Happy Thanksgiving

Christmas on a VERY tight budget

Last year was my very first Danish Christmas. Our Christmas tree was actually, a tree branch. 

Our ornaments were all thrifted, many were faded or made of cheap plastic. 

I made a few felt trees to decorate our entertainment center, as well as some paper snowflakes.

To finish off my decorations, I found a tablecloth and bowl for the kitchen.

It was a difficult change for me. Not only was I away from my friends and family, but I had very few things that felt like home. 

This year, I was able to get a few more things. It feels like a mishmash of colors and styles, which plagues my OCD, but I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate it all into something that is pleasing to the eye.

Here in Denmark, you can't pop over to the dollar store and spend $20 or $30 on everything you possibly need for a cheap Christmas. Christmas lights come in strands with anywhere between 20 and 100 LED lights. A single strand of 80 lights cost us $15! The small (120cm/3'11''- including the base) Christmas tree we bought this year was about $32. Thankfully, the small glass ornaments were fairly inexpensive. 

It's still nothing compared to Christmas back home, but maybe next year we will be able to afford more lights, and maybe even some garland. 

Linking up here:
Organize and Decorate Everything
While He Was Napping
delicateConstruction
Bacon Time With The Hungry Hungry Hypo
I ♥ Naptime
My Crazy Beautiful Life
Craft-O-Maniac
Not Just A Housewife
Confessions of a Stay At Home Mommy
Chef In Training
Sugar Bee Crafts
Postively Splendid

Homemade Bouillon

About a month or two ago I came across a recipe for homemade bouillon, and wanted to try it. Of course I put it off and forgot all about it, until I had a craving for some soup. 

Here in Denmark, it's hard to find chicken/beef/vegetable stock in a can. If you want broth, you will have to use bouillon cubes or make it from scratch. I don't know about you, but I find making vegetable broth from scratch a bit time consuming and wasteful. Though much more efficient, the bouillon is crammed full of MSG. 

So, I decided to re-visit the forgotten recipe and adapt it to my personal taste and available ingredients.

1 medium (about 200 grams) fennel bulb, chopped 

4 large (200 grams) carrot, well scrubbed and chopped

3-4 (100 grams) celery stalks

1/4-1/2 small (100 grams) celery root (celeriac), peeled and chopped

2 large ( about 400 grams) yellow onion

6-8 medium garlic cloves

1/4 cup sea salt (adjust to taste)

1/2 cup (about 40 grams) flat-leaf parsley, loosely chopped

2 heaping tablespoons chopped cilantro (I can only get this in a jar here, but fresh is way better).

I began by adding the first few ingredients into the food processor and pulsed about 20 or so times. Then added more and more. If your food processor is filled to the top and you still have more ingredients, that's ok, just empty the processed veggies into a bowl and start over again. When all the ingredients are processed, then combine them thoroughly. 

Place the mixture into bags or containers and store in the freezer. 

Because of the salt, it won't solidify much at all.

When making soup, I normally use about 1-2 tablespoons of bouillon in a medium sized sauce pan, and 2-3 tablespoons for a large pot. You can decide what amount works best for you.

Linking up here:
Be Different Act Normal
I ♥ Naptime

Peppermint Swirl Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 Cups (340 grams) butter, softened
2 Cups (400 grams) white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract or 4 drops peppermint oil
5 cups  (625 grams) flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
food coloring in your choice of color(s)

Start by creaming together butter and sugar until smooth. 

Beat in eggs and vanilla. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to creamed butter mixture.

Mix together thoroughly to form a dough.

Divide dough in half. 

Leave 1 half of the dough as is for a 'white' vanilla flavored dough. 

For the other half add food coloring and peppermint extract/oil and mix to incorporate.

Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.

Place parchment paper onto your working surface and lightly dust with flour, then add the first half of your dough and top with another piece of parchment. Like a sandwich. 

Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Repeat with the second half of the dough. 

When both doughs are rolled out to about the same size remove the top parchment from both and invert one onto the other, layering them so that the doughs meet and are sandwich between both pieces of parchment.

Roll out again, just to join the two doughs together.

Remove the top parchment again and begin to roll the dough, jelly roll style.

Cover and refrigerate the dough for another hour, and up to 3 days, or freeze for up to a month.

When ready to bake preheat oven to 400F/200C.

Slice your cookies with a knife and place about 1 inch apart on your cookie sheet. 

If you wish, you can dip the slices into colored sugar, or roll them in sprinkles or sugar, etc... before slicing.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes depending on how thick you cut your cookies. Mine were about 1/4 inch and 10 minutes was perfect.

