|
|
|
10 Home Decorating Ideas To Quickly Update Any Room
Not all home decorating ideas require a heavy investment of time and money. If you're looking for a few affordable home interior decorating ideas to freshen up a room over a weekend, try these ten: 1.Rearrange The Furniture- Pull your furniture...
Fabric Holiday Bags
Fabric Holiday Bags by: Joyce Moseley Pierce - 641 words As my children were growing up, it always bothered me to buy wrapping paper only to see it ripped open and thrown in the fireplace or trash after Christmas gifts were opened. I tried using...
Scrapbooking those Memories!
You will find scrapbook supplies for photos and pictures in a craft store or online. Scrapbooks are used to combine photos and pictures to make a picture story album. Today with the advent of computers and image editing software it has become easier...
Spring Renewal for your Home’s Exterior
Come every Spring, we become a little more conscious of the way our home looks to all those who pass by. Often times it is out of our budget to repaint, or remodel the exterior of your home. Here are some great tight budget tips for dressing up the...
Use Your Photographs to Create Unique Christmas Gifts
Having a tough time coming up with creative Christmas gifts this year? The answer might be right in front of you – in your photograph albums, boxes, or file folders. Don’t just give the traditional framed photo though. Instead, give your recipients...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick, Easy and Affordable Ways for Making Traditional Christmas Dishes Festive
Here are some ways to dress up the “traditional” favorites at your Christmas dinner.
PIE CRUST
1. Make your usual pie crust, 2-crust version. Line the pie tin, put in the filling, and now it’s time to play. Roll out the second crust and start cutting shapes – using cooky cutters or free form with a knife. At Thanksgiving, for instance, up at my son’s house I was stuck without the
“necessary’ equipment so I improvised, just carving out a leaf using one nearby as a model. First one doesn’t work? Pie dough is very forgiving. Roll it up and start again. Your “second chances” are infinite. You could also use something from a child’s coloring book for a pattern.
One idea – cut out 3 rounds for holly berries (use bottle cap or such if you don’t have small round cutter). Then use knife to cut out spiky holly leaves. Or use a Santa Claus cooky cutter. Place these on top of the pie filling and bake away.
If you have the time and the inclination, when the pie is baked and cooled, then use frosting to decorate your crust decoration. To save time, use those little tubes from the grocery; no one cares how it tastes. Licorice for Santa’s belt, etc.
2. Using whatever you have for the top crust – shapes, lattice or solid, apply egg yolk and then sprinkle w/ colored sugar.
3. Do the usual only very different, i.e., make a pumpkin chiffon pie. At serving time, crumble candy canes and
sprinkle on top.
CANDY CANES
Candy canes go so well with chocolate. You can make a chocolate dessert, like that instant pudding concoction, and
then sprinkle crushed candy canes atop.
SWEET POTATOES
Make your usual sweet potato recipe and put it in the Pyrex®. Then whip up meringue nice and stiff, with lots of
sugar. Circle the bowl with the meringue, and then make dollops on top with peaks. Then you can (1) sprinkle it with colored sprinkles, or (2) in the center put 3 maraschino cherries and some pineapple leaves, like holly.
Or put marshmallows around the rim and decoration in the middle. You can shape the pineapple leaves with scissors.
BOULE DE NIEGE
Very simple, cheap, elegant looking. Buy ice cream – for Christmas it could be peppermint, coconut or pistachio. Let the ice cream soften just enough to work with, and then scoop it into a round Pyrex® that you’ve greased lightly
with Pam®. Put it in the freezer until well frozen again. Then take it out, soak the dish briefly in larger bowl of
warm water til you see the ice cream melting on the edges, turn it over on a pretty serving platter, and out it comes
in a dome. Tear strips of waxed paper and place them all around the plate, under the ice cream. Now whip cream til
stiff, put in pastry bag, use a tip such as Wilton 2D and pipe, pipe, pipe, little shaped blobs, each one next to the other till the mound is completely covered. Gently remove the waxed paper, wipe the serving platter with a wet rag, and place the ball back in the freezer till frozen. Once it’s frozen, cover it – I put a stainless steel bowl over it – and let it stay there til ready to serve.
