Blogmas Day #1 - December 1st

Hi everyone!  I so enjoyed NaBloPoMo that I decided I would do a Blogmas for December!  Granted most Blogmas's are all about Christmas but since so much of my "Christmas" is secret I will try to add something Christmas themed each day.  The above cross stitched picture can be purchased at Everything Cross Stitch
Isn't it cute?
Now, for what I've been up to since we last visited yesterday.............first of all remember when I said the pumpkin cream cheese bread asked for 1 1/2 cups of filling on the bottom and that was more than was left for the top?  Well.....I think there is a reason for it.........look at a slice of my bread...........

see how the cream cheese filling sunk down in the bread dough?  The cream cheese filling is heavier than the batter and it you put it halfway in the middle it will 'hit bottom'.  At least that's what I'm surmising...so follow the recipe and pay no attention to the woman behind the curtain!
My next picture is Jenny's (at Jenny Can Cook) no knead bread recipe for 1 loaf........it turned out perfect!  The girl is genius I tell you...genius!  Look at this bread!  It's gorgeous inside and out and tastes terrific!  And it is not too 'tough' like I found the other recipe to be........this is a keeper for sure!

Today I needed to plan and make another meal so I chose an old soup recipe that I hadn't made in years............Supreme of Chicken and Olive Soup Eureka.............
All prepped and ready to go......just waiting for the broth to thaw.....yes, that broth I just froze the other day! LOL!  But of course I will use it before the canned broth in the pantry.

  I love prepping in the morning because I get the most time consuming part out of the way and it uncovers anything I might have forgotten and I still have time to run to the store which I did at 8:30 this morning!  The recipe is from this book by Crescent Dragonwagon...yes, that's her real name.  She used to run a bed and breakfast in Eureka, Arkansas.  Eureka is an old town filled with beautiful Victorian "painted ladies" and is quite the tourist attraction.  Anyway, she had a bed and breakfast there and she did the cooking and wrote several cookbooks this being one of them.  She had several famous people that would stop there including the Clintons.  This was the first cookbook I ever bought for myself and also the first cookbook that told a story with every recipe.  It got me hooked on 'reading' cookbooks!  I highly recommend this book if you can find it....it is huge and has the best soup, bread and salad recipes!  I imagine Thrift Books might be a good place to look.

 After getting all the turkey I needed for the soup, I froze the remainder using my Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer.  I bought this several years back and then it took so much room on my countertop I put it away and promptly forgot about it.   Until, I pulled out some items that had freezer burn and I could have kicked myself......I have a Foodsaver....NO EXCUSES!  So, I got it out and froze the remainder of the turkey..............

I had to watch a video to remember how to use it...lol!  It worked great...and now no more freezer burn!  Great invention!
Oh, I got my first Christmas card today from Betsy over at A Queen's Life....thank you Betsy!  I forgot to take a picture of it but I will show it tomorrow!
We had big storms last night and a tornado watch and I was asleep several times when the weather radio went off with warnings.....but today it is sunny and high 60's or 70's....amazing how a few hours can make such a difference either way.
Well, I'm off to throw my soup together and then hopefully do a little sewing for Santa!
 Happy Trails!!!