Cool completely, and enjoy!

Linking up here:
Be Different Act Normal
I ♥ Naptime

Peppermint Mocha Latte

Yesterday I had a craving for something chocolaty and minty. I wasn't really up for baking, so I tossed around a few ideas in my head. I wanted something quick and easy. As I took a sip of my coffee the light came on, I was going to attempt making a Peppermint Mocha Latte.

To start, I used my electric kettle to boil some water, and made a thick 'syrup' of about 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and hot water, and about 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Then, in a heavy bottomed saucepan, I steamed (do not let it boil) about 1-2 cups of milk, 1-2 drops of peppermint oil (or you can use about 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract) about 3 tablespoons of sugar - you be the judge on how sweet you want it.

Once my milk mixture was steamed, I poured it into the blender to make it nice and frothy. Then I added about 2 tablespoons of my chocolate 'syrup' to the bottom of my mug.

After the chocolate, I added strong brewed coffee (or espresso, or regular coffee + 1 tablespoon instant coffee) until the mug was about 1/2 full.

Take your now very frothy peppermint milk, and pour to fill the mug to the top. Spoon some foam on top of that, and if you're trying to feel festive (like I was) you can add to that any little decorative touches. I chose some green sugar.

Linking up here:
I ♥ Naptime
Not Just A Housewife
Be Different Act Nomral

New Look

I've spent the day working on a new look for the blog. I've still got some tweaking to do, but I would love some feedback. I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to blog design, and I don't know how to do many things, but I'm learning.

So, what do you think?

Tattoos

I'm just curious how everyone views tattoos. I've seen a lot of cutesy girly tattoos pinned on Pinterest lately, and it got me thinking about ink.

More ink to be exact.
Right now I have 2, the first is a butterfly just above my left ankle on the outside of my leg.

Apologies for the pic quality, they're older pictures.

My second tattoo is what my friend Jeppe calls "The Bird Carcass" It's a phoenix with a tree of life in the center. While it's not the phoenix you'd typically see, it's one that has very special meaning to me.

I've been itching for a new tattoo for the past year or so, but I'm not sure what I'm wanting, or where I'm wanting it.

So I guess, what I want to know is, do you have a tattoo? Do you want one (or more)? Are you utterly against them? If you have one, or want one, what sort of tattoos do you have, or want to have?

Mini Christmas Wreath

Since Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Denmark, I decided to go ahead and start on some of my Christmas and winter decorations. It's hard to find much as far as holiday decorating is concerned around here, but Christmas is one decorated holiday here in Denmark! I've already blown most of my tiny decorating budget on as much Christmas stuff as possible.

I started with the biggest (which is actually tiny) Styrofoam wreath form I could find. I used  satin wire ribbon and secured it with pins, then wrapped the whole thing. Then using twine, I repeated, spacing the twine as evenly as possible. The small snowflakes are actually holiday confetti left over from last year. I just secured them to the wreath with pins.

I tied more twine to the back of the wreath and secured it with what Danes call "decorations tape", I call it colored electrical tape. 

The whole thing cost about $4, which makes my husband very happy.

How does it look?

Linking up here:
Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Reasons To Skip the Housework
A Diamond in the Stuff
Sugar Bee Crafts
Confessions of a Stay At Home Mommy
Not Just A Housewife
JAQS Studio
Ginger Snap Crafts
Under The Table and Dreaming
Polka Dots on Parade
Organize & Decorate Everything
Be Different Act Normal
I ♥ Naptime

Ginger Pear Pie

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (or make your own)

about 6-8 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped

1-2 inchs fresh ginger root, minced

1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar

3-4 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with enough water to form a thick glue-like consistency

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

Start by preparing your pears and ginger and placing them in a non-reactive, heavy bottom saucepan. Add brown sugar, and cook on medium-high heat, stirring to coat for about 5-10 minutes.

Add cornstarch mixture as needed until you've reached your desired thickness. I like a thick pie filling and used about 4 tablespoons.

Once mixture is cooked, turn off heat and set aside. Prepare your pie crust as directed, but do not pre-cook. Fill the pie crust until heaping, with the pear filling. Top with a second crust and crimp the edges so that they do not separate. Cut slits into crust allowing steam/air to escape. 

Bake in a preheated 450F/320C oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F/177C and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes. Remove and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Linking up here:
Be Different Act Normal

Yeah, I've been gone for an entire week, with no real excuse. I promise to return tomorrow and share a few things with you. In the meantime I will be working on wrapping some Christmas gifts. So far, we have 4 people down, 7 more to shop for! Hope y'all are having a fantastic weekend!