Better Homes & Gardens 1959 Holiday Cookbook

On my Confessions of a Holiday Junkie Facebook Page, I shared the cover of this book I picked up at a vintage store. I think my love for these books, stems back to my love of hosting parties. I love to read about the formality of what was expected in years past. Some of it, still pertains to current day, but other topics are just worth a good laugh. 

First up....

What Makes A Party Click?

    To help you roll out the red carpet at your party, we give dozens of ideas on what to serve-everything from snacks to a big holiday dinner or special occasion smorgasbord. 
    We've tried to make things easy for you, the hostess. You'll find many recipes you can fix ahead, others that keep last-minute fuss to a minimum. This will leave you free to chat with guest, enjoy your own party.
     Unless you know your guest well, it's best not to serve anything that's too unusual. As a rule, men like simple food while women take to the "something different". 
     When planning a dinner party, pick foods that can wait. Guests might be late.
     You'll want to make the most of an upcoming holiday. Even just a special dessert-heart shaped cake, Easter Bonnet cookies, Goblin Frosties-makes the simplest meal an occasion. 

Tips for hostess to keep in mind for smooth-running parties 

Careful planning is the secret to successful entertaining

* Invitations-send out one week to 10 days ahead of time for most parties. But plan on two to three weeks during the holidays. 

* Here's how to organize your party if you're new at entertaining. List the major jobs that must be done ahead.  Examples are: What to serve; groceries to buy; how you want the table set; and when to cook the food. Plan a schedule and check off each item as you do it. 

* Serving something new? It's a good idea to try the recipe first-see if you like the flavor, if it suits the occasion. 

* You'll save dish washing if you count smart ovenware and electric skillets that can travel from kitchen to the table.

* Before the party, decide how to split duties between the host and hostess. 

* Budget your time-save a precious hour before guests arrive to relax.

The Christmas Sweater.....

For our Christmas lesson in Young Women this past Sunday, we all chose a Christmas book to read to the girls and then had a gift to give the girls that went along with the story. 

My choice was
The Christmas Sweater; The Picture Book by Glenn Beck.

This book was adapted from his original novel, The Christmas Sweater. The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book is the story of a young boy who finds the true meaning of Christmas in the most unlikely of places. Eddie wants a bicycle for Christmas, but his mother knits him a homemade sweater instead. His disappointment is obvious, but a magical journey makes Eddie realize that the sweater is far more than it seems. Ultimately it teaches him that the true meaning of a gift is that it is given with love. 



The obvious gift choice was a sweater. After debating how I'd make them, I decided making felt sweaters would be the easiest route. For embellishments I picked up some rick rack, mini pom poms and buttons. Then I pulled some beads and sequins out of my crafting stash. My friend who makes jewelry, used his tools to make the hangers and when all was done, we had some incredible designs.

Thrift Store Finds of the Week!

It's that time again. Time to share my newest thrift store finds.First let me share some items I found for my daughters room. This white lace pillow looked brand new and will go perfect on her bed. The black velvet with beaded fringe is suppose to be a throw. I'm not sure how many of you use a throw with beads on the end, but I'm going to use it for either a valance over her small window or make a full length curtain with it. She has one window that faces West, that lets in horrible heat and sun during the evening. The curtain pull backs were perfect to use for this same window, so she can pull it back when she needs to let some air in and use the fan. 

The bold colored print, Ms. Ciara picked out herself. She said it had lots of possibilities with accessories. The other pink and white skirt I bought becuase I thought it was very "soft and feminine". I'm not sure she'll actually wear it, but if she listens to my suggestions it will fit perfectly in her wardrobe.

Here are a few finds for myself. Another awesome frame with the perfect amount of scrolls and fancy decor on the edges. It will be painted in the future, but I"m just not sure what color yet or where it will go. Time will tell. The fabric is actually a flat sheet that's never been used, so I'm keeping it for future projects. The pitcher..well when I get my new kitchen done, it's going to make a beautiful centerpiece with bright roses and flowers. 

Last, but not least some new Christmas books. Tammy bought me a book at a garage sale a few weeks ago, and luckily I didn't have it. In fact, I'd never bought any in the series, so I was lucky to find the other 2 for .99 cents. I also got this fun Christmas book. Their aren't to many of those out there, so it will be nice to have a fun, romantic book to read. If you've not read any of the Richard Paul Evans books, I highly suggest you seek them out. They have them at all local bookstores, including Deseret Books. Many have already been made into movies as well.

Christmas in July-Day 7 New Holiday Books and My Choice for This Month

For this month, my online group of friends at MHH decided to read Snow Globe by Sheila Roberts. I've seen a movie, based loosely on the book, but don't remember much about it. It's a very short book, so it's the perfect quick, summer CIJ read.

If you've not had a chance to read On Strike for Christmas, it's a hysterical book. We all tease in the Christmas world that it kind of rubs off some of the Christmas cheer and makes you want to go on strike...at least for 5 minutes. They also made a movie based on this book last year and it was absolutely HORRIBLE. So don't base your reading choice around that movie, if you even remember it!

There was one holiday themed book from Sheila Roberts , I hadn't heard of and that's Angel Lane. It also has pretty good reviews, so I'll be putting this on my must find list.

This Fall her new book The Nine Lives of Christmas will be released. I'm thinking this book or the previous book will need to be put on my CIJ reading list for 2012.

On the holiday movie front, I added a few movies to my Netflix list. I did a general search and came up with a fabulous list from Wikapedia. Some of the movies are available and some are not. These are the ones I found today. 

This heartwarming drama from Finland follows a young orphan named Nikolas (Hannu-Pekka Björkman), who shows his appreciation to a series of foster families by starting a new tradition: He gives their children gifts at Christmastime. But when Nikolas is forced to move in with a cantankerous old man (Kari Väänänen), the new holiday custom may fade into oblivion in director Juha Wuolijoki's enchanting fantasy about jolly old St. Nick as a boy.

In this modern-day riff on Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, cutthroat investment banker Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage), who eschews emotional ties, is transported into the prosaic life he might have had if he'd wed his college sweetheart (Téa Leoni). Instead of a Ferrari, Campbell drives a malfunctioning minivan in the suburbs and is saddled with two screaming kids -- but he learns to love every minute of it.