Thursday, December 25, 2008

God Bless Us Everyonel!

Merry Christmas! Time has flown by so quickly that it feels like we were just celebrating Thanksgiving and now Christmas has been here and gone. I wanted to share a cookie recipe that I started making with my grandmother and uncle when I was younger. I still like to make them each year with memories of sitting at my grandmothers kitchen table. Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Butterballs

Ingredients:
1/3 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbl milk
3/4 Cup soft butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 Cup sifted flout
1/2 Cup chopped blanched almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix chocolate chips with milk over hot boiling water. Let chocolate cool. Cream butter and salt until light and fluffy, gradually adding sugar. Blend in vanilla and cooled chocolate mixture. Mix in flour then almonds until well blended. Dough may be stiff and can be kneaded by hand. Chill dough for at least one hour. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Wishes to Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! I've finally joined the Blog-Bandwagon! And what a better time to start than at Christmas time? It seems like every year we get bogged down by the hustle and bustle of the holiday season....rushing to the stores and buying this and that for our loved ones on our Christmas lists. Funny how when we're young, it's all about the presents but now as an adult it's not the presents that I look back on and remember but it's memories and traditions that I hold most dear.

My sister and I would go to bed on Christmas Eve and leave our stockings on the foot of our bed. Santa would fill them and sometime in the wee morning hour, we would feel the weight of the stocking lying across our feet. Now Santa had some thought process in leaving those stockings on our beds as it gave Mom and Dad a little extra sleeping time while we opened them up on our beds! Sneaky Santa!!

Stockings done, now it was time to get to the tree. Dad would first go downstairs and turn on the lights. Nancy and I would peek from the top of the stairs and we were always excited to see the presents and all. Once Mom was up and ready, we were allowed downstairs.

As the years passed, we grew up. There was a year that my mom and I decided that our stockings could finally be placed under the tree so that we could open them up along with my parents and their stockings. Sad to say, a certain sister who was of COLLEGE age actually had a hissy fit that morning when she discovered her stocking was NOT on the foot of her bed! (Ooops....mental note to self....don't let sis know about blog!).

My sister has since married and now has her own family. Santa now leaves my niece's stocking on her bed just as he did for her mommy. Being single, I still spend the night at my parents on Christmas (yes, even though I only live 3 houses away!). Mom and I enjoy going to the candlelight service at church. We come home to last minute wrapping and hopefully a Christmas movie. My mom has always told us that the animals are to talk at midnight at Christmas Eve and we always stop to listen, although they never seem to have anything to say.

Although the traditions have changed slightly over the years, it's still a special time of year for our family. I'd love for you to leave a comment and tell me about your favorite Christmas tradition!

Merry Christmas!
Dawn