Today...we're trying to get back into the routine of normal living after Christmas, birthday, and New Year's Eve activities. Tom returned to work this morning after taking off vacation days since mid-December. Ohhh, I was getting quite used to having him around all the time; I'll love it when he retires!
To wrap up 2011 before the new year's blogging begins...I wanted to share about our annual family Christmas program that the kids always produce for the rest of the family on Christmas Eve. Here's a picture of the girls playing flutes for one of the carols. Tom and Jonathan also played guitar and banjo as part of the musical evening filled with scripture.
We also went out caroling on two different evenings this year...once to a neighborhood we weren't familiar with and once to our neighbors. We left each house with peppermint popcorn the girls made and a gospel tract, and we have been praying that the Lord will use the scriptures presented to change lives.
Last week we packed Granny up to head off with my sister to South Carolina for the winter, and we're missing her already! She took plenty of basket-making supplies with her to keep busy while she's gone.
Here's a picture of my beautiful Mustard Basket Granny made me for Christmas. I love it!
New Year's Eve was very enjoyable...we invited friends over and decorated with snowman plates, snowflake napkin rings, and a new item this year...snowman placemats and table runners (a gift Sarah made me for Christmas). Here's a picture of the table runner. A decorated tree centerpiece goes in the middle there, but it's removed so you can see the snowman heads turning every which way (I love them!):
Here's the dining room table set and waiting for company to arrive. The square snowman plate in the foreground right is a new one this year from my sister:
And here's the nook table set in the kitchen area:
Our menu was as follows: *Chicken in a Biscuit, Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Tossed Salad, homemade Strawberry Yogurt, and frozen Peanut Butter Pie for dessert.
I've probably mentioned Chicken in a Biscuit many times on the blog, but I'm not sure I've ever posted the recipe. I took pictures this time because usually everyone asks me: "How do you get the chicken inside those little biscuits?"
*Recipe on next page
~Deb
(Yield: 8 biscuits, double or triple accordingly)
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken
2 tablespoons drained, chopped pimiento
2 tablespoons minced onion or chives
salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
Combine cream cheese and milk; beat until smooth. Add chicken, pimiento, onion, salt, and pepper; stir well:
Separate dinner roll dough into 4 rectangles, firmly pressing perforations to seal; cut each rectangle into 2 rectangles. Place a heaping tablespoonful of chicken mixture on each rectangle:
Fold sides and ends of dough toward center and pinch to seal. Shape into biscuits. Place seam side down on cookie sheet; brush with butter (I used my fingers to spread softened butter on top of each biscuit), and sprinkle with breadcrumbs:
This is the most chicken biscuits I've ever baked at one time!
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. You'll just have to picture them coming out of the oven toasted to perfection and totally yummy!
Well, that's a small glimpse of our end-of-the-year activities...more to come in 2012!
~Deb
