Friday

Post Christmas & Banana Cream Pie

I hope you all had a really memorable Christmas holiday with your family! We had a wonderful day - the rain showers were the closest thing to snow we would see here in So. CA. We enjoyed yummy food, opening gifts, watching movies in front of the fire, more yummy food and good times with family. My oldest son said that his favorite dessert is Banana Cream Pie. I had never made one before. I used the following recipe and I have to say it was delicious!

BANANA CREAM PIE
Cooking spray
12 graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons boiling water
1/3 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a food processor, process graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of water, and process until the crumb clumps together. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pie plate and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then let cool.
In the meantime, make the filling. Put the gelatin in a small bowl; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar and the flour. In a medium bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together. Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin. Set aside to cool slightly.
Arrange the sliced bananas on the graham cracker crust and pour the pudding on top. Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.
Whip the cream with an electric beater. When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped. Put the whipped cream in a plastic bag, concentrating it in 1 corner of the bag. Snip that corner off the bag and squeeze the whipped cream out of the bag in a decorative pattern around the pie. (photo & recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com)
Today is my sisters birthday and we'll both be celebrating when we meet up in NYC in about 12 more days!! Can't wait!

Tuesday

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours

One of our very favorites movies ~ It's a Wonderful Life. I love this time of year just sitting with the fireplace roaring and the tree lights illuminating the living room. The past few evenings have been peaceful with a pot of tea and some wonderful baked treat. I hope that you are enjoying the season, we certainly are. Most of the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. Today is going to be for baking cookies and checking off the items on my to do list for food preparation for tomorrow and Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to all of you!




Monday

Holiday Open House

Please join us for warm cider and holiday goodies this Sunday, December 14th from 11:00am - 3:00pm while shopping at our Holiday Open House!

My friends and I have some wonderful treasures for you and those special people on your holiday shopping list.

We have an amazing selection of vintage and new holiday decor, linens, stunning rhinestone jewelry, furniture, ephemera, teapots, tea cups, aprons, hand painted snowmen, inspirational stones and so much more!

If you are one of our first 10 shoppers to make a purchase you will receive a complimentary gift with our thanks and sincere appreciation!

We will of course have another wonderful gift basket of treasures to give away too.

Bring a friend along - you won't want to miss this unique shopping experience - "who wants to fight the crowds and traffic at the mall"?

Erin & Friends
Trésors Marché...a Treasures Market

Saturday

Treasures from the Market for you!

I'm going to start listing more items from the "Marche" on my blog. If you are interested in purchasing something please leave a comment. All shipping is for US unless you specify otherwise. These items below will also come with a complimentary issue of the December Romantic Homes magazine as my gift to you!

This lovely gravy boat and platter are a creamy white. The bottom is stamped with Traditional Ironstone Leeds Alfred Meakin England. There are no chips or cracks. What a beautiful set for the upcoming holidays! The saucer it rests on is 8 1/2" long. The gravy boat itself measures 3" high and 8" wide from handle to spout. The price is $24. plus shipping.
This lovely black hat would be wonderful to decorate or accessorize with. In very nice condition. It is $12. plus shipping.

What a perfect gift for the "Red Hat Society" lady in your life! $15. plus shipping.


Our Christmas Card!

Becky-TCBOTB (thecutestblogontheblock.com) designed the template for our Christmas card this year and we love it!! Thank you Becky! Check out their site for some really great blog designs and much more!

Tuesday

Back from our Road Trip

Wow our trip to our favorite city by the bay was a blast - despite the fact that all 4 of us were fighting nasty colds. As we crossed over the Bay Bridge Thursday evening we readied ourselves for the walking, laughing and eating that awaited us. Our first stop after checking into our suite overlooking downtown was a cab ride down to Northbeach where we had an un-traditional Thanksgiving dinner of the best pizza and pasta we've had in a long time. We laughed and ate and gave thanks for having this time together. After dinner we made the walk back to our hotel cutting through Chinatown and Union Square. Trying to decide what we wanted to do the next day; breakfast at Ealge Cafe at Pier 39 followed by a possible trip out to Alcatraz and then on to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our breakfast at the Eagle Cafe was a bit disappointing; the new owners decided to remodel about 2 years ago - it still had some of it's character but we missed placing our order at the counter and then having them call out your order. It's a little fancier now and the menu is too but also a little more $$. Nevertheless we laughed a lot and filled our stomachs with pancakes, coffee and bacon. Just a few steps outside were the sea lions all camped out - so fun to watch and such personalities they have. We then walked through the Wharf and passed on chowder, shrimp cocktails and more. We were on a mission to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. A little further than we remembered - where was that cab when you needed it? After walking through the Marina district and looking at the lovely homes we ambled through Fort Mason and then finally Fort Point. The boys ran around and we looked in awe at the beautiful bridge. A passerby took a wonderful shot of us under the bridge - this was to be our Christmas card; however one of the guys was not smiling so we'll take a some shots in front of the fire here at home. Our next destination was the House of Nanking at Kearny and Columbus for the best Chinese food ever! Always a line out the door here and owner Peter always outdoes himself. We usually let him order for us and we're never disappointed. Another walk through Union Square followed and of course some window shopping. After a bit of relaxing back at the hotel we waited for a cab and beat it down to the Marina District to visit Guiseppe at E'Angelos for the world's best carbonarra! We were not disappointed and again were just in time to beat the line forming outside his doors. Our cab ride back to the hotel that night was very entertaining; our driver Buzz had just recorded a CD and sang to us all the way back downtown - what a character he was. The next morning was for sleeping in and after we were packed up we drove out to the Avenues; 10th and Clement for breakfast at the Hamburger Haven - the place has not changed a bit and the chef there still puts out a great breakfast. Another stop at the bagel shop for some treats to take home and then lastly to Dino's on Fillmore and California for a slice of heaven - his pizza is still the best! Pulling into our street Saturday night we were greeted by all of our neighbor's Christmas lights - I can't believe the season is here! Time to pull out the Christmas decorations and get busy.