CIJ - day 31. Last day of CIJ

Yep, it's the last day of CIJ. I'll have to take a break of Christmas planning because Halloween is coming up! Boo!

Recipe for today: Christmas tree pizza

Ingredients
1 package frozen, chopped spinach
Yellow, red, and orange bell peppers
Olive oil
Cornmeal
Pizza dough for one 12-inch round pie
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 to 1/3 grated Romano cheese
Feta cheese (or why not bocconcini?)

Instructions
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cook the spinach, drain, and press it to squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside.
Use tiny cookie cutters to shape circles and stars from the peppers. Set aside.
Coat a 12-inch pizza pan with olive oil, then sprinkle on the cornmeal. Roll the dough into a circle and place on the pan, pushing the edges to the rim.
Spread the tomato sauce on the dough and sprinkle on the grated Romano cheese. Top with the chopped spinach and then drizzle olive oil over the spinach. Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the spinach and arrange the pepper circles.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is browned. Cut the pizza into triangular slices and then trim the crust to form a trunk. Finally, top each slice with a yellow star. Makes one 12-inch pizza.

Craft of the day - Christmas napkins

Some vintage buckles and ribbons for the napkin rings. old vintage napkins and a fine-tip Sharpie and simply write a recipe (a gingerbread recipe, cookie recipe, ...) on each napkin.

Beautiful! and can be reused.

Thanks to: http://storybookwoods.typepad.com/storybook_woods/christms/

Joke of the day:

T'was the week After Christmas...
T'was the week after Christmas, and all through the house,

Every creature was hurting-- even the mouse.

The toys were all broken, their batteries dead;

Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.

Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor,

whileUpstairs the family continued to snore.

And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans,

Went into the kitchen and started to clean.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.

The driver was smiling, so lively and grand;

The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."

With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox

Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.

Bill after bill, after bill, they still came.

Whistling and shouting he called them by name:

"Now Dillard's, now Broadway's, now Penny's and SearsHere's Levitz's and Target's and Mervyn's -- all here!!

To the tip or your limit, every store, every mall,

Now chargeaway-chargeaway-chargeaway all!"

He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work.

He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.

He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road,

Driving much faster with just half a load.

Then I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer,
""Enjoy what you got ... you'll be paying all year!"

Submitted by Kenneth, Shropshire, England