What a lovely rose arbor! I hope to start one around our front porch this spring.

DREAMS OF TEA TIME

I'm having great fun with this design from S-Embroidery even though my PR-600 doesn't like those picot edges. White is on the number 3 needle and I had been having trouble with it, so that could be the problem.

I have done all of the embroidery on one doily for my mommy-in-law. Now all I have to do is put it together. Ugh!

I had planned to do several as Christmas gifts, but I've spent all of my time shopping - it takes me so much longer after the accident. Maybe they will get made as birthday gifts.

I have made lots of Christmas pictures, but since I uninstalled my Explorer, which was giving me lots of problems, my computer doesn't recognize my A drive. I hope to post the pictures after Christmas.

CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKES

This is my own Christmas Fruitcake recipe I have been making for years. Fruits are better soaked ahead of time, but will be just as good steaming them in water hours before being used. I bake these about mid November or the first saturday of Advent. By Christmas, the cakes are sinful.

Ingredients:
1 pound butter or margarine, softened
1 pound sugar (I use brown sugar, but granulated white sugar is fine)
2 pounds all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp. instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp. hot water
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 pounds dark raisins
1/4 pound pitted prunes
1 pound candied and/or glace fruits
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained
Chopped walnuts, to taste
About 1 cup whole or chopped almomds
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 bottle good quality brandy
1 bottle port (optional)
12 eggs, well beaten

Instructions:
In a blender, puree prunes with a little rum. Place raisins in a medium saucepan and steam on low heat in about 1/2 cup water, until plumped. Transfer to a large bowl. Pour about 1 cup port and 1 cup brandy over raisins, add pureed prunes. Let stand, covered at room temperature overnight.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and spices together in large bowl. Add candied fruit (or glace fruits) and stir well. Set aside.

Cream butter (or margarine, if using) and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in half the flour mixture. Add raisin mixture, stir well with a wooden spoon. Add coffee, then stir in the remaining flour mixture. Fold in nuts and drained maraschino cherries. Add vanilla and almond extracts.

Grease and flour 6 (1 pound/8 x 4-inch) loaf pans. Line bottom and sides of pans with parchment paper or grease-proof baking paper. Fill each pan up leaving about 1/4 inch space from the top. Bake in a preheated 250 degree F/120 degree C oven for about 2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, pour a mixture of remaining brandy and port over hot cakes. Let cool in pans. Wrap in 2 layers of plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. Every two or three days pour the brandy mixture over cakes.

Tip:
Keep fruitcakes at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Makes 6 (8 x 4-inch) fruitcakes.

By Christmas, they will be perfect. If you cannot find port any rum will do. These make lovely christmas gifts. Everyone will want the recipe.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to build a snowman? We had a bit of snow last week - so exciting! Yesterday it was almost 70 degrees.

Belinda and I left for the Tour of Homes yesterday evening without jackets. After dinner at the new Mexican restaurant, we came back home for heavy coats. It's 41 degrees this morning. Go figure!

I'm still working on embroidery projects for Mrs. M this morning. I absolutely must finish in time for Christmas. There doesn't seem to be any hope for doing the things that I wanted to give. Maybe Ray will get his pirate shirt for his birthday.

I haven't done any candy or rolls this year. It's just too hard to stand up that long. Despite my aches and pains and sadness, I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. Lots of time to spend with Ray and maybe a few minutes to rest.

This recipe for and picture of Truffles is from Kelli's House. I can't wait to try it!

Chocolate Truffles

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with condensed milk. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla (or one of the variations). Chill 2-3 hours or until firm.

My latest project is a scarf with a lighted penguin design from A Design By Lyn. These little guys are just too cute!

I've spent the past several weeks being aggrivated at my PR-600 only to discover that the middle set screw was slightly loose. I hope I remember this next time before I spend hours calibrating the hoops!

Only 24 shirts to complete before Christmas Eve - not to mention a few miscellaneous projects that I'm anxious to work on.

Mueller Christmas Party 2006: Dinner at the Clarion - not very good. Gift exchange provided my Mueller - great gifts, lots of fun. Our gift this year was a refrigerator that can be plugged into a cigarette lighter. Just fits in the van. Perfect for craft shows.

We returned last week from our 10th cruise - our 1st cruise on Princess. Our ship, the Sun Princess was lovely. Food was mediocre, but the lobster was fantastic!

This was a 10 night cruise to Curaco, Barbados, Isla Margerita, St. Thomas, Dominica, and Princess Cay. The islands have 'progressed' greatly since we were last there. In my opinion, the progress is not good. The ship departed from Port Everglades.