Merry Christmas!



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Warmest wishes for you & your family

 

Merry Christmas!

 

♥

 

Christmas Menu & Dijon Pineapple Ham Sauce Recipe

 

Christmas Dinner Menu

 

Glazed Ham with Dijon-Pineapple Sauce (recipe below)

 

Jalapeno Coleslaw

 

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans

 

Macaroni & Cheese

 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Reduction

 

Pecan Pie

 

 

*****

 

 

Dijon-Pineapple Sauce

(adapted from original recipe here)

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup brown sugar

 

1/2 cup glaze from packet included with ham or maple syrup

 

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

 

1 can crushed pineapple, with juice

 

1 tablespoon corn starch

 

whole cloves

 

 

Directions:

 

Heat oven to temperature listed in cooking directions for bone-in ham.  Mix syrup, brown sugar and Dijon mustard until blended.  Spread a portion of the glaze over the ham.  Add cloves to the top of the ham.  Bake ham according to directions.

Before the ham is done cooking, combine remaining glaze with 1 tablespoon corn starch and crushed pineapple in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Serve sauce alongside ham.

 

 

 

♥

 





 

 



Recipe - Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (Dairy-Free)

A delicious, homemade sweet treat to share with family and friends this Christmas season!  The original recipe can be found here.  I've made the original version with cream cheese frosting before to rave reviews.  But the adapted dairy-free version below is just as popular in our house!

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 cup warm almond milk (vanilla, unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tablespoons water (mixed)
• 4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

•  Brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Earth Balance butter (softened)

Icing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter (melted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons almond milk (vanilla, unsweetened)

 

Directions: 

1. Place Pyrex (or other heat-safe) glass bowl in cold oven and pre-heat to lowest oven setting (for my oven, that is 150 degrees).
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm almond milk in a measuring cup/small bowl.  Allow yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
3. Add flour, sugar, canola oil and egg replacer mixture to bowl of stand mixer and mix well using paddle attachment.
4. After yeast+almond milk mixture has finished proofing, add to flour mixture.  Stir using paddle attachment until combined.  Switch to dough hook attachment and knead until dough ball forms.
5. Remove warmed Pyrex bowl from oven using oven mitts.  Drizzle with canola oil.  Place dough in Pyrex bowl and turn to coat with oil.
6. Cover bowl and allow dough to rise in a warm place (about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size).
7. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface, until it is approximately 21 inches long by 16 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick (or eye ball it as I usually do!).
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
9. Spread layer of softened Earth Balance butter over rolled dough.
10. Liberally sprinkle dough with cinnamon.
11. Liberally spread brown sugar over dough.
12. Working carefully from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
13. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch slices and place in a lightly greased baking dish.
14. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until light, golden brown.
15. While the rolls are baking, combine the icing ingredients.  Blend well with mixer until fluffy.
16. When the rolls have finished baking, spread generously with icing.

Nota Bene:

If I'm making cinnamon rolls for breakfast or for Hubby to take into his office, I prep the rolls up until step 13 the day before.  I cover my baking dish with foil and place the prepped rolls in the refrigerator overnight.  The next morning, I take the rolls out of the refrigerator and allow them to 'warm' on the counter while the oven is preheating.  Once the oven is warm, I bake the rolls as instructed above.  This way the cinnamon rolls are fresh baked and warm right out of the oven.  Which really is the best way to enjoy cinnamon rolls!

♥

Getting Ready for Christmas!

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Making a list and checking it twice!  Getting ready for more Christmas shopping tomorrow!

Are you ready for the Holidays?!

♥

Welcome December!

May your home be filled with the warmth and comforts of the season!

 

♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

 



♥

Melania For First Lady

Prioritizing family first, quiet support of her husband's endeavors, discretion concerning family matters, Melania Trump is a role model for wives.

Melania For First Lady

Vote Trump 2016 

♥

Thanksgiving Menu & Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans Recipe

 Image courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Thanksgiving Menu

Herb Roasted Turkey with Gravy

Brown Rice

Crockpot Cornbread Stuffing 

{for cornbread, use vintage cornbread recipe}

Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Reduction and Cranberries 

 Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans {recipe below}

Sandra's Sweet Potato Pie

♥

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans

This recipe is from our State Farmers Market Restaurant and calls for cooked fresh pumpkin.  However, I make this casserole using sweet potatoes because you can always find good North Carolina sweet potatoes in season year round!

