Holiday Hosting at Home #5: Christmas Table Settings, Decor and More!

Can you believe Christmas is almost here! We’ve all been busy getting ready for the holidays and creating things to inspire you. We are excited to share our fifth post in our blog hop: Holiday Hosting at Home!  This week we are sharing what we’ve all been up to the past few weeks including Christmas tablescapes, Christmas trees, and my family’s favorite recipe! Keep scrolling for fun and simple Christmas decor ideas!

We hope this gives you some ideas for entertaining at home!  If you would like to pin any of these images, please go to the original post linked below each image.  You will want to see their whole posts anyway because there is so much inspiration in each of these posts.

To Have + To Host

Lory created this beautiful tablescape using her grandmothers heirloom china that she received as a gift.  She used this beautiful china and current dinnerware to give this place setting an updated look. Layering the plates is one of Lory’s favorite tricks for creating depth and elegance to a place setting. I couldn’t agree more. That is one of my favorite tricks too! This is my favorite tablescape of Lory’s to date! It’s absolutely beautiful! Click here to see the full post.

Next, Lory shares her Traditional and Classic Christmas Tablescape.  She uses all the traditional reds, greens, and gold in this lively tablescape. Lory likes to change things up and add a twist and this tablescape is no exception. She went with a straightforward classic, traditional, time-honored, historic, customary Christmas and she’s not apologizing for it! Click here to see the details of this festive table!

Home With Holliday

Holliday shares with us her beautiful Silver and Gold Glam Christmas Centerpiece that she used to decorate the buffet in her dining room. She used a combnation of metallics that would go with multiple table settings and used greenery to add some seasonal colors. This neutral display works well with almost every color palette. To see the details click here.

Next, Holliday shares her Simple Woodland And Pine Cone Christmas Table Setting. She used two burlap table runners instead of placemats. Genius! She used a simple cedar garland, a mix of different sized pine cones, and some beautiful candles.  The earth toned dinnerware mixes beautifully with the green garland and pine cones. This table is stunning and could be used all winter long! Click here to see the full post.

Home With Holly J

This week I’m sharing my Christmas Trees in the Highland house from 2017 and 2018. I share the details of how I used most of the same ornaments from the two different trees to create two very different looks. Click here to see the post and all the details.

Next I shared my great grandma’s homemade chicken and noodles recipe that is served over mashed potatoes. If you like comfort food, then you’ll love this! The first time I cooked for my husband I made this family recipe. He went from good friend to boyfriend after realizing I could cook!  Click here to read the details!

Simple Christmas decor ideas

The post Holiday Hosting at Home #5: Christmas Table Settings, Decor and More! appeared first on Home With Holly J.

This homemade chicken and noodles recipe served over mashed potatoes is a cherished family recipe.

I know you’re wondering how can you have double starches?

Potatoes and noodles?

Trust me, this is a delicious combination!

Anyone who has ever had this meal loves it.

We would have this often when I was growing up and this was one of the first recipes I learned to make when I was young.

It has been passed down four generations and originated, as far as I know, from my Great Grandma Stone.

This was the first meal I ever made for my husband not long after we met.

We were in college at the time, and he and his roommates had helped me move to a different apartment.

I wanted to make them dinner as a thank you to them for helping me.

I made them this recipe and they loved it. Especially my husband!

After he had eaten two giant helpings, he decided he liked me a lot more.

I jokingly tell everyone that I didn’t have him at hello, I had him at homemade chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes!

I went from good friend to girlfriend after I cooked this for him.

It’s still one of his favorite meals.

If you’re from Idaho, you know that potatoes are a big part of every meal.

At least it was when I was growing up.

My parents are from Idaho and I spent my summers there with my grandparents.

Both at home in Washington, and at my grandparents house, we almost always had potatoes with every meal.

About six months after we were married, My husband politely asked me if we could have something else besides potatoes with every meal.  

I said, “Well, what else is there?”

He said “How about some rice or pasta?”

I didn’t even know how to make rice or pasta unless it was riceroni or mac and cheese from a box.

We still laugh about that!

I seriously thought you had potatoes with every meal. I loved potatoes and could make them 20 different ways!

This recipe is great for a large crowd as it makes a lot and it’s actually super easy.

It’s not a time consuming  either and doesn’t make a big mess.

