My Wedding--It began with Polish Polka practice and ended with Pinochle!

I married my partner, John, on December 26th, 2015. I wanted a Christmas wedding, with all the decorations still up, lights lit, and colors of red, white, and gold abounding. I got my wish!

I love this picture. Sometimes simple is the best!

We had the wedding at St. John the Apostle MCC Church in Fort Myers, Florida. The church was awash in red poinsettias. We added two red and white floral arrangements to flank the altar. Pastor Steve Filizzi performed the ceremony. Wonderful friends served as attendants.

John and I at the altar after our wedding service.
The flowers from Cape Coral Florist were beautiful!

A picture of the wedding party.
We are truly blessed to have great friends!

One of the cookie trays.
There weren't any left at the end of the evening!

Cutting the "cakes." We had five! All different.
They came from Fresh Market in Fort Myers and were delicious!

Blake Becker was our caterer.
His friend, Nicole, was his assistant and bartender.
Blake's food was out of this world good!!! And he is a great friend!

 I made a side dish of Polish Hunter's Stew (Bigos) and kielbasa. I also made the cookies that were served and given as favors to take home in little gingerbread houses. 

We never danced the polka at the reception, but we did end the evening with a couple of rousing hands of pinochle at the hotel where relatives were staying.

How we spent our honeymoon--
after the reception playing pinochle with the family!
My sister, Felicia, joined, us later.

It was a magical day! I am so happy that John and I had the opportunity to join our lives together from now to eternity!

Our friends, Kurt and Jack, gave us this ornament.
It is very special!

Feel free to post a comment below.

A Prize-Winning Cookie Recipe!

Yesterday, I hosted a Christmas Cookie Baking Party. It is the 3rd year that I have done this. We bake about 500 plus cookies in my kitchen. Most of the cookies go to a local senior citizen complex for their annual Christmas party. Everyone who comes also gets to take a box of cookies to take home with them.  I really enjoy doing this.

Let's see, We have classic sugar cookies, pecan tassies, chocolate fudge, lemon squares, magic seven layer bars, chocolate cookies with pistachios and candied orange peel and peanut butter cup cookies. Hmm. What am I missing? Working on jam thumb prints and then fruitcake cookies. Yummers! Had great helpers today! My own set of elves! What fun! And my partner,  John Rush, spent all day Saturday cleaning the house from top to bottom so I could concentrate on the kitchen. I am truly blessed!

Verna's scrumptious cookies!

About 8 years ago I tasted these cookies for the first time. I fell in love with them and have made them ever since. Verna is my sister Kay's mother-in-law. She is now 90 years old and still lives on her own. I hope she doesn't mind my sharing her wonderful recipe. Christmas is not Christmas without these cookies!! UPDATE 12/18/2013: These cookies won the Fort Myers News-Press Holiday Cookie Contest! Here's the link to the article.Not sure how long you will be able to access it. This is is a cached copy.: 

Verna's Apple Walnut Spice Cookies with Vanilla Glaze

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup shortening

1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup finely diced apple

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup milk

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2-3 tablespoons milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.

Cream shortening, sugar, and egg. Add 1/2 sifted dry ingredients. Blend in milk. Add nuts, apples, and raisins and mix well. Add remaining dry ingredients, mix well.

Drop by heaping teaspoon on greased baking sheet (I always use lightly greased parchment paper on my cookie sheet).

Bake at 400 degrees for 11-13 minutes. Brush on glaze while still warm.

Glaze:

Whisk together all ingredients as shown. If too dry to spread add a little more milk.

UPDATE 01/24/14: I found out Verna, who is 90 years old, was hospitalized over the Christmas holidays. It was pretty serious. I had sent her a clipping from the Ft. Myers News-Press about my winning the Christmas Cookie Baking Contest using the recipe she had shared with me several years ago. Her family told me that getting that clipping had made her day and that she was absolutely beaming. She was sharing the article with everyone who came to visit.

God works in mysterious ways, indeed.

Here is a pic of Verna with the newspaper clipping.

Thank you, Verna, for sharing that absolutely wonderful recipe with me. You deserve all the credit!