Welcoming Winter

Warm wishes on this 1st Day of Winter!

I pray you are warm and cozy and doing what brings joy and delight to your soul.

I am sorting Christmas gifts and making last minute gifts and goodies today-

tub teas, bath salts, dream pillows and such.

Tomorrow is baking day- Merry Molasses  Cookies, Scotch Shortbread, and Ginger Cookies for certain.  I have a few other ideas ... we shall see what comes about. 

What are you doing today to welcome winter?

*Tea is always a great choice. I had a giant cup of Ceylon tea this morning- a gift from a beautiful Sri Lankan friend. 

Love, 

Catherine Ann

Simple Christmas Sugar Cookies

I've been making the same Christmas cookies for years.  These Sugar Cookies are one of our yearly traditions. They are simple to mix up, chill, cut out and bake; and if you so desire ... decorate.  

The cookies in the photos were baked and decorated by my daughter, which is why they are lovely and decorated nicely.  Mine often don't look nearly as pretty as hers, but they still taste great, and as a bonus, my husband prefers them without icing, so I get away with making at least one batch of 'plain' sugar cookies! 

Simple Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup softened butter (I use salted butter)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla 

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix together powdered sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.

Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.  I usually mix the dough one day and leave it in the fridge overnight and bake the next day.  

Preheat oven to 375.  

Divide dough in half.

Roll out to 3/16 on a lightly floured surface.  

Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets until edges are light brown, about 7 to 8 minutes. 

Cool on rack.

Decorate as desired, if you desire!

Note: You can decorate before baking with sprinkles and such if you prefer.  

Decorator Frosting

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons water

Mix the above together until smooth and spreadable.  

Add food coloring to obtain desired colors.

What is your favorite Christmas cookie recipe?

Love,

Catherine Ann

Moving Slowly into the Christmas Season

photo credit: Elena Ferrer

It's taken a while for me to slowly move into the Christmas season this year. Some seasons are like that, it just takes time for it to feel right.

After a busy Thanksgiving followed by some pretty nasty colds/viruses/bacterial infections that ran the gamut through the family, we are slowly recovering and getting into the Christmas spirit.  The tree is up and finally decorated.  One daughter is ordering gifts online, one is crafting away, and one is baking Christmas cookies.   'Tis the season at last.

I love the photo above, with the simplicity of the fresh greenery and the gingerbread cookie reindeer ... Won't work for chairs in my home since we have a big, furry, white dog that would surely eat the cookies as quickly as they were tied on, but I'm thinking maybe cinnamon applesauce ornaments instead and used as a window garland ... or maybe along the mantel

I've got a ton of ideas all tucked away neatly on my Pinterest Christmas board.  I thought you might like to take a look, there might be just the thing you are looking for pinned there.  I'll never make or do all I have collected, but I do love to have lots of options and ideas to choose from.  

.

I've also got a whole list of simple, herbal gifts to make.  I will share a few of those with you very soon.

What is your favorite gift to make and give at Christmas?

Share Joy

Consider sharing a little Joy today ...

World Vision Gift Catalog is filled with simple ways to bring great joy to children in need.

Consider adding a few rabbits,chickens, or a even a donkey to your shopping list today?

Simple Herbal Gifts

Dream pillows are simple gifts I make for Christmas gifting.  I use Dream Herbs  Pillow Mix from Mountain Rose Herbs but you could easily mix up your own blend using your favorite relaxing herbs such as lavender, rose petals, hops, chamomile, mugwort, and a few drops of rose or lavender essential oil.
I tuck the dream herbs mix into drawstring muslin bags or sew up simple pillow shapes that can be slipped into a pillowcase.    
Add a tag wishing your loved one Sweet Dreams and you have a simple gift that will be a sweet reminder of you each time they put their head on the pillow.

Herb infused oils also make excellent gifts.  Sweet Almond or Olive oil infused with calendula, lavender, or other herbs of your choice can be placed in decorative bottles and given as body/massage oils.   A few drops of a coordinating essential oil added to the oil will give you a sweet smelling perfume oil to share.

Bath salts can be as simple to mix up as adding essential oils to sea salt, though you can get creative and mix in other ingredients like epsom salts, baking soda, even a small amount of liquid soap to make foaming bath salts.  Peppermint oil makes a nice Christmas scent, or how about frankincense and myrrh, or my personal favorite lavender and rose geranium?   Put the salts in a pretty container, label, and add a pretty shell or vintage spoon to scoop out the salts and you have a great gift for someone special.

These 3 simple herbal gifts can be customized with different herbs and essential oils to please most anyone on your gift-giving list.

