PrisciLLa's EaRThLy DeLighTs

Turkish Cookies

Annual NoLa Yulemas Tripp...cause it's a, family tradition

 Angeli's!!!

 Santa's Quarters

 Our FAVE~orite New Orleans Street Performer!

I FREAKIN LOVE NEW ORLEANS!

Vintage Traditional Stockings....

Felt Stockings,

Elmer's Glue,

GLITTER!

can't get more vintage retro than that~

We tried the fancy stockings one year,

and it just didn't have the same feel.

Plus, these babies hold a lot of loot,

um, I mean Goodies and Sweets.

I wish I had a picture of the year we had 

13 of them hung up across one whole wall...

yeah.

Nicknames add more fun to the project.

I like to use the 
Red/Green/Silver combination GLiTTeR.
  This has the most Festive feel to it.

Gently and on medium heat,
iron the stocking using a small towel 
or cloth napkin as a barrier

{you don't want your felt, to melt}


Write the name in glue,

pour on the GLiTTeR,

allow to set for about 10 minutes,
gently shake off the extra GLiTTeR,
and let completely dry.

The Family Loves them.

Now get to stuffing......

New Orleans, Family, & Santa's Quarters

 

 

We had our Family Road Tripp
to New Orleans today.

Unfortunately, the Wind bordered on completely miserable,

so the day tripp was shorter than I would have liked.

But we accomplished our main goal

which was to peruse and purchase

at Santa's Quarters. 

This year we had the addition of 
The Sugar Bomb's best friend.
Their Laughter, and girl chitter chatter was the icing on the cake.

The Decor was tops as usual. 
Unique and LoVeLy.

I Spy......

Oh the excitement and overload of so much
GLiTTeR
CoLoRs
Whymsicality

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...... DECIDED!

 I picked these.

 The Sugar Bomb Babe picked this and the ballerina

 The Blu Man's Bumble,

and yes, we are a PFLAG Family!

The Bluebird we picked to give to Grammie.

*************

The plan was to finish up with a trip to
Cafe Du Monde for Beignets and Hot Chocolate.

Unfortunately New Orleans was stuffed to the gills with high school football championship games,  plus Saint's fans. The line out the door was to long to wait in with The Womb Weebles

so we saved the Beignet's for our local Coffee~shoppe.

and it was SO worth it!

Yulemas stocking stuffers

 an American Tradition since 1967!!

Stockings are to Me the best part of Yulemas.

Since as far back into Childhood as I can remember, 

The Stocking held such grand treats.

Pecan Rolls are the first Candy I remember getting.  

Along with a tiny doll that was very popular.

I still remember my 13th Christmas Stocking....
it held my first MakeUp and Beauty Treats.

Now I try to make our Stockings just as Magical.

No matter what Trinkets I may put in them,
like Movies, Gift Cards, Calendars, Make Up Bags...

the Candy Treats pretty much stay the same.

Ice Cubes are awesome.
Along with the Chocolate Icicles.
When I can find them.
Alas, it isn't very often.

Since the Chocolate Orange
{WHAM! Unwrap and Eat}
first came out {of. the. BOX!}
our Stockings have been blessed with one every year.

This is a fairly recent addition in the past decade. 

I just LoVe seeing Santa poking out of the top of the Stocking.

I discovered Botan Rice Candy with the Edible PaPer
from one of The Brother's Friends,
20 years ago.
It was a tradition for Her MoM to put them in Her stocking.

and who can resist Toblerone?

well, I can't anyway.

These are the NiNjas of Yulemas Candy.

They have a way of disappearing if you blink...

 This is definitely the most unique thing I put in the Stockings.

Odd, yet quite, Odd.

But Wonderful.

 Here's to the Magic of Stockings and the Things they are Stuffed with...

Santa knew.

Family Yulemas Tree Day

 oh the joy!

It was even better this year.

The Oldest Son wanted to go to the Christmas Farm this year to cut down our own trees.

I've always wanted to do that.

It couldn't have been more perfect.

The weather was gorgeous,

The air was chilly

The trees were magnificent....

 We all agree on this one!

