Friday, December 15, 2006

Christmas Home Tour

Remember the Blogging Tour of Homes from this summer? Well, it is back and in Christmas fashion! Welcome to my home, dear friends! Please come in ~ we have a cozy fire and peppermint hot chocolate ready, let's sit and visit for a while! Click the button above to visit the list of other holiday homes!

Our Christmas Tree - a live one! We have enjoyed this tree so much, it is so beautiful and apparently some birds thought so too as we found a nest in the branches! We decorate with family ornaments that we have collected through the years - it always brings back so many memories to unpack the ornaments and decorate the tree!

Now, go ahead and relax in front of the cozy fire...

... and remember the real reason we are celebrating Christmas!

Here's your hot chocolate! This recipe is from Everyday Food

Peppermint Hot Chocolate
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 quart milk
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
7 peppermint sticks; 3 crushed (1/4 c.), 4 left while
pinch of salt

Place cocoa in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in milk until cocoa has dissolved. Add chocolate chips and crushed peppermint; simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate and peppermint have melted, 8-10 minutes. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Add salt. Ladle into mugs; serve each with a peppermint stick! Serves 4.

Oh, don't forget to add one of these to the top when you're done! Yummy!

Here are our porch and front door decorations!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas! What a fun idea -- and your home and Christmas decorations look awesome! Your tree is beautiful, and the fire in the fireplace looks so inviting. :) I'm so happy to be able to see your home all dressed up for Christmas --

Lots of love, Mom

TheNormalMiddle said...

Look at you with the roaring fire, cocoa and everything! :) Love it!

Feels very homey!

Mama Duck said...

Mmmm, cocoa!! I love it! I really must go decorate now - all we've gotten decorated around here is the Christmas tree, yipes!

Anonymous said...

I loved the peppermint hot cocoa and your fire was so relaxing!
You have a lovely home!!
Merry Christmas!!

ChupieandJ'smama (Janeen) said...

The tree, the beautiful fireplace and the hot chocolate. How wonderful it all is! Thank you so much for the tour and have a very Merry Christmas!

Lori said...

Such beautiful decorations and drinks to boot!!! Thank you so much.

Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

That's one of the prettiest nativities I've ever seen.

Pamela said...

What a beautiful Christmas card your gorgeous rip roaring fire place would make! So heartwarming! Loved it all and thanks for the delicious hot chocolate with peppermint...yummy! :)

Pamela said...

That's me above, had to open a google acct to comment on Beta.

pamela
http://justthetwo-of-us.blogspot.com

amanda said...

the hot chocolate with pepermint is very "photogentic" :)

Merry Christmas!!

Karen said...

Ah a roaring fire. so nice. We have a fireplace, but no fires. The cocoa looks lovely too. Thank you for the tour. Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by - your house looks lovely. I miss having a real tree this year, but really like my new artificial one - except no yummy Christmas scent in the house. The hot chocolate looks divine - and what a great idea for whipped cream topping!

Come back any time!

Mississippi Girl said...

Everything looks SO beautiful and welcoming!! LOVE the live tree, the fire... and that cocoa...mmm! Makes me want to go and whip some up!
Jennifer R.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty decorations-I especially love what you did with all the "greens"! Wonderful touches.

That hot chocolate looks yummy.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Blogger profile name said...

That sounds like some awesome cocoa! I think it's really neat that there was a bird's nest in your tree - did you leave it?

Susan P. said...

Monica, everything looks so wonderful. Your tree is beautiful and that roaring fire just makes me want to curl up with that yummy cocoa and a good book! BTW, I have the same nativity as you do:) Thanks for sharing your heart and home with us! ** I switched to Beta and I can comment now, YAY!

Anonymous said...

Loved visiting your home everything is so nice and inviting! On my way now to heat up some hot cocoa! :-)
Hope you have a very blessed and Merry Christmas!

gail@more than a song said...

Beautiful decorations, cozy fire and peppermint hot cocoa....it's all perfect! And I loved your tip about freezing those cute dollops of whipped cream, very good idea.
Thanks for having us over.

Anonymous said...

Great decorations! I especially like the WillowTree nativity set that you have. It's beautiful!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and see my 2006 Christmas Tour of Homes decorations! I do appreciate it!

Merry Christmas to you!

Susanne said...

Your fire looks so inviting. Lovely!

Cindee said...

That's so cool to find a nest in your tree! I love the great fireplace. We have a woodstove with no window so when we have a fire we can't see it. :-( Thanks for stopping to tour my home I appreciated your comments!

Merry Christmas,
Cindee @ As For Me

Susannah said...

Very nice indeed. Your tree is really unique. I wonder what kind it is? (And it came with a nest? How cool!) Your fire with the stockings looks so cosy. Thanks for opening your home today. Merry Christmas!

Chrissy said...

Your nativity is lovely!

Janice (5 Minutes for Mom) said...

hmmm that hot chocolate is great!

i can't believe there was a nest in your tree!!!! wow

it all looks lovely :)

Chris @ Come to the Table said...

Everything is warm and inviting. Thanks for sharing and for visiting.

Merry Christmas!

Susie said...

Love the fireplace picture. So warm and inviting. I miss having a real tree, and yours looks so beautiful! Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas.

Susie said...

What a festive home you have. I love all your collections! Thanks for having us over.

on the Rock said...

Love the warm blazing fire! Lovely tour! Merry Christmas!

Laura said...

Such a wonderful fire you have going there...very nice touch and thanks for the recipe. Blessings, Laura (orgjunkie)

Musings of a Housewife said...

Merry Christmas! Thanks for the hot chocolate. And for stopping by on Friday.

Jenny Quld said...

WoW, I would love a fire at Christmas,(No chance in "stinkin hot" Brisbane LOL). Thank you for inviting me over, Merry Christmas

Anonymous said...

Thanks for having us over and for the cozy fire! Everything is lovely.

Anonymous said...

Oh that fire looks wonderful! I'll just stay right next to it. :) We're having single-digit lows overnight so even a fire photo seems warm!