And don't forget herb plants or seeds for the herb lover on your list!  These are almost always at the top of my own wish list.


Next week I'll share some tasty herbal treats for gifting.

What is your favorite simple herbal gift to give or receive?

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season,

Catherine

Peace Be Unto You

Wishing you PEACE this Christmas season ...

 

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

The Work of Christmas

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.  
Howard Thurman

Crafting Christmas

Just a few days left until Christmas- has the countdown started at your house?  It started weeks ago for the littlest Loves in our family- only 27 days 'til Christmas, then 18, then 10 ... now just 8.  The excitement is building, the craft supplies are flying, and the finished, wrapped gifts are appearing under the tree.

This year I am making gifts for friends and family- simple things like:
(Friends and family please skip the rest of this post or risk ruining your surprise!)

Spicy Orange Potpourri- a last minute inspiration thanks to the bulk spice area of The Natural Grocer and a great sale on Sweet Orange essential oil! 
It's a pretty mixture of:
cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices and chopped orange peel, bay leaves, juniper berries, hawthorn berries, cloves, ginger, allspice berries, rosemary, star anise, orris root powder, and sweet orange essential oil.  Sorry I don't have an exact recipe, I just opened up bags and bottles and added and stirred until it looked and smelled lovely.
I mixed it up in Grandmother Love's crockery bean pot where it will meld and mingle all that spicy goodness together until I tuck it into little muslin sachets and hang them on the tree for gifting on Christmas eve.

Next on the Christmas Crafts list is Apple Cider Syrup. 

I have several other things on the list.  I'll share more of those next week.

My Christmas board at Pinterest has lots of pretty things to make if you are looking for some crafty Christmas ideas. 

What are you creating this Christmas? 

Simple Holidays

It is time for holiday crafting and baking at our house. 
I've marked lots and lots of goodies at Pinterest that I'd like to make.  Obviously, time and energy won't allow for all these, but I hope to create a few of them this year, if not there's always next Christmas!  I am determined to keep it simple this year.

Here is a link to  my favorite simple Christmas cookie recipe:
Simple Christmas Cookies (Scotch Shortbread)

Also on the To Bake list are:

Ginger Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Fudge Crinkles

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?  (I'm always looking for new recipes for the Recipe Pile!)

And now ... back to Pinterest to add more goodies to my Christmas board! 

Blessings,
Catherine :)

Advent- Join the Conspiracy

[AC] Promo 2011 - International Justice Mission from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

Yes.  :) 

Christmas Blessings

May your heart and be filled with the gifts of
Hope, Peace, Joy & Love
this Christmas!

Things may be rather quiet here at LOVE Living Simply for a bit.  We're in a flurry of baking and finishing up a few homemade gifts this week. After Christmas I'll be taking a little end of the year inventory- just some quiet time spent with the Lord and my journal, noting where I've been and where the Lord is leading me over the coming days ... as one year ends and another begins.  The new year here always starts with a party- a birthday party for my oldest daughter, who "officially" becomes a teen this January 1 (I think prayers are in order for mama) ! 

I want to thank those of you who have blessed me by your kind thoughts and words here, I appreciate you and have learned much and been so very blessed by my bloggy friends! 

I have a few things in mind for this blog in the coming days ... but more about that later, I have 200+ cookies to bake and have determined not to be finishing up my last homemade gifts at midnight on Christmas eve this year! 

The LORD bless you, and keep you;



The LORD make His face shine on you,


And be gracious to you;


The LORD lift up His countenance on you,


And give you peace.


Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.





Catherine

Simple Christmas Cookies

I'll be baking lots of cookies over the next 3 days, 20 dozen or so to take to the local shelter for our annual Christmas Eve Cookies & Coffee, and then more for friends and family ... not to mention the ones that will get devoured by my eager baker's helpers! 

The following recipe is so simple, it is always on my cookie list.  It also is fun to dress up for the holidays with a bit of melted chocolate, dried fruit or nuts. 

SCOTCH SHORTBREAD


1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar


Preheat oven to 300. Mix ingredients with pastry blender until crumbly. Work with hands until it makes a large lump. Press flat into a 9x9 pan, about 1/2" thick. Prick with a fork thoroughly. Bake for 50-60 minutes until set and very pale gold. Cut while warm into 36 squares. Enjoy!
*I tweaked the original recipe just a tad by using Cane Juice Crystals and Organic Unbleached flour..

This simple recipe in my mind just begs to be dressed up a bit for Christmas! Perhaps with a drizzle of melted chocolate, or by adding some finely ground nuts and/or dried cranberries to the dough, maybe a bit of dried lavender, lemony herbs and a drizzle of lemon glaze... Yum!

