I'm French and Native American, what the Hell do I know about Bricole?

When I married a nice Italian boy, I knew the day would come when I had to learn one of the family recipes. The kind that are passed down from generation to generation. The kind that are talked about with such relish, and passion you have to remind yourself that they are talking about food. These recipes never touch paper, you just learn by what you see. There is no real system for measuring other than, a pinch of this or a dash of that. These are the kind of thing that take you back to a certain place and a certain time in a heart beat. These are also the type of thing that vendettas are built on. So you kind of take a risk when accepting to learn this art.

Mr. Fantastics Aunt, whom I love lives with Grandmama, whom I also love. These are some strong, no nonsense women who are so full of life and love they are about bursting at the seams. It is a extreme pleasure to spend time with them. And very shortly they will be moving much, much closer, so we are all thrilled at the idea of more time together. But I digress, back to the recipe, Mr. Fantastics Aunt made Bricole pronounced (bra-shole). Mr. Fantastic had one bite and practically begged me to learn how to make it. He asks so little, who am I to refuse a man his rolled steak. So I made the call, I wrote it down, relax, to destroy later of course. Then I shopped, I don't eat red meat so this was interesting.... And one tiny question sparked the attention and stories of about twenty people behind the meat counter which compelled them to tell me about their grandmothers recipe and how each one is different. So one short trip to the store, became a hour long story telling session, but just like any other Italian tradition, the food always follows. Out came the coffee and cookies, and some how two glasses of milk materialized in the hands of my children whom were sitting patiently, listening to the stories. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon...

Finally I headed home with my bags full of ingredients and my head full of advice and I managed not to totally screw it up.... See?
I made a turkey one too, not bad....
By the way there is a perfectly good reason why I haven't been posting as much, and here she is:

Pippin is NEEDY!!!! Every time I sit down to write to you all, she insists of having some of my attention. Honestly, who could refuse this???

I took a little break due to the holiday, it was nice but I missed you, so I am back. And this happens to be my 100th post. So I am going to tell you a few things about myself...

I love the color Grey.

I read really fast, therefore I read A LOT.

I always have my toenails painted. I distinctly remember being in the moderately early stages of unstoppable labor with Little P, sitting on the steps painting my toenails...

I always wear a Indian Head Dime either around my neck or on my ankle.

I am a creative person at heart, if I don't feed that part of me, I feel numb.

I have saved every drawing or piece of artwork that Little P has ever done.

I am running out of room for all of the boxes that hold that precious artwork!

I like the fact that once I make up my mind- It's not going to change.

I am not so in love with the fact that I have a hard time making up my mind. Anyone that has ever been out to dinner with me, knows this fact all too well.

I have eaten a lot of Cotton Candy in my life, and I still love it!

Not too long ago, one of my oldest friends and I had a falling out- it kills me every day.

I am mending ties with my own two BFG's, little by little.

I wear glasses to read, Mr. Fantastic loves them.

I have a thing for the rain.

I actually like driving.

One of my favorite movies is Fight Club.

I really loved my first car, it was a silver Volkswagen Gulf, with a moon roof. Loved this car!

I have a decent thresh hold for pain, so if I am reaching for the Advil, I need it.

I don't sleep much.

Not sleeping much, allows me to get a ton done!!!!

So that is enough about me for now, to all of my blog buddies, tell me your weird traits... I promise I won't judge.

What do you mean, I only have ONE week left?

I am seriously running out of time. I finally decided on a ornament and here he is....
It's pretty simple, clean lines, not a ton of painting and most importantly still homemade, I mean that still counts for something right?????

Here are the ornaments I made two years ago for everyone, all of the cousins got one, I started cross stitching in September.

This one was for Little P ...
This one was for Boots....
And this is one of a set of ornaments that Mr. Fantastic received last year, so a new addition to our tree this year...
Little P went with her class to see Charlotte's Web this morning, she was so excited.
They have been reading the book at school and she had read it before, it is one of her favorite stories. So when they announced that the whole class was picked to go to a special screening, she couldn't have been happier! Boot didn't seem to want to see it, I asked a few times if he wanted to go to, and got a flat no. I can't wait to hear if she had a great time. I have a ton of baking to do and I still have sewing to finish so I wish you all more time or at least hope that you are doing better with your time than I am...

Oh and one last thing, knowing that I don't have much in the way of attachment to material things I do have to say this, there are certain things that just make my heart flutter.

This is one of those things:
It has my name and a Christmas date stitched on the back. It was made by my mom. When I left home and found my own place, she gave me a box of ornaments. One for every year of my life, all hand made, all by her. Every year when I put it on my tree, it makes my heart flutter, just for a moment. I do the same thing for my kids, every year. There is something about the time and energy and love that goes into something like that. I will do the same as long as I am able, my hope is that my children's trees are overflowing with memories, and they get that same joy of getting them out every year.

