With the weather starting to get a little cold here (in the 30’s instead of high 60’s and low 70’s as it’s been lately), we’ve decided to have a week full of soups and chili.

We are making three kinds of soups and two kinds of chili:

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Baked Potato Soup
• Cincinnati Chili
• Hearty Chili

These dishes are some of our favorites and we usually only pull out these recipes when the weather starts to get cold.  None of these soups are from the Eat Clean Diet (warning…..some are probably fattening, but all are oh so good).  Click on the name of the recipe to view it.  Hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are.

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas I make the same meal (not because I can’t think outside the box, but because we both love these foods and these are the only two times of the year that I make them…it’s a shame that they’re so close together).

I have my recipes sorted by category (side dish, soup, salad, dessert, main dish, etc…). Each year I have to go through my recipes to locate the ones I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas, write out my grocery list, and remember which dish I need to make first and so on so they all finish at the same time.

This year I decided to create a Holiday Recipe Book. Something quick that I can grab that would have all of my recipes in it that I’ll make during the holidays. I’ve also included a grocery list (so I’m ready to go to the store at a moments notice) and a list of what order I need to be cooking each item in (taking all of the guesswork out of the planning).

This Christmas will be the first time I will use this, so I’m anxious to see if it was worth making. Here’s our Holiday Menu:

• Turkey Cutlets (I don’t touch anything with the bone still in it…my poor hubby)
• Stuffing
• Sage and Onion Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Corn Casserole (thanks Clarice!)
• Rolls
• Pretzel Salad
• Pumpkin Pie
• Dutch Apple Pie
• Grandma White’s Gingerbread Boys
• Buckeye Pie (thanks Paul!)

The last two are only made around Christmas and usually Paul (our next door neighbor) makes the Buckeye Pie and gives us some….I’ve only made it once.

Do you have a favorite childhood book that you remember and still love?  Maybe even one that you’ve read to your own children or grandchildren.  I’ve thought many times of my favorite childhood book (This Room Is Mine by Betty Ren Wright).

I just recently watched the two girls next door (ages 8 and 5) and they would be the perfect age to read my favorite childhood book.  I decided to get online (how great is the internet?) to see if I could locate my book.  I had no clue what the title of it was, but could remember the story verbatim (let’s go one further than the internet and single in on how cool Google is).  I went to Google and typed in a little about the book…and wouldn’t you know, the title and author’s name showed up.  I then did another search on Google to see if the book was still being sold.  It’s no longer in print, but I was able to get my hands on a used copy.  What’s sad is that the book says it cost 49 cents on the front cover.  I paid $12 for it, but did see some selling for upwards of $50 (in perfect condition).

My book was shipped to me this past week and when I opened the package, I immediately sat down to read it.  What a great book!  Now if we could only have kids, so I could read it to someone (watch out neighbor kids and friends who have kids, I’ll be toting this book around and reading it any chance I get).

We had a visitor come to stay with us.  He’s staying until the end of the year (yes, a long time, but I don’t think he’ll be too much trouble).  His name is Flat Stanley.  Our nephew Andrew is in 2nd grade and sent him to us.  Our niece Abby sent hers to us four years ago when she was in 2nd grade.  Flat Stanley and I have already been on several adventures (getting our hair cut, making Thanksgiving dinner, setting up the Christmas decorations, shopping for Christmas presents, wrapping presents, visiting another 2nd grade class here in Raleigh, and the list goes on).  He is winding down his trip in NC.

I am getting ready to get the photos printed out and make a scrapbook to send home to Tremont, IL with him.  I even have a special surprise from the 2nd grade class here in Raleigh to send back with him to show Andrew’s class.  It’s been fun!  I’ll add more pictures when I have the scrapbook put together.

I subscribe to several RSS feeds from bloggers that I enjoy.  Some are craft related, and recently I came across a few hair accessories that I thought I’d try to make.  I was watching the girls next door this past weekend, so gave these items to them.  Here are the instructions that I used.

Ribbon Headband
Fabric Reversible Headband
Felt Covered Barrettes

If you’ve ever seen my office, you’d know that my desk faces the window.  I only open my blinds if it’s overcast or later in the day (as the sun is a bit too bright in the morning).

Today I opened my blinds due to it raining outside and started seeing the tree right in front of me start to shake.  Of course it got my attention, so I had to see what was causing it to shake violently.  As you can see from the picture (click on it to make it larger), it was a squirrel.  So much for getting any work done.  I was too intrigued by this little guy who felt within arms reach and at perfect eye level for me (up on the 2nd story).  This little creature jumped out on the tiniest of limbs and twisted and turned in every which direction (catching himself as he almost fell a couple of times).  It was very entertaining!

Apparently Pear Trees have little berries or nuts of some sort as this little guy kept grabbing them, splitting them open, eating whatever was inside, and dropping the shell.  Watching him (um, or her) go to town made me realize how amazing God is to create such a creature capable of climbing so high, maneuvering so quickly, and having an unbelievable balance, not to mention being so entertaining.  Thank you Lord for creating such fascinating creatures (including me).