merry christmas

i wrapped my presents in black tissue paper and vintage wallpaper this year. stuff i already had in the house.  shopping, making and wrapping are all done except for a few stocking stuffers.  i've made 5 billion cookies.  the house is relatively clean (unless you count the kids' rooms which i do not.)  i'm making a big pot of spagetti for christmas dinner because i have excess ground beef from my local 1/4 cow beef purchase.  i also have the tomato sauce which i canned this summer and fall. 

i've had a couple questions in my blog comments which i want to answer.  one was regarding the granola recipe i use.  basically, i do have a recipe in front of me when i make this but i follow it loosely.  i add or subtract whatever i don't have in the house or whatever i have which i want to use up.   one tip i do have is if you use a glass baking dish the longer baking time is right here.  if you have a dark metal cooking sheet you should check the granola often as it bakes and go with the shorter baking time. 

homemade granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup green pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

pinch sea salt

2-3 cups dried fruit (any kind you like and a variety is good)

1 cup chocolate chips (if desired)

mix all ingredients except the fruit and chocolate together and spread onto a baking sheet or any large baking dish.  i use two baking sheets for this quantity.  bake 15-30 minutes  ant 375 degrees checking and stirring every 5 minutes.  when cool add the fruit and nuts.

another recipe i want to share is for baked oatmeal.  this stuff is good and makes a perfect christmas morning breakfast.

baked oatmeal

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar depending on your sweet tooth

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 beaten eggs

1 cup olive oil

1 cup milk

mix together and put in a baking dish.  bake approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

and last i had a question about how to do the jade plant cuttings.  i'm no expert but i'm getting really into houseplants lately and here's what i do: i just cut off any unruly branches from my giant jade.  i think most of them were about 6 inches or so long.  i trimmed any bottom leaves off so that i could fit the stems in a bunch into a large mason jar of water.  i let them soak there on a windowsill, replenishing the water as needed, for a few weeks.  you can do it for longer.  i ran out of time and potted them up at this point.  they had a bit of short hairy roots growing from the stems.  i used regular potting soil for houseplants from the garden store and made sure the soil was nice and wet to begin with.  just fill up the pot(s) with wet soil and place a stem or two per pot in the soil packing the dirt gently around the stem.  place the pots in a sunny spot indoors and water as needed making sure the soil doesn't dry out too much when the plant is just starting out. jades seem hardy though so they should be just fine unless you totally forget about them.

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ok, well that's that!  i'm signing off till after christmas but i want to say thank you so much for reading my blog!  thank you all who take the time to comment.  reading your comments is truly one of my favorite things.  they mean a lot to me.

most sincerely,

liane