We are down to only about five days until Christmas - I had been feverishly working getting ready for a big Christmas this year, after last year being pretty small due to Covid. Then Saturday morning, we got the news. My oldest granddaughter in Fargo has Covid. She will be fine, but this has caused the cancellation of their Christmas plans and made for a very disappointed Grandma, but we will still celebrate in our usual style because we will still have at least nine of us for Christmas Day. I have been able to "cancel" some of my preparations, so am taking this morning to write a blog.
Last week was a shopping trip to Bismarck with my DIL and her mom -what a fun day!
We shopped, visited and dined! Then we had school Christmas Concert and Sunday School Program. These events are all quintessential to our traditional Christmas, and add so much to the joy of the holidays.
We have been talking about shopping over the years, and with the advent of Covid and the evolution of even on-line grocery shopping, I have been marveling about how shopping has changed. One of my favorite discoveries is the joy of ordering my groceries on line, simply going to the back of Walmart and someone magically appears with all my groceries and puts them in my car! When you live 60 miles from your main grocery store, grocery shopping is a major event. Instead of walking up and down the aisles and filling my cart, unloading it at the checkout, loading it back in my cart, wheeling it out to my car, loading it into my car, driving home and unloading it all once again in my house, all I do is drive it home and unload it! To me one of the best conveniences ever! Tomorrow, I go to Dickinson for a hairdo, and lunch with a bestie, and....my groceries!
One of my favorite features of online shopping is the ability to research a product before purchasing, to make sure you are familiar with the pros and cons of your purchase and to make sure you are paying a fair price for your product. You do not have to purchase it on line, but you will be better prepared to make your purchase if you then go shopping in person. This applies to everything from craft supplies to appliances and even vehicles.
With the addition of UPS and FedEx, package deliveries are wonderful these days, we usually receive our orders in less than a week and they are brought right to our door. I also enjoy the emailed notifications of when to expect your delivery. There are some advantages to technology, even it you are someone who doesn't usually think so.
Even though I am a pretty avid on-line shopper, I am busy making quite a few of my Christmas gifts this year. Here is my first attempt at quilt-as-you-go. It was a lot of sewing, but it was fun for me to feel creative.
I always thought it would be fun to make doll clothes, but my daughter was not a doll lover and until now, I was just too busy to contemplate making doll clothes, but here is a peek at what one granddaughter is getting for Christmas!
And we finally got some snow the last few days! Here is my four-year old granddaughter shoveling my sidewalk for me! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
I also want to share a couple of great, easy new recipes that I tried this week. I never made caramels after trying it once or twice and finding that it was more trouble than I thought it worth. Here is a recipe for caramels and one for nougat that I tried and recommend to you!
6 Minute Microwave Caramels (seriously!)
1/4 C butter
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
Mix ingredients together in microwave bowl and microwave for 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Our into greased pay or onto parchment, cool and cut. (Turned out great!) p.s. use a pizza cutter to cut caramels!
Nougat
2 tablespoons butter
2 bags miniature marshmallows
2 bags white chocolate chips
2 cups spice gumdrops or dots
Just melt all ingredients but the candy in microwave, stir in the candy and pour into pan. These are really good! They are not sticky or hard to chew and don't seem super sweet.
If I don't get back to you before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a blessed and safe Christmas. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season! I have been kind of waiting to see how many Christmas cards I got before I sent off cards this year, but it looks to me like that is what most everyone is doing this year. I will also send Christmas greetings on Facebook, but all in all, 2021 has been a big year for me as I dip my toes into retirement. I hope that it has been good to you as well and that 2022 will be even better for everyone! Merry Christmas and New Year's Blessings to you all. TTFN
The quilt is beautiful! And the doll clothes look store bought or better. Did you take a class or just sit down and start sewing? Sewing is something I have never been too interested in. I have tried it a time or two and usually loose interest quickly. You did great!