3 cups mashed fresh sweet potatoes (peel, dice and boil sweet potatoes until tender; then mash)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 stick melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

{For topping, mix together sugar, flour, butter, then add pecans}

Add mashed sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl.  To the bowl add sugars, eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter.  Beat until smooth.  Pour into 2 quart casserole dish.  Cover with topping mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  If needed, tent foil over casserole to prevent topping from browning too quickly. 

♥

Trump on SNL

That awesome feeling when the next President gives you a retweet! 

The numbers don't lie - it was the best Saturday Night Live in years.  With the show generating its highest ratings since 2012.

My favorite moment of the show - 

Successful, brilliant, handsome and great moves!

TRUMP 2016!

♥

Saturday Morning Coffee Date



My favorite way to start a Saturday - latte and donuts date with Hubby at our favorite coffee shop!

♥ 

Natural Hair Updo Style

As cooler Autumn weather sets in, I'm retiring my afro twist out hair style in favor of a more protective updo.  

I'm hoping 'roll, tuck and pin' type styles will protect my ends from the cold, dry air as well as encourage hair growth.  I'm also loving the ease of the style as daily maintenance requires only a spritz of aloe vera juice+water mixture for moisture and wrapping my hair at night to maintain the form.

♥    

Recipe - Hearty Slow Cooker Chili & Homemade Cornbread



A hearty, slow cooker chili recipe for those cold Winter days!

Slow Cooker Chili:

1lb ground beef

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed & drained

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained

1-6 oz. can tomato paste

1 - 1 1/2 cup (or sufficient amount to fill slow cooker) vegetable or tomato juice

3 teaspoons chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Brown ground beef. Drain fat. Mix in chili powder and cumin. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.  Add browned meat to slow cooker.  Add kidney beans, diced onion, diced green pepper, undrained tomatoes, vegetable/tomato juice and tomato paste to slow cooker.  Stir to combine.  Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

To add more heat to the chili, add 1 chopped jalapeno pepper to the browned meat. Also substitute one 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chilies and one 14.5 oz. can of regular diced tomatoes for the 28 oz. can of tomatoes.

*****

A perfect accompaniment to the chili is this homemade cornbread recipe.  The recipe is from one of my Momma's old cookbooks, The Modern Family Cookbook by Meta Given (1953 edition).

The recipe is for corn sticks or muffins, but I usually bake my cornbread in a cast iron skillet.  

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup yellow corn meal

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 egg

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup melted shortening (can substitute canola or vegetable oil)

Mix ingredients, pour into a prepared pan or tins and bake at 425 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.   

 ♥

Welcome November



It's My Birthday!

 

On today's agenda - shopping, wine and cake!

 

♥

 



Fascinator Find

Fascinator - Target

While out searching for Halloween costumes for the kids, I noticed there were some pretty cute retro style accessories in the Halloween section.  For instance, this black veiled fascinator from Target.  Paired with a dress from my closet, you would never know it's meant for a Halloween costume.  And, it was only $5! 

 

 

Add a pair of black vintage gloves and this look will last well beyond Halloween!  Can't wait to shop those Halloween clearance sales for more retro finds!

♥







Seeing Spots

 

 

Leopard spots that is!

 

I've had my eye on a cute leopard print cardigan at Target for about a month now.  But over the weekend while out thrifting for kids clothing, I came across an identical Lands' End cardigan!  Of course I had to get it :)

 

 

 

And because the cardigan was in the Girls section, it was just a mere $2.59.  When it comes to cardigans, I much prefer those from the Girls section over Juniors or Women's lines.  The snug fit is just perfect for the look I'm going for and they are usually cheaper.  Plus, I can share them with my daughter.  A win-win all around!

 

 

♥

 

 







I Enjoy Being A Girl

If I had a theme song, this would be it.  
Because I do enjoy being a girl!

"I'm strictly a female female
And my future I hope will be
In the home of a brave and free male
Who'll enjoy being a guy having a girl... like... me."

♥ 

One Year Natural | Transitioning to Natural Hair

One Year Natural!



One year ago this month, I decided to 'transition to natural hair'.  What that means for those unfamiliar with the terminology is that I would no longer use relaxers to chemically straighten my hair.  In fact, I no longer desired that bone straight look.  I wanted my hair's own kinky, curly texture.  It might not sound like a big deal.  But considering all of my life - from my earliest childhood memories up until last year - my natural hair had been manipulated in some fashion away from its natural texture, made it a huge step!

