The Hardest Working Elf in Texas

There is one in every family.

The Keeper of the Traditions.

My second son, Kyle, is just that person.

He always makes sure that the same foods 

and treats are made each year.

He makes sure the trees and decorations are just right.

And he always makes sure that faith and family are the main focus of the season!

He's not one to delegate all these things to me, he tends to take things into his own hands this time of year!

Every year, since the time he could climb up on the roof, Kyle takes on the house lighting for Christmas.  He chooses a day, usually right before Thanksgiving, and always a day that I work.  

He single handedly strings all the lights for the house 

(even though he has four brothers to help!) so that when I come home that evening, I drive up to our modest little country home glowing for the holidays!

It NEVER fails to warm my heart and makes me smile 

from ear to ear.

Back in his teenage days, he decided to make 

a wooden nativity scene for the yard.

He spent an entire day sawing, sanding, and painting.

It lasted many, many Christmases in our yard until this year when he just decided one day to make a new one!

Y'all didn't know that there was a black Lab 

at the first Christmas, did 'ya?

#photobomb!

 And because this young man truly knows, 

The Reason for the Season, one year he made our family it's own hand made nativity. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Each board was lovingly cut, sanded, stained and placed just so.

Underneath the moss on the roof, 

are dozens of slats glued perfectly.

He even foraged sticks from our yard for "logs", 

and searched for the perfect scale statuary for the manger.

It's so dear to me and so beautiful 

that it stays displayed all year long!

It's so easy for me to get caught up with all the "to-do's" of the Christmas season, that's why I'm so thankful for a son like Kyle!  He keeps me focused on the real meaning of why we celebrate, if not by his words, by the beautiful signs of love he has scattered throughout our home this time of year.

An ornament Kyle made as a little boy.

Keeper of the traditions.
Keeper of the Faith
Hardest working Elf in Texas.

I sure do love that boy!

Random Acts of Kindness

GOD BLESS AMAZON PRIME!

Seriously, y'all!

It's a week before Christmas, and I am refusing to put on a bra and change out of my sweat pants to go out shopping.  

But just 15 minutes on my phone,

 and I have gifts for the whole family!

My back hurts just looking at this delivery!

It's a Christmas miracle!

So as a small act of kindness to the delivery men and women 

who literally bring Christmas to my door, 

I thought I'd set out a "thank you" basket of snacks and drinks.

Delivery drivers must have a love/hate relationship with the holidays.  I mean they've got to love that people are so excited to see them but must hate the sheer volume of packages this time of year.  Besides, have you ever tried to find house numbers in the dark....when it's raining or snowing?

So THANK YOU to all the hard working delivery drivers!

And if you're lucky enough, you might get a kiss or a shake from one of these royals:

Or they just might beg you for a snack, too!

ADVENT

4,3,2,1 Count the weeks until Jesus comes.

Each week we add another light,

Our hope for Jesus growing bright.

We pray, we share, we do our part, 

To welcome Jesus into our heart! 

As we wait in joyful hope,

wishing you a Blessed Advent!

Just One Dollah Makes Me Hollah!

If you're not going to the Dollar Tree for your holiday decorating, then what are you actually doing with your life?  

This store has really stepped up their game in the decor department!

 By now, every Dollar Tree on the planet is stocked full with Christmas decor for you guessed it....a BUCK!

Last year, I made the cutest (and cheapest!) Pottery Barn knock off tablescape village using these miniature houses and ornaments, I combined them with garland and lights that we already had and it only cost me around forty dollars.  

See how I put it together HERE:  https://creamerchronicles.blogspot.com/2018/11/holiday-decor-on-cheap.html

Get all your wrapping paper, gift bags, tags, and bows here too!

Why spend tons of money when they are just going to be ripped into by excited children and later trashed?

You'd pay upwards of 4-5 dollars a bag elsewhere, and these bags are nice and thick with adorable prints.

I purchased several of these pics, some burlap bows, and every single ornament they had that contained a pinecone or pine greenery to create my kitchen tree.

The whole thing was less than fifty bucks...TREE INCLUDED!

(Tree not purchased at Dollar Tree, got it from Walmart for $25) and it makes a cute addition to our Farmhouse kitchen.

And yes, I've turned into one of THOSE PEOPLE.

You know the ones...they decorate for Christmas the day after Halloween.  I just can't help myself, I love this time of year!

So just play along, and run yourself down to the Dollar Tree, too!

Making Halloween Great Again!

We just love this time of year!

Especially with the cold front that recently blew through, it finally feels like fall.  So bring on the hot cocoa, scary movies, and buckets of candy...the Creamer family is making Halloween great again!

It's gonna be HUUUGE!

26 Years and Counting

I love the beach!

Like, REALLY love the beach!

But I haven't touched my toes to the sand in about three years because of my bum foot and subsequent surgery.

This year, Doug took me to a beautiful resort in Galveston that was right on the beach for our 26th year anniversary.

That ice cold water on my feet and sand between my toes never felt so good!

There's a saying that goes,

The cure for anything is SALT WATER ~

tears, sweat, or the sea.

And I believe this with all my heart...

and a little fried coconut shrimp and gumbo doesn't hurt either!

We ate seafood for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We watched the sunrise over the Gulf, 

sipped coffee on the balcony, 

and took in the sunshine and salt air.

It was the cure all I needed.

I think I'll keep this guy around another 26 years!

The Chaffle

This stuff is LIFE changing!

I have found that the keto diet has been the only way I can loose weight.  It just works for my metabolism.  

But gosh, I sure do love bread!

There are a ton of low carb "bread" recipes out there, but let's face it, it's a poor substitute for the real thing.  

So let me introduce you to the 

CHAFFLE.

It's simply one egg, 1/2 cup of cheese, 

and one tablespoon of almond flour.

Add any ingredients you like to this basic recipe...and I REALLY like pepperoni and jalapeno!

Cook it for five minutes in a waffle maker, and voila!

A scrumptious, low carb, bread-like slice of heaven!

Use them as buns for hamburgers, sandwiches, 

or just eat them plain.

They are super filling, super delicious, and about one carb per chaffle.  I may never go back to regular buns or sandwich bread ever again!

YOU'RE WELCOME!

October in the Garden

 It's the beginning of Fall, 

but someone forgot to inform Mother Nature!

We are still having days with heat indexes into the 100's.  

That kind of weather is great for the garden...

not so much for all the pumpkin spice things.

My little garden is still going pretty strong.

I've started seedlings for cool weather crops and I hope to get them in the ground in the next three weeks.  They've all developed a strong case of "legginess" but I think a thinning and re-potting will take care of that.  Until then, We are still enjoying peppers, chard greens, okra, and a few little cherry tomatoes.  I also let one of my flower beds go to the weeds and I found the most delightful volunteer goldenrod plant growing!  The bees are loving it right now, but I did harvest some for myself to use in tea and soaps!

Our peppers always grow well into the end of October, but the above pictured pepper is absolutely the slowest growing pepper I've ever seen!  I sowed these Carolina Reaper pepper seeds back in February and just now in October I am seeing my first pepper.  There are dozens of flowers on the plant that will eventually turn into peppers, but I'm not sure if they will have time to mature by the time cooler weather arrives. 

Who knows? 

 Maybe we'll be eating that super hot "Suicide Salsa" 

with our Christmas tamales!

Back to the Boot!

Meet my new work partner!

Yep, I'm back in a boot!

And not the cute pointed toe, leather kind.

I'm back in an orthopedic fracture boot ever since I've been back to work.  My surgery from February was botched and will have to be re-done at the beginning of next year.  

Good news is that I've found the most wonderful surgeon to do the revision.  He's given me the task of getting as healthy as I can before going under the knife a second time.  There is also quite a bit of testing to be done.  

Bad news is that I'm still in pain every day, even with the boot, and I have three more months of it.  But at least there's hope of fixing this hot mess!

My plan is to work as much as I can to create a nice nest egg for my time off, and to try to make the holidays this year really special for my family.  I feel like I "owe" them for taking care of me with my first surgery...and then having to do it all again next year.  Maybe if I throw myself into work and family, there won't be any time for the anxiety of having to deal with surgery AGAIN....

maybe.

From Garden to Kitchen ~ Cowboy Candy

Any home gardener in Texas, at this time of year, 

usually only has one thing growing in the garden 

(and has it growing out of their ears!) 

and that is PEPPERS.

So what do you do with all those peppers?  

You make Cowboy Candy!

If you're familiar with pickling and preserving foods, 

then this is an easy and delicious recipe for your excessive pepper harvest.  And if you've never pickled a pepper in your life, trust me, you can do THIS!

COWBOY CANDY

2 cups of sugar

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp celery seed

1 lb jalapenos sliced into rings (about 4-5 cups)

This is a small batch recipe and can be adjusted for the amount of peppers you have.  This recipe makes four half pint jars.

To a heavy pot, add all the ingredients except the peppers.  Bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sliced jalapenos, stirring well to coat the peppers.  Bring mixture to a boil again and then reduce heat.  Let peppers cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Have your clean jars ready and using a slotted spoon, fill jars with the peppers making sure to shake off any excess juice into the pot.  Once all the peppers are removed, turn up the heart and allow remaining sauce to hard boil for five additional minutes. Pour syrup evenly over your jars to fill to 1/4 inch from the top.

Wipe down rims of jars with a damp cloth and place lids and rings onto the jars.  Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

You'll need to wait two weeks to enjoy these.  It takes that long for the peppers to absorb the syrup.

It's ok, it will be worth the wait!

These spicy and sweet peppers are perfect on burgers, sandwiches, salads, or pizza. Our favorite way to enjoy them is to pour a jar of peppers over a block of cream cheese and eat with a variety of crackers.

One bite and you'll be hooked!

They should have called them Cowboy Crack instead of Candy.

Saving Seeds and Sowing Seeds

The summer garden is done, with the exceptions of peppers, and it's time to start thinking about fall and winter gardening.  That's kinda hard to do with the temperatures still in the 90's!

As the old beds get cleared out, it is prime time to save seeds.

I intentionally leave some of the vegetables growing during summer to harvest as seeds later.  It's so simple to do, just ignore them!  Mother Nature allows the vegetables and fruits to ripen, mature the seeds stored inside, then dry up or decompose.  You gather as many seeds as you like!  Above are my beloved Emerald Okra.  With just TWO PODS, I got more seeds than a whole pack from the store and they were FREE!

My most beautiful zinnas for seed.

I read an article once that said if you can repeatedly save seed from your plants and sow them for three years, you'll be virtually pest and disease free.  Plants have the capability to learn.  They can fight predators and some diseases, and by sowing seeds year after year,  you can continue to breed those good traits for your area.  I'm currently seeing if that theory is true by saving as much seed as possible for future gardens.

And what I can't save, I buy!

I get absolutely giddy flipping through seed catalogs and planning for future gardens.  These are just some of the fantastic seeds from Baker Creek seed company that will be in our fall/winter gardens.

There is just something about September!
A new school year, changing colors, falling leaves, a crispness in the air, and the anticipation of the holidays.
I'm ready to settle down and NEST.
But first, I'm saving and storing away what's left of summer.