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X Marks the Spot


Two Fridays ago, the Husband created an Xmas tree out of Xmas lights. All I had to do was find the lights and point out the spot for him to make it. Sparkle, sparkle.

The other day I was helping undecorate a small Christmas tree at the local museum where I volunteer. I started to unwind a garland made of small colored glass balls when Head Volunteer said, "Susie, take the tinsel off first." She proceeded to quickly pluck and pull the silvery strands. I imitated her.

The tinsel off, I went for the garland. Said Head Volunteer, "Susie, it'll be easier if you take ornaments off then the garland." Okey-dokey.

As I finally unwound the garland, Head Volunteer reminded me that it was old, then kindly remarked that she had already broken three vintage decorations. Sometimes I can be like that bull in a china shop.

Several hours later while reading Christmas posts by blogger friends, I realized that I'm out of practice when it comes to decorating/undecorating Xmas trees. hahaha

Cheesy Olive Balls
Cheesy olive balls are a festive treat that find that X spot of yumminess in our tummies.  I like that they're simple to make and hold well in the freezer until you want to bake them.

I no longer know where I got the original recipe, which I've modified each time.  Sometimes I use stuffed olives (I like the garlic ones), other times plain. Green, black, or red. The recipe calls for shredded cheddar cheese, but I've used Monterey Jack, farmer's cheese, and other cheeses, alone or combined. That may be the reason why the balls vary in how well they hold, brown, or leave you with greasy fingertips.

My recipe is among the scraps of paper that fell on the kitchen floor this morning when I was tugging cloth napkins and placemats from between cookbooks. I plan to pick up my mess after I finish this post. So I say. Anyway, check out this Olive Cheese Ball recipe from Food Network.


I'm hanging out at two memes today. Thank you Dear Hosts!





Comments

  1. I love your Christmas "tree". My kind of decorating. Strange how you'd be undecorating a tree at this time of year. Was there a reason you all didn't wait until January?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Head Volunteer was in a put-things-away-if-not-needed mode. The museum still has 2 trees up so I figured she thought the third was unnecessary.

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  2. That’s my kind of Christmas tree... maybe next year ....we didn’t do a thing this time...a couple of old Grinches. We will go steal some pictures of other people’s hard work this weekend. And that’s my kind of recipe too. I went to bookmark it to my file and nearly forgot I hadn’t commented yet... thanks for the link!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had big plans for Christmas decorations. I even made paper garlands out of a Costco cookbook, but have no idea where to hang them. Maybe I'll put them out on the trees and they can melt away in the rain. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

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  3. That really is a cool Christmas Tree. Hey, us kitties can undecorate a Christmas Tree in no time!

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    Replies
    1. The Husband did a wonderful job. We've already decided that it can stay up until whenever. lol

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  4. Like the creative use of lights to make a wall tree!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Husband's pretty proud of himself, which he definitely deserves. :-)

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  5. Well, thank you, thank you. I laughed at your tale of undecorating, why were you doing that before Christmas? Did you use push pins for your very cool tree? I've done that with lights for Valentine's Day, looks a lot better than store bought. I think we have the same taste in decorations. With sweet Molly all cozy next to the tree, you're creating quite the Christmas scene. Our celebration last night was with a bunch of woman over 50 carrying on three or more separate conversations at any given time in the kitchen with the pets snuffling around for fallen goodies.
    I'm going to give that recipe the look over. And although I keep getting ready to start my baking and cooking, I have not done a thing. Everyday it's something else. Tomorrow though, yup, tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can imagine the laughter and chatter and wicked fun going on at your party. My kind of party.
      Yup, the Husband used push pins. I'm very happy he was amenable to doing the tree. He generally has fun doing stuff like this once he's doing them. It's the getting him to saying yes. lol
      I didn't ask Head Volunteer why, just figured she was tired of doing all new displays and getting the museum ready for a December open house and wanted to get stuff put away so we can get back to cataloging stuff. There are still 2 Christmas trees up, so the third being dismembered didn't take away from the Christmas spirit in the museum.
      I actually have olives draining in the sink. Today's the day for them cheesy olive balls.

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  6. P.S. Love that duck and good photo of it too.

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    Replies
    1. Grazie, Madame. The duck and bear hang outside on a walnut tree stump.

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  7. Such a cute Christmas tree with lights. I plan to make one for myself.
    Happy ABCW!

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  8. Oh I like your Christmas tree of lights! What a fun idea! Happy holidays sweet lady!

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  9. Lovely and creative X mas lights and fun post ~ Merry Christmas to you ~ ^_^

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  10. Susiee,

    Our decorations are modest compared to years ago. We have a very small tree which takes minutes to put up and take down. I miss our large tree, though. I hope if we get moved into a bigger place to put it up again. I make a spicy black olive and onion cheese spread that really good.. We like serving it with bagels. Crackers are good wtih the spread, too. It's a very simple recipe. I thought I had it on my blog but I couldn't find it. I need to share that. Note to self: Do a recipe post soon! Have a joyful and blessed Christmas!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The olive/onion cheese spreads sounds yummy. I'm going to Google it. I wonder if the spread would work on celery sticks.

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  11. Great sparkly tree! Kudos to your husband for setting it up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Husband has decreed that we keep it up for as long as we want. :-)

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  12. We have the tree and the lights but not yet the decorations!

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  13. OK, it might be my imagination, but it seems that Head Volunteer is a bit controlling? Love the look of the olive balls recipe - I love anything that has to do with olives!

    I have really enjoyed getting to know you better this year, and I look forward to more fun and frolics with you in 2019!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel the same way, Angie, about getting to know you. :-) Cheers!

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  14. I don't know if that Head Volunteer is such a nice person ;-)

    Have a splendid, ♥-warming ABC-Wednes-day / -week
    ♫ M e l d y ♪ (ABC-W-team)
    http://melodyk.nl/23-X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Be assured, Head Volunteer is a wonderful, kind lady. She's a hoot to work with. Hopefully, I'm the same. :-)

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  15. Replies
    1. It was one of the best, Klara. Hope you had a wonderful time, too.

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Thanks for the good cheer. :-)

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