I’m sure way back in the day when my great grandma made this, she probably made her own egg noodles.

I tried once to make my own but to be honest, the frozen ones from the grocery store are better than what I made!  

There are two brands I’ve used, Reams Frozen Egg Noodles and Grandmas Frozen Egg Noodles.

They are sometimes hard to find at the grocery store in the freezer section, so I always ask someone who works there if I can’t locate them.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my husband did when I made it for him the first time!

Print

Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

This is my family’s recipe that has been passed down four generations. If you’re from Idaho, you’ll know what this is! Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes. Comfort food doesn’t get any better than this!

Course Main Course

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

• 1 whole Chicken
• 1 package frozen egg noodles (Grandma’s or Reames Brand)
• 3-5 tbsp chicken bouillon (to taste)
• 2 tsp salt (water covering chicken)
• 1/2 tsp peper (to taste)
• 6 large potatoes
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tbsp salt (for potato water)

Instructions

• Take a whole chicken and remove the bag inside the chicken that has the liver and heart. Discard.
• Place the chicken in a large stock pot or 7 quart dutch oven pot. Fill up the pot until the chicken is almost covered in water.
• Add salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is almost falling off the bone. (Turn chicken over at least once so both sides are submerged at some point) Remove the chicken from the pot and set on a large plate or platter to cool. There should be about 4-6 inches of stock left in the pot.  
• Peel and wash the potatoes, then cut them into 1-2″ pieces. Put in a pot and cover with water then add 2-3 TBSP salt to the water. Always salt your potato water. This is important! Bring to a boil and check potatoes every so often for doneness. 
  
• Once the potatoes are on the stove and cooking, dump the frozen egg noodles into the same pot of chicken stock. Stir a few times to make sure the noodles all separate and don’t get clumped up. Cook on medium to medium high heat and stir often.  
  
• While the noodles and potatoes are cooking, start deboning the chicken and add the meat back into the pot with the noodles. The noodles usually take 20-30 min to cook fully. Test them every so often so that they don’t get overdone.
• When the noodles are fully cooked and chicken has all been added back into the pot, add in the chicken bouillon. This is not an exact measurement so you may need to add a little more or little less depending on how much stock you had after the chicken was removed for deboning. If you need more salt and pepper, you can add more here. The bouillon has a lot of salt so add that first and then taste and see if it needs more. Turn down the heat to medium low.
• In a glass measuring cup, mix cornstarch and water and stir until there are no lumps and all the cornstarch and water are mixed well. Turn heat up a little so that its boiling and add in cornstarch and water mixture. Stir while adding this. Once the chicken and noodles come to a boil, it should start to thicken. If it’s too runny, make a little more cornstarch and water and add a little at a time until it starts to thicken. If you get it too thick, you can always add more water and bouillon to compensate. It should be the consistency of a thin gravy or sauce. It is not a soup so you don’t want it the consistency of chicken noodle soup.
• Once, it’s thickened, the chicken should shred some as you stir. Turn heat to low and then check and drain your potatoes.  
• Mash the potatoes with 1/3 cup milk or half and half and 1/4 cup of butter. 
• Serve the chicken and noodles right over the top of the potatoes.  

Sources Linked Below:

Disclaimer: This post does include affiliate links for your convenience. This is at NO additional cost to you but earns me a small commission. To read more, check out our disclosure policy.

Pin This Post For Later

The post Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes appeared first on Home With Holly J.

Disclaimer: This post does include affiliate links for your convenience. This is at NO additional cost to you but earns me a small commission. To read more, check out our disclosure policy.

My love for homemade goods

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love the smell of warm homemade rolls or bread baking!  That smell conjures up sweet memories of my childhood and fun times around the holidays with close friends and family. I really enjoy cooking for everyone in my life. My husband LOVES my cooking!  My second son, Jordan, has said that whoever he marries has to go to the Holly Jolley cooking school before he will marry them. I told him he might be single for a long time! It makes me so happy that my husband and kids love it so much when I make their favorite things to eat.

