Christmas Baking

One of my favorite things to do over the holidays is to create some yummy treats in my kitchen that I remember from my childhood!  Usually I can round up lots of willing helpers, but this year, my helpers were scattered around at or with other various activities.
Honestly, it was kinda nice having the kitchen all to myself and being able to move through each project with out a ton of mess.  No bikering, no crowding, no spills, and lots of Christmas music.
Very relaxing, very little stress!

Because we were so busy preparing for and participating in several different programs and events,
I wasn't able to start baking until everything was over.
So, on the scond day of Christmas break I pulled out all my recipes, ingredients, and baking pans and got busy!!

These yummies elicit memories of Christmas time so long ago in an ancient, brick farmhouse

in Northwest Ohio.

Mocha Nut Butterballs are a cousin to the Mexican Wedding Cookie/Snowball cookie,

but have cocoa and coffee in the dough.  They bake up light and tender and then are rolled

in confectioner's sugar.

Delish!!!

You can find the recipe here.

These Sour Cream Cutout cookies didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned.

It had been years since I have made a cut-out cookie, and it may just be another several years until

I do so again.  This project made me feel like a rookie in the kitchen.

The flavor is wonderful and just how I remember, but they popped up so very thick.

Think biscuit.

I put too much liquid in the frosting so it wasn't as thick as I was envisioning,

but it did dry and set-up nicely so these were stackable after decorating.

I loved them, but my family hardly touched them?

Find this recipe here.

My intent was to make a TON of goodies and then share them with our precious neighbors

who have been such a blessing to us this year.  So as I finished up the baking of each cookie,

I found containers to package them up in.  Here you can see the final cookie I made on baking day.

These Chocolate Mint Drops are another favorite from my childhood that I looked forward too every Christmas as a little girl.  

They have a subtle chocolate peppermint flavor that comes from crushing up candy canes.

A chocolate glaze is drizzled over top to pump up the chocolate goodness of these gems!!

Mom's Chocolate Mint Drops

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup crushed candy canes

2 eggs

6 T. cocoa plus 2 T. shortening, or,

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla 

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup oats

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Chocolate glaze

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 T. cocoa

3 T. milk

Cream shortening and sugar.  Stir in candy.  Add eggs.  Blend in chocolate, milk and vanilla.  Stir in other ingredients with oats last.  Chill for 1 hour.  Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet.  

Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool and drizzle with chocolate glaze.

I also made three batches of Puppy Chow and bagged those up to give away as well.

You can never make enough of this addictive treat.

I rarely make it outside of the holiday season because it is so delicious, and so easy 

to consume an entire batch in one sitting!!

If you don't already have that recipe, you can find it here.

We love to make treats and give them as gifts every year.

You can see what we've done other years by clicking here.

Christmas Reflections {Part 3}

On the Friday before Christmas, our Homeschool Assistance Program hosted

a Christmas celebration for all the students on the final day before our winter break.

My girls wanted to give a little goodie bag to each of the students,

so we spent some time assembling all those gifts as well as teacher gift bags.

For the party, each child brought a white elephant gift from home for a gift exchange.

They played games and shared lunch together before giving their class supervisors their gifts.

The Lord has truly blessed our family with this program and the delightful friendships my children have developed and the opportunities it has offered us!!

Joy!!!

Christmas Reflections {Part 2}

Our Homeshool Assistance Program kept us busy this month with two very special events.

"Joy to the World" emphasized the need for telling the world of the Good News

of Jesus Christ through a lovely little drama that incorporated the entire student body in story and song.

After the program was over, the Beginning Foods class that I taught this semester hosted

a "Mini-Dessert and Hot Chocolate Bar" reception for the students and their families.

My students prepared some of their favorite Christmas cookie or candy recipes,

and our Ashlyn was, once again, supervising the hot chocolate bar.

We were so blessed by the enthusiasm of all the students and the lovely responses of their families.

Joy, joy, joy!!!!

Christmas Reflections {Part 1}

December typically blurs together with all the activities and events

we like to participate in, and this year was no exception.

In the middle of the month, our three youngest children were a part

of the Junior Choir Christmas Program entitled

"Christmas Carol."

This was Abby's last year participating as she is in the 6th grade

and will be graduating up to the Youth Group at the end of this school year.

Talk about hard to wrap my brain around!!

She played the part of the "Orphanage Worker" and she also sang

a little solo.

 Garrett and Aryn were part of the children's choir.

  

The following Sunday evening I had the distinct privilege of not only directing (the dramatic portion), but also playing a part in our Adult Choir Christmas Concert and Dramatic Presentation.

We are so very thankful that the Lord led us to a church family where we have the opportunity

to use the talents He has given us to celebrate His birth together through music and story!!