Friday, December 17, 2010

Decking the House With Christmas Cheer

Friday - December 17, 2010

"Deck the Halls with Boughs of holly . . . . fa la la la, la la la la." This is one of the yuletide carols that seems to give most of us a happy feeling. Sure, we know the real meaning of Christmas and the real purpose behind it, but we also like to celebrate and have a great fellowship with our family and friends. Tis the season to show how much we love and care for mankind. Many will decorate their homes - inside and out - as a way to spread the good cheer.

As the years move forward, we are finding it a little sadder in that many of those we love are no longer here celebrating with us. So many things we do reminds me of the time when they were here with us. They say that as times goes on that things will get better. I still see my grandparents, who have been gone for 40 years, grinning from ear to ear when we would open up their presents to us - usually much needed socks. I can see Dad sneaking in to look under the tree to try and find packages with his name on them - Mom would purposely not put names on the packages! :) She always was able to remember to whom the packages belonged, and would put the names on the packages Christmas Eve! I can remember John sneaking around looking in all the "hiding" places that Mom might hide our presents to see if he could find his!!!! Last but not least, I remember our precious Toby who loved to snoop around the presents under the tree. I always got him a box of treats and would wrap it up . . . he would sniff it out, and try his best to get it open!!!!! He loved sticking his head down into the bags to pull out whatever might be down in the bag. It was hard making out the tags this year . . . Toby's name was always included as a giver! :(

I love decorating, but this year we had decided not to do much . . . no one would be here but us, and why decorate and then turn around and take it down and pack it back into storage. A week ago I couldn't stand not having some Christmas up. So, I went out to the shed and found a few things and even found a few things that were half price to add to my displays. The following pictures show our Christmas cheer this year . . . .fa la la la, la la la la.


Our fiber-optic tree . . .
. . . looking from the outside . . . our fiber-optic tree and Santa . . .
. . . I love the different versions of Santa . . . I found this wooden collection at Big Lots for a little change . . . my kind of a deal . . .

. . . through the years I have collected Boston Terrier items because of Toby . . . here are two tree toppers I always used as part of a display and even the top of one of the trees in the past . . . we miss our "babee" . . .

. . . I found some of my collection of Santa's that have been given to me as gifts through the years, and put them on display . . .

. . . the Nutcracker is one that has a sensor . . . it use to drive Toby crazy . . . especially when its cheeks would flash red and it would start playing "The Little Drummer Boy" . . . also on display are a few more of my Santa's . . .
. . . our front porch display includes a wooden Santa and my geese dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause . . .
. . . Mrs. Clause got a little extra help with the decorations . . . fresh snow . . .
. . . I also love the nativity scene . . . this year I found a wooden one that is actually a musical box that plays "Silent Night" . . . a favorite of mine . . . . . . this snow globe is also musical . . . it was a gift from my niece Dawn . . . it was the the first Christmas without Dad . . . it is a gift I will always cherish because she and the family were trying to help me have a good Christmas . . . it plays the tune "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" . . . . . . this is part of our Christmas dishes . . . similar to the Lenox, but a lot more affordable . . . we always used these for Christmas dinner . . . the bell in the center is actually a Lenox bell given to me by Bill and David many years ago . . . another special gift . . . . . . the nativity scene that stays out year round . . . too pretty to put away for all but one month a year . . .

Our wish is that all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year making memories for the years to come!!! May God Bless each and every one of you!!!!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Fresh Apple Cake - Another Family Recipe

Sunday - December 12, 2010

The last post was a favorite cake recipe of Mom's. This one is a favorite of a cousin . . . Mae Scaggs Slazo. I know as a kid, I loved eating at Mae's . . . it was mmmmmm, so good!!!!!! So there is no doubt that this recipe will be good too!!!!!! Thanks to Mae's daughter, Sherri Scaggs Smith for sharing! :)

Fresh Apple Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped walnuts
  • Cream sugar, oil, and eggs with mixer. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla. Mix well. Fold in apples and walnuts.
  • Pour into greased and floured bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

    Glaze:
    1 cup powdered sugar
    1/4 cup frozen orange juice, thawed, undiluted

  • Drizzle over cake while still warm.

Orange Cake - A Family Tradition at Christmas

Sunday - December 12, 2010

Many of us have special baking traditions for the holidays. The recipe I am about to share is one that I can remember Mom making every year at Christmas. I always wondered why she only baked this cake during the Christmas season, but as I got older I realized it was because of the availability of fresh juicy oranges. Mom would always make several of these cakes for special people in our family's life, and one for us to eat as well. When I was old enough, I got to help Mom prepare the cake! Now I make it on my own! :)

I asked Mom where she got the recipe. She said a very good friend of the Layne family gave her the recipe. However, Mom didn't like the results of the first cake she made, thus she changed things around a bit. The following recipe is what we have been baking in the Layne family for well over fifty years!!! Hope you enjoy!

Orange Cake
1 stick of butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp soda
1 cup raisins
2 eggs (separated)
1 tsp vanilla
1 orange peel
  • Juice the orange and set aside
  • Clean pulp from orange rind; Grind the rind and raisins together
  • Combine sugar and butter; Add 2 egg yolks & beat until fluffy
  • Add soda to buttermilk ( it will fizz . . . so watch out! :))
  • Alternating buttermilk/soda and flour - add to sugar/butter/yolk mixture
  • After grinding raisins and orange rind, add to the mixture
  • Last add the vanilla and 2 egg whites to the mixture
  • Beat for two minutes
  • Bake in a tube pan at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes (I also bake in mini loaf pans)
  • About 10 minutes before the cake is done - boil juice from orange and 1/2 cup of sugar into a syrup ( I usually add more juice and sugar so I can have enough syrup to use
  • Once the cake is out of the oven . . . .pour the juice over the cake while still hot
  • I usually use a fork to "poke" holes in the cake so it will soak up the juice
Using the small loaf pans . . . batter is in each, ready to bake . . .
. . . after baking about 33 minutes . . . straight from the oven . . .
. . . the juice from the orange, plus some extra juice and sugar cooking to make the syrup to pour over the hot cakes . . .


. . . the end results soaking up the orange syrup!

Many families try to keep certain recipes a secret! Why? I'm not sure, but the "Laynes" hope you enjoy Mom's version and special recipe for "Orange Cake!"
Merry Christmas to all!!!!