Our little winter get away

So, for Christmas this year my husband gave me the gift of warmth.  Part of this gift was to go on a 4 day trip to St. Pete Beach, FL, where we would stay in the beautiful Don CeSar hotel. Scott and I went there a little over 3 years ago for our 30th anniversary, and enjoyed our time, so we knew what a special treat it was to go there.  

It really is hard to capture the grandeur of this place.  It's quite a stunning scene as you come over the bridge into St. Pete Beach.  You see the Don CeSar Hotel, also known as the Pink Palace, towering over the McPherson Bayou like a beautiful castle. It was built by a developer, William Rowe. He really was ahead of his time, building this resort on the gulf coast of Florida back in 1929.  When you enter the hotel, the quote of Rowe is on the wall for all to see, "Come all ye who seek health and rest, for here they are abundant". This was Rowe's desire some 86 years ago, and this amazing resort is still providing outstanding service and a relaxing experience for all who enter.

 The inside is just as stunning as the exterior.  

Views from our balcony outside our room.

        Just a mile south of the hotel is the community of Pass-A-Grille.  A quaint part of the island

that holds shopping, dining, fishing, it's own beach access and even shuffle board, if you are so inclined.

The Sea Horse Restaurant where locals come for breakfast and lunch.

You can see the Don CeSar in the distance from the Pass-A-Grill beach front food stand.

I became quite enamored with pelicans on this trip. The white necked pelicans migrate south, while the gray necked ones are local birds.  They were so cute, perched on the old dock posts.

 We took a short pontoon ride to Shell Key.  Captain Steve took us the long way to the island so we could spot some dolphin and ride through the beautiful canals and water ways.

Once we got to the island, it's name did not disappoint.  The shells were abundant.  In addition, the water was beautiful.

Just a little tidbit of trivia, the blue house to the left of Scott in the back ground of the picture is owned by Mel Gibson. 

Another fun thing we did was go into the city of St. Petersburg.  A beautiful city that sits on Tampa Bay.  The downtown has parks, beautiful marinas, fun shops to explore and plenty of restaurants.

The Bodega Restaurant, serving Latin food, was the favorite place we ate while on our trip.  A cute place.  You order from the window and all their seating was outside.

On our trip back to Jacksonville, we stopped in at Tarpon Springs, FL.  A Greek community where they dive for and surface most of the sponge in the world.  Who knew?

 Of course, we had to try some Greek fare while we were there.  YUM!!!

Our time at the Don CeSar was a refreshing break.  We were sad to leave it, but are thankful for the time together and are now ready to jump back into our busy life.  Thanks Scott!!!  Time with you was the best present you could give me!

When the take down is a let down

As I wrote in my previous blog, I LOVE Christmas!  I love decorating for Christmas.  The lights are so magical, the decorations are so warm and inviting.  So taking all that down can be a huge let down.  You miss the glow of the lighted garland on the staircase once it is left empty.  The wonderful smell of pine is missing when the tree is hauled off.   What did my house look like before?  Because I also decorate for fall, it hasn't been "normal" since September!  What do you do when spring is still months away, and you have this winter lull between January and March?  You have the coldest months ahead of you, but you want your home to continue to be warm and inviting.  This is a challenge I have every year.

I love the look and feel of nature. One of the things I love about decorating for Christmas is bringing that nature inside with the tree and live garland.  But you can still add nature in your decorating, even if it's not a Christmas tree.   Adding wood to your home naturally brings warmth to the space.  I decided to use some natural elements to fill some of those empty spaces left when the holiday things were packed away.  I chose things that are easy to find like acorns, pinecones and branches.  And who says nuts are only for Christmas? 

I picked up branches out of the yard and cut each one into 4 inch pieces to fill one of my apothecary jars. I filled another jar with acorns.  This chunky stump was purchased at a thrift store, believe it or not.  I used it at Christmas and it was my inspiration for the other natural elements I used in the dining room.

Nothing says warmth like a piping hot biscuit!   I thought this saying was cute for the winter season.

I filled another apothecary jar with nuts purchased at the grocery store.

I think this little squirrel is precious.  It is left over from my Christmas decorations, but I thought it fit in with my natural touches in the dining room.  She looks like she's eyeing those pinecones I have in the little tea cup!

Simple touches like a bowl of fruit can add color and warmth in your kitchen.

So if you struggle like I do, packing away your beloved Christmas decorations for a whole year, maybe using  nature will help to brighten your spirits and warm your space.  I hope your take down will not be a let down, and  you enjoy the warmth of your home during the remainder of the winter season.

Our gingerbread house tradition

My daughter Bethany and I have a tradition of making a gingerbread house every Christmas.  It started several years ago when we visited my sister's house over the holidays. She was so sweet to share her tradition with my young daughter and myself by letting us help her make their gingerbread house.  After helping my sister, we were hooked.  We have made our own edible masterpiece every Christmas since.  Even the year we moved into our new home on December 18th we didn't let that stop us.  We may not have had all our boxes unpacked, but you better believe we made a gingerbread house before Christmas day!

For the past few years, we have been using the book, The Gingerbread Architect by Susan Matheson and Lauren Chattman.  I have other books about gingerbread houses, but none compare to this book. Not only does it give you inspiration, but you find the pattern for each house in the book, and a little history about the house's architecture. You also get detailed instructions, recommendations for candy to use for decoration as well as a yummy recipe for the gingerbread.  This book has patterns for simple houses as well as the more challenging.  You will know the complexity of the construction by the rating that is given in the book.  The houses are rated from one gingerbread for easy up to 4 gingerbread for more difficult.

This year, we went with the Second Empire/Mansard house plan.

The first step after deciding what house to build is making the pattern.  My daughter typically takes this task on each year.

Once the pattern is made and cut out.  It's time to make the gingerbread.  Like I said, we use the recipe in the book.  It's a basic gingerbread recipe.  Most gingerbread recipes need to be refrigerated a few hours to allow the dough to chill before you roll it out. 

Once the gingerbread is chilled, roll it out like you would sugar cookie dough.  Place the pattern over the rolled gingerbread and cut around each pattern piece using the sharp tip of a paring knife.  Bake according to recipe instructions.  Allow to cool and remove from baking sheets, lying flat until you have cut out and baked all your pieces and are ready to construct your house.

For assembly, we use royal icing.  The book also gives you an icing recipe.  This year we used a royal icing mix.  All you add is water.  It worked well.

Another helpful tip we learned to help with assembly is using straight pins.  They work kind of like nails to hold the pieces together while the royal icing dries.

Clearly, you can see we are NOT professionals!!  Our icing is messy and our seams are not clean.  We still have MUCH to learn!!!

After you get it assembled, it is time for decorating.  We generally start with the roof and work our way down.  For decorating, we use buttercream icing.  Rice Krispy treats formed into wreaths, garland, trees and bushes makes for quick and colorful decorations.

Another thing we like adding to our house is lighting.  We place a 10 watt bulb inside.  We also use crushed candy to make "windows" and bake it for around 5 minutes until candy has melted.  When it dries, it hardens into a translucent "glass" effect.

Here are a few houses from previous years.

This house was made to look like our home.  An English Tudor.

This is our attempt at a Carpenter Gothic.  We did this one 3 years ago.



Two years ago, I made my own pattern, and we made a house to look like my daughter's house, in honor of her buying her first home that year. 





Last year, we made a farm house.  I think it's one of my favorites we have ever made.

Whether you build a simple house or try for a more challenging one, the most important thing you will build is memories.  My daughter and I have built 12 years of memories now with our gingerbread houses, and I am so thankful for each one of them!