Pickled Freckles

Poor people, named Jennifer, make creative Christmas gifts. 

Ceramic bowls. check. 

Paintings of family pets. check. 

Metal pans/mixers/silverware turned wind chime. check. 

Flower pots decoupaged with seeds and seed packets. check. 

Homemade PICKLES. check. check. and check. 

I've been saying that I was going to pickle for some time, seeing as I am obsessed with the thangs and can't get enough of them. And after finding pickle ornaments, I knew that I had give my family an ornament along with a jar of pickles. 

This also gave me an excuse to explore Ace Mart for the first time, and buy a big ole metal pot- so now I can make stews til' I turn blue! Yar!

Apparently I wasn't supposed to use metal, as it can react with the vinegar and turn it cloudy... But my green things didn't have a problem with it. 

Whole Foods: No pickling cucumbers.."they are out of season" says the produce man.. Fiesta and HEB: hell yeah! Take that!

After reading some basic pickling guidelines online, it turned out to be pretty simple. All jars were (hopefully) sterile and sealed successfully. However, I wasn't sure how they would taste and I didn't get to try any before giving them away. 

So basically I told everyone who received a lil' jar-o-love, "I am not responsible if you get sick. I do not know how they will taste. This is the first time I've done this......Enjoy!!"

I finally got to try a pickle of mine (I gave one jar to Emmanuel) after returning to Austin and I must say.... not too shabby. A bit on the cinnamony, clovey side. A bit of a bite to them (I added extra pepper flakes to the pot of love. But they were definitely crunchy, the way I like pickles. 

I'm certain I will try this again. 

But when I don't have time, I will head on over to Starlite, the restaurant serving my favorite (also homemade) pickles in town. 

Christmas West Texas Style

Christmas Eve morning is spent at the Chesnut's abode (my step-graparents) and is typically a breakfast/pajama event. 

They recently got a English Mastiff puppy, Porsche who is precious. This is one of 5 or 6 dogs they have. They also have two miniature donkeys (one is named Seabiscuit), a longhorn/cow (Oliver), a handful of horses, llamas, and two camels named Duke and Cindy- who are VERY sociable. 

In between eating and present opening the camels, dogs, longhorn and I all bonded in the beautiful 60ish degree weather. It was awwwwesome!

Duke liked to chew on my hair

Oliver is a baby. He  smiles with his teeth if you scratch under his chin

Sweetest (And soon to be biggest) dog ever!

Tomorrow it is off to snow and 40 degree weather in Rhode Island. I can't wait!!

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Hippo Highlights

Three Christmas's down, Two to go. 

Here are some highlights of my loot thus far.... Pictures to come.

Yoga mat and fancy towels, hooray!

A wall sized map of the world. 

A knife with my name engraved on the side of the blade. 

An Iced tea maker!!!!

A cuisinart rice cooker/steamer

A cast iron panini press gizmo

A BACON SCARF!!!!!!!!

Some magical Chanel face cream to stop my aging before it begins. 

Tomorrow we go to the Chesnut "compound"- I'm looking forward to meeting their new English Mastiff puppy and catching up with the camels. 

Then on Christmas day it's off to Connecticut! My brother said there is a foot of snow! Eeeeek!

We will be flying in to Rhode Island, then visiting Boston and Connecticut. Hopefully the weather and airline pilot will be kind to us. 

Merry Days to all!!

Fun at Meeee-Maws!

You sooo want one. 

As we do every year, my mom's fam had Christmas with my MeeMaw in Lubbock. My cousinlings received an awesome "Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker" for Christmas.  Similar to an Easy Bake Oven that I was never lucky enough to have. 

Hailey and Madison did most of the "baking" (microwaving mystery powder + water in a magical plastic container for 30 seconds)

One Strawberry red velvet something-or-other, a chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon spice. Oh my my. They were quite beautiful. 

It wasn't until the fourth cupcake that Madison got the icing down, creating the star cupcake. It was a trickly little machine, but really quite smart. I wouldn't mind having a giant contraption of a similar nature- push a lever down and the cupcakes spin and are perfectly iced every time. 

I stuck my finger in a couple of the icings- very floury/powdery tasting. Similar to what nesquick, flour, and water would taste like. 

The boys wrestled the entire time, inspired by their Christmas gift tickets to WWE, and basically just came in and ate the gal's handy work. 

Fun was had. Interesting products were made (and enjoyed very much by the kiddos). 

I give this gizmo two and a half thumbs way up, even if I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a single bite of one of the cupcakes. 

Ho-Ho-Ho!

My step-grandpa dresses up as Santa Claus for the Country Club Sunday holiday lunch. 

Every year, since my niece Madison was about 5 we take a picture together on his lap. 

When she was young, she didn't want to do it. And now that she is getting older, she still doesn't want to do it. I personally love telling Santa my wishes...

Straight A's. 

Bagpipes. 

Acceptance into the Peace Corps. 

But every year, (possibly because we are given a stocking full of candy, fruit, ornaments, and such) we manage to convince her to take a photo. 

