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We tried something new this Christmas. We've never been a Christmas dinner family. We've always seen Christmas day as an opportunity to be together as a family. The thought of someone having to go and prepare a fancy dinner, taking them away from the fun, just didn't seem fair.  So instead of Christmas dinner, we would pick a few of our favorite appetizers and set them out for everyone to sample as the day wore on. This left plenty of space to try different traditions and meal ideas.

For example there were years where Jay would meet up with the family on Christmas eve at a local restaurant. Jay would be working at the church to get ready for the Christmas Eve services; lunch made for a nice break in the middle of what would be a very long day. Then there were years where we enjoyed Chinese Food for dinner. It all just depended on the day, services times, where we lived, and Jay's role on Christmas Eve. Last Christmas, we did try a Christmas dinner on Christmas day, but it just wasn't the same as our appetizer buffet.

This year we wanted to try something different. As our kids grow, so do their palettes and food interests. We heard friends of ours talking about a brisket that they smoked and ate on Christmas. It sound delicious. The problem was, we don't own a smoker. Nor have we ever smoked meat before. In fact, we didn't know anything about smoking meat. But hey, why not give it a try.

First things first, we needed the meat. For that, we picked up a 12 lb. brisket from the meat department of our local grocer. We weren't totally sure what we were looking for, but it was a nice piece of meat for a nice price. Because of our lack of experience, we knew we didn't want to spend a ton of money on something we might ruin. We got the meat.

Second, we needed to procure a smoker. We were in no position to drop a couple hundred dollars for a new smoker, nor were we ready to make such a commitment at this point. Then I had an idea. I wondered if there might be a way to convert my gas grill into a temporary smoker. So off to YouTube I went. Sure enough, I found a number of videos that show how to convert a gas grill into a smoker with just a few simple modifications. 

Of all the videos I watch, there were two that stood out as informative and instructional. I want to share these videos here, because they were so helpful.

The first is by Jaxx Drinkwater Southern Cooking & BBQ. Jaxx does a great job walking you through the ​steps of both converting the grill and setting up your brisket.

The second video comes from Shane at Payne County Rust. I found this video incredibly helpful. Like Jaxx, Shane walks you step by step through the process. However, I found Shane's video to be easy to follow as a "beginner."

As I watched the videos, I made notes on what materials I needed. A smoker box, drip pans, wood, dry rub, mister, and flavor injector. With a list of items and ingredients, it was time to go shopping. I'll leave links to similar items I bought below. You can pick up these items through our partnership with Amazon.

For the most part, I followed the steps laid out in Shane's video. I defatted the brisket, added some injectable flavoring, and applied the dry rub. For the flavoring I found a recipe on MasterClass.com, titled, Brisket Injection Recipe: How to Inject Brisket With Marinade. It was a simple recipe, easy to make, and delicious in the brisket. The rub was from Kinders. We chose the Woodfired Garlic Rub, which was great on the brisket.

I left the brisket sit over night in the refrigerator. Then on Friday, we fired up the grill, lit the wood chips we bought and started the process of smoking our first brisket.  We followed Shane's instructions, turning, misting, and added wood chips every couple of hours. 

When the brisket reached the designated temperature, I wrapped it in foil and let it rest in the oven at 250˚ for about 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark, we shut down the heat, and allowed the brisket to rest and cool over night in the oven.  

The next day, we warmed the brisket and sliced it for dinner. For a first time brisket, it turned out pretty good, and might end up being a new Christmas Eve tradition. Take 3 minutes and watch the video of our first smoked brisket.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

​- jay & amy 

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With the spooky season of Halloween upon us, we're sharing one of our favorite Halloween recipe. Mummy Dogs. Super easy to make and yummy to eat, Mummy Dogs are a recipe you can make with your kids. Breya and Jay recorded a Kids Talk, a number of years ago, demonstrating how to make Mummy Dogs for dinner.

Take a few minutes to watch the video. Then, grab your kids, some hot dogs, crescent roll dough, and get to cooking!

Simple Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 375˚.
• Open the crescent rolls and unroll the pastry onto the cutting board. If you want, pinch the crescent pastry together where they are pre-cut. Using the pizza cutter, cut the pastry into thin strips that you will wrap around the uncooked hot dog.
• Spray your cookie sheet with the non-stick cooking spray to prevent the pastry from sticking to the pan.
• Once you're done wrapping your hot dogs place them on the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the oven to cook. It should take about 15 minutes for the mummy dogs to bake.
• ​Check on the dogs every couple of minutes. You want the pastry to be a warm, golden brown.

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We're back with part two of our Thanksgiving Treats and Snacks series. We really did have a great time creating these amazing works of art. 

Today we are making Thanksgiving Pretzel Rods. We scrolled through Pinterest looking for yummy treats, and came across a number of different pretzel options. We narrowed the selection down to three treats that we thought would be easy and fun for kids to create and enjoy.

The first is what we're calling the, Turkey Pretzel, with an Oreo cookie backing, candy corn, candy eyes, and chocolate. Tip: let the chocolate cool and harden with the cookie attached. Then add a fresh covering of chocolate when adding the decorative pieces.

All three pretzels are easy to make. It can be a bit messy, and you do have to be careful working with hot, melting chocolate. Aside from that, we think you'll have a lot of fun creating with your kiddos!

​Below is a list of ingredients and our vlog episode with Breya and Jay!

We hope you have fun with these delicious treats. Be sure to join us again on Friday as we post our part three of our series! We'll see you then!

​- the higham house

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We love the holidays! The time spent with family, celebrating traditions, creating memories, eating good food, having fun...we love it all! And while our kids are now teenagers, we still look forward to the time we get to spend with them around the holidays.

We have a number of traditions we celebrate around the Thanksgiving holiday. From preparing for the main event, i.e. Thanksgiving Dinner, to the fun things we do lead up to and following Thanksgiving Day.

One of our goals here at Life in the Higham House, is to create content that is family focused and family friendly. We want to encourage families to set aside time to be more intentional having fun learning, exploring, making memories, and creating together. So we jumped on Pinterest to look for some fun Thanksgiving ideas that we could share with you!

Today begins a three part series of yummy Thanksgiving Treats and Snacks that you can make with your kiddos. Ingredients are listed below. Be sure to watch the vlog with your kids!