The Christmas Dining Room

Hi, Friends, 

How are you? I hope that you are well. I pray that you are experiencing peace in our weary world. 

In spite of some very difficult things going on in the lives of our family members, I'm experiencing the joy of the Lord like never before. Joy has nothing to do with our circumstances. 

He continues to teach me new things concerning steadfast faith in Him. 

The Christmas music has been playing non-stop. I'm binging on my favorite songs and I'm thinking about the appearance of our Savior after days of deep darkness. 

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice at the harvest as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9 2-7

The dining room is home to the more meaningful symbols of the season. 

Our beloved Nativity is just like the one that we had when I was growing up. 

By the time I got the set, Joseph's head had been badly glued back on. 

Then, I somehow lost Baby Jesus. I think he was wrapped in tissue and was accidentally thrown away. 

I searched eBay and won a new identical set. 

The Baby Jesus on this set has the sweetest face ever. If you love nativity sets, I recommend searching for one. The date on the bottom is 1960. Goebel has stunning nativity sets. 

Some thrifted Goebel angels stand guard over a Lenox Jesus. He was an outlet store find. We had a Lenox outlet for a while and it was amazing. I wish I'd bought more pieces. Some of the gold wasn't perfect which is why he ended up at the outlet. 

Animals from other sets keep watch. 

I keep all these in the corner cupboard i,e, "Corneilius". 

Cornelius wears a festive wreath. 

The dining room room is still getting use this Christmas season in spite of the fact that we aren't doing any entertaining. 

I'm setting the table for Bill and I with different Christmas china each night. We have several different patterns. Rather than have one large service big enough to feed my extended family, we have several small sets. For our big family gatherings, each table would be set with a different pattern. 

There are too many of us to all eat together in one room. 

Check out this post or this one.  

I love Christmas and I love china. Two of my favs together. 

I put a simple boxwood garland and a plaid cord cover on the chandelier. 

A feather look tree sits on the buffet. This was a $1.00 at one of my favorite thrift stores. 

Our littlest German ornaments hang from the branches. 

I've got to show the creepiest ornament in our collection. 

Is is  a clown? Is it Belsnickle? Is it Krampus? 

I thought he exemplified 2020 perfectly, so he is out of the box for the first time since I've had him. 

My sister saw the photo and said that now she has to sleep with the light on. 

Haha. 

That's about it. 

Blessings to you. 

Katie 

The Christmas Hutch

Do you remember the hutch we bought in August? We snagged it for less than $300.00 at our favorite antique shop out by our new weekend house. 

We are calling it Starsky The Hutch. Does that date me? I don't care. Haha. Do you name your furniture?

We started naming ours a few years ago.  Moving stuff around when we got our floors last year solidified our art and practice for furniture nomenclature. 

I love this piece and it is so much fun in our entryway.

Our foyer is two stories which is typical in 90's homes. It's a bit of wasted space, if you ask me and it makes the house harder to heat and cool.  

I've had a hard time deciding what to put here at times but

the scale of Starsky is appropriate to the space. 

Speaking of scale -  As Bill and I have shopped for furniture for the new house, I've noticed that furniture these days is so oversized that it is difficult to find something for smaller spaces. 

Bill would find something that he liked and I would say, "The scale is off." 

I can't tell you how many times I said it.

He finally said, "I'm bigger than you are. What fits you, doesn't feel comfortable to me." 

He thought I kept trying to find furniture that was scaled to my size instead of his. 

I told him that I was referring the scale of the room! 

Ahhhh.

I'm a selfish furniture buyer. However, he has no idea what it is like to have your legs stick off of a couch like Edith Ann. (Dated myself again) 

It was fun to decorate our new hutch for fall but it was a delight to decorate it for Christmas. 

The brown transferware was switched for red. Although, brown transferware and a gingerbread theme would be totally fun. 

Like totally. 

The red dishes give it a Christmas-y feel but I added a few other Christmas bits. 

The little St. Nick came from The Green Flea in NYC. I loved that flea market which was in an old elementary school. 

The school may still be open but the flea market is closed, I think. 

It's signed by the artist who was there selling her handmade Santas, angels, and snowmen. 

She was Eastern European so her creations have that old world look that I adore. 

I have no idea how old this piece might be. 

I love this door catch. 

The child's little cup was from my grandparent's house. It might have been my mom's or grandmother's I'm not sure. The graphics are amazing.  

It's one of my favorites to pull out each year. 

Some of the glass is wavy glass but most of the panes have been replaced. We had to replace the one we broke in transit. 

I found the red onion scoop in Arkansas on vacation one year. 

I love how adding a few ornaments and some greenery make a vignette Christmas-y. 

My precious babies circa 1993. Our first Christmas in this house. 

That is all for now, Sweet Friends. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing Starsky. 

Come see me again. I think the dining and living rooms will be my next post. 

Katie 

Have a blessed and peaceful day. 

The Best Strawberry Muffins

Bill actually said these were the best muffins I have ever made. 

We had some strawberries nearing the end of their life cycle. I decided to pop them into some muffins.

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. 

It is from the very vintage cookbook that we got as a wedding present.
 Bill and I are very vintage.

I used the Nut Bread recipe but added fruit instead of nuts.

Nut Bread
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking posder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup half and half
3/4 cup water
1 egg
1 heaping cup of fresh strawberries  - washed and cut

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease bottom of muffin tin
Mix all ingredients except strawberries by hand or with a hand mixer.
Gently fold strawberries into the mix.
Spoon into muffin tins.
Back until wooden tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean - about 20 minutes.
This made about 17 muffins.

Serve warm and slathered with butter.

I blame my grandparents for this overwhelming need to put butter on food that is already delicious.

They were from Wisconsin - the dairy state. Margarine (Oleo) was against the law.

I worked very hard to get a bite with teeth marks.
Unsuccessfully, as you can see.
Images with teeth marks really annoy me.
I don't need to see teeth impressions.  They are not an additional incentive to bake something and they kind of gross me out. Too many teeth impression photos are floating around Pinterest, in my opinion.
These muffins freeze well. Just pop them on a plate and let thaw.
Slather with butter and eat.
Have a wonderful Saturday!
Katie 

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