Decorating for the Holidays
How many different decorations do you use when you start decorating your home for Christmas. What about the Christmas vacation moose mugs that have been collecting dust in your cabinet for the last twenty years. Lots of different things cross your mind I am sure, but there are a couple of items that come to mind and that my family uses each holiday season. There are also a couple of things to stay away from, like a 50 foot tall reindeer in your front yard. But hey, if a giant snow globe in your front yard makes you happy, then have a great time with it.
One of the most traditional holiday decorations during the most festive time of year is Christmas lighting. The most common form of this type of lighting is string lights. Of course you know that you can buy these little twinkling lights in all colors of the rainbow, but you may not be completely familiar with the new LED lights.
When this type of lighting hit the market just a couple of years ago, they were really costly. But thanks to supply and demand they have become much more affordable. Most of us can now afford to discard the old style and purchase some of the new ones.
Another colorful and festive holiday decoration is the poinsettia. I love to get these every year from fund raisers around the holidays. They are just amazing and absolutely beautiful holiday decorations.
I prefer the red ones over the white ones. But the white poinsettias make a very beautiful addition to your home this year. Consider giving them some air and keep them on the front porch if it does not get very cold during the winter where you live.
Each year I place wreaths on my front door and windows on the front of my house. A Christmas wreath adds a touch of the holidays that can only come from a red bow and pine or holly clippings. I hope you enjoy decorating for Christmas as much as I do, and I hope that you have a Merry Christmas.
Visit Christmas Vacation articles to find out more about my favorite movie.
Should You Use Bread Machine Mixes In Bread Making Machines?
Are bread machine mixes any good? Yes, some of them are, but the problem with all bread machine mixes is that they limit your choice and discourage your creative talents. That may sound a little harsh, but think about it for a minute. If you rely on bread machine mixes you can only make the bread for which you can find a bread machine mix and you can only put the bread machine mix in the bowl and switch the bread making machine on. You are not encouraged to alter the bread machine mix for fear that it won’t work.
What is the alternative? Well, the old-fashioned cookbook, of course! Not just any old recipe book, but a specialized bread making machine cookbook. Bread making is a very simple, but rather tedious process. The ingredients are commonplace, household items: water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. You already have those items in your kitchen with the possible exception of the yeast, which can be bought almost anywhere at minimal cost.
And I’m sure you already know what happens when you follow a recipe, don’t you? You’ve read the recipe through and you know you have everything in the cupboard, but when the recipe calls for, say, sultanas, you open the cupboard door and see that you don’t have any sultanas – they were currants! Oh, well you think, they’ll do. You make do. You experiment. You are developing your talents and creativity. Bread making mixes cannot and will not do that for you.
A good bread making machine cookbook will have something over 100 recipes coming from a number of different countries and you will become really enthusiastic about experimenting with the different ones. Have you ever tried Welsh bread – Bara Brith? Or Amish bread? Cajun bread or banana bread? Cranberry bread is lovely too, but one of my favourites is Brazil Nut Bread – absolutely scrumptious.
The point is that you may not find recipes for all these breads in one recipe book, but if you have a reference point, like a bread recipe cookbook, you can begin by using previously tried and tested gourmet bread recipes and gradually invent your own – frequently because you have to.
I once made a really great loaf of bread by adding some of the leftover vegetables from my Sunday lunch. It was delicious, however I could never quite make the same loaf again, because I did not write down the weights and measures of the vegetables. I could only remember that it had green beans, potatoes and sweet corn in it!
Bread machine mixes will never ever provide that, will they? Furthermore, bread machine mixes are fairly expensive compared to the cost of 10 pounds of flour. I usually vary the ingredients too: honey instead of sugar, milk instead of water, olive oil or butter instead of just corn oil. Rock salt instead of sea salt or visa versa. I’m sure you see what I mean.
Bread machine mixes are not only limited but limiting too. Furthermore, a bread making machine is a great way to use up leftovers. I have added meat and fruit in my gourmet bread many times. My guiding principle is: if it’ll go in a sandwich it’ll go in the dough – like an Indian stuffed paratha or stuffed naan bread.
Don’t waste your money buying bread machine mixes – instead be creative with a bread machine recipes cookbook.
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