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!

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!

Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!!

We celebrated Valentine's Day today and cupid brought the love to our home!

The lovely tablescape design for this year.

The tablecloth is pink Kate Spade but the lighting is not great.

This is a more true color for the linens.

Side table decor!  Absolutely lovely!

Dining room is ready for guests.

We had a delicious salad from Olive Garden.  It's such a great salad and to make one on our own would be silly when they are the experts!  It comes with 12 bread sticks and a bottle of their famous dressing!  OK, moving on then, main entree was spaghetti with red or white sauce and meatballs.  Homemade meatballs, yes Papa's decadent meatballs, I have no idea how he makes these but wow we are thankful for those meatballs!

Dinner with our friends Mickey and Sherle

Dinner followed by desserts, desserts, desserts!

Angel food cake with fresh strawberries, gingerbread hearts, and chocolate thumbprints-a new family favorite!

The kids all had personalized gingerbread!

Fresh strawberries and the favor bags in the background.

Angel food cake...yum!

Homemade gingerbread cookies!  Notice some of them are Tennessee designs with the heart at Pigeon Forge!

Chocolate Thumbprints from the Amish Friends Cookbook

Desserts and favors!

The children having a wonderful time at their own table!

Jackson enjoyed the spaghetti and garlic breadsticks!

Beautiful Valentine Princesses!

The handsome Valentines!

We hope you had a beautiful day!!

Link up to the Tablescape Thursday with Between Naps on the Porch!