Cloemarrie's Family Traditions

Our authors tirelessly donate their time and talents every year, creating stories to fill the compilation as a thank you to everyone who donates. Since we have been doing more posts this year, we thought it would be fun if they shared some of their family holiday traditions. Today, we feature a little bit of how author cloemarrie's family spent their Christmases when she was growing up.

    Thinking back to my childhood age and the Christmases we’ve had always makes me smile. Even though my dad is no longer with us, those were some of the happier times we’ve had. Every year my dad made sure we had a good Christmas no matter if we had the extra money or not, because he cared that much.

    Every year for Christmas we had a big feast; my dad’s feast. He’d cook and my mom baked. My dad always made a turkey, ham, homemade stuffing (not this stovetop), mashed potatoes and gravy (homemade not instant), potato salad (homemade not store bought). You name it, we had it. My mom would bake at least eight pumpkin and sweet potato pies, banana pudding, cookies, lemon meringue pie, and cakes. We would have juice and my parents would have champagne.

    When we got older, about middle school age, my dad started a new tradition and that was popcorn and chocolate covered cherries. Him and my mom, every year, would buy each one of us kids a can (those big tin cans you get at Wal-mart, the ones with the three different flavors in it) of popcorn and a box of chocolate covered cherries. We looked forward to that every year.

    During Christmas we also would play Christmas music and, of course, we’d sing along. We also would tell stories and games.

Oh cloemarrie! Thank you so much for sharing!  Simple traditions seem to be those we make the fondest memories from. 

One thing that seems to be almost universal to Christmas is the idea that parents want their kids to remember them as happy times, no matter how simple they are, and no matter how difficult things might be the rest of the year.  I know for us, it was always a wonder to me how, even when I knew money was tighter than tight, the biggest wish on my Christmas list always made it under the tree. 

It wasn't until I became a parent myself that I realized how important giving was to parents. To see your children's faces light up, to know that, even for that small moment in time, the problems in the world could be let go, and wishes could come true. 

There is only two weeks left to donate. 

Won't you help us make some wishes come true? 

We are a long way from our goal, but every little bit makes a difference. 

Visions of Sugarplums

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Everywhere you go. 

Take a look in the Five and Ten, Glistening once again, 

With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

 

 

Yes, yes it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. By now you have your trees up and decorated. You probably have enough tinsel hung to choke a fully grown elephant. Buddy the Elf is wreaking havoc on your home every night. Everything is perfect... yet something is missing. Where is the warmth, the love in the air? Until your home is overtaken by the smells of gingerbread and peppermint, it’s not quite there yet.

Humans connect most of their memories to smell and sound, and until Christmas is literally in the air with the smell of baking cookies and the sound of a child’s laughter, it’s not complete. Everyone has their favorite recipe for this time of year. Sometimes it’s basic chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies you let the little people in your house decorate.

Today, I am going to share a few of my favorite Christmas recipes.

The first one is a house favorite. It’s easy, creamy and oh so peanut buttery.

What you need for Golden Peanut Butter Bars:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup tightly packed brown sugar

1 egg (beaten)

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine

1 cup finely chopped peanuts (or crushed... crushed works too)

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1) preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and the egg. Cut in butter until it’s crumbly. Stir in peanuts. Reserve 2 puts of crumble for later and press the rest in the bottom of a 13X9 baking pan.

2) Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

3) While that’s in the oven, in another bowl, beat condensed milk, peanut butter and vanilla. Spread that over the crust then top with remaining crumble.

4) Bake for an additional 25 minutes or until lightly brown. Once it’s cool, cut into bars and enjoy. (store at room temp.)

The next one calls for no baking and instant gratification. It’s a base thing and you can make whatever actual flavor you want with a simple substitution.

What you will need for Haystacks:

1 cup Butterscotch chips (or chocolate, white chocolate, mint chocolate... getting the point?)

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1 tablespoon shortening (DO NOT use butter, margarine, spread or oil)

1 1/2 cups (3oz can) chow mein noodles, coarsely  broken.

1) Line baking sheet with wax paper. Place chips of choice, peanut butter chips and shortening in microwave safe bowl.

2) Microwave on HIGH for 1 (one) minute; stir. If needed, microwave in 15 second intervals (stirring after every time) until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

3) Immediately stir in noodles and stir to coat. Drop by heaping spoonfuls on wax papered sheet OR into paper cups (baker’s choice). Let stand until firm (about 30 minutes or so) and store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

The last one is the most Christmasy one. Cream Cheese Snowmen... ‘cause who doesn’t like cream cheese and snowmen.

What you will need:

1 package (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1) Mix cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda, mix well

2) Shape dough into equal number of 1/2 inch and 1 inch balls. Using one of each, place balls slightly overlapped on ungreased cookie sheet. flatten to about 1/4 inch thickness with flour coated glass. Repeat for all balls.

3)Bake at 325 for 19-21 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Then the fun starts. With gels, candies, and whatever else, decorate to look like snowmen. 

(recipes taken from The Cookie Bible, Publications International, Ltd. Copyright 2004)

What are some of the favorite sweets recipes in your home this time of year?

Don't forget there are only 18 days left to donate to Toys 4 Tots and receive your compilation! Let Santa gift you for gifting someone else in return.

Happy Thanksgiving!

While Christmas music has been playing on the radio for nearly a month now, and the stores have been steadily filling with Christmas decorations and sales for just as long, Thanksgiving Day for me has always marked the true start of the holiday season.

No matter how old I am, for me there is a special joy in getting out of bed in time to turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The bands, the floats, the performances, - they are as much a part of Christmas for me as elves, tinsel, reindeer, cookies, and ornaments.

For years, the parade was followed by a viewing of my all-time favorite Christmas movie, the iconic classic,  It's a Wonderful Life.

The first year that NBC didn't air it right after the parade, I felt like an integral part of my holiday was missing.

Since then, I have acquired my own copy of It's a Wonderful Life, and while the rest of the world watches the dog show or football, I will once again be visiting George and Mary Bailey in Bedford Falls.

The themes contained in It's a Wonderful Life are ones we can take to heart every day of the year. Every one is important, and we never know who's life might be changed because of one random act of kindness.

That is what we at Christmas Wishes are doing - giving a bit of your heart to lift someone else's  - one donation, one story at a time.

So this Thanksgiving, while you are counting your blessings, perhaps find the time to bless someone else with a donation to The Christmas Wishes Toys4Tots charity drive. You'll be blessed in return - not only with the full-heart feeling of giving

but with the Christmas Wishes story compilation that our tenacious elves are busy scribing.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Tradition Tuesday

Family Traditions -- something we look forward to every year and something we pass on to our children. We sit around tables laughing with relatives or around the piano singing songs. We all have one thing we look forward to every year and do whether we are home with mom or home with our kids.

Growing up, the tradition in my house was us kids got to open one present on Christmas Eve. We always knew what it was, but that didn’t take away the fun of opening a present early. We would get a new pair of pajamas, a new robe, and new slippers to wear the next morning. Once me and my siblings were changed, we would watch ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (my personal favorite Christmas movie) before we were sent to bed so Santa would come.

All this family love was of course shattered at dawn’s early light because with three kids the chance of sleeping past midnight on Christmas morning is slim, but we were nice enough to go back to bed under the threat of telling Santa we moved. Being ‘Army Brats’, that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Family traditions are as old as time. Every family has one thing they do every year for the same reason... it’s tradition. What is something your family does every year?

~Santa’s Helper Speklez