A Christmas Tree

It's that time of year again when we head out to Handley's Holiday Hillside and walk through the rows to find our tree. This is the third year we have gone to cut our own tree and I think I can safely say it's a Dieter Family tradition now.

This year there was a light covering of snow but it was quite comfortable in the sun. There were so many beautiful trees to pick from this year since we had lots of wonderful rain this year. The boys mostly liked playing in the snow instead of picking trees.

We decided on our Canadian Fir tree again this year, though I was almost swayed by a gorgeous blue spruce for a hot second. The Fir just has the best shape and branches for ornaments. And the smell of pine is amazing.

The boys let me take their picture with the tree before helping with the falling. Jered carried the tree back to the shake and bag area all by himself. It made me realize won't be long before the boys will be carrying the tree for us.

I remembered to pack the tripod for the camera this year and got a pretty good family portrait . I think this one will be going in the Christmas cards this year. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to a long winter break.

Christmas 2013

The whole Dieter family got to go home to Ames Iowa this Christmas to be with our family and friends. (Jered worked Thanksgiving - so got Christmas off! Yippee!) Since there was enough snow this year the boys got outside and sled the hill in the back yard. I was thankful that there wasn't too much white stuff so we were able to go visiting and see both Grandparents and our friends - Nick and Jenny. The boys were very good this year, of course, and they got way too many presents from Santa. The cutest gift was from my parents - matching fleeces. We had to pose them for that picture. Max and Riley also got quite a bit of Minecraft toys. (Can't believe they still like that game after more than a year.) Thank you to all our family for the gifts and time spent over this holiday. We are blessed.

Thumbprint Cookies

It is ten days until Christmas. That's right. Ten. Since Thanksgiving was so late in November, my whole schedule is thrown off. Anyone else feeling this way? At least I have my gift list under control. Today I got around to baking our third Christmas cookie, Almond Thumbprints. I  always use raspberry preserves and orange marmalade, but any jam works. 

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

2 sticks of butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond flavor

1 3/4 cup of flour

Raspberry Preserves

Orange Marmalade

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream together butter and sugar until completely combined
3. Add almond flavor and mix again
4. Add flour by halves mixing completely each time. If dough is too sticky you can add up to 1/4 cup more flour.
5. Roll into equal balls and press with thumb. Fill each cookie with jam. 
6. Bake for 14 minutes, or until slightly brown on bottom.
7. Cool and then drizzle frosting (recipe below) over cookies.

Almond Frosting

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp almond flavor

Mix together completely. If not able to drizzle, add more milk one tablespoon at a time.

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In other news, Riley got to paint his Christmas train today. I always try to get the kids some sort of craft to work on in case we get snowed in or just bored on the weekends. He also worked on some ornaments for family presents. Making is the best for giving.

Chocolate Cookies

Day two of Christmas Cookie baking, and this time it's my Best Ever Chocolate Cookies. These cookies are like brownies in a cookie shape. They are great plain or topped with peppermint butter cream frosting.

The Best Ever Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter softened

1 cup white sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ¼ cup Hersey’s Cocoa Powder

1 ¾ cup flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream together butter, both types of sugar, egg and vanilla.
3. Blend together Cocoa Powder, flour and baking soda.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients until completely mixed.
5. Bake for 9 minutes. Let cool a bit before moving to cooling rack. 

Peppermint Butter Cream Frosting Recipe 

1 cup of softened butter

3 cups of confectioners' sugar

1 tsp peppermint extract

1 tsp vanilla 

1 or 2 tablespoons whipping cream 

Crushed peppermints for garnish

1. Whisk the sugar and butter together in a medium bowl on low speed until blended well.
2. Increase the speed to medium and beat 3 minutes. 
3. Add the vanilla and peppermint and cream. Beat 1 more minute.
4. Frost cookies and garnish with crushed peppermint.

Also it SNOWED!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite Christmas time traditions is cookie baking. This year I am making five family favorites. I try to pick a variety of flavors so that not everything on the plate is the same. The plan: One simple cookie, one citrus flavored, one fruity, one spicy, and one chocolate. The simple cookie I picked was my Aunt Lettie's Powdered Sugar cookies. They are lighter version of shortbread, but have the same sort of simple taste.

Aunt Lettie's Powdered Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter - softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream together butter, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla. 
3. Combine flour, soda, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl. 
4. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture a third at a time, combing completely before adding more. 
5. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned on bottom. 
6. Store in an airtight container after cooled.

Shining Star...

 

This year's Christmas chalk art was inspired by Have yourself a Merry little Christmas carol. Looks like snow is in the forecast for us here in the Midwest. So excited for snow!

Christmas Tree Time

It is December! 24 days until Christmas! So off we drove, over the river and through the woods, to Handley's Holiday Hillside for our annual Christmas tree. They had so many beautiful trees, but we went with our usual Canadian Fir. 

Tree is home and all set up in our awesome tree stand. Tomorrow after it has drunk about 5 gallons of water and the branches relax a bit, we will add the lights and decorations. 

The Polar Express

Today we got on the Polar Express Train and rode all the way from Iowa to the North Pole to see Santa and his elves. It was a long trip, but it was worth it. The train was a wonderful old steam train and had a great loud whistle just like in the story. Riley was super excited to see all the trains and play with the train sets. He also really enjoyed seeing Santa and Santa's pocket watch which had tiny trains running in two directions. He also got a silver bell as a present just like in the movie. Max was a pretty good sport about it and didn't make too much of a fuss about not really going to the North Pole. The Polar Express was a fun start to the Christmas season. Tomorrow we go to get our tree, hopefully we can pick a good one.

Snow Snow Snow!

Last night we had a blizzard! Insta-Christmas over night. It's still coming down - but we don't care. Time to find the snow pants and sleds.....

Ice Skating

Max and Riley have been asking to go skating for a while so I thought it would be a great thing to do for our advent activies. There is a rink that has public skate right at our local mall so it was easy to go and get some shopping done too. Riley did very well and his little skates were adorable! Max did well too, though he was sort of scared to let go of the railing. Both boys want to go again as soon as we have the time.

Going to see Santa

The boys went to see Santa to night....they were super excited. Max asked for video games and an Xbox, Riley asked for a Thomas the Train that was big and go goes!

Sugar Cookies

Today we made cookies to eat and share with our friends. I am planning on making four other kinds of cookies, but these are the fun ones the boys like to make. These are just plain sugar cookies with royal icing to make them pretty. Max and Riley liked rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes more than the decorating part. Their favorite part is the EATING part, which I had to stop after the third one. (which is why we only have one snowman left!)