One of their favorite things is my homemade rolls.  These are no ordinary rolls. This recipe was given to me by my friend Kathy years ago. I think one of the reasons my husband likes these rolls so much is that they remind him of when he was growing up in Farmington, New Mexico, and visiting his grandparent’s spudnut shop.  A spudnut is a doughnut made with potato flour. This roll recipe has potato flakes in the dough so there are some similarities to the doughnuts he grew up eating. I prefer to make these over store-bought rolls. It’s a little more work, but so worth the effort! Anyone who comes to my house for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner knows they will get to have these yummy rolls!

Making the Dough

Print

The Best Homemade Rolls

These rolls are made with potatoes and are a tiny bit sweet.  They are the best rolls ever!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword rolls, bread, homemade, potato rolls, potato,

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup potato flakes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 8 cups flour

Instructions

• Microwave 3 cups milk for 6 minutes in a glass measuring cup or small bowl.  When done add 1/2 cup butter (1 cube) and 1 cup potato flakes to the hot milk and stir.  Let sit for a few minutes while the butter melts and the potatoes absorb liquid.
• While the milk is in the microwave put 1/4 cup warm water and 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast in a separate measuring cup and let sit.  Do not stir. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer and the dough hook attachment, put the 4 eggs, 1 Tbsp salt, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 cup butter in the mixing bowl. Mix for about one minute.
• Add milk/potato mixture to the mixer on the lowest setting. Mix for about 30 seconds.
• Add 4 cups flour to the mixing bowl one cup at a time and mix for about 30 seconds.
• Add yeast/water mixture, then add 4 more cups of flour one cup at a time.
• Knead on low speed for about 4-5 minutes.  The dough is quite sticky and moist.
• When done mixing the dough, spray a large metal or glass bowl with cooking spray and put the dough in the bowl to proof. Cover with a damp thin dish towel and let rise for about an hour.  The dough will double in size.
• When done proofing, sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Cut dough into 4 sections. I usually do croissants so I roll the dough into a large circle about 1/4" thickness.  Cut with a pizza cutter into triangles and roll up.  Lay them on a greased cookie sheet. Let them rise for about 10-15 minutes and then bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until they start to lightly brown on top and bottom.

Shaping the Rolls

[holly_healthful_tips]   Holly’s Helpful Hints *I use my dough hook on my Kitchenaid stand mixer or my bosch mixer for the entire mixing process. *1 ½ TBSP is equivalent to 1 Tbsp + 1 ½ tsp. *I divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out 4 different circles. I use a pastry scraper to cut the dough. * Can make into knots, balls, parker house shapes or whatever you like. I prefer the croissant shape. *Don’t over bake.  Watch bottom of rolls to make sure they don’t get too brown on bottom. *They are good the next day if you put them in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds.  Almost as good as fresh baked. *I sometimes roll them out into the shape I want, then freeze them on a cookie sheet for about an hour.  Then I put them in a ziplock bag and then I have rolls to bake when I need them. When ready to use them, let them rise on a greased cookie sheet for a couple hours then bake. *This recipe makes about 40-50 rolls depending on how big you make each roll.  This recipe can be doubled but you’ll need a big mixer to handle all the dough. [/holly_healthful_tips]

xoxo,

Pin This Post For Later

The post Warm Homemade Rolls | The Best Bread Baking And Homemade Rolls appeared first on Home With Holly J.

One of my favorite recipes to make is my delicious homemade lasagna recipe. I make it with homemade meat sauce or what they call bolognese. This recipe is also what I use when I’m making a marinara or bolognese sauce for spaghetti! You can make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and it then becomes a simple marinara. This recipe has evolved over the years as I’ve learned more about authentic Italian cooking.  When I went to Italy years ago, I had the most amazing pasta! I asked the little Italian grandmas who hosted us how they made their sauce. I came back from my trip and tried to replicate what they told me to do. It’s taken a few years, but this is the recipe I’ve come up with that I think is pretty close.

The most important thing is the quality of the ingredients.  If you can get fresh San Marzano tomatoes, that is your best option.  If you can’t find them (they are hard to find sadly) you can use Roma tomatoes.  They also have canned San Marzano tomatoes and I use them when I don’t have real tomatoes.  Use fresh garlic and a quality olive oil. Fresh herbs also make it even better!

