Finally Finished!

It only took us two days to decorate the tree. We started yesterday, but by the time we got a new ladder, ornament hooks and garland, it was getting late. Then when we had finished getting the lights put around the tree (that was an exercise in patience and balance - even with two ladders in play), we were done for the day. And believe it or not, but finishing up today was an all-day process. This was the schedule of our day today:


* Eat breakfast
* Clean up
* Put garland on the tree (again - double ladders), then begin hanging balls
* Break for lunch
* Finish hanging balls with the ladder so the top didn't look COMPLETELY barren
* Put on the special ornaments
* Finish up, clean up and decide it's time to figure out something for dinner. 

Seriously - if I hear Phil say one more time that "we're getting a smaller tree next year", I may have to pop him. Good news is - we really needed that taller ladder. It's the perfect height to begin putting things up in the ceiling storage in the garage. See? The magic of Christmas ;0)

The kids had a blast - and we got off light, only breaking 3 ornaments! Really. That was much better than anticipated. Especially with Ceana participating. Then the kids decided that they needed to climb the ladder EVERY. SINGLE. TIME they were hanging an ornament on the tree. Then it became an argument over who the current ornament belonged to. Of course, there is no reasoning with Ceana that brother has more because he's older - so we finally just started telling her that they all belonged to everyone. Now I see why parents start drinking early on tree-decorating day. What? You mean they don't all do that? Oh. Well, it may just become a family tradition in our house. Complete with Christmas music and the sound of shattering glass....

Some perspective on how HUGE the tree is!

We did start the whole process off with a terrific breakfast. Seriously - it will become a new breakfast staple in our house. Nice thing is that it's not only easy, but uses ingredients that most people have in their house already. It tastes absolutely delicious as well, and could be changed as desired - different fruit, different spices...

Baked German Apple Pancake


1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. milk
Dash of salt
3 eggs, separated
2 TB margarine
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (I used Penzey's new four-cinnamon blend - it was incredible!)
3 large or 4 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 9" ovenproof glass pie dish with deep sides in preheated oven (I just stuck the dish in while the oven was preheating and left it there). 
2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix flour, milk, salt and egg yolks in separate bowl with hand mixer (I used a whisk). Then gently fold egg white mixture in.
3. Saute apples, sugar, margarine and cinnamon in skillet for 2-3 minutes until apples are well coated. Pour apples into heated glass pie dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter over apple slices. 
4. Bake for 20 minutes, until the pancake is brown and fluffy. Remove from oven and loosen sides. Place a round plate over glass pie dish and flip over. Cut the pancake in wedges and serve with maple syrup (Syrup is optional - we thought it was sweet enough and tasty enough without it). 

According to Liam, who ate the only leftovers we had, it tastes just as good the next day as it did fresh. Always good to hear! I may have to make another one just to find out for myself ;0)