 BaBa aka: The Chook Man, does his Chuck Norris and  cuts our tree down...

 The Womb Weebles go Sqweeeee!

It didn't take long for everyone to find their trees and gather them.

Obviously many others had the same idea.

The only thing missing was Sneaux.

It was quickly and gleefully decided that We would be here next year.

Fashioning rituals for the holidays

 I LOVED!!! Holidays as a Kid, and continue to to this day.

I now pass this on to The Small Ones and it's the same for them.

I scour books and cyber ripples of people's frontiers,
picking up ideas,
creating new ones.

There are constants, that I would feel naked without.

{and not in a good, running through the woOds Naked good}

 As if my Rituals and Holidays would be dead without them.

Constants ~ candles, incense, music

 

Candles ~ many

Incense ~ Nag Champa

Music ~ most likely:

70s ~ esp Saturday Night Fever!

Vintage Holiday Classics

Rockin ass 90s

There are several Traditions that 

have been passed on

from The Family.

{and may or may not, be in a Hank Williams way, wink}

*Chicken and Dumplings

*Lemon Meringue Pie

*Turkish CoOkies

*Unique Stuffed Stockings

*Bass & Rankin shows

New ones, that are rad!

* Family Yulemas Tree Day

*Apple Cake

*New Orleans Ornament Road Tripp

*Jingle Jammies

*Summer Beach Trip

*IHOP Holiday Breakfast, on Christmas Eve Morn

*Road Tripp Indian Restaurant

These are just a few of the Wonderful Things that our Family

loves to do, our Jewel Traditions.

I start planning and scouring in Summer,

usually after our Beach trip.

Clothes,

make up,

craft ideas,

recipes...

Of Course, thanks to unending cyber connectivity, you'll never run out of ideas.

The trick is to keep your favorite tried & true,

play around with new ones,
find a couple that enhance your Holiday Traditions,

and definitely don't be afraid to get rid of ones 

that don't work.

In fact, My Family wouldn't blink an eye 

if I showed up looking like that Fella at the top!

hey, Stranger things have happened.... 

The Big Dinner

We always try to have one The Big Dinner 

when we do road tripps.  

Sometimes, it's a Restaurant, Sometimes, it's cOOking.

Since we had a full kitchen I was in the mood to cook it.

A full on Roast Beef Dinner

I love to cook roast, its just that I hardly do.

I like Sirloin Tip roast best, 
but any beef roast will do.
As with most all of the meat I cook, 
I use very simple Spices.

For the Roast, I use:
Salt
PePPer
Garlic ~ fresh or powdered
Onion ~ diced or little strips
Water ~ about 1 cup


Tin Foil
Roasting pan or dish
*****
Puncture the Roast all over, place some cloves of Garlic in a few. Throw the Onions and rest of the Garlic into the pan, 
add the water, cover with Tin Foil.
 









I cook my Roast on a low temperature, 
around *250/300 degrees 
for approximately 45 mins to an hour. 
Adjust yours to the size of your roast 
and the temperature of your oven.
Take the Tin Foil off 
and turn temperature up to around *350,
finish cooking for another 30 ~ 40 minutes, 
basting a couple of times.
Test the Roast. 
I cut the center to see, and go from there. 
We like med!rare at our humble abode.





The Sides
*****
Yams ~ I just opened the can, put in pot, added a touch of salt,
a sprinkle of sugar and cooked on a low heat til heated through.

Peas ~ a couple of pieces of butter; 
cook til heated through. 









Rice ~ long grain.
Cooked for about 20 mins and then allowed 
to "steam" with towel placed on top
MAKE SURE BURNER IS OFF!!!!!

And of course, I~have~conquered~the~gravy Gravy.

This time I decided to try a canned store bought Beef broth

which worked technically, but wasn't anywhere NEAR the prize 

you get when you use  
the Broth & Drippings from the actual meat.

It was still delicious; just had to flavor it up more.

Who is that guy?

Add drinks,

Bread,

Cherry Clafouti for Dessert

and you truly have The Big Dinner!

The only sound was the clinking and tinkling

of Silverware against China.

Is there a better compliment?