At serving time you can add some decorations piping colored whipped cream, or using cherries and leaves again, but my favorite is to leave it elegantly white. “Boule de niege” is
French for
snowball!
BEEF WELLINGTON
Make a mixture of Dijon mustard and those colored peppercorns that are red, green and white - a "four-color mélange” is available here:
http://www.happycookers.com/wc.dll/products/divulge/3-1918.html . Coat the beef with this before you encrust it. You can also use this on turkey, Prime Rib, or Crown Roast. For a photo, go here: http://www.zinos.com/cool/zinos/author_area/preview_article?;AR008410 .
P.S. Be sure and put dough cut outs atop the Beef Wellington, too!
INDIVIDUAL TRIFLES
Here are some really cute star-shaped Christmas bowls
( http://www.happycookers.com/wc.dll/products/divulge/1-21856.html ). Make trifle and put them in these dishes. Then smooth over the top with whipped cream.
MASHED POTATOES
Mash them and put them in a serving bowl. Then sprinkle just enough cayenne and parsley flakes for color.
PARFAITS
Here’s a super easy, cheap, and very eye-appealing dessert.
Version 1: Fill fluted glasses with vanilla ice cream, or peppermint. Drizzle green crème de menthe and chocolate over it. Add maraschino cherry – red or green. If you use red cherry, add green mint leaf.
Version 2: Use vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce, and sprinkle crumbled candy cane over it.
TRIFLE
Trifle is, as I’m sure you know, a cold dessert made with liqueur-soaked sponge cake, layers of fruit, jelly, custard
and whipped cream. It makes a great Christmas dessert because it can be made well ahead of time, it’s got cheap
ingredients, it’s not familiar to a lot of people and they think it looks intricate to make, and … the presentation!
For instance since the ingredients are so cheap, why not buy the Spode Christmas tree soup tureen – “just” $348.95 (instead of $535.00) at amazon.com kitchenware. j.k.
However, put the trifle in a tureen and then put a layer of whipped cream on the top smoothing it completely (use a warm wet flat spatula). What makes it special is people will keep trying to “pick up the lid” which is the whipped cream, and there are fingerprints all over it and lots of laughs and “oohs” and “aahs.”
VEGIES
Put chopped red peppers in among the peas, Brussels sprouts or broccoli; chopped green pepper in with the tomatoes. Cut stars out of cheese and place atop casserole.
Don’t do all of these things; that’s too much. Choose one or two.
AND DON’T FORGET TO DRESS THE HOSTESS
A Christmas apron is always fun. Here’s a Santa one with matching hat: http://avalonusa.com/christmas/aprons.htm , a sexy Santa girl apron ( http://www.incrediblegifts.com/sagichap
.html ), and my personal favorites – affordable white cotton with ruffles, Christmas tree, gingerbread men, spoon and candy cane ( http://www.asianhomeandcrafts.org/apronbib.html ). For more sources, go here:
http:/ opten.org/public/BI/BI324.html .
About the Author
(c)Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc .
Coaching for all your needs - career, relationship, personal
and professional development. Check out Susan's eBooks -
www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.htm and The EQ Foundation
Course - http://www.webstrategies.cc/EQcourse.htm . Take
The Course and be ready for the New Year.
Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE eZine.