This sauce can be frozen and used in other pasta dishes.  I will often make a giant batch of it for spaghetti, then I freeze the rest and use it when I want to make lasagna. This can be a time-consuming recipe so having the sauce already made is a time saver.  Sometimes I will make the sauce without the meat and mix in cream or alfredo sauce and serve it with some kind of ravioli or tortellini. So many options with this basic Italian red sauce!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this lasagna recipe using this amazing sauce!

[holly_healthful_tips]  

Holly’s Helpful Tips:

*When boiling water for pasta, always add salt to the water.  It should be like seawater and helps flavor the pasta while it’s cooking.

*You do not have to use zucchini in the recipe, but if I can add some vegetables to the sauce and hide it from the kids, then it’s a win-win!  I use a hand blender right in the pot as it’s still cooking. Be careful not to splatter the sauce on yourself!

*The best tomatoes for any authentic Italian tomato sauce are San Marzanos.  They are a Roma type of tomato. I have only found them a few times and in the summer so if you can’t find them, don’t fret. You can use regular Roma tomatoes.  You can actually use any tomato you have but these are the best options. If you can’t find fresh or either, you can buy canned San Marzano tomatoes!

*If you don’t have fresh basil, you can use dried basil.  2-3 teaspoons will do.

*I prefer to grate my own cheese but you can always use pre-shredded cheeses.

*I don’t like large clumps of ground beef in my sauce so when I am cooking the meat I use a metal potato masher to break up the meat into a uniform size.  The hand blender will take care of blending it more. If you have kids and they don’t like big chunks of tomatoes, this trick and the blender helps hide the vegetables!

[/holly_healthful_tips]

Print

Homemade Lasagna

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Lasagna

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 1 Box Lasagna Noodles
• 3 TBSP Salt
• 12 San Marzano or Roma Tomatoes Washed and Quartered
• 2 Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped
• 3/4 cup Onion Finely Diced
• 1 cup Carrots Shredded
• 1 cup Zucchini Shredded (optional)
• 1 cup Celery Finely Chopped
• 3 Basil Leaves Finely Chopped
• 3 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 2 tsp Garlic Salt
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 1 can Tomato Paste
• 6 cup Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
• 2 cup Asiago Cheese Shredded
• 1 cup Romano Cheese Shredded
• 3 cup Parmesan Cheese Shredded

Instructions

• Begin by making the sauce in a 5-7 quart Dutch oven or large saucepan. Saute the 3 TBSP Olive Oil, 2 Cloves Garlic, 3/4 cup Onion, 1 cup Celery, 1 cup Carrots, and 1 cup Zucchini on medium-high for about 5 minutes.
•  Add the 1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef, 2 tsp Garlic Salt, 1 tsp Pepper, and 2 tsp Italian Seasoning and cook until the ground beef is fully cooked.
• Then add the chopped 12 San Marzano or Roma Tomatoes, 1 TBSP Sugar, 3 Basil Leaves, and 1 can Tomato Paste. Simmer on medium-low for about 30-40 minutes stirring often.  
• Bring the water for the lasagna noodles to a boil and add the 3 TBSP Salt to the water. Once it’s boiling, add the 1 Box Lasagna Noodles and stir often to help keep the noodles from sticking together. Take the noodles out just before they are fully cooked and drain them in a colander. 
• While the sauce and noodles are cooking, grate the different cheeses (6 cup Mozzarella Cheese, 2 cup Asiago Cheese, 1 cup Romano Cheese, 3 cup Parmesan Cheese), setting aside 1 cup of the parmesan cheese for the top layer, and dump it all into a bowl, and toss gently to mix it up.
• When the sauce is done simmering, take an immersion blender and blend the sauce up right in the pan. Add in the finely chopped fresh basil. If you don’t have fresh basil you can use dried basil.
• Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set your sauce, noodles, and cheese next to your baking dish.
• Use a ladle and start by putting a little bit of sauce on the bottom then layer the noodles, more sauce, and then cheese. Continue until you get almost to the top and finish with a layer of sauce and the remaining cheese on top. 
• Take the parmesan that was set aside earlier and put that on the very top.
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. When the cheese starts to turn golden brown and the sides of the pan are bubbling, it’s done.

This recipe is best served hot with some nice french bread and if you want a yummy salad to go with it, try this Cherry Tomato Salad as the perfect compliment to this rich pasta dish.  

Delicious homemade lasagna recipe

The post Homemade Lasagna appeared first on Home With Holly J.