Getting ready for Christmas: A wreath, some cranberries, and wrapping paper

So in spite of the fact that neither Sophie or I felt well today, we got quite a lot done.

We decorated the truck.



We canned some cranberries.


We favor the recipe from Cook's Illustrated, which is not that different from the recipe on most cranberry bags but is just a little bit better:

3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 12-oz. bag of cranberries, picked over.

Bring water, sugar, and salt to boil over high heat. Add cranberries and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until saucy, slightly thickened--about 5 minutes.

I then process in a hot water bath (20 minutes at a hard boil) so I have jars of this in my pantry.

And we made some wrapping paper. (Am I the only one who when she heard Candy Spelling—wife of that man who created the most glorious television trash ever—had an entire room in her mansion devoted soley to gift wrapping thought "Right on, Candy!"?)



We stamp brown craft paper with gold and red ink (usually gold snowflakes and something else in red). Since we save so much money on wrapping paper, we can then spend silly amounts of money on fancy ribbon.

Working from an idea of Sophie's, we also made gift tags. The small one is for doll presents.




Then we made dinner: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, buttered peas, and a green salad. Because we needed something to go with those cranberries. And the roasting chicken made the house smell nice.