Please share your favorite Christmas cookie recipe with me, I love to add new things to my recipe pile (and yes it is a pile rather than a file, though someday I hope to remedy that)!

A photo from last year's Christmas cookie marathon ... and no, I don't put Tabasco sauce in cookies, I have no idea why that is there, other than the fact that it seems to always be present on the dining table! 

Keepsakes

It comes every year and will go on forever.
And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs.
Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart. ~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer.

Earlier this week someone asked me about Christmas heirlooms or keepsakes.  What are those things that we keep  and treasure as reminders of Christmas past? 
 
Since we really do attempt to live simply (we've not arrived yet by any means, but are striving toward our goals step by step), and I am one who does not enjoy lots of  "stuff that gathers dus" about, our keepsakes are few but treasured. 
 
As far as Christmas keepsakes go, there are two that immediately come to mind-
 
The first is a small nativity set that a dear friend and co-worker created for me years ago.  All white, lovely in its simplicity, it is my favorite.  No matter that one of the wise men has a chip in his head or that one of the donkeys is missing a bit of ear ... these small imperfections attest to its being packed and unpacked both at Christmas and in and out of moving boxes many times over the past 20 years, as well as its being endlessly rearranged lovingly by little hands these last 12 Christmases.  It also reminds me that Love, not perfection, is the true mark to strive for at Christmas.
 



The second is also a nativity, though we have only had it a few years ... maybe 5.  It is a very simple nativity; just Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus which has the appearance of a wood carving (though it is in fact really an inexpensive resin piece).  Joseph "lost his head" the first year this keepsake came to live with us.  And though Super Glue does have its merits, helping Joseph from losing his head again year after year, doesn't seem to be one of them.  This season Joseph is fairly safe, tucked into a high window in our living room, so unless he gets dropped coming down from his lofty heights surely he'll stay in one piece this year. 


 
I think I love this one because it is a great visual reminder for me to be careful not to lose my head and my focus on Christ during the busyness of the Christmas season! 
 
This year we attached another memory to poor Joseph's head.  We had a young man from church with us the day we got our Christmas tree and unpacked the Christmas decorations ... When my oldest pulled the nativity out she said, "Well, hopefully Joseph won't lose his head this year."  And we laughed, and then quickly had to explain to our guest, also called Joseph, that we weren't referring to his head!  I'm not sure what he thought  ... but since he was brave enough to come back to our home another time and even help in the community garden (and who doesn't love a garden helper?), I guess we didn't scare him too badly. 
 
There are other keepsakes ... first Christmas ornaments for 3 sweet girlies, family heirloom ornaments from Great Grandma (old and just a bit funky but still wonderful reminders of a dear, sweet lady), and the box of child-created lovelies that grows by leaps and bounds each Christmas season. 
 
What are your favorite Christmas keepsakes? 
 
 
More on our customs and ways of keeping Christmas later ...
 
Christmas Blessings to you and yours!
 
Please visit Jenny Matlock for more Alphabe-Thursday Letter K posts!

Christmas is...

What is Christmas?
It is tenderness for the past,
courage for the present,
hope for the future.
It is a fervent wish that every cup
may overflow with blessings rich and eternal,
and that every path may lead to peace.


~ Agnes M. Pahro

yes.  i like this. :)
 

Counting and Waiting

It is that time of year ... a time of waiting and counting down the days. 

"How long until Christmas?", is usually one of the first sounds heard in my home during the weeks before His birthday.     

And so we mark the weeks with our Advent wreath (One from another year pictured below, this year's photo coming soon.). 

And we count the days with an Advent calendar.  Little bags filled with a treat for each day (last year's calender photo below.) ...

And we prepare our hearts for His coming as we count and wait with what has become my personal favorite (though candy is certainly a tasty way to number the days)- the Jesse Tree .  Ann Voskamp, has made her Jesse Tree Devotional book available for Free, beautiful, generous soul that she is.  Visit Holy Experience to download this wonderful Advent book for your family. 

We read each day's devotion and then hang the ornament on the tree.  Last year my children requested we hang the ornaments along the Advent calendar line so they could watch the story unfold (a great idea if I do say so myself).  We had  had several opportunities to share His Story with our guests during the Christmas season when they asked about our "Story line" ... an unexpected blessing for us all!  

How do you count the days until Christmas? 

These are a few of my family's Christmas Practices, more coming next week. 
To join in the conversation or read other thoughts on The Practice of Christmas, visit Holy Experience today.

A Living Sign

For you, who encourage, challenge, and bless me with the stories of your radical giving, your Christmas Change...