|
|
|
|
|
| Crafts and Hobbies ; crafts, hobbies, craft supplies, hobby ... |
| Crafts and hobbies headquarters! Find all the art supplies and craft accessories that you need! Great site for hobbists! |
| www.majon.com |
|
| Make Stuff - The 'You Can Make It' site for crafts, hobbies ... |
| Free craft ideas, recipes and activities for all ages and levels of experience. |
| www.make-stuff.com |
|
| The Library of Congress Shop > Crafts, Hobbies |
| The Library of Congress > Shop Home > Crafts, Hobbies ... CRAFTS, HOBBIES. Stained glass and mosaics kits, children's crafts and activities ... |
| www.loc.gov |
|
| Tri-Cities, Tennessee Personal News and Media Center |
| Biking/Hiking · Books/Poetry · Church News · Club News · Cooking · Crafts/Hobbies · Do-it-yourself · Events · Farming · Gardening · High School Bands ... |
| www.timesnews.net |
|
| Overstock.com: Entertainment/Books/Crafts/Hobbies |
| ... Business · Calendars · Childcare · Children's Books · Computer Books · Cooking · Crafts/Hobbies ... Entertainment | Books | Crafts/Hobbies ... |
| www.overstock.com |
|
| Home-and-Family - Crafts-Hobbies Ezine Articles |
| EzineArticles.com allows ezine or email list publishers to upload or download free expert content that can be used within email newsletters or websites. |
| ezinearticles.com |
|
| Hobby Hen Directory - Arts and Crafts, Hobbies, and Collectibles |
| Ultimate directory of Artist and Crafter listings, links, and ads for the Arts and Crafts Market. List your business free! |
| www.hobbyhen.com |
|
| Amazon.com: Crafts / Hobbies: Books |
| Online shopping for Subjects from a great selection of Books; Nonfiction, Professional & Technical, Literature & Fiction, Science, Children's Books, ... |
| www.amazon.com |
|
| Crafts/Hobbies Poems that begin with (A) - AuthorsDen |
| Topics related to,Comic Books,Comic Strips,Craft Talk,Medieval Art, Iconography and History,Photography,Artists,Dollhouses & Miniatures,Scrapbooking ... |
| www.authorsden.com |
|
| Download Crafts, Hobbies & Home ebooks at Diesel eBooks |
| Crafts Hobbies Recreation Video Electronic Fishing Mountaineering Cooking e-books download in Adobe Microsoft palm ereader at Diesel eBooks. |
| www.diesel-ebooks.com |
|
| Amazon.co.uk: Crafts / Hobbies: Books |
| "Crafts / Hobbies". Narrow or Expand Results. Showing 1 - 12 of 30732 Results. Expand Your Results. Remove Keywords: Crafts / Hobbies ... |
| www.amazon.co.uk |
|
| Crafts/Hobbies |
| Crafts/Hobbies ... Crafts/Hobbies. Craft Projects for Kids to Make. 6 programs in one disk Calendars, Cards, Invitations, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts. ... |
| www.learnatglobal.com |
|
| Crafts/Hobbies - Compare Prices, Reviews and Buy at NexTag - Price ... |
| Crafts/Hobbies - 42 results like the Mrs. Lee's Multi-dimensional Paper Art: Getting Started, Model Building for Beginners, Antiques Roadshow: Special ... |
| www.nextag.com |
|
| Crafts/Hobbies DVD movies |
| Great selection of Crafts/Hobbies DVD movies and reviews at Video Universe, Great service secure ordering and fast shipping at everyday discount prices. |
| www.cduniverse.com |
|
| Fairfield County Arts, Crafts, Hobbies - Fairfield County Online ... |
| ,FCOL - Business Directory - Arts, Crafts, Hobbies. |
| www.fairfieldcountyonline.com |
|
| ShopAtHome: Catalogs: Crafts/Hobbies |
| The Crafts/Hobbies section offers a selection of free catalogs, paid catalogs, free magazines, magazine subscriptions and e-newsletters. |
| catalogs.shopathome.com |
|
| LS Blogs - Blog directory and search engine, Find or Submit blogs ... |
| Blog directory and Blog Search Engine, LS Blogs, Art / Crafts / Hobbies Art / Crafts / Hobbies,your source for top blogs, blog hosts, blog services, ... |
| www.lsblogs.com |
|
| NJ.com Shopping |
| Crafts/Hobbies. Men's Sandals · Merchandise Misc. Musical Instruments ... Home > Shopping > Merchandise > Crafts/Hobbies ... |
| shopping.nj.com |
|
| Discount Crafts/Hobbies Movies - Compare prices & read reviews at ... |
| Find the lowest prices and best customer reviews for Crafts/Hobbies Movies and allows you to compare price on discount Crafts/Hobbies Movies as well as read ... |
| www.smarter.com |
|
| Oregonian Shopping |
| Crafts/Hobbies. Department / Discount Stores · Fabrics and supplies stores and services ... Home > Shopping > Merchandise > Crafts/Hobbies ... |
| shopping.oregonlive.com |
|
|