A Christmas Story Obssession

My family grew up watching the movie  A Christmas Story. I'm not sure when it turned into such an integral part of our holiday season, but it has a special place in our celebration every year. Four years ago we actually made up our own trivia game based on the movie; and we're not just talking what-is-ralphie's-little-brother's-name-trivia....we're talking name-the-song-on-the-board-in-the-classroom-trivia. Believe me, my brothers and sisters and I know way too much about this movie. And no, we haven't visited Cleveland to see the house where the movie was filmed, but we will someday!

This year I was particularly excited about an addition to my collection of A Christmas Story items. Over the past few years I've started collecting different items that represent the movie. Maybe someday I'll have my very own replica of the leg lamp...to go right in the middle of my front room window.





I ordered these figurines from Urban Outfitters while I was in college. They were my first purchase, besides the movie of course. They always make an appearance around Christmas. They look so much like the characters!





Someone bought this ornament for me a couple of years ago. Anyone that knows me knows how much my family and I love this movie!






My mom bought this ornament for my siblings and I a few years ago. There is even a small button you can push to hear lines from this scene of the movie. Dan laughs at me every time I press it.






I don't recall when I got this ornament, but I love the depiction of the soap scene!





This ornament was a 2011 addition! One night Dan and I were in Target and I was looking for an ornament for an exchange at school. I happened to see this leg lamp ornament that lights up!! I had to have it, but not for my ornament exchange. We bought it for our tree at home.




This leg lamp fleece blanket was bought in 2009. I use it all during the Christmas season.






This cookie cutter was a very exciting addition this year. It was featured in the November issue of Food Network magazine, and I practically jumped out of my seat upon seeing it. I knew I had to order it. Every year I make and decorate Christmas cookies...how perfect would these look amidst the others?! I could hardly wait to use it!





After several hours of baking, cooling, making royal icing, coloring the icing, and carefully piping every part, the leg lamp cookies were complete. They turned out very well for my first try.






They were quite FRA-GEE-LAY once they were baked. My mom forbid anyone to eat them until after Christmas. Finally on the 30th when we were all leaving Fulton to go home, she let us eat one.



A Crafty Christmas

This Christmas I decided to use some of my time off from school to handmake a few items for various people or events. This school year hasn't allowed for much extra time for doing crafty things, and I usually get an "itch" to make something around the holidays. My ideas came from friends, blogs, or things I've been wanting to do for some time.

Burlap Wreath

This item came from a simlar wreath made by my friend Casey, which she featured on her own blog. Her version was a fall-themed wreath, but I made two Christmas wreaths and gave one to my mom. I found a good tutorial online for how to make it and found some decorations for it at Hobby Lobby.

Fabric Cones

I got the idea for these fabric cones on a baking blog that I follow, Sprinkle Bakes. She had made some caramel corn, put it into individual bags and placed the bags in cones made from scrapbook paper and fabric. They were super easy! I used one to give a Secret Santa gift at school and made a couple to put in my parents's stockings. I tried some homemade roasted pecans and placed them inside the cones for my parents.

Burlap Door Hangers

I've seen these burlap door hangers online and in stores for several weeks now. I thought "How difficult could these be to make?" Well come to find out, they're a lot harder than they look. I tried my hand at a couple and know how to make the process a lot simpler next time. I made one for my cousin's 3-month old daughter and another for my family's Dirty Santa (White Elephant) Game on Christmas.

The Hutchins/Cash/Worley-Dean Thanksgiving Holiday

Family traditions. Everyone has them. But the Thanksgiving tradition that my family has is one that is pretty unique. We always thought it was kinda lame growing up, but I guess when you think about it, it's pretty neat.

This year was Dan and I's year to spend Thanksgiving with his family.....but I guess you could say I am the one that skipped out. My brother, who lives in San Diego and comes home maybe twice a year, and his girlfriend were coming to spend Thanksgiving with OUR family....in FULTON! So Dan and I spent the holiday weekend with our respective families, 5 hours away from each other in opposite ends of the state. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking about my family's Thanksgiving 2011.

Mom loves her some Christmas decorations! And each year it's fun to see what new things she has out or how everything is arranged. This year she had everything out before Thanksgiving, a first for her! It sure made it feel more like the holidays. And the fireplace always makes it feel more cozy, especially on the mornings where we just sat around talking and telling stories!

As long as us "younger ones" have been alive, our family has spent Thanksgiving Day at an old school house in Water Valley, Ky. Water Valley is a small, small town about 5 miles from Fulton. This school has been around since the 40's and our extended family has been coming here once a year on Thanksgiving for 50 years. In fact, this year was the 50th year! My grandma Cash, my mother's mother, and her brothers and sisters and their families have been coming here every year for 50 years! We usually have about 120 people!

The front of the school house. It is now a community center that people can rent out for special occassions, such as annual Thanksgiving get-togethers!

There are sitll pictures on the wall of all the different 8th grade classes that graduated from this school!

Since this year was the 50th year, we had t-shirts made and had a group picture!  My grandmother's maiden name was Hutchins, so our t-shirts say "Hutchins: a link to our past and a bridge to our future."

Do you really want to be at the end of THAT food line??

Micah, myself, and Mallory before eating lunch.

Our cousin Brad's daughter, Ava. I just had to include this pic!

Two of my uncles, Barry and Waymon. These are two of Dan's faves in my family. :-)

You know it's "big time" when the local news station comes to cover your family's Thanksgiving dinner! WPSD Local 6 came to interview the remaining 3 siblings of my Grandma Cash. There were originally 9 of them!

Thanksgiving night we did what all other families do: watch football. Because Allison went to the "real UT" as she calls it (University of Texas), we watched the Texas/Texas Tech game. She had to represent her Longhorns!

Friday night we got together at my uncle Mike's shop and ate chili, roasted marshmallows, played cornhole, and watched football. Lauren likes her mallows extra crispy!

I pride myself on being able to make the perfect S'more.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have from Saturday when we all watched the UK/UT game together. This is a very calm picture of Morgan and Duke, but you better believe that it was an exciting afternoon in our house. Becuase Fulton is right on the Kentucky/Tennessee border, about half of our extended family members are UK fans and the other half are UT fans. It was fun being able to be UK fans for once!



Saturday night some of the "cousins" went out to eat in Union City, Tn. Below is the conversation that happened before this picture was taken:

Morgan: Micah, take a picture of me, Maegan and Mallory.

Micah: Don't you want me to be in the picture too?

Morgan: No.

Haha. Morgan keeps us laughing all the time.

But somehow Micah found her way in the picture! Think we love scarves??

And Matthew and Allison had to join the group! Wow, time goes by fast. Morgan is 16 and not the "little one" anymore!

It was a great holiday weekend with family!

Mission Pumpkin Continued

I did not quit my mission: pumpkin....although it may seem that way due to my lack of posting! This post is several weeks behind schedule, seeing as how this pumpkin selection was eaten on November 12!!!! But teaching and graduate school and holiday festivities just don't seem to allow much time for blogging. However, that is being remedied as we speak! I have several posts planned and, with Christmas break just around the corner, time to spare!

On Saturday Nov. 12, my sister Mallory came for a visit and arrived just around lunch time. As much as we love our Panera's and McAlisters' and similar restaurants, there is a local lunch place that is special to us and we hadn't been to since June 12, 2009. My and Dan's families and my bridesmaids had lunch at the Butterfly Garden Cafe the day before our wedding and it was the perfect, soup-and-sandwichy, girly place for a bridesmaids brunch. Mal hadn't been there since that day, although I like to revisit regularly, so I suggested that we eat lunch there.

They always have a great selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads and a great seasonal menu that changes often. Their servings are quite plentiful, so the question always comes at the end of the meal: Do we want dessert?? Do we think we could manage more food?? But the answer to that question when you are at the Butterfly Garden is always YES! Bring on the dessert! Their desserts are wonderful, especially their gooey cakes.

Mal got the Butterscotch Gooey Cake and I got the Pumpkin Crunch. The gooey cake was easily one of the richest things you would ever put into your stomach and the crunch was warm, the perfect seasonal mixture of pumpkin and a crunchy topping.



Mal is trying to decide what to get! There are too many choices!




My Pumpkin Crunch in the front and the Butterscotch Gooey Cake in the back. Yum!



Why I Love FRIDAYS

There is something about a Friday morning. Knowing the weekend is just around the corner, that another long week at school (or work, for you) is behind you, sleeping in the next day, and you get a few days to (try) not think about your job. Here are just a few reasons why I love Fridays!

