January Things: Homemade Cocoa & Aliens

 

For a lot of stitchers, maybe most, January is the month with a flurry of new projects. It has become a tradition to begin a new piece on New Year's Day. There are many SALs and monthly series that kick off in January. I don't know if it's still going, but one had stitchers starting a new project every day in January (that one gives me anxiety so we won't dwell on it, but to each their own). I'm not much of a SAL stitcher, but I do almost always have a New Year's Day start, and I do love a good monthly series, but I'm picky about those and like to see all the months before starting one. The point is, it seems a lot of stitchers like to hit the ground running in January. 

Me? Not so much. My approach to January is pretty leisurely, stitching-wise and otherwise. While everyone else is signing up for the gym and eating lettuce and starting 30 new projects, I'm over here burrowing deep down into my winter hibernation, even here in this warm climate. It has always seemed unnatural to me to plunge into furious activity in the middle of winter. I do that in the spring. But in January, I hibernate. 

So I've been playing in my stash and stitching aliens and making cocoa.

Wait. What?

Yes, we're off to a delightfully weird start this year. This is my first finish of 2025, Get In Loser, by Jen Medrano of Under the Sea Fabrics. I spotted the stitched model when I was in the shop in December and bought the chart immediately. I mostly followed the suggested colors, but didn't have the glow-in-the-dark beads so I just substituted the lightest green. I stitched it on 28 ct Monster Mash Lugana from PTP, which (bizarrely) has become my go-to fabric for a wild night sky.

Mooo.

You know how when you take down the Christmas decorations the house looks a little bereft? A lot of my Christmas decorations are actually winter decorations, so I put away the Christmassy stuff and leave the rest out and it really helps keep the house looking cozy.

During the holidays, my favorite French Vanilla cocoa disappeared from the stores and I couldn't find it anywhere. I went on the hunt and found a recipe for a homemade mix that is a perfectly good substitute. I also made a little cocoa tray for my kitchen. Very cozy.

French Vanilla Cocoa Mix

1 1/3 c. powdered milk

1/2 c. confectioners sugar

2 oz. French Vanilla powdered coffee creamer

1/2 c. chocolate Nestlé Quick

1/3 c. plain powdered coffee creamer

pinch of salt

Mix well and store in an airtight container. Use 3 generous tablespoons of mix per mug of boiling water. Add LOTS of whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate. 

Where else can y'all get cozy tips, cocoa recipes, and alien stitching, all in one post?

Hope you're all safe and well. I'm keeping Southern California in my prayers. Back soon with sewing room stuff.

A Recipe For You

 

While looking for snack recipes to try for Mr. Wonderful, I found this one for protein balls/energy bites, made half a recipe as an experiment, and proceeded to eat most of them myself (not all at once, y'all). I love this recipe. It's easy and has everything you need in a little pick-me-up snack: protein (peanut butter and protein powder), a quick-releasing carb (maple syrup), and a slow-releasing carb (oatmeal). I also added 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips, because... chocolate. They're delicious, and keep very well in the fridge. I used a small cookie scoop and got about a dozen and a half from a halved recipe. For me, one is usually enough if I'm feeling a bit crashy. 

Enjoy!

Unsupervised: Pie for Breakfast

 

It's just us girls this week as Mr. Wonderful is TDY and we are unsupervised! I got the house cleaned last week, and spent Monday in the kitchen getting my meals sorted, and now I'm ready to spend the week catching up on some framing. So far, I've managed to frame one 5 x 3 piece, so I'm not exactly off to a blazing start, but start I have. It always takes me a while to get going if I haven't done it in a long time, and hopefully I can make a dent in the finishes box this week.

This is Just Nan's Flowering Crown.

I have sooo much work to do.

And that's just the small pieces I have frames for. I have a frame stash that I've collected over the years. I always keep an eye out for sale/clearance frames, especially ones in non-standard sizes. Those are hard to find, but sometimes you do run across them.

I've got some larger pieces that will require custom frames, but I think I may have found a source for those. I can do the framing myself, which saves a huge amount of money, it's just a matter of gritting my teeth and spending the money on the frames. I know, I know. We deserve to have our needlework out where we can enjoy it, not living in a box or a drawer. I don't know why I don't have a problem buying hand dyed linen and threads for a project, but balk at a custom frame. Doesn't make any sense to stop on the last step of the process, but there it is. I guess I'm weird and need to change my thinking! Anyway, that's the framing. 

And then there's the finishing pile. Yikes. I'm three years behind on annual Christmas ornaments. And lots of other stuff. *sigh* Let's move on to food.

Chicken Spaghetti is one of my favorite comfort foods. I use Pioneer Woman's recipe, with just a few tweaks. The full recipe makes two 9 x 13 pans, if you need to take food to someone and also make supper for your own family. It's easy to halve the recipe if you don't need that much.

I also made myself some pie, because why wouldn't I? This is an old favorite I haven't made in years. My little recipe book calls it Chocolate Truffle Cream Pie, but this is the same recipe. I am a big fan of dark chocolate, but if you're not, I suppose you could make it with different chocolate. I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips. The only other ingredients are marshmallows, milk, and cream. It's lovely and smooth and chocolatey, and not overly sweet.

