Whiteley Creek Homestead

coconut water + cherry juice smoothie

This smoothie has nothing going for it in the looks department, but the nutritional goodness... now that's a thing of beauty. I copied the recipe from a fitness magazine that I was flipping through as I was getting primped at a hair salon yesterday. This bottle of tart cherry juice concentrate is made from approximately 25 lbs of cherries with nothing else added!

 

Coconut Water + Cherry Juice Smoothie

1 cup coconut water

½ cup tart cherry juice (or 1/2 cup water + 1 tbsp cherry juice concentrate)

½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 frozen banana cut into chunks

2 tsp flaxseed oil (I used 2 scoops concentrated flax lignans.)

homemade turkey soup

Hosting Christmas dinner reaps the benefit of leftovers.  To eek out the last bit of meat from a roasted turkey, a big pot of soup is a shoo in. This basic recipe, from bestcrockpotrecipes.net, does not require homemade stock. Just toss a few ingredients into your crockpot or, as I chose to do instead, let it simmer in a soup pot on top of the stove just long enough for the brown rice to soften... fast, flavorful, a perfect winter day warmup.    

 
 
Homemade Turkey Soup

leftover roasted turkey bones and meat

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, diced

4 cups organic free-range chicken broth/stock

4 cups water

1 tsp salt (I used Johnny’s seasoning salt.)

¼ tsp pepper (I used garlic pepper.)

1 bay leaf

generous ½ tsp dried marjoram

2 tbsp dried parsley

½ cup uncooked brown rice

2 unpeeled carrots, sliced

any other veggies in the fridge (Into the pot on this day, I added sliced broccoli stalks and chopped kale)

Combine all ingredients except carrots (and any other veggies) in a large pot and heat. When it comes to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, then add the veggies. Cook for another 15 minutes until the veggies are tender but still firm. Makes eight 1 ½ cup servings.

winter solstice lunar eclipse

Yep, Dick and I were up in the wee hours of this morning to gaze in awe at the amazing dark amber colored lunar eclipse. I took this photo at 2:33 a.m.

 

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the sun's rays from the face of the moon. The moon is then fully in the shadow cast in space by the Earth. Today's partial eclipse was scheduled to begin at 1:33 a.m. Eastern and the total eclipse was to last between 2:41 a.m and 3:53 a.m., so I shot this photo 8 minutes before the total eclipse. The partial eclipse was to end at 5:01 a.m. It is an unusual occurrence because the last time a total lunar eclipse happened on the winter solstice (1st day of winter) was way back in the year 1638. The next time it will occur on the winter solstice will be the year 2094, so I figured it was this year or never for me. I convinced Dick of it, too. He stood behind me holding my upstretched arms steady to minimize my camera's movement. After the fact, we thought it would have been easier if I had lied flat on my back on the ground, but I liked that it turned into a two-person effort... a tender moment.   

let it snow

Besides the beauty of snow hanging heavy on the branches of evergreen trees, there are two other things about winter in Minnesota that I love... the solitude and the brightness indoors. To recapture the brightness factor, I cut a wintery snow scene and attached it to my windows. Instant indoor brightness...

 
 

I drew a pattern on freezer paper then traced it onto heavy pellon, which is fusible interfacing. I used heavy pellon because it has a felt-like side that looks like snow with a waterproof film on the underside and I had a 50% off JoAnn Fabrics coupon. It provided a sturdy, yet flexible, material to work with that was wide enough so that no seams were required. I repeated the tree triplets sequence in each of my three windows.   

 

Using a circle cutter, I made dots to set atop the trees.

fabric yo-yo greeting card

Have you ever considered making fabric yo-yos but didn't know what you'd do with them other than joining them together to make a quilt top? Well, here you go... a cute card that puts a fun spin on the Ho Ho Ho Santa greeting. I can't remember where I discovered this idea otherwise I'd give credit to its originator.  

 
If you're new to yo-yo construction, I recommend Heather Bailey's tutorial. O.K., so make three yo-yos. If you have Publisher software, choose what size cards you want to create and type YO YO YO centered at the bottom (or use Microsoft Word). Print it onto cardstock. Attach three yo-yos onto the card with a dab of Tacky glue. Above each yo-yo, poke a round head fastener through the cardstock and loop an ornament hanger over each one. If you want to reproduce the card, scan it into your computer and you can make postcards, top fold cards, side fold cards, etc. When you scan it, you don't lose the dimensional aspect... the depth of the original. (The card in my photo is a scan.) Note: I featured these pinecone postage stamps in my photo because stamps that I take a liking to don't surface often enough. These I like.

snowflake package topper

Jessica J., via her blog How About Orange, provided the inspiration for this snowflake package topper. See her version here. So so cute.  

