Our first real Christmas tree

I've met quite a few Christmas tree growers through my job, but I've never set up a real Christmas tree in our house.  This year, I decided to convince my husband to help me pick out our first real Christmas tree.  It turned out, he didn't need much convincing.  His family never had a real Christmas tree when he was growing up, so he was all for the idea.  He suggested that we drive to a nearby grocery store and pick out a tree. But I insisted that we visit a local Christmas tree farm.

There aren't many Christmas tree farms left in Iowa.  It's a tough business to get into.  First, you need the land.  With today's high corn prices, you're likely to make more money planting corn than planting Christmas trees.  Plus, operating a Christmas tree farm is a lot harder than it looks.  You need to tend to the trees throughout the year, trimming and weeding and spraying for insects when necessary.  You also have to keep the deer from eating all your trees.  And did I mention that it takes seven years before a Christmas tree is large enough to sell?  You better have a lot of patience if you're a Christmas tree grower.

My husband and I traveled to the Kidman tree farm near Polk City to buy our tree.  We chose a White pine, because I love the "Teddy bear" soft needles.

I'm leaving the tag on the tree as an "ornament."

We bought the tree stand at the farm, as well, for only $25.  It's a very sturdy tree stand, and very simple to use.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before we put the tree up. But I'll post one sometime.)  The best part of buying straight from the farm? They had the tree all wrapped and placed in the back of our pick-up by the time we left the gift shop.  We were in and out in 15 minutes, which made my impatient hubby very happy.

So far, the tree has been very easy to care for.  It's like an indoor gardening project.  I water the tree twice a day, since it sucks up quite a bit of water.  We've had only a few needles to clean up from the carpet.  I put down a layer of garbage bags to protect the carpet from water, but so far, there hasn't been any water spilled, another benefit of a good tree stand.

I wrapped the tree in the homemade tree skirt my mother-in-law made for us.  It's such a beautiful addition to our holiday decorations.

You may have noticed that I don't have any ornaments on the tree.  Too be honest, I'm not really a fan of ornaments.  I hate packing and unpacking them each year.  I might make time to put a few ornaments up, but I'm happy with just the lights.  My philosophy with Christmas lights:  the more colorful, the better!

So does your family prefer a real tree to an artificial tree?  Do you prefer white lights over colored lights?  Or do you skip the tree all together?  I'm usually not big on decorating the house for the holidays, but I was excited about getting a real tree for the first time.

Best-ever caramel rolls

Consider this an early Christmas present.

I'm sharing my favorite recipe for caramel pecan rolls.  And this time, I'm not taking any shortcuts.  I made these rolls on Thanksgiving weekend, using leftover mashed potatoes.  Usually, I'll use my go-to bread dough recipe to make these rolls.  Or (gasp!) I'll use potato buds. But these rolls really do turn out best with real mashed potatoes.

Oh yeah.  That's real caramel on the top, too. Not butterscotch pudding mix.

My photos (taken at night without natural light) really don't do these rolls justice.  The dough was soft and white, like a marshmallow.  My husband gobbled about half the pan up in one sitting. 

These rolls would be perfect for a holiday brunch, or alongside a bowl of chili.  (Did anyone else enjoy chili and cinnamon rolls at their elementary school cafeteria?)  Enjoy, my blog friends!

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Caramel Pecan Rolls

• 3/4 C. sugar
• 3/4 C. hot mashed potatoes
• 1-1/2 C. warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
• 2 packages instant dry yeat
• 1 C. butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. salt
• 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 C. all-purpose flour
• Caramel syrup (recipe below)
• Cinnamon-sugar filling (recipe below)

In large bowl, combine sugar and potatoes.  Add water and yeast; mix well.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.  Stir down dough.  Mix in 1/2 of the butter, eggs and salt.  Gradually stir in flour to make a soft dough.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface.  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Let rise until doubled.  While dough rises, prepare caramel syrup. (Recipe below.)  Pour syrup into two 9-inch square greased pans.  Sprinkle 1 C. pecans over syrup in each pan.

When dough has doubled, divide in half and roll out each half to a 14x8-inch rectangle. Spread each rectangle of dough with 1/4 C. of the butter, then sprinkle with filling. (Recipe below.)  Roll up dough from the long sides, jellyroll style.  Cut each roll into 9 pieces.  Place rolls, cut-side down, into prepared pans.  Cover and let rise until double.  Bake in 350 degree oven to 30 to 35 minutes, until browned.  Cool 5 minutes in pans before turning out.  Makes 18 rolls.

For caramel syrup:

• 1/2 C. butter
• 1 C. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C. light corn syrup
• 2-3/4 T. heavy cream
• 2 C. coarsely chopped pecans

Mix butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and cream in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until all melted.

For filling:

• 2/3 C. sugar
• 1 T. cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cozy crochet

It took me almost a year, but I finally took the time to finish up a large crochet project I've been working on since last winter.  I made this crochet blanket, my largest crochet project to date, from a pattern I found in Crochet Today magazine.  Not sure if I completely like how this striped blanket turned out, but the soft, fluffy yarn is very cozy.  It's a great blanket for snuggling up on the couch.

After such a large project, I wanted to do something quick and easy.  I used some leftover yarn to make these crochet snowflakes, also from Crochet Today magazine.  I think they'll make cute ornaments.

I'm already looking for my next crochet project for the winter.  Hopefully, it won't take nearly a year to finish!