Hello! :)

I probably won’t be online tomorrow, so. I’ve gone ahead and updated the header and added a little something to the Welcome Page

ps- don’t forget, I can schedule posts. 😉

some holiday humor! :)

Holiday Music – The Empire Is Coming To Town – Spike TV

Awesome, thank you Last of the Milleniums for posting this!! 😀

The Last Of The Millenniums

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today’s holiday theme

Was changed up after a conversation with a friend, she challenged me to be a snow angel! LOL

to quote pinterest, “Nailed it!” heehee 😉

IOTD

Santa Tracker 1 new tracker

Santa Tracker 2 **this one is my favorite

Chocolate Dipped Pineapple-Coconut Macaroons

Chocolate Dipped Pineapple-Coconut Macaroons

Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
Prep: 10 min
Inactive: 20 min
Cook: 45 min

Yield: 2 dozen macaroons

Ingredients:

Pineapple Filling:

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks (about 12 ounces)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

Macaroons:

Nonstick cooking spray

3 large egg whites

One 14-ounce bag sweetened and shredded coconut

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fine salt

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

For the pineapple filling: Puree the pineapple in a food processor and transfer to a medium skillet along with the sugar and 1/4 cup water. Heat over medium-low and bring to a low simmer. Use a rubber spatula to stir and move the mixture around as it reduces and thickens to the consistency of very thick jam, 18 to 20 minutes (you should have about a heaping 1/2 cup). Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool completely in the skillet. The pineapple filling can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and coat lightly with nonstick spray.

For the macaroons: Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Toss the coconut, sugar, vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon salt together with your hands in another large bowl. Add the coconut mixture to the egg whites and combine with your hands; the mixture should pack together tightly when squeezed. Divide the mixture into 24 slightly heaping tablespoons and roll each into a smooth ball (slightly wet hands can help with rolling). Hold a ball in the palm of your hand and use your thumb to make a slight indentation in the middle. Reshape the edges of the macaroon back into a round if it cracks. Arrange about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, rotating the tray as needed for even browning, 20 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely on the tray.

Set up a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Combine the chocolate and butter in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds; stir. Repeat until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the bottom of each macaroon into the chocolate and press into the chocolate about halfway up the macaroon. Use a fork to help lift it out of the chocolate. Transfer to the cooling rack and allow to sit at room temperature until the chocolate hardens and sets up, about 20 minutes.

Fill each macaroon with about 1 teaspoon of the pineapple filling. Store and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

From Food Network Kitchen

Thank you, Skeen! xoxo

Calendar day; December 24, 2014

Wednesday, the 24th of December, 2014 is the 358th day in 2014 and in the 52nd calendar week.

General Events:

Christmas Eve 2014
December 24, 2014 in the World

Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas Day, a widely celebrated holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a culturally significant celebration for most of the Western world and is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas.

In Western culture, Christmas Eve is celebrated on December 24. However, the Coptic, Serbian, Russian, Macedonian, and Georgian Orthodox Churches, as well as the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, use the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so Christmas Eve for the adherents of those Churches coincides withJanuary 6 of the following year in the Gregorian calendar.

Where is Christmas Eve?
Worldwide

Navidad 2014
December 24, 2014 in Spain

Navidad takes place on December 24, 2014. Nochebuena and Navidad are Spanish words referring to the night of Christmas Eve. In Spain, Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Philippines, the evening consists of a traditional dinner with family. In Spain, Nochebuena includes a dinner with family and friends after Christmas Mass. It is particularly common to start the meal with a seafood dish followed by a bowl of hot, homemade soup. It is also common to have desserts such as turrón. In some countries of Latin America Nochebuena is also celebrated on Christmas Eve and marks the final evening of the Posadas celebrations, in others a dinner is served with the family usually after attended the late Mass known as “Misa del Gallo”.

Where is Navidad?
Nationwide Spain

Omisoka 2014
December 24, 2014 in Japan

Omisoka is observed on December 24, 2014. ?misoka (New Year’s Eve) is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year’s Day, which is the most important day of the year. Around 11:00 pm on Omisoka at home, people often gather for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of toshikoshi-sobaor toshikoshi-udon together – a tradition based on people’s association of eating the long noodles with “crossing over from one year to the next,” which is the meaning of toshi-koshi. While the noodles are often eaten plain, or with chopped scallions, in some localities people top them with tempura.

Traditionally, families make Osechi for new year day because cooking during the first 3 days of the new year is considered unlucky. Nowadays, most families buy Osechi or cook ordinary dishes. Throughout Japan, Shinto shrines prepare amazake to pass out to crowds that gather as midnight approaches. Most Buddhist temples have a large cast bell that is struck once for each of the 108 earthly desires believed to cause human suffering.

Where is Omisoka?
Nationwide Japan

National Eggnog Day
December 24, 2014 in the USA

Today is National Eggnog Day! Eggnog is one of the most popular beverages served during the holidays, so it is very appropriate that this occasion is celebrated on Christmas Eve!

The traditional recipe for eggnog is milk, cream, sugar, beaten eggs, spices, and sometimes alcohol. The type of alcohol depends on the country where it is made. In Europe, eggnog is traditionally made with white wine. Americans drink it with bourbon or rum while Peruvians use pomace brandy and Germans use beer.

There are a few theories about how eggnog actually got its name. One story claims that eggnog was first called “egg n’ grog,” which was eventually shortened to “eggnog.” According to other sources, the name comes from the Old English word for strong ale, “nog.” This theory suggests that the combination of the words “egg” and “nog” refers to any drink that contains both eggs and strong alcohol.

Regardless of how eggnog got its name, it has been a favorite holiday beverage for centuries! Make some today to toast the holidays and celebrate National Eggnog Day!

Where is National Egg Nog Day?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 24th December:

563 – The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.

1476 – 400 Burgundian soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy

1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook

1814 – Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain War of 1812) signed

1851 – Fire devastates US Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes

1865 – Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tn

1889 – Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake

1893 – Henry Ford completes his first useful petrolm fuelled engine

1900 – The French Chamber of Deputies and Senate pass a bill calling for an end to agitation or prosecutions against those involved in the Dreyfus affair, which has divided France since 1894

1900 – Foreign powers present the Chinese Empress with their list of ‘irrevocable conditions’ before their nations will withdraw troops from China

1912 – Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards

1924 – Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe’s coup)

1936 – 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, Ca

1942 – First powered flight of V-1 ‘buzz bomb’, Peenemunde, Germany

1946 – France’s Fourth Republic is founded.

1951 – United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via UN

1954 – Council for the Protection of Children forms in Netherlands

1954 – Laos gains its independence

1963 – Greek & Turks riot in Cyprus

1964 – Shooting begins on “The Cage” the pilot for Star Trek

1986 – Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab

1990 – Saddam Hussein says Israel will be Iraq’s 1st target

1992 – US President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger for Iran-contra affair

2003 – Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid’s busy Chamartín Station.