Category Archives: Christmas

Yorkshire Pudding

I finally combined a couple recipes for Yorkshire Pudding that I like the results of. I’m posting the recipe here so I can access it next Christmas and any other time we are in the mood for Yorkshire Pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding 2021

Ingredients:

  • 1-1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 8 ounces whole milk
  • Sunflower Oil

Method:

  1. Mix flour and salt in a bowl and make a well.
  2. Add one egg at a time with a little of the milk and beat well repeating until all the eggs and all the milk are incorporated and mixed well and smooth.
  3. Pour the mixture into a jug, any vessel with a pouring lip like a small pitcher or larger measuring cup.
  4. Let this mixture sit for several hours before you are ready to cook them.
  5. Forty Five minutes before you are ready to serve them preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  6. Put a teaspoon of sunflower oil in each well of your popover pan.
  7. Put the pan in the preheated oven for 15 minutes to get the oil smoking hot.
  8. Pull the pan out carefully and add the batter evenly into each well being careful not to spill the mix anywhere but into the wells, use a spoon to catch any drips as you go from well to well.
  9. Put tray back into oven and cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up nicely.
  10. Serve immediately with your Prime Rib adding some au jus to the table to soak them with if you so wish.

Recipe yields 12 Yorkshire Puddings.

Tips: You might need to strain the mixed up batter through a sieve if you have too many flour lumps after mixing. Be patient in the baking process letting them puff up and get to the done stage.

Sunflower oil is recommended because it does well at high heat.

If you don’t have a popover pan like the one pictured you can also use a 12 well muffin pan.

I put my popover pan on a sheet pan so I could handle it safely and make it easier to put in and out of the oven.

 

A New Year for the Hodgpodge

Hello Hodgepodgers!

It’s Snow Angel season around our parts and…

It’s time for a new year of Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Joyce for coming up with the brain teasers each week.

1. Share one happy moment/memory from the holiday season. 

Seeing each of the three vehicles filled with our most precious cargo pull into our driveway on Christmas day!

2. Let’s be reasonable with our expectations going into this new year, k? What is one thing you’d like to accomplish/improve/complete/do in 2022? 

I’d like to stick to completing a 30 minute cardio workout most days in 2022.  Shoveling off the back deck with Dear on Monday qualifies as a cardio workout! Snowshoeing out my back door is on the agenda this week. After wrapping up this post I’m happy to report I blazed a snowshoe trail in our back acres on Tuesday.

3. Every January 1st (since 1976) Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words are chosen). Here are the words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2022-

wait, what?-no worries-at the end of the day-that being said-asking for a friend-circle back-deep dive-a new normal-you’re on mute-supply chain

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly?

‘No worries’ is the one phrase I’ve used most regularly, the others more randomly.  I do say, ‘did you mute your phone’ to Dear before the church service begins.

Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?

‘A new normal’ is a phrase that strikes me negatively mostly because much that comes with this phrase are things that shouldn’t be normal, in my opinion.

Is there a word/phrase not on the list you’d like to add? (I misunderstood this question the first time around and added a phrase I like, oops) Here’s one I’d like banished.

‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is the phrase I’d like to see banished because it is false from it’s root up.

4. Best thing you ate in the month of December? 

Our traditional Christmas dinner. Prime Rib, roasted veggies, creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding.

5. January 5th is National Bird Day.

Are you a bird lover? 

Yes!

What’s your favorite bird to see in the wild?

Eagle is by far the favorite with hawks coming in at second. I have a strong desire to see an owl in the wild and if I ever do it might win the favorite spot!

Choose a phrase from the list that follows and tell us how it relates to your life currently…eat like a bird, bird’s eye view, early bird, bird-brained, free as a bird, a little bird told me, or kill two birds with one stone.

