Christmas Is Almost Here! New stuff & freebie

Christmas is going to be here before we know it! I imagine you have been as busy as I have been. No, I'm still not ready and I've made myself a promise that in 2014 my goals for the holidays will be to have family wish lists by first week in November so I can start shopping; Christmas cards written Thanksgiving weekend, the tree and ornaments pulled out that weekend, wrap and tag gifts as they are bought so that only bows need to be added in December. Any major cleaning should be done by first week of December so that it will only be regular upkeep the rest of the time. (I've a bad habit of turning sewing room/guest room into a disaster throughout the year because storage is a problem here.) I'd like to get tree and other decorations in place that first week in December so that after that I can leisurely add bows to gifts and stack them, do holiday baking gradually where possible and be able to relax at least the whole week of Christmas when husband is on vacation.

But this year, I seem to be madly running in place. I've been frantically busy last few days. Went for 6 month dental cleaning and discovered a cracked filling which will have to be replaced and built up for future crown. Finally got my new wreath together and on the door. Dad came by and gave me my mother's "flying" angel for the tree top. Naturally, putting it up I got all emotional remembering Mama. I do miss her so. the tree is all decorated which is a job. It's only a four foot one as I can't manage a larger tree any more but this one is a challenge because the top has never fit snugly and it always wants to lean one way or another and tries to dance around. Hubby and I agreed that this is it's last year. And we I've had 3 family birthday this month: BIL Mark on 12/2, Berkeley (my future DIL) on 12/7, and my son on 12/14.

I've baked and packaged 7 of my Brandied Christmas Cakes (aka fruitcake - my recipe) and delivered one already. There is chocolate chip cookie dough in fridge ready to bake first batch on Sunday when grandson will be here. All my guys love chocolate chip cookies best. I'd also like to make some Russian Tea Cakes if I've got time. Have made one pound of fudge already but need to make at least 2 more.

And I'm learning to make something new. My husband, although Italian, grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY and loves Jewish food almost as much as he loves Italian dishes and Chinese (his best friend from NY is Chinese). Anyway, he's been craving lox and bagels. Of course, no bagels made here taste like those from NY but Yago's does a fine job and those from Costco aren't bad in a pinch. Lox, you probably know, or more properly grav lox, is specially cured salmon. It's pricey when bought from a deli. However, it's possible to get good salmon from Costco and cure it yourself. I checked a bunch of recipes and decided to give it a go. Put it in to cure last night and drained off liquids today. It will be several days of this process before it's ready to eat. And my husband can enjoy it all. I don't care much for fish. Added a few more Winter Wonders things tonight:

The Snow Angels are from old Victorian scrap and were used in a long ago kit I'd made.

And just for you - a free stacked paper which coordinates with Winter Wonders: Get it here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/MoIwTHAC/ss4cu_ChristmasStackedPaper_fr.html?