HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

“May your walls know joy; may every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.” – Mary Anne Radmacher-Hershey

At Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Great Smokys Realty, we believe there’s no place like home for the holidays. The holidays call upon us to reconnect with friends and family, reflect on the past year and renew our energy for the new year ahead. There’s no sugarcoating the fact that the holidays can be a hectic time. In the spirit of the season, we are sharing these tips and tricks for reducing stress so you can savor the gifts of friendship, food and fun this holiday season.

A POTLUCK OF HOLIDAY LIFEHACKS

Support local businesses by purchasing a few small gifts to have on the ready for unexpected guests or a last-minute gift exchange.

Did you know hand sanitizer has an extra special use over the holiday season? When you inevitably get tree sap on your hands you can skip the frustration of soap and water, and use it to quickly remove the sticky substance. The alcohol in hand sanitizer breaks up tree resin in a matter of seconds.

Cooking breakfast for the family? Fill a cleaned-out ketchup or squeeze bottle with pancake batter for perfectly round pancakes, no drips. Score extra credit points by carving your hot cakes with holiday-themed cookie cutters.

Put your bread clips to good use! When wrapping gifts, apply the bread clip to the end of the tape each time you remove a piece. No more searching for the end just to dig up the next piece. You'll have a tab you can use to pull up the next piece of tape easily.

Once unleashed from packaging, unwieldy wrapping paper can prove to be a source of frustration. No worries though, use empty toilet paper rolls to secure and store your leftover decorate wrappings.

Broken ornament? Hold off on grabbing the vacuum as the glass can cause damage. Instead, make your way over to the pantry and grab a slice of bread. The spongy surface of the bread is perfect for picking up all the little glass pieces.

We weren’t sure if we should include this one, but we verified it’s a thing. If you need to wash a bunch of potatoes at once, then just place them in the top rack of an empty dishwasher and set it to a quick rinse-only cycle (no soap of course!). Spend the next 11 minutes multi-tasking, and then unload a batch of clean potatoes.

Since we’re talkin’ taters, if you are left with half-emptied bags of chips after a party don’t throw them out yet! You can de-stale them by tossing them in your oven for just a few minutes.

Quick tip for pet owners out there: tire out your pooch before guests arrive, making it less likely there will be excessive jumping and barking when the doorbell rings.

Last but not least, bake in time for self-care. Schedule a pedicure, massage or some other relaxing treatment to break up the fast pace of the holiday.

Looking for more ideas? Click here to check out Time Magazine’s Holiday Tips & Tricks Pinterest Page for ideas to take your holiday from good to great!

HOPE'S HOLIDAY MAKEOVERS GERMAN CHOCOLATE SASQUATCH CAKE

The WNC region is no stranger to Sasquatch-themed events like the Sasquatch Scrambler in Pisgah National Forest. Give your guests something to talk about this holiday season with a festive cake featuring this popular, elusive creature!

• Frost Cake with Betty Crocker Coconut Pecan Frosting

• Click here to download the Sasquatch Template

• Print out on 8.5 x 14 paper

• Cut out an inverted Sasquatch, leaving a Sasquatch opening.

• Place paper lightly on top of icing and shake in the chocolate sprinkles.

NOTHING BUNDT COPY CAT RECIPES

Click to View Cake Recipe Click to View Icing Recipe

“I use the Nothing Bundt Copycat Cake recipe for all my cakes and Wilton Best Homemade Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe. They always taste amazing if I do say so myself!”

NAILED IT & FAILED IT

We are having a bit of fun around the office with a Nailed It & Failed It baking challenge. It’s early days, here are a few fun ones to share.

NAILED IT! ANETTE'S BALKAVA

“I took one for the team on this one because I had multiple pieces! Lol! It did come out good though!”

FAILED IT! KELLI’S GUMMY BEAR CAKE

Click to View Recipe from Unicorn Food: Rainbow Treats and Colorful Creations to Enjoy and Admire (Whimsical Treats)

“The kids and I flipped open their favorite Unicorn Food cookbook and landed on the Gummy Bear Cake page. It looks straight forward enough...

Clearly our cake wasn’t photo-shoot ready, but it was tasty, and the laughter made along the way was well worth it! I highly recommend attempting this one with young kids over the holiday!"