‘Early bird’ is a phrase that relates to my life currently. Sleeping in has escaped me. I’m up before dark these days. Our pop was always early instead of late and I’m a chip off the old block when it comes to arriving at a scheduled event early, too!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It looks like 2022 will not be a drought year in our parts! As of Tuesday morning January 4th we have about 20 inches of snow accumulated in our yard. More snow is on the way with temperatures that will not allow the snow to melt for awhile.

Only Joseph is still above the snow. We’ll see if he gets completely covered tonight!

To all my hodgepodging friends, I hope 2022 is a year filled with good things that draw you closer to the God who created you!

Celebrating Katie

Everyone gathered at our country bungalow for Katie’s birthday on the 27th of December. Be forewarned that this post has an overload of photos.

We started the day with Dear’s traditional Swedish pancakes that shifted from Christmas morning to Katie’s birthday morning. Dear is the partial Swede who cooks the pancakes perfectly and the accompaniments are always the same. Besides the pancakes you’ll find little smokies (all beef), sour cream, real maple syrup, fake maple syrup, boysenberry syrup, and non dairy yogurt and coffee.

Addy and JJ found the leftover ‘Christmas Crackers’ to pop!

Auntie LoLo and the littles ready to layer up and go outside and enjoy some snow.

We put on all our layers and headed outside for a little snow time. It didn’t last too long because we were in the single digits and teens for temps. That didn’t stop some of us from making snow angels!

It’s fun having a winter wonderland out your back door.

JJ needed help navigating the deep snow.

Dan worked on blazing a trail.

This snow was not compatible to sticking together to create a snowman.

Time to go back inside for a warm-up and some lunch. Errands, a nap for JJ and it was time for dinner and birthday cake!

We had Raclette for Katie’s birthday dinner. Everyone enjoyed cooking their meat and veggies and melting their butter and cheese.

Time for the family favorite Applesauce Spice Cake and some Creme Brulee.

“Happy birthday dear Katie, Happy birthday to you!

It was a Happy Birthday we all enjoyed.

Katie and Andrew hit the road for home early on Tuesday and we were grateful to get the texts along the way letting us know about their journey and the text that said they were ‘Home Sweet Home’.

Happy Birthday Jesus 2021!

 

We woke up on Christmas morning to a little more snow and with lots of anticipation of the day ahead.

Andrew and Katie drove over the Pass on Thursday and on to Idaho to spend Christmas Eve with Andrew’s dad.  At 9am on Christmas morning they left Idaho for our house and pulled into our driveway close to noon.

On Christmas Eve we learned that Josh and Laura’s flight on Christmas Day was cancelled. They made the quick decision to drive instead. They left their home at 8am on Christmas day and we waited on pins and needles hoping that Snoqualmie Pass would stay open. The Pass stayed open and they had a beautiful drive pulling into our driveway at 2:30 ish.

We enjoyed some soup and naan and hummus as we waited for Dan, Jamie, Addy and JJ to arrive after naps.

We were all excited to see them pull into the drive, too. They brought dessert, a Happy Birthday Jesus Cake that Jamie and Addy baked.

Since dinner wasn’t quite ready we decided to open presents before we sat down to eat. We started with the youngest and worked our way up in the gift opening process.

We interrupted our gift opening for Christmas dinner. The Prime Rib was carved, the vegetables were roasted, the creamed corn was hot and the Yorkshire Pudding was out of the oven. Time to sit down and enjoy our meal.

Family photo and on to opening the rest of the presents!

JJ painted this for Baba!

After all the presents were opened we had our dessert and continued to enjoy our time together thankful for each other and the love we share.

Dan, Jamie and the kids left for home and the rest of us decompressed for awhile and headed to bed. On Sunday we had a full day together starting with church and then lunch and dinner at Dan and Jamie’s home.

I’ve got catch up posts from our time together as a family before our kids drove back to the West side of the mountains that will have to wait till next week. Both couples made it home safely with no incidents. We are so thankful for that and don’t take it for granted.

We decided on cancelling our Welcoming 2022 open house here after church on January 2nd. We just got a forecast for 4 more inches of snow on Sunday and we are concerned about our guests safety traveling and walking on our drive up to our door. Too much slipping and sliding around here. We will try again hopefully before Spring for our event!

Still in Party Mode…

 

Our birthday girl and her dear hubby are on the road for the West side of the mountains today but the rest of us are still celebrating our togetherness in very cold conditions. Dressing in layers and donning our snow boots, gloves and hats!

I’ll be back after things get back to normal around here!

 

Butter-Pecan Pumpkin Bars

These Butter-Pecan Pumpkin Squares would be a nice alternative to Pumpkin Pie. They have a good base and the filling stays moist and is very similar to pumpkin pie filling.

Base Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened

Filling Ingredients:

  • 1 – 15oz. can of pure pumpkin (2 cups pumpkin if you make your own)
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. To prepare base: Combine sugar, flour and butter in a bowl with pastry cutter until crumbly. Press into 12 x 8 x 2 inch greased baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned and puffed. Set aside to cool.
2. To prepare filling: Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt with electric mixer until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until slightly firm.
3. To prepare topping: Combine brown sugar and butter in small bowl with pastry blender until crumbly. Add nuts and stir to mix. Sprinkle over pumpkin filling and return to oven for about 10 more minutes until mixture is bubbly and browned.
4. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.
Yield: Approximately 36 squares, 2 by 2 inches.

I know, I know, you are all full with all the Christmas delights you had this past week. I found this recipe in my draft and wanted to post it so it would be handy for me to make for a little open house we are having on Sunday the 2nd of January. Today I’m busy preparing Katie’s birthday dinner and dessert treats. These pumpkin bars aren’t on the list for today.  Hope all is well in your corner.
This is from Katie’s party in 2020. This cake will be prepared again today because it is her favorite. Happy Birthday to our dear daughter.

We Three Kings

We Three Kings

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Refrain

O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a king on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Refrain

Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.

Refrain

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Refrain

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Glory to God in the Highest

The Word Made Flesh

The Son of God in mighty love,
Came down to Bethlehem for me;
Forsook His throne of light above,
An infant on the earth to be.

In love, the Father’s sinless child,
Sojourned at Nazareth for me;
With sinners dwelt the undefiled,
The Holy One in Galilee.

Jesus, whom angel hosts adore,
Became a man of griefs for me;
In love, though rich, becoming poor,
That I through Him enriched might be.

Thou Lord of all, above, below,
He went to Olivet for me;
There drank my cup of wrath and woe,
When bleeding in Gethsemane.

The ever blessèd Son of God
Went up to Calvary for me;
There paid my debt, there bore my load,
In His own body on the tree.

Jesus, whose dwelling is the skies,
Went down into the grave for me;
There overcame my enemies,
There won the gracious victory.

In love the whole dark path He trod,
To consecrate a way for me;
Each bitter footstep marked with blood,
From Bethlehem to Calvary.

’Tis finished all; the veil is rent,
The welcome sure, the access free;
Now then we leave our banishment,
O Father, to return to Thee.

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1843.

The words on the cross say, “Glory to God in the Highest”.

Dear and I will enjoy a meal together before we head out for a candlelight service this evening at our church. Tomorrow all our kids arrive at our place for Christmas day festivities.

Happy Christmas Eve to you all.

More Snow and Christmas

Our round of snow early in the morning of the 22nd created an interesting layering. On our Global Blue Spruce it looks like someone placed kitchen towels out to dry. Or maybe white skirts with scalloped bottoms. Or a layer of Fondant Frosting. 🙂

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

It is very safe to say we are going to have a White Christmas. Maybe we’ll have a snow shoveling day when the kids get here on Christmas.

We will pick up our roast for our Christmas dinner today and a few other things we need for our Christmas dinner and for our daughter’s birthday dinner on the 27th. Our Colville kids are feeding all of us on Boxing Day. We haven’t all been together since the wedding in North Carolina so we are excited for Christmas Day when all the vehicles pull into our drive.