Christmas In The Kitchen of Quill Cottage and Give Away Winners...

Welcome! Come on in. Would you like a cupcake? Or a candy cane?A cookie?Or perhaps a chocolate jungle bell?How about the two cent tour of the kitchen of Quill Cottage? If you have been a visitor before, just scroll on past this little leg of the journey. I am posting my kitchen as per a request from one of my dear readers. Remember, I live in a cottage and my spaces are itty bitty compared to most standards today. We have had to make the most of our small space so everything has to be really functional. This is almost the whole enchilada in one shot!My stove, that I love, love, love!!! It is my favorite flea market find. Above is a piece antique ceiling tin that I finished out in a nickle finish and Handy Hubby framed for me. Copper pieces accent the pot rack and a set of vintage pots rest on top.The sink where I can see the deer graze at the edge of the woods, cardinals in the bushes, or a perfect circle in the tree canopy to the sky.Here is my pantry, which used to be a hallway that we converted. I started to remove all the useful stuff like brooms and such, but I thought not, this is how we really live. The walls are fifteen light panel doors that I decoupaged recipes from the 1920's and 1930's over the glass panes.Back when my daughter was in youth group we used to have large gatherings here. One of the girls loved to hang out in our kitchen and especially the pantry. She would swing open the spice cabinet and inhale deeply. She said that this is her favorite room in my house. It smelled like home.This is the nook where the washer and dryer rest under the counter top. Here you can see that it is all decked out for entertaining.Swinging back around and there is my refrigerator. I hope you enjoyed the two cent tour!What is that, you only got a peek at the nook and its entertaining look? Sure, we can take a closer look. In this corner Nesting Santa's stand at the ready to guard the goodies that will soon fill the tired trays!In this corner Santa has filled his sleigh with a tiny tree full or white twinkle lights and tiny ornaments.In the center of the top shelf rests a little vignette of gingerbread men and a framed Christmas card of Santa napping. To the right and left of this display are framed pieces of handmade art.A festive garland filled with mini red and white kitchen utensils and gingerbread man stocking ornaments rings the counter top set off with a twinkling glow of white lights.Here is the whole thing!Now that we have taken a tour of the kitchen, why don't we make something! How about some of Miss Sandy's Christmas Candies and Cookies AND some of those cute little Gingerbread Men Stocking Ornaments? Sound good? Grab an apron and let's go!GINGERBREAD MAN STOCKING ORNAMENT TUTORIAL:
MATERIALS:
*Cotton Fabric
*Fiber Fill
*Needle and Thread or Sewing Machine
*Scissor
*Paint ~ Red, White, Black
*Baby Booties
*Misc. embellishments and trims
*Hot Glue and Hot Glue Gun

INSTRUCTIONS:

*Draw or trace a gingerbread man head, arms, and body onto the wrong side of a 4" x 5" piece of fabric. Place over identical piece of fabric, right sides together.*Sew over trace lines by hand or with a sewing machine.*Trim away excess edges and snip at all corners to prevent puckering.*Turn and stuff with fiber fill.*Paint on eyes, nose, mouth, and frosting as shown in photo OR glue on beads, buttons, etc. as you desire.*Stuff fiber fill into the foot of baby bootie.*Place gingerbread man in bootie as shown in photo. On front and back, roll back bootie cuff and run a bead of hot glue along body, press bottie back in place.*Glue or stitch on a ribbon loop for hanging.*Add any extra embellishments that you desire. I bow ties added tiny cookies to the hands of mine. (Darling Daughter asked if that would be considered canibalism) Some have bells on the tips of the toes and I also added some vintage silver garland for a bit of sparkle.

This would be a great way to preserve a special memory of your child or grandchild by turning one of their little booties into an ornament for the tree!

Now that we are through crafting, let's get cooking!

FANTASY FUDGE

3/4 Cups butter
3 Cups sugar
2/3 Cups evaporated milk
1 pkg. (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 Cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Microwave butter in 4 quart bowl on high for 1 minutes or until melted. Add sugar and milk, mix well.

Microwave on high 5 minutes or until begins to boil, stirring after 3 minutes. Mix well. Scrape bowl. Continue microwaving 5 1/2 minutes, stir after 3 minutes. Stir in chips until melted. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.

Pour into greased 9" square pan for thick fudge or 9" x 13" pan for thinner fudge. Cool at room temp. then cut into squares. Makes 3 lbs.

PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

1 lb. margarine
2 Cups peanut butter
2 1/2 to 3 lb. confectioners sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (you may need a bit more than called for)
1/4 lb. paraffin

Cream margarine and peanut butter. Add sugar until the consistency to form into balls the size of large marbles. Add vanilla. Mix thoroughly using hands. Melt chocolate and paraffin in small double boiler. Dip balls in chocolate, using a toothpick. Place on waxed paper to cool. Remove toothpick and dab chocolate over hole. NOTE: candy freezes well. Yields 125 pieces.

CHOCOLATE COATED COCONUT BALLS

1 stick butter or margarine
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 boxes powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 small bag flaked coconut
2 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cake paraffin

Melt butter; add milk. Stir in sugar and salt. Add coconut. Chill until it can be easily handled. Roll into balls; insert toothpick in each ball. Refrigerate until firm. Melt chocolate and paraffin in a double boiler. Dip each candy into chocolate. Place on waxed paper to cool. Remove toothpick and dab hole with chocolate. Yields 70 pieces.

PECAN THIMBLE COOKIES

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 Cups chopped pecans
1 Cup butter, softened
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar

Process flour and pecans in food processor or blender until very fine. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in flour mixture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Use a thimble to cut our cookies. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until very lightly browned. Yields about 50 dozen cookies.

VARIATION: Cookies may be rolled out as directed above and cut out using regular size cookie cutters in any shape you desire. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Yields about 5 dozen 2 1/2" cookies.

I hope that you enjoy some of these family favorites!

Now on to the last bit of goodness I have tucked away for you here at the Quill, the winners of the Gingerbread Man Give Away!

#4 ~ Pattie of The Joy of Nesting! (time stamp: Dec. 18, 2008 10:26AM)
#6 ~ Vee of A Haven for Vee! (time stamp: Dec. 18, 2008 11:55AM)
#18 ~ Marmee of Things I Love! (time stamp: Dec. 19, 2008 7:19PM)

Congrats to you all! Please email me your addresses and I will get your package in the mail on Monday morning! Thank you to all who have visited during this holiday celebration here at the Quill. I hope you have enjoyed this month long celebration as much as I have.

I invite you to join me tomorrow for the last installment of our families Advent celebration. I have decided to postpone the winter table setting until after the holidays so be sure and pop over between Christmas and New Years to see what happened to those snowmen and mittens we made earlier. I will have a bit of something up for you on Christmas Eve if you should decide to drop by. I will be taking a one week break most of Christmas week. This little elf needs to get herself in gear to spread a little holiday cheer right here at home! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can, To Sign Up For A Gingerbread Man!

Today is the last Give Away in my Spirit of Giving Christmas Celebration. This brings us back to the heart of the home ~ the kitchen. Holidays always include all kinds of good food and Christmas is no exception. It is a tradition in our family to have a day set aside to make candy and cookies in mass proportions. Sampler bags, for singles, and trays, for families are filled, wrapped, and tagged ready for delivery. A jaunty bow tops each one off with a handmade ornament. We make deliveries the next evening and then drive around to look at Christmas lights.

This morning as I went into my kitchen to check the pantry for ingredients I noticed something different. "What is that nestled in my wreath on my pantry door?", I thought to myself. A little closer I crept and realized the elves had been busy while I slept! All snugged in as cute as could be was a little Gingerbread Man Recipe! I must share this with you friends, this is where the Give Away begins!

This little piece of kitchen decor can be displayed for holidays. The base if foam core with a recipe card attached, I painted the recipe card and then mounted a copy of a vintage recipe for Soft Ginger Cakes in the center. Using another recipe card I hand painted two cute little Gingerbread Men, cut them out and glued them onto the base piece. I added a ribbon and some edge trim that reminded me of icing. Some vintage buttons finish off the corners and a little ornament was added to the cookie to give it dimension. The back is finished off with a burlap paper and gingham ties were added.

To my right something caught my eye. It was a grinning little guy hanging with Santa who stood nearby! He usually likes to hang out on a tree. Can he come live with you instead of me?The second give away prize is this Gingerbread Man ornament. He is made from gingham fabric and embellished with a painted face, a nice big button, and a torn fabric scarf. He hangs from a wire that is adorned with a raffia bow.Looking up further, what did I see? A wonderful book for keeping holiday recipes! I took it down off the shelf to inspect it closer for myself. Upon each page was stamped a snowflake or a tree. Oh, and look, it will hold 50 recipes!This is the third prize in the give away. A hand bound recipe card book. It's front and back covers are covered inside and out with Christmas themed scrapbook papers. It is embellished with a "cookie" ribbon, "cookie" message, and tiny cookie ornaments. Each page is stamped with alternating snowflake and tree stamp in red and green ink. I added five ribbon tabs which divide off every ten cards in the book. It is bound with a burgundy wire. The backs of the recipe cards are blank and would be great for making little holiday notes or annual lists of ingredients, etc.One more surprise was in store, but who was this one for? Oh, that sweet little elf! He left a present for myself! There in a red wooden frame stood a painting of a Gingerbread Man with glittery gum drops all aglow. I thought I left that on my work table, I think, no I know. The elf must have crept very quietly while I slept and removed it from its resting place and framed it up just for this space!So, run, run, as fast as you can to sign up for a Gingerbread Man! If you would like to enter the give away for the Gingerbread Man Recipe Plaque, Ornament, or Recipe Card Holder, just leave a comment on this post. A winner will be chosen and posted on Saturday, Dec. 20.

I will be back on Saturday posting not only the winners but hopefully I'll have a few recipes and one last how to also! Invite you to join me on Sunday for the last installment of my families Advent Celebration. On Monday I hope to be back to wrap this blog event with a bit of a winter theme to show you something else you can do with those little snowmen and mittens! I have enjoyed this month long labor of love and I do hope you have been given some ideas to incorporate into your family celebration.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy