Why is it that in the hottest days of summer I start to dream about jingle bells and frosty snowman and all that is wintry and Christmasy? If you are a knitter and crafter then I imagine your Christmas craft timer has sounded off its alarm too, so please come on in and see the absolutely adorable things I've got planned to make for the holidays. I'll divide them into three groups: the Already Made Department (as in finished in July), the Almost Finished Category (will finish this month), and those projects on my Wishful Thinking List.

I was hoping to come back today and share my Thanksgiving table, but our plans have changed for tomorrow and I'm instead going to show you my jumbled ornament table, share a fantastic recipe, give some decluttering inspiration, thoughts about careful holiday spending, and more. But first, just look at that table! I'm only putting up one tree this year and so will try to see if I can fit ALL my ornaments on my modestly sized 7' living room tree. Do you think I can do it? My husband is doubtful. I'll find out soon and be sure to let you know, but first...

A few weeks ago several bloggers that I follow made a post called "Hometown Traditions" and I found it so interesting to see how other towns and villages celebrate Christmas and the holidays. I live in Los Altos in Northern California and my hometown is brimming with traditions from tree lightings to fun runs. Want to see the traditions we enjoy?

Last night I watched the Andy Williams Christmas Special 1966 on YouTube. As a girl I would watch those shows religiously. The Andy Williams show itself my family loved, but the Christmas Special was always a highlight of the season. These days it's hard to watch many of the old variety shows; The Dean Martin Show, as much as we loved him, is next to impossible to watch now. It's terribly dated in many ways, even if the music, costumes and sets are retro and fabulous, the jokes and monologues are dreadful. Not so with Andy Williams. He employed his handsome, singing brothers to join him plus his parents, his wife (the annoying Claudine Longet, try to ignore her) and their adorable kids and the cousins. It was a pleasant, family show and is still watchable today, that is, ahem, if you are a certain age. The Osmond Brothers (before Donny and Marie) were regulars on the Andy Williams Show and I went to school with the two oldest boys, Allan and Wayne. Wayne was in a few of my classes and on Monday morning, the night after a TV show had aired, I remember he would quietly slink into class. He was tall and would bend low and keep his head down and melt into his seat, definitely not wanting his classmates to notice him. Middle schoolers are not know to be kind to someone perceived as different. He was friendly but shy and I think some girls might have made a fuss over him, I know teachers did, and that probably embarrassed him even more. They moved soon after they became famous, I think to Utah.

I made the tablecloth for my kid friendly Christmas table decades ago. It's so retro now, it makes me laugh. The choir girls were made earlier this December. They came about because I own many lace doilies made by my maternal grandmother who died before I was born. I've held on to these doilies for decades never knowing what to do with them until I got the idea that they should be dresses! Below is a quick tutorial if you also have doilies that need a purpose in life. If you do, bookmark this for next year. 

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Aren't they gorgeous? All crocheted by my grandmother!

Paint the body parts but don't glue the head on quite yet.

After painting on the faces I painted the heads with gloss paint.

Glue pipe cleaners cut in half for arms, then dot a bit of glue on the top. Find the center of the doily, put it over the glue, add more glue and put on the head.

They start to look adorable at this stage, but now you've got to poke the arms out of the lace.

I added felt capes and hats. I fiddled with a pattern but both are pretty much triangles with rounded corners cut with a pinking shear.

Over the years I've shared this recipe many times but recently realized that I hadn't actually written out a "formal" recipe. I'm here to fix that!

Every 60s hostess had a cheese toast recipe in her recipe arsenal. My mother made these regularly and I remember her using a mix of leftover cheeses, as in whatever she had on hand. I always like to have sharp cheddar, gruyere and parmesan if possible. The one pictured  above has fontina and jack in them too. My mother often added blue cheese but I find that too overpowering. The point is, just use your favorite cheeses and bits of this and that are just fine. You could elevate it by adding flaked crab, but then you must serve it with champagne, just because!

Kids LOVE these. Just warning you in advance. I'll add the recipe to my recipe blog so you can find it again easily.

Retro Cheese Toasts  

You will need 1 sliced baguette.

Start with 1 1/2 cups grated mixed favorite hard cheeses and mix in enough mayonnaise to make a spreadable mixture, I would guess about 1/3-1/2 cup but I've never measured. It's an "add and stir until you get it right" mixture.

Mix in one, two, or more of these add ons:

chopped chives

thinly sliced green onions

finely chopped pimientos

finely chopped green or black olives

drained capers

a heaping spoon of pesto or chopped chutney

chopped, drained tomatoes

1 tsp of your favorite dried herb or a tablespoon of your favorite fresh, minced herb

1-2 tsp of curry

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

2 tsp prepared mustard

1 can drained crab or 1/2-1 C flaked fresh cooked crab or tiny bay shrimp

Spread mixture on bread slices.  Sprinkle with paprika, cracked black pepper or additional herbs if desired. At this point, cheese toasts can be flash frozen on a baking sheet. After a few hours in the freezer and they are frozen solid, place in freezer bags. They will keep nicely for up to a month and are very handy for the busy hostess. To bake: line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up. Place rack on top and place toasts on top of rack. Bake frozen toasts in a hot oven, 375 F for about 8 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned in spots. Unfrozen slices take a little less time. Baking them on a rack is optional, but it crisps up the bottoms nicely. Makes about 3 dozen.

 

I thought you'd like to see the pretty table my friend set in her sunny dining room for a girlfriend Christmas lunch. For appetizers she served champagne with crab toasts and homemade puff pastry crackers topped with duxelles, and oh my, did we ever love being spoiled!  Next we were delighted with roasted tomato and red pepper soup with pesto aioli, and a beautiful platter of See's Chocolates for dessert.  No one wanted to leave. 

My little best buddy and I made gingerbread men with this Norwegian Pepperkaker recipe. I subbed molasses for the Karo syrup to give it more oomph. We rolled them thin and baked them crispy. Fabulous! We packed a car-ride supply of our little men and headed to the coast for a walk on Mavericks at Half Moon Bay then a late lunch at Sam's Chowder House. No big waves but the sky was bright blue and glorious and we were able to collect a good amount of shells and beach glass. The ride to was filled with singalongs of our favorite Christmas songs where I finally learned the correct hand movements for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. The ride home, well, two of us took a nap. Such a nice and relaxing way to spend time during the busy week leading to Christmas.