Fahrenheit 350

Hi! It's Kitty from Fahrenheit 350°! I'm so excited to be posting at Erika's fabulous blog! I thought I would share with you the way one of the ways I celebrate Christmas....

A Christmas Tree just isn't right without a star adorning the top stem. For me, a star symbolizes everything that constitutes what Christmas is. When Christ was born it signified His birth, the very birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ; it led the shepherds and the wise men to Him; and it is today representative of His guiding light and wisdom. The first year Gabriel and I were married, we didn't have money for ornaments or decorations, much less a star to light the top of our tree. Instead I stitched together a little homemade star, and sewed a small loop on the back out of yarn. 6 years later, this is what happened to our star...:


In this photo, Scooby Doo is representing Tipsy our 1 year old Lhasa Poo who should be aptly named for the untold amounts of mischief she conducts... or so I thought, until this morning when I found our star hiding below a smattering of ribbon rolls. I was elated! I hope that this star will last as long as we can perch it atop our tree. It is representative of our marriage, a shining beacon of what celestial glory we can attain as we place the Lord at the helm of our lives.

I love Christmas! In our home, decorating the Christmas tree lasts as long as the season itself. Of course we have one big trimming party to kick start the festivities, but like much of the rest of the season I just can't get enough of it. Plus of course, as the season progresses items are placed on sale, especially whole cranberries, and nothing is better than red strung cranberries on a green Christmas tree.

Starting with our first Christmas together we have retained, not only our tradition of keeping our scratch made star, but our tradition of scratch and earth made ornaments for our tree. The smell of fruit and pine couldn't appease my senses more delightfully. In addition to strung cranberries we slice lemons, limes, grapefruit and oranges sprinkled with a little bit of sugar. We leave them to sit overnight, and hang them to dry on the tree throughout the season. The tree lights shine through them and cast a beautiful glow upon the room. You can see a bit of a grapefruit ornament behind Scooby.

Even better,... you can reserve a few limes and make a lime tart; a few oranges and make Italian Cake, a few lemons to make Lemon Pudding Sandwich Cake, and save some grapefruit for tomorrow's breakfast brunch!

Lime Tart
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 cup butter
Cut ingredients together until they resemble small pebbles and then press into tart pan

Whip together:
4 eggs until they turn light yellow
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice (2)
Grated limes (2)
Pour into crust. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes
Remove and cool

In addition to our fruit ornaments, this year, we wrapped up candy ornaments.

Cut out 4x4/5x5/6x6 (depending on the size of ornaments you want) squares of fabric
Place a handful of assorted wrapped candy in the center of the fabric
Tie with an adorable ribbon

These are a colorful addition to your tree, plus double as a treat whenever you get the urge for something sweet!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa!