In His Steps

So, Spousal Unit and I had been using his old black bar dining table and chairs, and they had begun to fall apart. They were wobbly and there were only four chairs and with the amount of hosting we do, we had long outgrown it. So, we decided it was time to replace it as a Christmas gift to our home. Here's our new set! It just arrived and I am so pleased with the beautiful wood and six chairs. Now I can properly host as well as comfortably eat at a table, since the bar height of the old set made it less than comfortable for short little me. The same day the dining set arrived, I decided to do some Christmas baking with the excess of apples I have for some reason. Well... as you can see above, it didn't work out. It's funny, but they feel in pretty hard, so I'm going to stick with my Christmas banana bread loaves and fudge instead. They still taste good, but I'm not giving these out to the neighbors.

Tara wanted to hang out with me and try a new recipe that might be a bit healthier and also a new flavor profile, so here is our attempt at Green Apple Brownies ! The recipe uses a processor and we were really surprised at how green the mixture was. To be fair, we did use green apples, not red ones. We thought the tartness would mix better. This is before we baked and it is a really green brown color. The batter tastes good, so we were hoping the final product would be good. Honestly, it was just fun baking with Tara and hanging out with her. After it baked, we cut out a piece and shared it to check before I took the shot. I have to say, the tart with the chocolate is really interesting and yummy! I especially liked how fudge the whole thing came out, since I love fudge brownies.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year, so we got up and got ready for church first thing. It was nice to be all pretty but it was still way too early to be up on Christmas Day, heh. Lookin' sharp! Couple shot! It snowed the day before, so we had a beautiful white Christmas. After pictures, we all promptly got back into pajamas because duh and started opening our stockings and presents! El joined us this year. My sister's stocking--she had to work so she got this later. I did some baking, eheh... banana bread! Rocky road fudge! And my basic quick fudge that Douglas can't seem to get enough of. Lunch was our usual crackers, summer sausage, and special cheeses like we do every year. I love it. It makes the day so calm and soothing. We all passed out and took naps after this.

I made a lot of yummy goodies this past Christmas, so enjoy the photos of fudge and banana bread. There was an awful lot of it all. I added silver sprinkles to this one. Rocky road fudge. And the many loaves of banana bread.

My friends and I went to a gaming store (big shocker there!) and one of the employees (or possibly the owner) had a treat there. Enjoy... the Gingerbread ARMY!!! The whole army is on a baking sheet, BWAHAHAHAHAHA! This sorcerer created the army, so he was modified for a chef's hat and bread paddle for a staff. Just so funny. Infantry! Ogres! Cavalry. Munitions cart. More ogres and a giant troll in the background. Another cart. Marshmallow monster cannon!!!!

I did something crazy today. I blame one of my favorite webcomics for it, actually, specifically, this page of it: The webcomic is Manly Guys Doing Manly Things and is one of the funniest comics I've ever read. It spoofs the most masculine characters in video/computer games and popular culture and is very cleverly written/drawn. And I admit, I adore buff guys. It's all Rosslyn's fault for introducing me to it, but I don't mind. Rosslyn read this page over my shoulder Monday evening and echoed the little girl, saying, "Why not?" In doing so she and the Commander's daughter unwittingly named the project: Manly Muffin Why-nots. Disclaimer: Please forgive the following photos; they were taken in a dimly lit kitchen at night with an uncooperative camera. Also, please forgive the excessive recipe cheats. I am a poor college student on a very limited budget. Now, I got a small pack of frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries (blueberries weren...