Peppermint and Pistachio

I have such find memories of delivering the neighborhood gifts at Christmas time. Bundled in our warmest gear, we would hop aboard the toboggan, pulled by our Labrador, with our arms filled with prickly pineapples adorned with red bows. This year it is peppermint bark and pistachio divinity that will bring Christmas cheer to the neighbors.

The peppermint bark was super simple. It's my favorite Christmas treat so I had to make it. I didn't have a double boiler, but I had a steamer pot. I put tinfoil in the straining section and melted the chocolate in that. It made for easy clean up between the white and dark chocolate though.
Aaaahhh, divinity. I grew up with lot's of divinity at Christmas. My Grandmother's recipe makes it seem that much more nostalgic as well. I used pistachios extract as well as chopped pistachio's in the mix. I've also done these pink with candy canes and they are fabulous.


The gist boxes were plain white take out boxes from Micheals. I sprayed painted them gold and deco podged the paper onto the box. I thought they were magical looking in the end.

Christmas tree pot pie

I made this the other day and it was tasty and fast and festive. It was fun for the kids and not too hard to make. Try it out.

1 package (17.3 oz.) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
I beaten egg
6 Tbsp butter or margerine
4 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced (2 cups)
1 Cup all purpose flour
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
1 carton (32 oz.) chicken broth
3 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup dry white wine, if desired
2 bags (1 lb each) Green Giant frozen mixed veggies, thawed and drained( I just cut some carrots and steamed them and used canned corn and beans)
6 cups bite size pieces cooked chicken
2 teaspoons dried tarragon leaves
1/4 tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On lightly floured surface, unfold pastry sheets. Use sharp knife or tree shaped cookie cutter to cut shapes from pastry. Reroll cut dough to cut all trees as necessary.

In ungreased cookie sheets, arrange pastry trees. Brush with egg. Bake about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onions in butter 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Stir in flour. Slowly add broth, half-and-half and wine, stirring constantly. Cook 2-3 minutes til slightly thickened.

Stir in veggies, chicken, tarragon, salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes longer. Spoon into bowls and top with pastry tree.

Serves 12

I cut it in half and it gave us plenty. I also cook the chicken first and cut second. It saves a little time.

Merry Christmas!

Here's a look at Christmas at our house. I wish I could leave it up all year.

The real meaning of Christmas

I have such fond memories of playing with the many figurines that were in my house at Christmas time. This lovely set was given to us last year by my In-laws.

The hallway Buffet

Our cute little Santa holding a hedge hog is from the Czech Republic

The front entranceway

We have no fireplace which is so sad, but we hang our stocking on the railings along the stairs instead. I wanted a wintery scene because I am missing the snow this year.

I got this reindeer a couple of years ago in Canada. I thought it looked lovely pulling the sleigh.
The entertainment center is all decked out. I put tube lighting at the top this year and it really made it look warm and draws your eye towards the christmas scene rather than Caddyshack.
Igot this quail in a bartering shop in SLC several years ago. It's one of my favorite pieces.
I've always just used wadded up material for our Tree skirt, I decided it was high time to actually buy one. I wanted something that would please both the children and the grown ups. I really liked the sweater material in the trees.

trimmings on the tree

love these green and gold ornaments.
ornament from another trip to Florida

this was an ornament we got while on a trip to florida to visit dear friends Tony and Melissa
got this one at Pier 1 Imports last year while in SLC for christmas.
this was my favorite out of 4 given to me by my dear cousin Sarah. They were handpainted in colorado. The other 3 are just as fabulous.
this years ornament. We haven't missed a year of getting an ornament to remember our lives by, but this year we did. So I fell in love with this christmas ship at this year because Liam's favorite Christmas song is "We saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day on Christmas day in the morning". He totally lights up and dances his pants off whenever it comes on.
I really wanted to do a green, gold and pearl white tree this year. As much as my husband is open to all types of decor he stands his ground on the traditional red and green. We had deep red and gold for the last few years on our tree so I bought these fabulous green ornaments to add.

and finally the christmas tree

Isn't it beautiful! I wish I could leave christmas up all year long!