A Very Merry Christmas to all Old Fashioned Gingerbread and candy cane treats

 The packages have been sent to family members so it's time to reveal the 2023 theme.  

Gingerbread Man and girls..with a lot of old fashioned sweets.  An Old Fashioned Christmas.

Last year as I was putting away my Christmas ornaments I noticed my gingerbread men were sort of "tired".  They had been taken out, displayed and stored in their boxes for over fifty years.  I decided not to store them in 2023 but to do some repair and freshening up.  

circa 1970

When I was a young newlywed I wanted to start my own ornament collection for my tree as all young adults like to do when they've moved out of their parents home. Because I loved to sew and because money was tight I decided to make these little guys.  I used a cookie cutter for a pattern and cut  out from velvet and brown gingham fabric scraps.  Then I appliquéd and embroidered the eyes, mouth and cheeks and apple buttons.  A velvet necktie and rick rack around the edge dressed them for display. I still love to hang these old ornaments on my tree each year.  They send my mind back to another happy Christmas time as so many ornaments do.  My friend, Jan, just recently described it as "my life's history is presented on my tree.  So true!

Usually my Christmas theme inspiration comes to me in October or November but this year in early January I knew what 2023 would be.  Gingerbread.  I decided to make more gingerbread men and share them with others:

Start with a set of gingerbread people - yes I have a few..  In my kitchen "more is more"

The originals are on the top and 7 new pairs of gingerbread fabric ornaments made from both old and new materials

white felt, "apple" appliqué , blue felt eyes, embroidery and vintage ribbon

As I decorated the tree I pulled out all the old ornaments that supported the theme of old fashion candy canes and ribbon candy, sweets like cupcakes and chocolate truffles.  Then I added gingerbread houses and candy cane striped ribbon

Here's a look at my tree:

Candy cane paper, gingerbread bags and boxes

Old fashion Christmas tree

Topped with a gingerbread girl  "Jellycat"

ribbon candy, candy cane ribbon, gingerbread garland - all sugar free!

Sweets on the tree from Christmas' past

Ribbon candy tree, Gingerbread nutcracker and a corner of my poinsettia quilt from 2006

And now for the cookies:

It's just fun making cookies: cut out cookies, decorated cookies, chocolate cookies and red cookies:

This year gingerbread men were a must. Then Ella requested peanut butter cookies with the iconic chocolate kiss on the top.  Red velvet crinkles and sugar cookies made the cut this year.  I first made a batch of each gluten free ( for my Denver family) and then an additional batch of each for others.  Really the G-F choice does not compromise the taste at all and I encourage everyone to try it.

Red velvet crinkle batter

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231745/red-velvet-crinkle-cookies/

so pretty and delicious

Don't forget to let your cookie cutters go swimming in the flour before they cut

Red velvet crinkle cookies plus peanut butter kisses  Here's the recipe 

A village of ginger people    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230238/gingerbread-men-cookies/

And sugar cut out cookies candy cane, Royal Icing (with 1 drop of peppermint extract)  I use the recipe from Rose's Christmas Cookies book - secret ingredient is lemon zest but if you don't have that bible Allrecipes has a good one too https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/

And finally it would not be a complete Christmas without including my High Tide Farm animals

A big wag, hug, nestle, cackle, and meow from all of us

The newcomers

Charlotte

The 4 funny goats......plus 6 chickens

And my favorite girls:

 Reina (16) and Gabriela(13)  Visiting from Seattle

Kate(16)  and Ella(20) - my Denver girls - on their trip to New Zealand

May this upcoming year be filled with love, adventures and joy in your lives

Happy New Year 💗

Girls together- JOY!

I was so lucky to have all 4 of my beautiful Granddaughters here for a visit.  They got to meet Charlotte and Poppy and just be on the farm for a bit.  We worked on a jigsaw puzzle and did a little baking in the kitchen ( salted caramel chocolate tart) but my favorite was when we all got on my bed together.

Ella-16, Gabriela-10, Kate-12, Reina-12

This was fun but what they were looking at was even better-pictures of themselves.  The wall opposite the bed is where I keep my family pictures so I can see these beauties first thing when I wake up.

family pics

Time to take some new pics to add:

Charlotte and Ella

Yes Charlotte is getting big ( 9 months)

Poppy and Gabriela

Kate and Charlotte

Reina

Gabriela, me, Sunflower and Poppy

The luncheon of the boating party- Renoir

salted caramel chocolate tart

King Arthur Flour salted caramel chocolate tart

JOY

May you have joy in every day of your life......You don't have to look very far.....it's right in front of you

Thursday at Seal Beach

While Denver and most of the country were blasted by the "Bomb Cyclone" my friend Nanci and I enjoyed a day at the beach:

Nanci and me Seal Beach Pier

Yes there are people playing at water's edge, palm trees catching a bit of a breeze and snow on the local mountains ( right above our heads).  It has been so good to visit with my friend from dental school.  We both are California natives but today we were tourists in this little beach town of Seal Beach.

This is my happy place

There's no place like the beach---I made it!

happy Californian

I made it!  There's lots to do at my new home but I love a project!  The goats have settled in.  My stuff arrives in a few days.  I am so happy to be back home.  No more winters for this girl

Happy New Year

me bundled up, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Another cold day in Denver but a little cold won't keep me from my walk with Sophie. I bundled up big time. That's a blue hat covered by a hoodie, covered again by my hood on my snow jacket and buckled under the chin. My strategy: wear all of this inside for a few minutes until I get too hot. Then when I go outside it actually feels good. Now if only I could keep my fingers warm

Christmas traditions

Denise, Dana Strand, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Last weekend I flew back to California to bake cookies with my very good friend Sue. We have made cookies together for over 30 years until last year when found it impossible since we lived in different states. Neither of us survived very well.
Before a day of baking we walked on the beach. This time we took the Dana Strand path: 4 miles of ups, downs and on the sand....beautiful views.
Both baking and walking on the beach are traditional activities for me. We can add new ones but giving up old ones are not good for our health.
Enjoy your favorite traditions.

Oh what fun!

Thanksgiving in Seattle, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Last weekend I went to Seattle for an early Thanksgiving: something I've done since Reina was born. We all really like to celebrate together the weekend before because #1 it isn't as crazy as the real weekend, #2 the stores are less crowded, the fares are cheaper and #3 it allows us all to do a dress rehearsal for the following Thursday.....sometimes with an alternative flare. I do love alternative flares.
But most of the visit is spent playing with my Seattle girls: Reina is 3 and her baby sister, Gabriela is 10 months. Both are absolutely adorable.
I hope all of you have as much fun, good food and love this Thanksgiving as I did.

Visit to Seattle

Gabriela and me, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Joy to the world! My entire family was together in Seattle this past weekend. It has been two years+ since we all assembled last in California and now Gabriela (age 7 months) has joined our family. We had 4 days to travel and play searching for adventures around every corner. The girls really had fun playing together and the baby took it all in stride. The kitchen was busy non-stop. Brad made too many trips to the market to keep us fed. It was a great trip!!

Reina's swing goes up

Reina's swing goes up, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Gabriela and I watch as Brad and Ryan put Reina's new swing up on the tree

On the way to Denver

painted desert, Utah, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Ella and I apres sledding

Ella and I apres sledding, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

After a heavy snow storm on December 23 (the day I arrived in Denver) the sun came out and Ryan, Ella, Kate & I went sledding in a local park. How great is that?

Merry Christmas to everyone!

On Christmas Eve Ella and Kate were upside down with excitement!

After a good night's rest and Santa's visit we couldn't believe how generous everyone was.  I hope everyone's Christmas is filled with so much joy and love.

Merry Christmas to all from Denise, Whitney, Ryan, Ella & Kate