Tree traditions

Hi everyone, and welcome to my stop on the Holiday Tales and Traditions blog hop! Bernie at Needle and Foot organized this hop to spread a little holiday cheer. I know this holiday is different from all the others, and at least some of us are having a bit of a time this season. It's been a hard year, so let's pull up a chair, grab a cup of whatever you like, and share some happy stories of our holiday traditions. At the end of my post today, there is a small giveaway just to spread a little more cheer, and also a fun holiday recipe that we have enjoyed for years and years. (And it can be made gluten-free, too!) Read on and enjoy, then share your own story in the comments! Off we go. . .

 

My holiday traditions story will be quite familiar to people in the Upper Midwest, where Christmas-- and sometimes Thanksgiving or even Halloween-- are usually marked by lots of snow and cold. We always had a "real" Christmas tree, and as soon as our kids were old enough to walk a bit in the woods, we started going to cut-your-own lots, where you can cut down your own tree. We did this until our kids left home, and we have some of the best memories from those times.

My very first Christmas ornament, bought for my first "adult" tree almost 40 years ago.

We usually had a great time getting a tree, walking through the whole lot to get the best one. Then of course the kids each had to take a few swipes with the saw, which really did not make any progress in cutting down the tree, but it felt good to them. One year we picked a tree that came with pinecones already attached, and I saved them and still have them.

Non-digital photo that survived from the 1990s.

My favorite year was the year that it was 5 degrees below zero and very snowy. You would think that we would have just forgone the tradition that year, but nope-- traditions do not die that easily! And we were pretty hardy folks, you know, so we bundled up the kids and went out and found a tree. It was probably the longest time we spent in a tree lot, and it was hard walking through the snow, but it turned out to be one of the best times ever. And no frostbite, either! We all still talk about the "freezing year." 

Christmas trees meant for eating!

Of course, after all that activity, we needed hot chocolate and cookies! While the tree thawed out (and dripped) in the garage, we had as many cookies and as much hot chocolate as we could hold. It ruined everyone's lunch, but who cares? They got plenty of vegetables at dinner, I promise. Then, of course, we got to decorate and enjoy our prize tree, which somehow always ended up being way too tall for our room. They look much smaller outside!

Ah, memories! I might be tearing up a bit. I know the picture of those cookies up there is making your mouth water, so now I have two small gifts for you. First, at the bottom of this post is our family Christmas cookie recipe, which makes a *lot* of cut out sugar cookies. Also, I am offering a small giveaway so that you can create something fun in the new year. I have this to share with you:

 

This is a small package of Christmas-tree-colored Aurifil threads in different weights and types. There is some floss, and a spool of regular 50 weight, and some 12 weight thread, too, I think. I didn't want to open the package, so I'm not super-sure, but I know that someone who enjoys experimenting with these things will have a great time with these threads. To enter the giveaway, just share a happy holiday memory in the comments! If you don't celebrate Christmas, that's okay, too! I'm happy to hear any of your happy family stories. I will choose a winner using a random number generator on Sunday evening, December 20. 

This giveaway is now closed! Thanks for sharing your stories!

Be sure to visit everyone else on this hop for some more holiday stories, too:

Sew Preeti Quilts

Quilting Jetgirl

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

From My Carolina Home

MMM! Quilts

Pieceful Thoughts

Devoted Quilter

Me and My Quilts

Kathleen McMusing

Sarah Goer Quilts

Needle and Foot

 

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 And, as promised, here is the cookie recipe:

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of cookies-- between 10 and 12 dozen. Hey, I come from a big family! The dough can be divided and frozen, and it will keep a good six months in the freezer if well wrapped. I have made cookies at Easter from dough that I froze at Christmas, so don't be afraid to make the whole batch and have cookies for months.

2 cups butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

5 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.

 

In a very large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, beating for at least one minute until well combined and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the milk and vanilla and scrape the bowl to be sure everything is well combined.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, making sure all of the flour is incorporated after each addition. Dough will graually become stiffer and the last of the flour mixture may need to be added with your hands. When well combined, smooth the dough and shape into a rough loaf shape. Wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight (at least 12 hours). Dough can also be divided and frozen at this point.

To bake, preheat oven to 350. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thickness a small portion at a time on a lightly floured surface. Dough will be stiff but will soften as you work with it. Cut with cookie cutters in any shape you desire. Place cookies about an inch apart on greased cookie sheets. (Cookies do not spread a lot.) Bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks, frost or decorate, and enjoy!

To make these cookies gluten-free: I am gluten-free and I have successfully made these cookies using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I find it helps to let the dough sit on the counter for about an hour before refrigerating it when using this flour blend. Then refrigerate and bake as described above. Yum!

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I hope this was a cheerful post for you, and I'm really looking forward to reading your stories. I have some tea and some cookies, so I'm ready! Share your stories below, and pass on some Christmas cheer!

Love-ly weekend

Hi all, and a happy Valentine's Day weekend to you! Hope it's warm where you are, because we are freezing. Seriously, it's about 5 degrees right now. But very sunny, so it isn't as bad as it could be. True story: I once had a student from California who thought that freezing (32F, 0C) was as low as the temperature went, and when people said they were freezing it meant that it was literally 32 degrees outside. Boy, was she surprised that first winter!

Here is a project I finished up this week:

Sunshine coming through the window!

Yep, it's hanging on the mantel because it's so cold and windy out. This is about 34 by 34 and was adapted from a Bella Solids pattern by Moda that I got at a quilt group I belong to. I hoped to have it quilted by now, but life gets in the way.  Pretty sure you know how that goes. Check out that successful checkerboard border! These get so stretchy that sometimes I find them difficult, but this one gave me very few problems.

After I made this little quilt I looked at it and realized that it would have made a great 4-leaf clover if it was done up in green. Why do I get great ideas after the fact? Anyway, there's an idea for someone else.

There were just a few cut-off triangles from this little quilt, and I used them to make this up:

A tiny broken dishes block! This measures 4 1/2 inches square. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's very cute!

I also finished this:

Hah! That's all my fabric, nicely stowed away in the closet. This makes me so happy. Each of the boxes on the bottom either holds a work in progress or completed blocks for an ongoing project like the Paper Dolls. On top are the backings (on bolts) and anything less than a half-yard. (Note to self: no more fat quarters.) Anything over that is folded on comic book boards and stands up nicely. It's not a big stash, but it's the right size for me. And now it's all organized and sorted and ready to use! Happy dance!

Now to sort the books. And the notions. And. . .everything else.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. The hubs and I have big plans to have pizza and popcorn and a movie on the couch for Valentine's Day. I'll even let him pick the movie because I don't have to cook! Whatever your plans are, I hope it's great!

Linking to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts. Stop by and wave!