The Chef Approves!

Today we start the final decorating of trees in the kitchen!  We are so excited to get started.  The first to go up will be the Coca Cola tree.  My father collected memorabilia so this tree is a tribute to him.  Daddy, I hope you love your tree this year.  All of your great grandchildren miss you and are helping to make this our best Coca Cola tree yet!

Is there anyone who has not started to decorate yet?  We are so behind compared to the last 12 years.  We have been doing a lot of renovations in our house.  The warm weather meant we closed the pool late and scrubbed our furniture in anticipation of securing it for winter snows twice.  The furniture was ready to put away and then the hot weather returned from October 1st through the 3rd.  Being a southern girl who loves summer most of all, we simply continued to have more barbeques and swim parties!  Autumn shmautumn...it was 90 degrees outside in Pennsylvania!  That, my friends, is a miracle!  We enjoyed every minute of that beautiful weather!

So today we will show you some of the decor around the kitchen.  The trees can not go up today because...our senior kitty, Buster, decided to start eating strange things.  Like the fake snow on the two trees in the kitchen.  I am frantically looking for two new trees that will fit in the spaces beside the candy bar.  It is not an easy task and we need them very soon for photography purposes.  Here are the cocoa bar photos...

We always have hot cocoa every fall and winter.  Over the years we have tried many different brands of the chocolatey drink.  Some of our all time favorites are Hershey's hot cocoa, Hershey's York hot cocoa, and Williams Sonoma Hot Chocolate!  Our bar is stocked with Hershey's Hot Cocoa Kisses, marshmallows and of course Spangler Candy Canes!

Hot cocoa bar for those cold days and nights!

Our Hallmark mugs are ready to be filled with cocoa and marshmallows!  You could offer a hot cocoa bar in any corner of your kitchen too.  Grab your favorite hot chocolate mix or if you have a family recipe whip that up and get ready for these brisk, chilly winter days and nights!  I just love these small sweater mugs, dont you?  They say Comfy Cozy inside!

Mugs and sweater bowls and canisters are all from Hallmark!

I fill this little cottage teapot with boiling water so its easy for us to make our mugs of Hershey's hot cocoa.  And you can get a good glimpse of the Martha Stewart gingerbread houses that adorn the buffet in the kitchen!  These ceramic ornaments came from Macy's years back.  These ornaments have been the hit of all our gatherings!  They are secured with the garland and wire underneath the cabinets.  I found the copper cookie cutter lights at WalMart and they go perfectly with the gingerbread town!

Mary Englebreit teapot

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Today marks the first snow of the wintery season here in Pennsylvania.  My family has mixed reviews on this sparkly white stuff that fell all day blanketing the ground in fluffy snow.  Our pumpkin looks chilly with its snow cap!  Inside we were preparing the kitchen for the upcoming Christmas and holiday season. 

The frost is on the pumpkin!

I'll be back soon to share more of the kitchen decor and trees!  Until then keep warm in this cold fall weather!  I'm wrapped up in my blanket watching Hallmark!

The Chef Is In The House.

The Chef is in the house!  

And she is noticing all the changes for the Christmas Holiday!  Our chef is Isabella and she is most talented for a chef of age 13.  But like most chefs, she does not like her kitchen messed with!  Of course I wait until I have the rest of the kitchen decorated before I attempt to get her permission to put a little Christmas in her baking area...which you can see here...

This is Isabella's baking area with her two Kitchenaid mixers with new glass bowls.  She bought them from Macy's.  She gets her basics out so it is ready when she gets home from school.  Her new kitchen towel is from Primitives By Kathy, the spatulas are from The Old Mill store in Tennessee and her pan is Rae Dunn from Marshall's.

The cookbook is her own recipes with some passed down from her Mama, Nana, Auntie and Gram.  It is an album from Michaels Craft Store with the recipes slid into plastic protectors.  Nana made it for her birthday this year.  

These are treats for her after school today.  She collects spatulas with cute designs on them.  I found the Spangler candy canes that are a favorite as they were made by my mother's family, the Spanglers.  We bought them today at Aldi's-where we also bought the cutest Advent Calendars!  Love that store!  Notice that she is prepared to bake her favorite brownies, Isabella's S'More Brownies.  The chocolate jar in the back is filled with her Hershey's cocoa.  Everything she cooks is nut free as she is allergic to all nuts.  That is the reason she started baking and cooking.  She knows her ingredients and the dishes she makes are totally safe for her to eat.  

More decorations in the kitchen after the Chef is in the house again!

Sugar Hill Christmas Trees in 2018

Sugar Hill Christmas Trees in 2018

Starting our tour today in the Tennessee room are three trees flanking the window that overlooks the swimming pool in summer.  On the left is Smoky Mountain Christmas full of red and black ornaments and ribbons, in the middle is the Martha Stewart tree full of handmade ornaments through the years from family and friends.  On the right is the Farmhouse Christmas tree.  It is black and white.

Tennessee Room Trees

Handmade Tree

Smoky Mountain Christmas tree

Farmhouse Christmas tree

Annalee Santa and his Christmas Moose

Sleigh Bells Ring

I love this sign I purchased at Tis the Season store in 
Berlin, Ohio for the Sleigh Bells Ring tree.

Baby It's Cold Outside...so let it snow!



We love this Advent pillow in Tennessee room from TJMaxx.


Red Kugels from Marshalls and TJMaxx.

Close up of the Taste The Feeling tree.  This is full of Coca Cola decorations that were collected by my daddy, William Smith, and daughter Lauren Ruffing.

The Coke polar bears are so cute!  They really make this snowy 
tree an over the top design!

Coca-Cola Santa just finished his rounds and is ready for a Coke and a nap!

This tree is full of unique Coca-Cola ornaments collected over many years.

Candy bar...watch out for elves sneaking some treats!

They can get into so much mischief!  Five elves visit us from 

the North Pole every year!

Gingerbread tree-Karina's favorite! 
She decorates this one every year!

Elf Mischief tree

Cute and ornery elves are tucked all over this tree.

Elf Mischief tree topped off with elf hat and elf legs.

Christmas in Vermont tree

A snow flocked tree with sparkling snow ornaments and mint green ornaments

What Will You Keepsake this Year? Our Hallmark tree!

Yes that is a Cinnamon Bear ornament from the 1980's!  
I have the whole series!

That wraps up our 2018 Christmas home tour.  I loved sharing our decorations and trees with you.  Thank you for stopping by and come back soon for more great ideas and decorations in 2019.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Candy Cane Cookies are a family tradition!

Famous Peppermint Candy Cane cookies!

We make this one every year.  How about y'all?  These are refreshing treats after a yummy Christmas Dinner.  Kids love to help roll out the long pieces of dough too.

We use an easy way to break the candy canes up...put them in a ziploc baggie and grab your rolling pin and crush those canes.






http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/candy-cane-cookies/93832e29-3b4f-4977-ae5a-9820053b254c

Here is Betty's recipe link.  Hers is by far the most tasty we've tried over the years.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to y'all!