Christmas 2012 Resolutions!

It was a great Christmas....

We were blessed to have at least part of

our family with us.

BUT

Christmas 2012 will be very different.

I sent myself a note on October 1st that I would

start pulling out Christmas boxes and deciding

what I would need for decorating.

DID NOT HAPPEN

I actually took down my fall decorations

before Thanksgiving... even assembling my

new pewter-colored Christmas tree.

WASTE OF TIME

The results:

The most unorganized Christmas I can remember

in years!

My Christmas 2012 Resolutions

1. Cut back on decorating
2. Store only the decorations I plan to use next year
3. Reduce the 17 bins (this is true confession here!) to 5 .. ok,  7 bins!
4. Allow only 2  3 days for decorating... period!
5. Plan menu and cook ahead AND

don't cook for an Army!

Signed,

And if you belive this will truly happen... then "I have some ocean front proptery in Arizona" to sell you! ;-)

My Favorite Christmas Recipe this Year

Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon

1 lb. (about 4 c.) fresh cranberries

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

**

1/4 c. bourbon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cranberries, sugars, and cinnamon in 9x13" baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, stirring after 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir in bourbon.

Refrigerate cranberry sauce until well chilled. This can be prepared a week in advance.

Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Today I am linking to

A Stroll Thru Life

for

Tabletop Tuesday
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas from

my home to yours!

 

Three Bloggers Enjoy a Christmas Party!

There are great parties.

Then there is great food at great parties

Then there is great music, great food at great parties.

But the BEST is GREAT friends at great parties!!

In case you do not recognize these three women:

Left: Moi! Ladybug Creek

Center: Laura of White Spray Paint

http://whitespraypaint.blogspot.com/

Right: Nancy of Nancy's Notes

http://nancyozema.blogspot.com/

Here are just some of the refreshments served

at our Christmas Dance.

I prepared the Paula Deen's

Shrimp Butter

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp. sherry

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. House Seasoning (1 c. salt, 1/4 c. black pepper, 1/4 c. garlic powder)

cayenne pepper to taste

2 (3 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. onion, chopped (I used green onion)

1 lb. shrimp, shelled, deveined and cooked

Paprika for garnish

Put all ingredients except shrimp and paprika into a food processor. Process until well mixed. Drop in shrimp and process until pureed or chopped to desired consistency.

Garnish with paprika. Serve with crackers as an appetizer.

I added a few drops of Tabasco sauce.

I'm sharing my post with

Little Red House

                                                http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

for Mosaic Monday

I'm also linking to

All the Small Stuff for

Tuesdays at the Table

http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/

                                       

Christmas Dance Sneak Peak!

Here is a sneak peak at just a few

of the tables decorated for our

Christmas Dance.

Mind you there will be candles and

tiny lights that will add to the glow.

We'll be rockin' and rollin'

TONIGHT!