Glendale Glitters

Glendale Glitters is a display of approximately 1.5 million lights over twelve to sixteen blocks in Historic Downtown Glendale.  It begins Thanksgiving weekend and ends with a block party which took place this year on January 14^th.  The block party is a good night to attend if you like hot air balloons.  They are tethered in the streets and are just beautiful when fired up.  There didn’t seem to be as many this year as in years past, so that was a little bit disappointing, but it’s possible that was due to my leaving too early. 

Here’s a good article about Glendale Glitters.

Glendale Glitters

Here are some pictures I took at this year's block party.

There are a lot of booths with people selling handmade craft items, food items, and other assorted goods.  I had to laugh at this sign on a booth that sold different kinds of chocolates.

The petting zoo was . . . well . . . a zoo!  At one point a little girl was carrying around a chicken.  So cute!

Throughout the downtown area are different bands.  I took this picture right before I got to the main stage. 

I remembered this balloon from past years. 

I took this picture right before I left.  Such a beautiful balloon! 

Here are some pictures I took from the 2009 - 2010 season.

Here's the bumblebee/wasp balloon again!



I love this picture of the street with the balloon in the background.



Baked Apples

Remember these?  Most everyone I know remembers baked apples from their childhood.  If it's been awhile since you had one, the cold winter months are the perfect time for them.

This is a really simple, basic recipe for baked apples as there are only four ingredients to it and you’re likely to have them on hand – apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  It’s just about impossible to mess up!    

Ingredients:

4 large baking apples

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

butter (approximately 2 to 4 tablespoons)

½ cup boiling water

1.  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Wash the apples and remove the cores down to approximately ½ inch from the bottom.  Be sure to remove all of the seeds. 

2.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.  Place the apples in an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  Stuff each apple with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  You’ll have some left over.  Top with a dot of butter.

3.  Add boiling water to the pan and bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes until the apples are tender but not mushy.  After approximately 20 minutes, the sugar and cinnamon mixture will have melted down.  Put the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture into the apples and bake another 10 – 20 minutes. 

The great thing about this recipe is that you can vary it in so many ways.  You can add raisins, dried cranberries, nuts, or other spices such as nutmeg.  

Although I haven’t tried all of the following variations, they sound delicious. 

Apple sauce or apple juice can be used instead of water.

Sprinkle carmelized pecans on top of ice cream served on the side.     

Caramel sauce – add cornstarch and vanilla to the water in the bottom of the baking dish.  Core the apples all the way through to the bottom so that the brown sugar and butter will leak out.  When the apples are done cooking, whisk together the sauce. 

If you like your apples on the tart side, you can use green apples.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

One of my favorite things about the holidays is decorating my home.  As an adult, I’ve almost always had a live Christmas tree in my home.  The exception to this is when I lived, years ago, in a very small apartment out by the airport in Fargo, North Dakota.  Even then, I had a small, artificial tree and that’s when I began collecting ornaments for future trees.  That apartment was small and cramped, but I loved it nonetheless.  This year, like every year, I have a live Christmas tree in my home.  Many of my ornaments go back many years and they bring back memories of past Christmases as I hang them on the tree.  The feelings evoked range from happy to sad to nostalgic, and everything in between, but all of these memories are important to me as they are part of who I am and I’m reminded of the people, pets, places, and events that have helped shape my life.  Some of the ornaments have become a bit battered and bruised over the years, but they still go on the tree and will continue to in years to come. 

I took some pictures of some of my decorations to show a little bit what my home looks like over the holidays.  My home is filled with lights, candles, garland, and other assorted decorations, but I only took pictures of some of it.  As a bit of a warning, the lighting is really bad for some of the pictures.  Photography isn’t my thing, but I guess if I sat down with my camera and experimented a little with it I might take better pictures.  Ironically, I’m not posting a picture of my tree as it looks pretty much just like a blur of lights in the picture.  Maybe next year I’ll have to consider doing a video tour of my home and posting it on YouTube. 

This is a little display I made using an extra serving plate and some candles that I got from the Candle and Gift Factory Outlet many years ago. I believe there used to be three locations in the Valley, but since another company took them over the stores have closed and they now sell only online.  I could be wrong about that, but it seems I read that somewhere.  It's too bad, because just browsing their stores was an experience in itself if you like candles, and I do!

This is the potpurri I used in the above display.  It's from the White Barn Candle Company and I've also had it for years.

This is my Christmas tree skirt.

This is a little display on a table in my formal dining room right by the front window.  The candles are also from the Candle and Gift Factory Outlet.

This is a display I have on the buffet in my formal dining room.  This is a shot of the left side of it. 

The right side of the display on the buffet.

The center of the display on the buffet.

The lighting is really bad for this shot in my bedroom.  The walls look like a concrete gray, but are really a beautiful sage green.  My Dad purchased the vase for me when we went to the Titanic Exhibition at the Rio in Las Vegas.

The White Star Line logo on the vase in the above picture.

This is a display that is also in my bedroom.

This is in my spare bedroom. 

Look at those wobbledy, hobbledy legs!

This is also in the spare bedroom on the dresser to the right of the bed.

This is in the spare bedroom on the dresser to the left of the bed.

This is to the left of the hall stand in the front hallway.

This is to the right of the hall stand in the front hallway.

This is on the hall stand in the front hallway.  It really isn't this red!!  The lighting is really bad, but this looks just beautiful with the lit garland and the candles when the lights are off.

This is the same display from a different angle.  I took the picture on the wall down as it was creating a glare.  It's still a bad picture, but you get the idea!  I have these kinds of displays all over the front room and elsewhere in the house, but I'm not able to get decent shots of them.  The whole area is really beautiful and there's a sense of peace and calm when the lights are out and the displays are lit up.