Merry Christmas from Poppett!!

Poppett,
our beloved Shih Tzu,
wishes you a very
Merry Christmas!

She was 10 1/2 years old yesterday.

Christmas Eve Gift!

CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!

Since I was a child, it has been a tradition in our family that the first one to shout 'Christmas Eve Gift'
gets to open one of their presents on Christmas Eve.


I've decided to carry this tradition over to my blog.
Therefore,
the first person to email me with
"Christmas Eve Gift"
in the subject line
will receive a surprise gift from me.

My email address is
beads@bledsoe.net

There is no time limit on this little game.
You will be notified via this blog when the entry has been made.

Merry Christmas to All!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com

Merry Christmas

We are just back from a short cruise and I thought I'd let you see that we clean up pretty nicely. I wasn't feeling well on formal night, so you will have to miss seeing my handsome guy in his tuxedo until next time.

I thought I'd let you know that we went Christmas shopping Monday, and every single sales person wished us a Merry Christmas! Perhaps it takes the tragedy of a depression to bring folks around to the basics of goodness. There's hope yet!

Merry Christmas to you all!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com

Merry Christmas! We got started late getting ready for the season and we're just as late finishing. Our shopping is finished. Yay! Our Christmas card are ready, but not addressed (I always make my own cards.) I have a few small handmade gifts to make. Our tree is up, but not decorated.

Our 200 CD changer decided to die as we played the first Christmas song. Ray took the changer completely apart. He did repair it, but I held my breath with all of those tiny parts laying around.

Cookies have been baked - and consumed - so we'll have to start that one over. The party mix has also been consumed.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com

Creme Caramel Recipe

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes, but it seems particularly appropriate at Christmas. It lends a lovely light dessert after a heavy meal. I love it and your guests will love you for it!!

This recipe is adapted from Susan Branch.


Creme Caramel

3 eggs
w egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups hot milk
1 cup hot cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cups sugar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs and yolks together, just enough to blend. Heat milk and cream together. Stir 1/2 cup sugar into eggs. Slowly add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract.

To make caramel:

Put 3/4 cup sugar into dry skillet over medium heat. Swirl pan, but don't stir. Cook until deep caramel in color. (The sugar dries out quickly as it cools, so work quickly.) Divide the caramel among 8 buttered ramekins, swirling each dish to distribute caramel.

Line a roasting pan with a towel and set the ramekins onto the towel. Pull out the middle rack of the oven and place roasting pan on the rack. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan about 1" deep. Pour the custard into the ramekins, filling about 3/4" full.

Bake for about 45 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes our clean.

Cool, then chill, covered in the refrigerator.

To serve, cut tightly around ramekin.

Invert a small bowl over the ramekin. Turn both upside down. The caramel will slide out on top of the pudding, creating a pool of deliciousness.

Carnival Holiday Cruise

We recently returned from 2 cruises on the Carnival Holiday. We heard 2 stories: that the Holiday has been decommissioned and the it has been taken to Italy to specialize in Mediterranean cruises.

We had cruised with Carnival before and swore we'd never do it again. The price for these back to back cruises was just too good to pass up, so off we went. The Holiday was a lovely ship and the line has shown great improvement.

We were told that our tips would be included in our final bill - which they were. But unlike other ships that have tips included, the waiters, stewards, etc. were standing in our way with their hands out. There were many people that I would like to have tipped extra, but didn't, because I think it is poor policy to require that tips be paid and then ask for more.

Another complaint is that the ship used the docks that were farthest from town or any central attraction, so there was no way to get off the boat and just stroll around without paying the ship to take you somewhere or hiring a cab. (We chose to take cabs.)

As a whole the cruise was very nice, but I'm back to my original feelings regarding Carnival Cruise Line - I will not sail with them again.

Ruth Ann
r2swanger.etsy.com
beadkits.etsy.com

Orientation to Beads

I just found a fabulous site for learning about beads, threads, wires, metals, etc. Be sure and click on:

http://www.blog.landofodds.com/orientation-to-beads/

to read all the details. Fabulous!

Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.beadkits.etsy.com