Creating Memories

Our Son and DIL always purchase a real

Christmas tree on Black Friday.

This year we were able to create special memories.

The timing couldn't have worked out

any better. Not only do we have a new grandson,

but Great Grandpa, from Pennsylvania was with us also.

So off to the Christmas Tree Farm we went to pick out a tree.

You won't see any pictures of me though,

I was the one behind the camera lens

capturing the special moments.

Isn't this the most darling picture you have ever seen!

Here he is all tucked in ready for his first big adventure.
Although he slept through it,
he will have these photos to look back on.

We're off to look for the perfect tree.

There are so many trees to choose from we lost track of Sonny!

We finally found Sonny standing next
to the perfect tree he found, an 11 foot beauty.

Yes, our Son wears shorts year round.

Grandpa gave it a thumbs up!

Time to cut this baby down.

Still cutting.

Great Grandpa helped trim up the bottom.

Time to get this bad boy out of here.

Almost there.

Next it was time to shake off all the loose pine needles.

After a good shaking it was time to go into the netter.

Don't forget before you leave, you MUST get your

photo taken with the reindeer!
Lucky for us these reindeer arrived just 2 days ago.
Mamas and sons.

And to end the day,
a special photo to treasure.

Four generations together!

I know I mentioned last week that I would post
our Christmas tree and a project but I just
couldn't wait to show our grandson's first big adventure.
Next week I will post our Christmas trees

 and a couple of Christmas projects, I pinky swear!

I'm off to finish Decking the Halls.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Company's Coming

We have company coming from

out of state. My FIL is coming to see his

first great grand baby. We are so fortunate to

have 4 generations come together. There will

definitely be lots of pictures taken.

  I have been a little busy preparing the Guest Bedroom.

I knew that I wanted to paint this night stand and

dresser at some point in time. This is a set that we have

had for 20+ years. It was time for a change.

 I guess now was as good a time as any. 

Nothing like guest arriving to get you motivated!

I painted them white and swapped out the hardware.

Here is the dresser all dressed up.

Here is the guest bedroom ready to welcome quests.

By painting these white it has really brighten up this room.

Here is a closer look at the dresser.

Do you like my mirror I made to coordinate with

the rest of the room?

It's amazing how a little paint can completely transform something.

Here is a close up of the new hardware.

Not only have I been busy preparing the guest bedroom,

our Christmas tree is up and decorated!

I'll show you that next week.

I made a cute something for the tree.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

That's all I have for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Soup Weather

I don't know about you, but when

the weather starts to get cooler, I

start craving soups.

To me, there is nothing better on a cold

day than having a hot bowl of hearty soup.

I will usually make a double pot of soup at one time.

We will eat one pot throughout the week, and the other pot

will go into the freezer for use during those long winter days.

This Creamy Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini Soup

is great for freezing.

I will freeze our soup into quart size freezer baggies.

After your soup has cooled, label your freezer baggies.

To easily fill the baggies with soup,

I like to use a tall drinking cup and place the baggie

inside the cup like so.

Fill the baggie 3/4 full with the soup.

Before removing the baggie, push out any air and seal the top closed.

Remove from cup and lay flat in your freezer.

So far our freezer is filled with:

Creamy Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini Soup,

Cheeseburger Soup,
Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup,
and Chili.

I'm quite sure that there will be more soups added
to this list.

Hubby loves having these soups handy.

He can pull one out of the freezer,

and in a few minutes he can have a hot,

hearty bowl of soup.

Here is the recipe for this delicious soup.

Creamy Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

3 medium carrots, diced or shredded

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves minced garlic

4 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded evenly to about 1/2 inch thickness

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter, sliced into 1 tablespoon pieces

1/3 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk

9 ounce package refrigerated Three cheese Tortellini

4 cups fresh spinach

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

finely shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and mushrooms and saute 3 minutes, then add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Add in chicken broth, chicken, oregano and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot with lid and allow to simmer 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly 1 minute. While whisking slowly pour in milk. Season with salt and pepper and bring mixture just to a light boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove cooked chicken from soup and transfer to a cutting board, let rest 15 minutes then cut into pieces. Meanwhile, add tortellini to soup in pot, cover pot with lid and allow to boil over medium heat about 7 minutes, adding in spinach during last 1 minute. Stir in chicken, white sauce and cream. Serve warm with sprinkled Parmesan cheese.

Recipe adapted from: Cooking Classy

Enjoy!

Until Next Time,

Veronica

A Little Addition

Our Grandson decided that he wanted

to arrive a week early, which we

were totally o.k. with.

Mama, Daddy & Baby

are all doing wonderful.

Our Grandson weighs in at 8 lb. 11 oz. and is 21" long.

Here is our proud Son with our very first grand baby....

And our very happy DIL.

Can you tell this Grandma is over the moon elated?

He is perfect in every way!

Our Son has perfected the swaddle!

I made a bouquet for our Son and DIL, and baby too.

As I was walking in the hospital I was stopped

by numerous women to admire the bouquet.

They said they had never seen anything

like it before and that it was very unique and beautiful.

Here is the bouquet.

I made it using newborn diapers.

I didn't just make a dozen diaper flowers, I made 80!

I filled the vase with tissue paper and little baby necessities,

and made a bow.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our new Little Addition.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Do You Spatchcock?

I have a confession to make.

I've never Spatchcocked before,

but I'm going to turn over a new leaf

this year and do the Spatchcock

this Thanksgiving.

What is The Spatchcock you ask?

Spatchcock is a cooking term which

means to split open and flatten poultry

(butterflying) for grilling or roasting.

So this year I'm doing the Spatchcock

with our Thanksgiving turkey.

I thought I would do a trial run before

Thanksgiving to see just how great this

method of cooking really is.

Oh my savory, succulent, juicy, goodness!
Hubby couldn't wait to dig into this!
Here is our Spatchcocked turkey.

I purchased a 12 pound turkey to spatchcock.
Here is our turkey spatchcocked and ready for basting.

I basted the turkey with Extra Virgin Olive Oil,
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Tuck the turkey's wing tips under so they won't burn.

This is the turkey fresh out of the oven.

How about a mouth watering close up?

Hubby kept commenting on how wonderful this
smelled cooking.  He couldn't wait to taste it.
Spatchcocked turkey is the way to go.
This turkey was the BEST we have ever had!
There's no going back to the traditional way of
cooking our Thanksgiving turkey.

It's Spatchcocking all the way, Baby!

Need I say more?

This 12 pound turkey only took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook.
That's half the time it takes to cook it the tradional way!

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica