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https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/...48002722_n.png
https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net...30159566_q.jpg DIY Home Decorating
3D Paper Ball Ornament!
pattern and instructions --->http://diycozyhome.com/3d-paper-ball-ornament/
Here's a fun modern Christmas ornament for you to make. I have also included a link to the pattern for you to print out. Happy crafting!
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https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/..._4413519_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net...57804942_q.jpg Food Fanatics
Cranberry Obsession Snow Cake
Recipe:
Cake...
10 ounce unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
3 1/2 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar $
7 large egg whites, at room temperature $
Cranberry filling
3 3/4 cups cranberries, divided
3/4 cup granulated sugar $
1 1/2 cups cranberry or cherry preserves
Buttercream
5 large egg whites, at room temperature $
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar $
12 ounces white chocolate (bars or a block, not chips), divided $$
1 pound unsalted butter, cut into pieces and at room temperature $
Assembly
1/2 cup colorless liqueur such as crème de cacao or kirsch
About 2 tbsp. powdered sugar $$
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Butter two 9-in. cake pans; set aside.
2. Make cake: In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together on low speed until light and fluffy. Add egg whites in 3 batches, scraping inside of bowl as needed. Beat in flour mixture in 5 batches, adding 1/4 cup water after each addition (you will begin and end with flour); make sure flour is completely blended each time before adding water. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Smooth tops with a spatula.
3. Bake until center of cake feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes completely in pans on a rack.
4. Meanwhile, make cranberry filling: Combine 3 cups cranberries, the sugar, preserves, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until cranberries pop and preserves melt, 5 to 10 minutes. Add remaining 3/4 cup cranberries, stir to combine, and remove from heat. Transfer to a small bowl and chill until ready to assemble cake.
5. Make buttercream: Fill a 2-qt. pan with about 1 in. water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Put egg whites, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Place bowl over hot water, making sure bottom of bowl isn't touching water, and heat whites, whisking constantly, until hot to the touch, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan and bowl from heat.
6. Put bowl of warm whites on the mixer and whisk on high speed until tripled in volume and side of bowl is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, chop 4 oz. white chocolate, put in a medium metal mixing bowl, and set in same pan of warm water off the heat to melt slowly, stirring occasionally. Remove bowl from pan and let cool to room temperature.
8. Reduce mixer speed to low and whisk butter into whites, about 1/4 cup at a time, until incorporated. Continue to whisk on low speed until smooth and fluffy, about 10 minutes (mixture may look grainy at some point but will come together).
9. With a rubber spatula, gently fold melted chocolate into buttercream until completely combined.
10. Assemble: Rub tops of both cakes gently with your hands to remove browned outer surface, then carefully invert cakes and rub undersides so that cakes are completely white. Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate, top side up. Using a pastry brush, brush top with half the liqueur. Spread about 1 1/2 cups cranberry mixture over layer with a metal spatula, leaving a 1/2-in. empty border around edge. Place second cake layer on top, flattest side down, and brush with remaining liqueur. Spread top and sides of cake with a thin layer of buttercream to seal in crumbs and chill 30 minutes. Cover with remaining buttercream, starting with the sides and covering the top last.
11. Use the palm of your hand to warm remaining chocolate. Shave smooth side of chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler to make thin curls; scatter curls over cake's top. Sift powdered sugar over cake. Serve with remaining cranberry mixture on the side.
Make ahead: Baked cake layers can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature or in the fridge up to 2 days ahead. Cranberry filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and chilled.
Note:
Bakers' tip: To make a pure white cake, use your fingers to rub off the browned surface of each layer before assembling.
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1915 Santa Letter: 98-Year-Old Letter To Santa Is Sweetly Humble
The Huffington Post Canada |
By Rebecca Zamon
Posted: 12/10/2013
When you go through the family archives, it's easy to pass over the small pieces of paper that made up daily life for your ancestors. But one Nova Scotia family's crumpled note written in cursive is driving home the message of Christmas in a big way this year.
This Christmas note written by London, ON native Homer Mellen in 1915 has become a huge hit online, thanks to its very simple requests:
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1507046/th...TTER-570.jpg?6
In it, he asks for a box of paints, a nine-cent reader and a schoolbag to put them in. (Adorably, he also notes that if Santa has any nuts or toys or candy "to spare," he would appreciate those too.)
The note went viral after Mellen's granddaughter, Laurie Bloomfield, sent it to Good Morning American reporter Eliza Murphy, who had just written about a 7-year-old girl's Santa letter that asked for, among other things, $1,000 dollars, a new American Girl doll and an iPod Touch.
Bloomfield, a fourth-grade teacher in Antigonish, NS, wanted to demonstrate that kids had not always been this way.
"[It was] a testament to a time when things were much simpler," Bloomfield tells The Huffington Post Canada. "It is so important because of the sweet sentiment it offers. [My grandfather's] words are so humble and so polite."
The letter had been kept in a keepsake box by Bloomfield's great-grandmother, which contained other mementos like locks of hair, photographs and important family papers. It's been passed down through the generations until it reached Bloomfield, who remembers her grandfather as personifying the sentiments of this letter.
"My grandfather was a humble man who was determined to make the best of himself," she says. And for her part, she remembers Christmases with her six siblings "full of excitement for the day."
Bloomfield is pleased so many people have responded to her grandfather's letter positively. After all, she notes, "in his kind letter to Santa, he expresses the true meaning of Christmas."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12...n_4415701.html
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https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net...65644995_q.jpg Homestead Survival
http://thehomesteadsurvival.com/arra...er-snowflakes/
How to Make a Different Array of Truly Beautiful and Unique Paper Snowflakes
Paper Snowflakes have been a traditional decorations for the holiday season farther back than homesteading times. Taped to windows like gently falling snow or added to the front of paper cards to inspire good tidings.
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https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net...65644995_q.jpg Homestead Survival
http://thehomesteadsurvival.com/cand...ecakes-recipe/
Candy Cane White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes Recipe
These mini cupcake peppermint cheesecakes are a way to inspire friends and family to get into the festive holiday spirit from the first to the last lip smacking bite.
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