25 Days Of Christmas -
#7. What's your favorite holiday tradition?
On Christmas Eve, Santa comes to the house and passes out presents WHILE WE ARE AWAKE!!! When we were kids, we couldn't wait for Santa to show up, but then it got to be even more fun as a grown up and being able to watch the kids and their reactions when Santa knocks on the door, and then gives them the one present that they really, really, really want more than anything. It's the BEST - just look at that face!
Another one of our Christmas traditions is making date nut candies. There are two recipes that you almost cannot have Christmas without: Date Nut Balls and Date Nut Loaf. Both of them are old family recipes. I was looking for them this year and ran across my grandmother's old 'recipe book'.
It's falling apart, but isn't that amazing?! It's chock full o' yumminess, and if you're not hungry, then you can even find a recipe for blue hydrangeas. (When left alone, our soil only grows pink hydrangeas.)
Are you ready for Date-Nut-Apalooza? Is there anything better than dates, pecans (pronounced puh-kahns, not pee-cans), and sugar? I think not! Can you handle it?! Buckle up, here we go...
Date Nut Balls
OMG! These are my favorite - of all time!
(Hint: Oleo is margarine, or you can use butter)
And, the second act...
DATE NUT LOAF
OMG! This is my favorite... of all time! (notice a pattern?)
Here's the secret handshake (a.k.a. a modernized translation) for success with this recipe:
Boil 3 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons Karo Syrup, and 1 1/2 cups whole milk until it reaches the soft ball stage. Stir in 8-ounce package of chopped dates. Continue to boil and do not stir again until it reaches the firm ball stage. Remove from heat and fold in 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup pecan pieces, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour onto waxed paper, form roll/loaf, and allow to cool before slicing.
I would LOVE to show you a picture of this one, but I got distracted and burned the sugar. ARGH! You have to keep the heat relatively low and really pay attention to the temp because it will burn in a second. So, this is what it shouldn't look like - bummer!
Anyway - better luck to you! Now that you have the recipes, you can officially have Christmas this year.
Linkin' up and Eatin' up over at Edie's place: Life in Grace. (Still LOVE!) And linking up here.
25 Days Of Christmas
6. When do you put up your decorations?
Most years we start decorating as soon as the Thanksgiving dishes are put away. A couple of times in the past few years, I've decorated before Thanksgiving, and that is AWESOME! I always feel a bit guilty about it, but it is really nice to have some extra time to enjoy them. This year, I wanted to start early, and I 'proclaimed' that whatever wasn't put out before the bird was in the oven wasn't going to be done. Chicken Little and I slaved over the house and tree for the two days before Thanksgiving, and by the time the bird was out of the oven we were done. LOVE being finished already!!!
And that makes the perfect intro to the holiday house tour! :-) It may not look like it, but I really did try to simplify this year. We really only festive-ied the living room, dining room and kitchen. Ch-ch-ch-check it out...
Always, the Nativity is the first thing I set up. This year, it's sitting on top of a cabinet in the living room. The lights look a bit trailer-park in the picture, but trust me, when the lights in the room are dim, it really is pretty.
Next, I just did a couple of things on the tables - books, ornaments, and then the reindeer in the top photo is sitting on the chest in our entry way to hold the Christmas cards.
I had a vision for the dining room, and it came out PERFECT! Once I unearthed the reindeer and glued the antlers back on (bummer!), it took about 5 minutes. Simple, easy and pretty! L.O.V.E.
And we're walking....walking...walking... into the living room.
We hang the stockings on the hall tree because our mantle is pretty small.
Aren't these wooden shoes wonderful?! Chicken Little's great aunt (? - not sure if that's the right designation, but you get the idea) painted these for us when CL was just a toddler.
Just keepin' it simple. (right....)
I like my traditional hodge-podgey tree with a million-billion ornaments, bubble lights, and lights of every color. It's my favorite! (Yes, that's a peacock at the top - stay tuned for more about him in a future post.)
And we're walking.... walking...into the kitchen.
These shelves have been empty all year - I never got around to putting the dishes back in them after last Christmas! So, all my little holiday folks just hopped right back up there like they never left.
On the table, I kept the same hurricanes and burlap runner we had at Thanksgiving (maybe I'll play catch up later this week and show you some of those pictures). I also had pumpkins out, so I replaced those with Santa and some trees... et voila!