Some times when the pinch of the season is here, and I realize I have bitten off more than I can chew, I often mutter the words, why do I do this to myself? When I haven't slept for days and the 11th hour is looming over me and I am certain that I cannot stand in one more line, and see one more rude holiday shopper, I remember that box, and the hours she stayed up so late stitching and painting and beading and how much I love getting them out every year, and how much I cherish each and every one of them. It's kind of silly really, how an old box full of ornaments, can bring me back to what is really important.

Kitchen Trees

This year we bought a insanely huge 12 foot Christmas tree for the living room, it is lovely. We decorated it on Sunday with the kids, that is an interesting experience. We kind of reserved the whole weekend for decorating and getting ready for this amazingly fast approaching holiday. I have had it in my brain that I would like a secondary Christmas tree in the kitchen of a while now.

We are fortunate enough to have a ton of space and very, very high ceilings. So last year I bought these ornaments in the hopes of using them this year.
I fell in love with them immediately. As I have mentioned before I am definitely a country girl at heart. Not in the paint everything that awful blue, load my walls up with shelves and fill them with knick knacks and stencil until I can't see straight kind of way, but in that rustic old log cabin kitchen filled with gingham and hammered tin kind of way. And our house is very modern in feel and design, so it normally doesn't fit with that scheme. I am not a frilly girl, so when I have the opportunity to have it feel even warmer with out adding a ton of shit I take it.

So here is the tree in the kitchen. Yes that is a frog on the top. Little P wanted it there, so there it stays.
I bought these angels a number of years ago,
I have just been waiting for the perfect setting to use them in, this year is their year, I am sure of it. More decorations to come!

Hooper the Red Nosed Reindeer

Hooper was not nearly as amused as we were... He could care less about holiday cheer!

Fraggles Make Everyone Happy

I bought this shirt a while back. It was cute and fun and who the hell from my generation doesn't know who the Fraggles were? So I was wearing it yesterday when Mr. Fantastic says, Oh yeah, we have the first season on DVD of that.
When that happened, I don't know. But it was a fun little surprise for Little P and Boots, whom had read the books and seen and old VHS tape with a few odd episodes on it. They sat mesmerized for the better part of an hour and a half. Jim Henson, yet again, keeps them entertained, there is nothing violent or wildly inappropriate that I need to keep a sharp ear out for, I remember spending every Sunday night watching The Muppets with my brother. I distinctly remember laying on the floor in the den with a bowl of popcorn and some apple cider, watching Kermit sing the blues about how hard it is to be green. There isn't really anything like that on now, not to the level that The Muppets were, every week, high quality and on normal TV. For those kids out there that grew up like me with three maybe four channels. Entertaining for kids and for parents, gotta love that!

Update

Okay, so it is going to be a very busy two weeks. On Friday my youngest brother called me with the news that he was engaged and getting married, "When?" I asked, "In two weeks," he answered. It is obvious that they are not fans of long engagements. I will be traveling back home this weekend with Mr. Fantastic to see the family, and see my youngest brothers new house. Then I will be making the trip back out on the 16th for the blessed event sans Mr. Fantastic. He has to work, so I will be attending the festivities solo.

Unlike the last wedding disaster when I was struck with the overwhelming urge to make my own dress, I have a killer dress, appropriate, but killer. I think every woman should own one of those, a dress you feel great in, and look even better in, that travels and wears well, and you have to have at least one pair of amazing shoes to go with it. All of that covered, I am more than ready to attend the event.

My in-laws will be in shortly after the wedding and that definitely reminds me that Christmas is a mere 21 days away! And I am seriously behind. However this is what I am currently working on...
Little P received and American Girl Doll for her birthday and now she is terribly interested in dressing this doll. However with the outfits going for a minimum of $30.00 a piece, she isn't going to have a over flowing closet anytime soon. However I came across these patterns on sale for 99 cents each and I am in the middle of making items for Elizabeth to wear. Mostly out of my scrap material bag. They are so tiny they don't really require a lot of material or time. So she should have a large box of clothing by the time that Christmas arrives.

I have also narrowed down my choices for ornaments. As soon as I make a decision and make a trial one I will take pics so you can see to. I will take into account the advice that it should have glitter....I am a huge fan of snowflakes and white on white ornaments, maybe some iridescent looks too. We will be getting a tree soon, and it will be a big one. We have incredibly high ceilings in the great room, and so when I haul out the ornaments to decorate I will gather up the ornament projects from the past years and give you a little peek.