The decision to finally go natural was brought about by seeing a Facebook post from my niece.  She was sharing a photo of her shoulder length natural hair after transitioning for 2 years.  While I was familiar with the 'big chop', transitioning seemed like just the right approach for me.  Instead of cutting my hair off, I could just stop relaxing and allow the new growth to come in with its natural texture.  As the natural hair grows, the relaxed ends are trimmed off slowly (or just left to be, as I've since learned from other women transitioning).  Plus, my husband prefers chin to shoulder length hair.  So by transitioning in this method, I could maintain my length (or what was left of it) while finally ditching the 'creamy crack'!  At that point, I had nothing to lose.  I had very stupidly, damaged my hair months prior while using a home relaxer kit.  Afterwards, my hair became extremely dry and brittle.  I lost length and could no longer style my hair in my favorite retro inspired styles.  Even more saddening than losing the length, my once very thick hair became fine and lost a lot of its body and volume.  



My hair as a young girl straightened using a hot comb



I didn't know what to expect of my hair because as I stated earlier, my natural texture was completely foreign to me.  But alas, we were going to meet!  I had always thought my hair without relaxers would be unruly and completely unmanageable.  After all that's the message black women and girls receive about their natural hair texture (and usually from other black people).  But after I made the decision to transition to natural hair, I felt free.  Almost as if a weight had been lifted from me.  I felt authentic.  Really and truly me.  Sounds crazy because it's just hair right?  But it was more.  More than I had even expected.  I truly loved this God-given, unaltered hair that was growing from my head.

In those early months of transitioning, my only regret was that I had not done this sooner!  I wish I could have gone back to when my hair was its longest and thickest and stopped the chemicals and heat that would later cause so much damage.  I wish I would have done this before my daughter was born.  Quite unexpected was how my decision to transition to natural hair would affect my daughter.  I remembered when she was younger and how I had struggled to care for her hair once her true texture started to come through.  A beautiful blending of my husband, who is white (Lithuanian/German) and myself.  I wanted to keep my daughter's hair natural.  I wanted her to love her natural hair.  But my lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity of my own natural texture, did not allow me to adequately impart that love and self-acceptance I wanted my daughter to have for her own hair.  It wasn't until one day after my transition, I was walking around the house allowing my freshly washed afro to air dry that my daughter realized  my hair wasn't really straight.  I didn't know that she had been secretly vexed as to why Daddy and Mommy had straight hair.  But she and her brothers had waves and curls.  My daughter remarked that my hair was an afro just like Reed (our youngest son, whose big, bushy hair resembled an afro at that point).  Afterwards, I saw my daughter take a new sense of pride in her own unique texture of hair.  She no longer expressed any interest in straightening or changing her wave pattern.  She lovingly braided and twisted her hair.  Started adorning her hair with headbands, bows and hair flowers (a favorite of mine as well).  As I learned about the best kind of products to care for my hair in its natural state, we discovered products that also worked for my daughter's hair as well.  My daughter finally had that love and acceptance for her hair that I had always wished.  And it came after I found love and acceptance for my own hair.

After a year as a naturalista, I can look back and honestly say transitioning to natural has been one of the single best things I've done for my hair.  My husband loves my hair.  He loves to touch my hair.  Loves the smell of my hair (no more chemical smell, just yummy coconut!).  Absolutely adores when I do the bantu knot twist out styles.  He told me hands down, that's been the most flattering look to my hair in the 15 years we've been married.  Quite an endorsement!  And for myself - as a black woman in particular - I feel like I'm truly my most beautiful self  wearing my hair with the texture that God intended.  It's a unique beauty that is authentic to us (black women).  My own hair, my own texture.

My hair goals for the coming year and beyond - continue to grow my fro healthier, thicker, longer, BIGGER.  Think Diana Ross and Teyonah Parris!



         

My natural hair inspirations - Diana Ross (left), Teyonah Parris (right)

♥





Leopard & Bows

 

Gloves

 

Found these cute grey leopard print gloves at Target in the girls section.  So cute I had to buy our daughter a matching pair as well!

 

 

Mommy-Daughter matching!

 

♥

 

 





October

 

 

It's October!  That means pumpkins, the State Fair

and my birthday!

 

♥



Coral & Polka Dots

With all the rainy weather we've been having lately, I've been wearing my scarf.  Like a crown of coral and polka dots! 

 

♥

About Me

Wife...married 15 years to my college sweetheart

Mother of 3...all born in January

Interracially married...dated interracially exclusively

Conservative...card carrying Republican #Trump2016

Proud Southern girl...born in SC, raised in NC.  Heritage not hate.

Loves God, America and NASCAR...also lover of homemaking, baking, canning, vintage and all manner of pretty things

You'll find me in pearls, heels & polka dot dresses...yep!  

You can also find me on Twitter @PearlsPolkaDots