T'was the Month before Christmas

T'was the month before Christmas and all through house, every person was busy - even the toddler! I love my house at Christmas time. I am very traditional in my decor. Red, gold and evergreens are my thing. This year we got an earlier start than usual, partly or mostly due to the pandemic funk of 2020. This year has had a lot of highs and some lows, so I wanted to bring the year to an end in the most festive way I could {I have an awesome husband who helped me accomplish this.}

We decorated the tree {not an easy feat with a three year old who wants to help, there may have been tears just saying and I won't say whose} and put out all of our decorations. Some of our decorations are hand me downs from family, things Ken grew up with or ornaments that have been on our trees for decades. These little touchs and traditions mean so much to me because we bring the memories we shared with our families into our home and they provide a way to make those love one's real to our girls.

Another decoration that I added was a manager nativity advent calendar that I bought several years ago for the girls. Each day leading up to Christmas, starting Dec. 1st we add a piece to the nativity scene. I also added various verses of scripture that depict the story of Christ's birth. This is something we end our evenings with so that the girls understand the true reason we celebrate Christmas. You can find this type of calendar on Amazon. {Here is the link to the one we use but there are several others that are very similar.}

We also love to craft and create some of our own decorations. This year Ken wanted to redo our front door wreath and asked me to do it. I went to my local Hobby Lobby and loaded up on all the goodies. If you are someone who loves to DIY that is one of my favorite stores to go to. Making a wreath is simple if you just keep in mind you are building. I tend to start with the larger pieces and use the smaller stuff to fill in holes and then use ribbon to get any gaps I missed. Some may think it is easier to just pay someone else but for me this is a creative outlet I truly enjoyed.

Another craft that I did this year was inspired by our annual trips to McAdenville, NC. For those who read and aren't from the Charlotte area, this is a little piece of hometown USA nostalgia at Christmas time. The town has earned the title Christmas Town USA and they do not take it lightly. The town and the neighborhood that surrounds it, deck the halls so to speak. It is a beautiful light display that you can walk or drive through each year. For the last couple of years I have really admired the porches that have outdoor ornaments hanging in between the columns of their porches. I have been searching for these for several years. This year I happened to be in Michael's {another go to craft store} and they had several bins full of these large outdoor ornaments. I found some that fit our "theme" if you will and then went to find the perfect ribbon to hang them with and now they are on my porch to be used year after year.

The other part of Christmas that I love is baking and making Christmas treats. This is definitely a tradition in my family. As far back as I can remember, I have made Christmas goodies. Some years my grandmother on my mom's side would be in town and we would make them with her others it was my sister and my mom, but there hasn't been a Christmas where we haven't made goodies. I love those memories because some of my favorite conversations with my Nanny were had making goodies. This is one tradition I have loved sharing with my girls. There are two staples we make every year and they are treats my Nanny made with my mom. The first is the Chex mix recipe you can find on Chex cereal. The second is a recipe I grew up calling Humdingers but are really just Date Balls. This recipe now goes back five generations. My girls will be the fifth generation to make them. Abbie says they look like mini snow balls. Since this is the season of giving I will give you the recipe and instructions for this delicious treat:

Humdingers: 1 - 8oz. pkg dates 1 cup nuts (pecans) 3/4 cup sugar (splenda) 2 tsp. white karo syrup 2 tsp. vanilla 2 cups rice crispies 1 stk butter

Bring to a boil sugar, karo & butter, add dates and cook 5 to 8 minutes. I like pictures so it should look some thing like the picture in the first box.

***tip it helps if you can chop the dates before hand.

Take from stove, add rice crispies, nuts and vanilla. After you add these and mix it should resemble the middle box.

Cool slightly, put butter on hands {you will reapply as needed} and roll into small balls and roll in powdered sugar.

For the last couple of years Abbie and I have started our own tradition of making sugar cookies and decorating them. I use a recipe that I found on Pinterest that is simple and easy to make for the sugar cookies. Here is a link to that recipe from the blog In Karina's Kitchen. I usually go to my local grocery store to get the icing to decorate and get sprinkles from either Homegood's or Michael's.

This year I am doing Christmas Bark with a twist. I am making chocolate macaron's with a white chocolate peppermint ganche and then rolling the edges with peppermint dust. I found a very simple and easy to follow recipe for chocolate macrons from the blog The House of Nash Eats. The ganache is my adaption to a chocolate ganache recipe:

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of white chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup or more (depends on preference) peppermint dust

or you can do 1/2 teaspoon of pepperment extract {again depends on preferenced}

Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until the sides start to bubble. Remove from heat and add white chocolate chips and stir until melted and combined with cream. Add the two tablesppons of butter and mix until melted. The next step depend on which method of peppermint you go with. If using extract add at this point, if using dust let it cool and then add.

You want the ganache to be completely cooled before you pipe on the macarons. Once you have put the macarons together roll the cookie in the peppermint dust.

Volia! My take on peppermint bark.

All of these treats are easy to make and make the holiday's special. Little traditions to start with my kids and they make perfect little treat bags you can give to neighbors.

I hope you have a great Christmas Season and remember the true reason we celebrate!