Christmas (Cards) in January

I don't know about you, but every year, I plan to make all of my Christmas cards, and then somehow, I end up not doing it.  But, you know, it's NOT just "somehow" -- there 's a definite reason for this yearly failure.  I have plenty of supplies and plenty of ideas, but what I always run out of is time.  You too, right?

The thing about Christmas for me is that, while I love the whole season, I'm always wary of losing some of that love if I start "doing" Christmas too early.  Making someone something that will be Christmas gift (a rag quilt, for instance) is perfectly fine to do many months ahead, but doing something with an overtly Christmas theme, such as making cards, doesn't feel right until, say, after Thanksgiving.  Kind of like decorating the house doesn't feel right 'til then.

Well, I'm going to try to abandon that mindset this year, because there simply isn't any way that I will ever be able to make even a small number of Christmas cards between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The only way it will work is if I start making those cards earlier than what "seems right."

So, in that vein, I've already started thinking about Christmas card designs for next Christmas!  I like to make a couple of different versions of a basic design, so I started looking for a simple design that could be adapted in any number of ways, and came across a basic tree design made with different Christmas-y papers.  It occurred to me that not only could this cute little tree could be made out of many different combinations of papers, but the resulting card could also be embellished in a number of different ways.

Above is the first card that I made.  I used a little gold adhesive gemstone on the top of the tree, and the "joy" is a die cut I made using my Quickutz (yes, I still use mine!).  I really love this combination of papers and colors, and the contrast of "joy" done in white.

I like how this one came out, too.  Three different green papers for the body of the tree, and since the background was so simple, I figured I could get away with using a really busy print for the middle part of the tree.  A star brad tops the tree, and the snowflakes were made using a Martha Stewart punch.  (BTW, she has GORGEOUS snowflake punches!!) "Holiday" is a punch-out from some random set I had, but you could use most any type of sticker, or print out a greeting on the computer using a favorite font, too.

And here's the last version that I made.  The tree is embellished with different sizes and colors of star brads, then I used one of the gemstones for the top of the tree.

I"m happy that I've at least gotten a start as to what I want to do for cards this coming year.  I can't promise when I'll get around to actually making them, but I"m going to try to let go of that self-imposed "no activities 'til after Thanksgiving" restriction.  So, I'd love to know -- which version of my card do YOU like best?



  

Cranberry Muffins

Do you have some fresh cranberries lying around that you didn't use over Christmas, and you're wondering what to do with them?  Well, wonder no longer.  Make these muffins!  They are really simple and have a fantastic fresh cranberry flavor.  I took these in to my office a week or so before Christmas, and everyone was raving about them.  When I make them at home, they are gone lickety-split.  Yep, they are that good.  The process is pretty simple.

Measure and mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.

Coarsely chop the raw cranberries, either by hand or using a food processor.  Little hint here -- although the food processor is much faster, I actually prefer to chop the cranberries by hand.  They come out more evenly chopped, and I like the berries to end up in very large pieces.  But, either way is perfectly fine.

Turn the cranberries into a separate bowl, and zest an orange right in the same bowl.

Add half a cup of sugar to the berries and zest, and mix to make sure the sugar coats all of the cranberry pieces.

Now add the small bowl of wet ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients, and mix until the flour is almost all mixed in.  Don't overmix, though, or your muffins will be tough and won't have the right shape. Gently fold in the bowl of sugared cranberries as the last step.

Scoop the batter into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned.  Allow to cool and serve with butter.

You could also add some chopped pecans in with the cranberries, if you wanted to.  I often have nuts left over from holiday baking, and I love using them up in recipes like this one.  Oh, I forgot to mention that this recipe calls for buttermilk.  I know it's a "special" thing to buy at the grocery store, but is it so worth it!  I usually buy a pint, and since buttermilk is very lowfat (weird, huh?), it keeps for several weeks.  That's plenty of time to make a second batch of these muffins, thus using up the extra buttermilk!  (Or, I have a great cornbread recipe that also uses buttermilk. Grandma's Cornbread)

Here's the actual recipe:

Cranberry Muffins

2-1/4 cups sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 cup sugar

Stir together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl.  Combine egg, buttermilk, and oil in small bowl; stir all at once into flour mixture.  Do not overmix.  Combine cranberries, zest and 1/2 cup sugar; fold into the batter.  Scoop or spoon batter into muffin tins; bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown.  Makes about 15 muffins.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does!