Will I be eating pie for breakfast at least once this week? Why, yes. Yes, I will.

Back in a few days with more framing. Leaving you with this:

Unauthorized access to my foam core

Dear Santa: Day Five

 

It's the final day of my 10th annual Christmas Open House and I've saved a very special Santa for last. This is Patriotic Santa from Leisure Arts Christmas Remembered Book Eight: Down Santa Claus Lane. He's been on the to-stitch list forever, and here he is in all his patriotic glory! I stitched him with the recommed DMC on 32 count Blue Moon linen. I omitted the flag border and just sprinkled stars everywhere instead, using a smyrna cross.

I really love him, but y'all. The backstitching. Oh my stars. I guess you get what you work for, because he's pretty gorgeous, but man was that tedious!

*****

Winding down from a very successful Cookie Drop-In, the houseful of troops has quieted down and we're settling in for a respite from the busyness. 

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Two more must-share cookie recipes to round out the week's festivities. These Peppermint Meltaways are a very pretty addition to a Christmas cookie tray. I use Andes Peppermint Crunch candies for the topping, as I don't like the texture of crushed candy canes. 

And last but not least, this year I had a special request for Snickerdoodles, and this recipe is absolutely fantastic. They were devoured.

*****

Well, we've done it again. Ten years of Christmas joy: stitching, food, coziness. Thank you so much for being here to share this with me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the kind comments and well wishes. This is so much more fun, and the work is so much more worth it, knowing there are so many of you who look forward to and enjoy this tradition. I'll keep doing it as long as I can manage. Some years will be big and splashy, some more simple, much like celebrating Christmas each year varies. And just so you know, I have a list of ideas that currently has seven or eight themes on it. Lord willing, we've got many more years of fun ahead of us!

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas, y'all!

Dear Santa: Day Four

Day four, and we have three Santas for the price of one! I chose my favorite Prairie Schooler Santas and stitched them together as one piece. From left to right: 1989, 1990, 1991. These are available in one leaflet, Santa Collection 1988-1991. I stitched them with the recommended DMC over one on 20 count Sage Jobelan. The wood they're mounted on is from Hobby Lobby.

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It's Cookie Drop-In day! I snapped a quick picture before all the hungry troops arrived!

Info about this finish is in this post, and the wreath is from Christmas Open House 2017.

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This recipe for Gingerbread Cookies with Lemon Frosting is similar to the Percolator Punch recipe. People read the label and are intrigued, then they try one and go back for seconds or even thirds!

Another new addition to the cookie repertoire this year is Fudge Cookies. These are very similar to one of my favorites, Chocolate Espresso Cookies, but without the espresso. As with the espresso version, don't make these too far in advance. They're best made the day you need them, or the day before.

Fudge Cookies

1 12 oz. bag (2 c.) chocolate chips

2 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

2 eggs

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking powder

Heat oven to 350. In a microwave safe bowl, on 50% power, melt 1 c. chocolate chips, baking chocolate, and 2 Tbsp. butter. Heat for about 30 seconds at a time; chocolate will be soft enough to stir together before it appears melted; no need to overheat. Cool slightly and add eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, and baking powder. Stir until well combined; stir in remaining 1 c. chocolate chips. This will be more like a batter than a dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2" apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, or until edges are firm and surfaces are dull and crackled. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to racks to cool. Yield: about 3 dozen

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Only one more day left! Join me tomorrow for the finale!

Dear Santa: Day Three

 

Today's Santa is Jolly Old Elf from the Leisure Arts booklet Jolly Santas in Cross Stitch. This is the only Santa that wasn't already in my stash when I chose this year's theme. I stumbled across him while looking for something else and couldn't resist his sweet face and tiny Chickadee friend. I stitched him with the recommended DMC on Weeks 32 count Red Pear linen, and omitted the toy.

I love the red on red on red: red Santa, reddish fabric, red frame.  A note about the fabric, though. When looking at this fabric on a computer monitor, or even in hand with nothing stitched on it, it looks very, very pink. I don't think I would have considered it for this design if I didn't already have some in my stash to experiment with. When paired with red floss, it reads as a weathered or faded red, which I really like.

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It's almost Cookie Drop-In time! Let's have a look at final preparations. 

Self-serve coffee/cocoa/hot punch bar. I used my mom's Percolator Punch recipe, which I was raised on and remains a cold weather staple at our house. When we offered it to the troops, everyone said, "Hot punch?" They then proceeded to swig four batches! It's that good!

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The old favorite recipe of the day is Mexican Wedding cookies. These are a Christmas classic, and a cross-cultural cookie, with the same recipe known by different names in different cultures. We're from Texas, so to us, these are Mexican Wedding cookies. And they're fabulous.

I also tried a new Chocolate Chip cookie recipe this year and they were a hit! Lovely and soft.

*****

Tomorrow is party day! Skip lunch and spoil your supper with cookies!