays. The article is here: http://oldfashionedliving.com/Traditional-Pie-Crust-Tips.html . I think you'll enjoy the tips and the recipes.

~Brenda

Breakfast Breads for Holiday Mornings

Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell

It's hard to believe November is here, and the holidays are so close. I've been going through my recipes, trying to decide on dishes, which is always a tough call because I have so many choices. In order to bring everyone together on Thanksgiving for dinner, we have to wait until around 6 p.m. to eat this year. I'm starting out the day with a hearty breakfast, including some type of bread. I've narrowed it down to a few recipes, of which I will most likely choose two.  I shared these in a new article on OFL, which include tips plus the following recipes:

-Crescent Cinnamon Rolls
-Orange Cinnamon Buns
-Honey Pecan Breakfast Ring

You'll find the recipes here:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/Easy-Homemade-Breakfast-Breads.html

Cold Weather Soups for Fall

The witches fly Across the sky, The owls go, "Who? Who? Who?" The black cats yowl And green ghosts howl, "Scary Halloween to you!" ~Nina Willis Walter

Here in Michigan the high temperature today is 44 degrees F., and my twelve year old and I are heading out soon to "trunk or treating" at one of the churches in town, and stopping by the fire station. After that we shall have to see how cold we are:)

Yesterday I was walking out to the mailbox and realized I needed to pick up some ingredients for a nice, hot creamy soup. This led to my writing an article with yummy soup recipes that are easy to make and thrifty. I share recipes for:

Cream of Mushroom Soup
Virginia Vegetable Soup
Potato Chowder
Clam Chowder
Cream of Corn Soup

You'll find the article here:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/Cool-Weather-Soups-and-Stews.html

Happy Halloween!
~Brenda