Merry Christmas

I bet you've been thinking..."Now why don't she write?"

It has been a great month but a busy one. Why...we've been to the North Pole and back!

The Texas State Railroad out of Palestine has a Polar Express ride. We took a magical journey full of hot chocolate, singing and story telling. We also got to see Santa Claus as he passed out sleigh bells.

The conductor also punched our tickets!

It was a great trip. We highly recommend it.

We also had an awesome church Christmas party but it deserves a post all its' own.

The best day of all was the day the cousins came.

This is "Z".

This is "S".

I believe you know the character on the right.

After they left Miss G cried off and on the rest of the day.

Miss G & I have also been baking....lots....and lots.

As she likes to tell you, "I'm a good egg cracker."

We made Santa and the relatives some sugar cookies. Miss G insisted that we write Santa a note.

We hope that you have a wonderful holiday too.

Sending our love,

Mr. Reserved, Mrs. Dabbler & Miss G

That Elusive Christmas Picture

You all know what I'm talking about. That perfect picture you try to capture to send to your friends and family. You've all been there. The one that doesn't even come close to an actual representation of your family or your daughter. In a true representation, Miss G would be covered in dirt with her stray ponytail hanging in her face. She would have breakfast on her shirt and lunch in her hair.

Today we tried to capture the "perfect" picture. It's a ritual that she is subjected to every year. I'm sure she'll need counseling for this someday.

I wanted to make her smile. I succeeded in making her laugh so hard that she had tears in her eyes and her face turned red and splotchy.

We took some deep breaths and moved to the Christmas tree. Nothing says Christmas like that big ol' green tree.

All I got there was a very serious Miss G.

Here is an interesting face.

Cute but where did her lips go? Also, if you'll take a closer look, you'll see spaghetti sauce stains in the corners of her mouth. Despite trying to take the perfect picture, we now have an actual representation of the way we roll.

How does one counter spaghetti sauce stains in the corners of one's mouth?

Either wipe them away before you take 100 photos or just rely on your trusty photo editor. Can anyone say Photoshop?

Butterhorn Rolls

Ah, my friends...you are in for a treat. The following recipe is from my mother-in-law's mother-in-law and is the most scrumptious roll I believe I've ever tasted. I was privileged a few times to eat at Mamaw's table but unfortunately these rolls were never on the menu. I believe that she made an awesome apple pie too that I never had the pleasure to taste. My husband still speaks of it with fond remembrance.

I make these rolls often but especially during the holidays. Miss G loves to help and in the process she's learning to make bread. Her favorite duties involve flour. I think it holds the same fondness for her as dirt. It's tactile and smooth. You can spread it and throw it. It rubs well into her skin and clothes. What's not to love?



I feel that a key ingredient in any roll is butter. Can a roll have too much butter? These rolls have butter not only in the dough but you spread melted butter on them before you roll them up AND once you take them out of the oven. Butter lovers unite! These are the rolls for you.



It truly isn't necessary to dive head-first into the flour like Miss G does to make an excellent roll, but it does make for great fun.




Tomorrow we'll dust the kitchen.



And these...my lovelies...are the pre-cooked visions of buttery perfection. As Miss G would say, "Seriously, you gotta try these."

Butterhorn Rolls

1 pkg. Dry yeast dissolved in 1 cup warm water. Add: 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup melted butter, 1 tsp. salt. Beat 3 eggs really well & add to yeast mixture. Then add 5+cups flour. Add all the flour you can to the mixture; put remaining on board and knead all of it in (or...you can add all to your mixer with a dough hook and mix for 5-7 minutes.) Put dough in well greased bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Divide dough into 4 parts & roll out like a pie crust. Spread with melted butter & cut into 8 wedges (this works great with a pizza cutter). Begin with large end rolling toward point & place on buttered pan. Let rise 2 hours. Bake @350 for 20-22 minutes. Butter top of each roll as soon as you take them out of the oven.

These freeze well before rising. Set out of freezer and let rise 2+ hours.

Enjoy!