Author Archives: cathyboettner

Our niece is terribly allergic to any kind of dairy, so I am making a dairy free pumpkin cake with vegan cream cheese icing for Christmas. I didn’t want it to just be a totally plain frosted cake (and cream cheese icing is not great for decorating with), so I decided to make snowflakes outContinue reading “Non Dairy Decorations for a Holiday Cake”

My sister in law is hosting a dinner this weekend and asked if I could help her get her table and buffet decorated for it. Of course, I said, “Yes!” She had already decided on a Christmas tree theme–using her Nikko Christmas plates, and an assortment of table top Christmas trees. I have a metalContinue reading “A Holiday Table for A Christmas Dinner Party”

My husband cut down some trees at a friends house earlier this year and as the logs dried, the bark peeled off of them. Some of it rolled up in a cylinder which gave me the idea to use them to wrap vases to make a rustic container for arrangements. I decided to use thisContinue reading “Holiday Arts and Crafts”

I don’t know what these are called, but they are easy to make and DELICIOUS, dangerously so. For this batch, I bought 2-20 oz packages of vanilla candy coating, I used 6 sleeves of Ritz crackers, and a large jar of creamy peanut butter (generally I prefer super crunchy, but it is harder to workContinue reading “Super Easy Holiday Treats”

I typically decorate the house the weekend after Thanksgiving, and fortunately the boys were home, so they helped with boxes. I hope that your Christmas preparations are going well!

I know that this isn’t going to be much help to you this year, but here’s the table from this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. We went with a limited color palette and more rustic than some years. We hade three log slices that we set rustic low metal bowls and a copper bowl on. We filledContinue reading “Thanksgiving 2021 Table”

I am making cinnamon rolls for the Thanksgiving holiday since the boys are both going to be home. (Yay!!) I make a huge batch and use some and freeze the rest for later. Dough: 1 1/2 cups milk scalded 1 cup cold water 1/3 cup mashed potato flakes 1/2 cup of sugar 8 tbsp butterContinue reading “Super Cinnamon Rolls”

I have been making these for a long time and have literally made hundreds of pounds of them over the years. This is another easy one. 4 1/2 cups raw spanish peanuts (you will need to buy 2 lbs.) 2 cups sugar 1 cup water Kosher salt Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine nuts, sugarContinue reading “Sweet and Salty Peanuts”

I am NOT a fan of fussy recipes. It’s not that I can’t do it, I just don’t want to. I have been making this particular recipe since I was in high school, so a LONG time. It’s great because you literally just cook it until it is brown–no thermometer, no testing in a glassContinue reading “Super Easy Toffee–No Candy Thermometer required!”

We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving at my in-laws house and my mother is going to join us. I am in charge of the Cranberry-Raspberry-Orange Sauce, mashed potatoes, and cornbread dressing. I love it because these are all items that can be made ahead of time. I am also going to prep the turkey theContinue reading “Thanksgiving Preparations–Make Ahead Recipes”