1. Knowing that the next time I lay down in bed I won't have to worry about getting up at 6:00!
2. Wearing jeans, a hoodie, and tennis shoes to school! At my school, if you donate $10 to Relay For Life, you are allowed to wear jeans on Fridays and I love it!
3. Getting my traditional Friday morning coffee. It is not rare for me to wake up before my alarm thinking about what selection I'll get at either McDonald's, Starbucks, Sunergos, or Heine Brothers. On this particular Friday I got a peppermint mocha (only $1) from McDonald's. I am a sucker for holiday flavors!
4. Friday night is sometimes the laziest night in the Tepe household. Although there does come an occassional Friday night where I get a boost of energy and work til Midnight, typically I walk into our apartment on a Friday afternoon, change clothes, sit down on the couch and don't get back up!
5. One less day until Summer Vacation!

Mission Pumpkin: Pumpkin Spice Latte

My "mission: pumpkin" has been slow going, but still going nonetheless. A couple of weeks ago I made my first loaf of chocolate chip pumpkin bread. It was wonderful. I like to use a combination of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and all spice for a perfect spicy combination to go along with the pumpkin. The recipe I use is found on a post from this time last year.

This past weekend Dan and I were in NKY for the Kohrs wedding, a culminating event to a very long but eventful and exciting fall wedding season. It was a perfect fall weekend with warm temps during the day and cool temps at night. Saturday morning while Dan and his buddies prepared for the wedding (apparently playing video games is a necessity), a couple of the wives and I went shopping! We were meeting at Casey's house that morning and I couldn't drive by the Starbucks in Fort Thomas without stopping for coffee.

I've tried the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks before....a few years ago....and remember being quite unimpressed. I thought to myself, "People go crazy over these things, what's the big deal?" But on this particular day I thought I would give it another try. Afterall, it had been several years and my palatte for coffee and different flavors has changed quite a bit. I gave my order to the barista and patiently waited while my spicy expresso drink was being made just for me. I perked up when I heard "tall pumpkin spice latte for Maegan." I thanked the barista and walked back to the car and sat down inside before taking the first sip. I anticipated a not-so-pumpkiny-too-spicy kind of flavor. But to my surprise....it was really good! A great combination of pumpkin flavor and spice; and the steamed whole milk helped out too!

And now I think I've become one of "those" people. The kind that freak out and post all over Facebook on the day that comes every Fall, the day when Starbucks starts making annual their pumpkin spice lattes. Well....maybe not that extreme, but I can now call myself a fan of the pumpkin spice latte. I look forward to trying similar drinks at local coffee shops in Louisville, as well as continuing my search for pumpkiny goodness!

Mission: Pumpkin

I love the fall. The cool nights. Sweaters and boots. Wearing a hoodie to school on Friday with my jeans! But most of all, I love the many recipes and foods that contain fall's signature ingredient: pumpkin! I am making it my mission to become a pumpkin connnoisseur, to get personal with all things pumpkin in the next couple of months. It's only a matter of time before I bake my first batch of chocolate chip pumpkin bread.

Here are the first couple of items to cross off of my pumpkin bucket list this year!

Pumpkin Item #1: Graeter's Pumpkin Ice Cream

I got this wonderful waffle cone filled with pumpkiny goodness while I was with my good friend Shelley at the St. James Art Fair a couple of weeks ago. It's a huge art fair that happens right in our backyard...literally. Our neighborhood of Old Louisville basically shuts down for the weekend, so I got home on Friday from school and never left. Graeters was just one of tons of food vendors lining the streets. Once I saw that they were selling the pumpkin ice cream, I knew I had to partake.

Pumpkin Item #2: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancake from Alfalfa (Lexington, Ky)

I went to Alfalfa with sister Mallory while Dan and I were in Lexington last weekend for a wedding. There were many items on the menu that sounded wonderful, including the apple cinnamon pancake that Mal ended up getting, but once I spotted the chocolate chip pancakes on the menu my my was made up. We split a farmer's market quiche and each got a pancake of our choice. Many of you are probably thinking "pumpkin pancake....eww." But the pumpkin taste was just subtle enough to give the pancake an extra something special, not overpowering at all. And the chocolate chips added the right amount of sweetness.


Stay tuned for more pumpkiny treats!