 
This Christmas wrapping paper, with vintage-looking cars each heading home from a cut-your-own tree farm, is my all-time favorite. I bought a roll last month at Target, I think. To enhance the paper's theme, I found a pattern for this snowflake with evergreen tree shapes and cut it from green gingham scrapbook paper. My snowflake doesn't look like the pattern. Either I took a detour and chose to put my own spin on it, or my direction following went awry. The end result was trees, though, so I glued a red plastic snowflake-shaped bead, leftover from my kids bead crafting days, in the center to provide a pop of color... and I smiled.  

"Elf Shelf"

 
The Hallmark Channel, where Martha Stewart moved her daily talk show, also hosts her shows from years ago. Yesterday, an old show featured her taking a field trip to a tree farm in Maine. The farm's owner explained that a tree has a bare spot here and there. This occasional, sporatic, excess space between the branches creates what is called an "elf shelf" where a small, wrapped gift for Santa's elf can be placed. I tucked my gift box topped with a paper cutout snowflake in between some branches for Cedric, my elf to rest.  The inspiration for Cedric came from I don't know where. Maybe a magazine clipping? What I do know is that with a few scissor snips of paper, yarn, and string and some strategically-placed bends in chenille stems, Cedric's playful personality was birthed. 

frosted cutout cookies

I have used this recipe countless times over the past 36 years to make frosted cutout cookies. It isn't fussy to mix together, rolls out easily without crumbling, and its flavor and texture rivals that of the best bakeries. The frosting is thick and fluffy creating a beautiful base for decorative toppings. 

 
Cutout Cookie Dough

2 cups sifted flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

 1 tbsp milk

Sift (or whisk) first three ingredients together. Cream butter, vanilla, and sugar together; add egg and beat until fluffy. Blend in milk. Add dry ingredients gradually mixing well. Chill dough 3 to 4 hours. Roll on floured surface 1/8” thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on lightly buttered (or parchment-lined) cookie sheet. Bake at 400° for 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Frost with Vanilla Butter Frosting.

Vanilla Butter Frosting

(1/2 recipe is just enough to frost one recipe Cutout Cookies.)

1/3 cup soft butter

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

About 2 tbsp milk

Blend butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.  Fills and frosts two 8 or 9-inch layers or a 9x13 cake. To fill and frost three 8” layers, use ½ cup butter, 4 ½ cups powdered sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, and about 3 tbsp milk.  

cedric

Cedric... my elf. I constructed him of paper, chenille stems, and yarn. His simple sweetness has found its way into my heart. 

 
Cedric's tinkle toes are Shiny Brite bells purchased years ago at Gambles. In my childhood, Gambles Hardware Store in downtown Brainerd (Minnesota) was a frequent stop on our Saturday trips to town. This memory prompted me to hang the two remaining bells, that are wired to their display cardboard, on a tree branch.      

 
I saved the directions from a November 2001 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The "Holiday Countdown" article in the BH&G Kids section of the magazine provides directions, but they are a little sketchy. Along with the magazine's instructions, I've provided you with a few extra hints. With supplies you probably already have in your craft stash, he is so quick to make. 

 

The wood ball knob looks likes this:

 
To make Cedric's tunic, I cut a piece of paper 6 3/4 in. long x 4 in. wide then folded it in half. For the hat, I cut a 3 1/2-inch diameter circle with a Making Memories Circle Cutter that I had purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts a few years ago. (Michael's sells a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter that cuts up to 12" circles.) I cut the circle in half then formed a cone shape that is the perfect size. When attaching the yarn, I applied Tacky glue to the sides of the wooden ball as well as the top so that the "hair" lays flatter on the head. This allows the hat to sit more snugly on Cedric's head. I attached a tiny pom-pom to the hat by threading some red and white twine onto a needle, inserted it into the pom-pom, and tied a knot. I poked the other end of the string into the tiny opening at the point of the hat and secured it with a drop of glue.          

snowflake tree stand

To simplify Christmas gift giving, my three daughters, their spouses, Dick, and I draw names. When we were visiting them in NY and NJ over Thanksgiving, we exchanged gifts. Heather had my name. One of her gifts to me was the most adorable cast iron tree stand molded into a snowflake form. To coordinate with some fun fabric Jessie had given me a few years ago, I spray painted the tree stand a cheery blue.  

  

If you are already drawing names for Christmas gift giving, or are considering it, elfster.com randomly chooses names for you. After setting up a free account and entering the names of those who will be in the Secret Santa gift exchange, the names are randomly drawn for you and each person is notified privately via email. You can even create a wish list.