This year Madison's brother Gage went with us. He is too adorable. With a body of a 2ish year-old but the vocabulary of a 5-year-old (He is 4) he made our trip to the Club extra special. 

He loved taking photos with my phone. And posing with it. 

 I told Madison that we would continue to do this lap-sitting tradition until she was my age- 22. When she is 22 I will be 34. Eeeeeek!

Merry Holly-days y'all!

It certainly IS what's for dinner...

I have not been slacking.

I have been traveling. Travelin' west. Through windmill farms, cotton fields, and dust storms.

I visited my friend in Albany, Texas... Photos and stories will come soon. Now I am in grand ole Odessa spending some (little) time with the folks before heading back to Austin for the week- possibly with my two children (pooches).

I have eaten more beef these past two days than I have in months!

One Chicken fried steak, one large hunk of Prime (and it was PRIME indeed) rib, a cheeseburger, a filet mignon, and one stewed beef mexican something or other. Luckily my marmy made tuna caserole last night, one of my faves, so that was a small change from beef.

That's been my weekend in a nutshell. Speaking of nuts, went to the Nutcracker in Midland with my mom and niece and I got a CHEF nutcracher. It's awesome!

I'll be posting more once in Austin. Yee-haw! I hope to stop at Cooper's in Llano tomorrow for lunch, truly the best BBQ you ever will taste.

P.S. My Peace Corps interview went really, really well. Apparently having experience working in an IT field, teaching experience (and soon to be degree), having worked with deaf children and taken sign language, and having worked with underpriveledged children with chronic illnesses have all served as extraordinaryly rich life experiences. They do things a bit differently for these interviews- For two hours I basically answered questions and he sat there typing away all of my answers to send to more Peace Corps people. Now I must wait to see if the Dallas people will like me and "nominate me"... Should know in a couple of weeks.

Craft Day!!!

Sunday:

Marny invited some gals over to her marmy's house in Kyle for a day of card making and cookie eating. Cookies?!?! Of course I was there!

Her mom has a ridiculous amount of stamps. Trays and trays, boxes and boxes. Every future teacher's dream... I was so jealous!

Her mom had been baking cookies for THREE days, and it showed!

We made tons of cards. Mine were, ummmmm, toilet themed, with some plain-Jane Christmas cards mixed in. 

Afterwards, we took Nikki home, who recently acquired two baby ducks. They follow her wherever she goes and hide under her for protection... sooo cute!

It was quite the day. And then we went 80's dancing at Elysium.  Need your Jackson, Cure, Nena fix?? This is so much fun!  We got down like it was 1999. On the way to the car afterwards, we decided we would go Caroling and sing George Micheal's "Last Christmas".... What do you think?!

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance but you still catch my eye
Tell me baby do you recognise me?
Well it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me

(Happy Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying "I Love You" I meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now I know you'd fool me again

(CHORUS)

(Oooh. Oooh Baby)

A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you and your soul of ice
My God I thought you were someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man undercover but you tore me apart
Oooh Oooh
Now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again
(CHORUS)

A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
(Gave you my heart)
A man undercover but you tore me apart
Next year
I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone special
special
someone
someone
I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone special
who'll give me something in return
I'll give it to someone
hold my heart and watch it burn
I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone special
I've got you here to stay
I can love you for a day
I thought you were someone special
gave you my heart
I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone
last christmas I gave you my heart
you gave it away
I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone

A little too depressing? Maybe.... But I think we'd receive rave reviews!!

I slept ALL day Monday.  I think I've finally caught up on my rest. Ready for my Peace Corps interview tomorrow! eeeeeee!

I want a hippopotamus...

I don't care how stressed with work I am. I needed to make time for a little cheer. 

I had to go to Breed & Co yesterday. While there, I discovered an entire section of the store I never knew about.... The NON-hardware section!! Woweee! Full of interesting foods, kitchen gizmos, books, candles, and CHRISTMAS DECOR!!

It must have been fate, because my eyes immediately found this guy-

A Christmas Pickle Ornament!!!

I don't have a Christmas tree to hide it in, so it is proudly dangling above my kitchen counter. 

I also decided to buy some lights and deck my lil' apartment out in those. They add just the right amount of glow I need. After all, I don't really like Christmas or Christmas decorations (Shhhhh, don't tell). I'll probably leave them up all year. 

I set out my Christmas fondue moose, because every moose lover needs one. 

I hung up my pickle, put on my holiday socks and was all set to do work. Low and Behold, the lesson I was working on required carving out Styrofoam to make a print, so I soon had a pile of snow all around me, on my clothes and in my hair. 

I forgot to mention another Breed & Co. find: A chocolate advent calendar!! 

My mom used to give me these when I was little, so I feel a little nostalgic opening this up for my daily chocolate dose. I didn't find a price tag on it, and nearly had a heart attack when it rang up to THIRTEEN DOLLARS!!! Geeez. I suppose it's because the chocolate is almost good and they are individually wrapped as presents. There are also little poems on the inside of each door. Todays:

"The Christmas tree looks twice as nice, decorated by these mice."

Now it's work time! Studying for my art history test by the glow of little white lights. I need some hot chocolate and I'll be in business.