A Living Sign

I know not always how God comes,
but that God comes- this I know.
in an obscure stable,
in splashing waters,
in the breaking of bread
and often, my friend,
incarnate in you,
for God, I believe, still comes in the flesh, in
people.

Now and always
may the Christ in you
keep you
a sign of living love
and love living among us.
-Bonnie B. Belasic


And now, I must get into the kitchen and begin the baking marathon. We've promised our friends at the shelter cookies and hot chocolate tomorrow, and I really don't want to show up with 400 Buckeyes, so I must get to it.

Blessed Christmas to you and yours!

What Does Jesus Want for Christmas?

Have you ever asked that question? To yourself ... or to Jesus himself?

That is exactly what I am doing this season ... focusing on what Jesus wants for His birthday, instead of what I want or what my family and friends want.

Oh, yes, there will be some gifts for others as well. We have the Giving Tree for guests to choose a little something from, and I am attempting to create some small but special things for my girls (that's an interesting adventure in itself), and we will be baking some goodies to share with friends and family.

But, the focus is on giving to Jesus, since it is His birthday, after all.

I'm still in the planning stages here, and I've got plenty of time because it is only the 14th of December ... but, here are a couple of "gifts for God" that are on our list:

Blankets for those who attend church in the park - so they can focus on hearing the Good News rather than getting warm (a need mentioned by the pastor who meets his friends there each Sunday to worship, whether the weather be hot & sunny or cold & rainy)

Cookies & Cocoa - our family plans to share a few cookies and a cup of cocoa with our friends at the homeless shelter on either Christmas eve or Christmas day ... still have a few details to work out and a lot of cookies to bake, but that's the plan

A few small gifts to be given to whomever Jesus prompts us to share them with- little gift bags containing a bit of candy, a few dollars, and some really Good News

We will also be purchasing a gift or two from one of these catalogs:

Gospel for Asia

World Vision

Compassion

And ... well, I'll let you know what else Jesus asks for!

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40



If you would like to see how others are celebrating Jesus' birthday in a whole new way this year, visit Christmas Change today.

Garden and Christmas Ramblings

I loved this article on the benefits of small space gardening: Grow $700 of Food in 100 Square Feet .
The author's website has much to offer as well- gorgeous photos, articles, recipes, and more: Rosalind Creasy .
I'm ready to spend an afternoon curled up with a cup of tea, a few seed catalogs, and my Garden Wish List! I'm also thinking about starting seeds indoors ... very, very soon.

And now back to my simple Christmas plans ... I think we'll bake sugar cookies today, since it is f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g outside, and I'll certainly not be going anywhere until the thermometer rises another 25 degrees or so. Perhaps we will roll the dough, cut out shapes and decorate them with icing and/or sprinkles; or maybe we'll just make balls of dough, roll them in sugar and smash them down with a glass (or our fingers). They'll taste delicious and be eaten with joy, no matter what they look like!

My motto this season is one I try to live by throughout the year: Simplify, Simplify!

Christmas sometimes doesn't feel so simple to me (I hate the crowds, shopping malls, and all of the hype that comes with the season these days). I've determined not to let it become a burden this year; but rather keep it the joy-filled time to remember the birth of the Joy Giver that it should be.

I'll be attempting to spread a bit of joy myself, but in simple ways that don't stress me or our family budget!

Cookies - simple or fancy, tasty just the same and when made with love ... a blessing!
Cards - simple child (and mommy) crafted ones made with great love ... and lots of glitter(!)
Caring- simply taking time to listen, really listen, to those lonely souls who just need a listening ear, and perhaps a silent prayer. (If you pay attention, you will find them most everywhere. Amazing what joy this brings, to the listener as well as the speaker, and I know you'll learn some very interesting things, as well. Try this with a child ... oh the things they think!)

May your hearts and homes be filled with Hope, Peace, Joy and Love this season!

Thought for the Day...

Christmas 2007- lighting the Advent candles.....my how they've grown!






Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself...
~Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976

Quick Christmas Cookies

This "recipe" is for those days when you simply must have cookies, and in a hurry! We made some yesterday. The girls were begging to make cookies, and I was too busy to get the real Christmas Sugar Cookie dough made and pre-chilled. They had fun, and they are pretty tasty, too.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 cake mix (your choice of flavor)
2 eggs
2/3 cup cooking oil
Mix, roll into 1/2 inch balls and bake at 400 degrees until just beginning to brown (8-10 minutes).

We used a butter cake mix and flattened the little balls a bit and added colored sugar, sprinkles, dried cherries, walnuts, etc.

Christmas cookies in less than an hour!