C'est fini! I'm done! (As usual, Lola cannot be bothered with any of it.)
So that's it! Today I just wanted to give you the quick tour. Later in the week, I've got a couple of 'detail' photos to share of the tree, mantle and dining room decorations up-close-and-personal.
Have you finished all of your decorating yet? Are you getting excited? I am! I'm thrilled that I have this entire month off of work, so that I can take some time to really enjoy this holiday. What a blessing!
Linking up EVERYWHERE: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Before we get to the cooking portion of our show, let's take care of the 25 Days of Christmas business.
5. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope - I'm not opposed, but it's just not a tradition we ever did when I was a kid, so I've never added it to my list.
OK - now on with the shew, and oh what a shew we have for you today!
I like to bake in advance and then put stuff in the freezer so the last week before Christmas, I can just take it easy. (HA! yeah, right - but at least that's always my plan.) Anyway, it's that time. I'm thinking about what I'm going to be baking, and I decided to start easy with with a quick appetizer that freezes beautifully.
These Bisquick sausage cheese balls are super, duper easy and they are so, so, so yummy! So, here ya go:
SAUSAGE CHEESE BALLS
3 cups Bisquick (I use the low fat version - makes no sense when you read the rest of the recipe, but it seems like a good idea.)
1 pound ground sausage (I used Jimmy Dean regular flavor)
4 cups shredded cheddar (it will work with any hard cheese you have on hand)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Preheat the oven to 350, and grease two large sheet trays.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (I think its easiest to use your hands to mix it up).
Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place onto sheet trays. You can put them pretty close to each other because they don't spread or puff up very much at all.
Pop 'em in the preheated oven for 22 - 28 minutes until the tops are lightly browned.
Remove from oven and serve warm. If you are going to freeze them, allow them to cool completely (you do not want any condensation in the container or they will get soggy), and then transfer to an airtight container.
They'll keep for several weeks in the freezer, and when you're ready to serve them, allow them to thaw completely and then you can reheat them in the microwave or a preheated oven for a few minutes.
Serve with ranch dressing or BBQ sauce.
YUMM-A-LICIOUS!
Linking up over at Life in Grace. (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Edie!) Also linking up here.
Ahhh.... late as usual. (*chuckle*)
So I saw this post on Julie's blog, Balzer Designs, and thought it was a great idea for getting me back into the blogging habit. One quick, easy question to answer each day until the B.I.G. day...
I don't think these questions will be the only things I post about each day, but it will give me something to say, and it's not a lot of pressure.
So, I've got four days to catch up on, and then I'm on track. Here goes:
1. Colored lights or white lights on your house or not at all?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE houses with all blue lights. I also like all white or all multi-colored strands. Whatever you do, I think you should commit to one color scheme. Keep in mind that I am saying this as the proud winner of the Worst-Lights-in-the-Neighborhood Award for several years running.
Right now, it's dark - we got nuthin'.
2. Hot chocolate or Egg Nog? HOT CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! Not a fan o' the nog.
3. What's your favorite holiday dish?
COOKIES - duh! I'm still debating whether or not I will be baking this year. I'm sure I will give in and whip some up. Soooo many things on the list - somethings gotta give, but if I don't make 'em, nobody will! Unless I can guilt Chicken Little into make a few batches when she gets home.
4. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree?
A picture is worth a thousand words. Please excuse the dark, grainy photo, it was shot by secret camera planted in Santa's workshop.
Please feel free to play along! If you do, leave a comment so we can all see how you're celebrating this year.
There I go changing the banner to a Christmas theme acting like I'm gonna start posting regularly or somethin'. I have good intentions, but we will see...
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - we surely did! SOOOO much to be thankful for this year!!
I'm considering making the name change official. It has a nice ring to it don't ya think?
Anyway, here's that other Halloween card I mentioned ohhhhh.....about a month ago.
Lola wanted to get in on the festivities, so she posed for a card for her sister.
BTW, she is on a diet these days. Been feeding her rice cakes instead of treats - she really likes them, they are vet approved, and they're WWWAAAAAAAYYYY cheaper than pig's ears or raw hides!
(I know what you're thinking: "Based on yesterday's post, I should probably consider switching my treats to rice cakes, too." Hmmmmm....)
