The Good ole Days of Christmas

Its early and Im already up. I get just as excited about Christmas morning as any kid. I cant sleep, and then Im up early with anticipation. Ok, maybe that's due to all the sweets I ate last night at Mom and Dads but still.

As I sit here having my coffee and breakfast, old time memories flash through my mind. I remember how me and my siblings would open a few gifts on Christmas eve from friends and family and on Christmas morning we would jump out of bed before the sun came up. We would run down stairs to see what Santa brought us. It was always a surprise to know Santa actually thought I was good and left me toys. I never took for granted he would come anyway like kids do today. I really thought if I was bad, I wouldn't get anything.

As we would get to the den, there would be piles of gifts! Santa didn't wrap presents, he would just lay toys and bikes in separate areas for each of us. We always knew which pile was ours. It didn't really matter because we would end up playing with each others toys anyway. It was always so fun.
Then we would all pile in the station wagon and head to our Grandmothers house for dinner. I sure miss those days.

I have always tried to carry on that tradition with my daughter. The only difference is , Santa would wrap most of her presents with his own pretty (usually tacky) paper and leave only a couple bigger things unwrapped.

Things change when they get older. Once Santa was caught using OUR wrapping paper, the Santa situation begun to get harder to play off. Ashley must have been about 12 when she learned that we were actually Santa's. She looked up at me with a sweet little voice and said "well, can we still pretend there is a Santa?"

She is now 24 and Santa still leaves her surprises under the tree on Christmas morning. She lives out on her own but comes to stay with us a few days. She still has her old room and bed. She will be up in a few minutes and the fun will start. She will march down the hallway in her tacky pajamas and have that child like excitement when she enters the room. Later, we will head over to Nicks family for Christmas dinner. His parents passed away a few years ago and the boys still plan a big dinner just like their mom used to do. Its always delicious as we set around the table a talk more...About the good ole days.

 

"Go tell it on a mountain that Jesus Christ was born!"

Merry Christmas Every one!!

Cookie Baking and Delivery

Winter is here and Christmas is just two days away. I have been working in the kitchen making goodies to pass out to my wonderful neighbors. This is one of my favorite things to do.

I will find a recipe to experiment with but I usually stick to basically my favorite cookies to make.
Italian Almond cookies (AKA snowball cookies), Fudge and Biscotti are my in my safe zone. Well, except I did burn the Biscotti this time. Not good.

This year I experimented with making another Italian cookie called Crostoli , also known as Chiacchiere or Galani.
My husband is always talking about a lightly sweet cookie that his Italian grandmother used to make every Christmas. The story of how good they are is always brought up this time of year. I set out to find the recipe to this cookie since obviously his grandmother kept it in her head and to her grave.

He doesn't know what they were called but I searched until I found what seemed to be pretty close to what he has explained. I'm sure mine will not be as good as hers but it was worth a shot and it gave me an excuse to try something new. They turned out delicious but he said " These are close, but still not the cookie Grandmother made." It was hard to get them rolled out thin enough to turn crispy. That was the texture he was looking for. Ill give it another shot another day.

While I was baking, Nick was laughing from across the room. I kept asking "what is so funny?"
It was the chef hat on my head. Yes I felt like wearing a chef hat. I meant business! As I was mixing and patting, he sent this text picture to my phone.

Now I know why he was laughing. Yes, I love Lucy. This went on the whole time I was in the kitchen. I don't know who had more fun, me or Nick.

I gently packed each tin with cookies and ventured out into the freezing cold and snow to deliver the cookies.

Just kidding!!!! Its in the 70's today here in North Carolina. With thunder storms. Doesn't feel like Christmas weather at all!
I will not complain. I love the warmth.

My Daughter will be coming home again soon to spend Christmas with us. She usually helps me bake but she has to work. Even though she's only 30 minutes away, its always exciting to me when she's home. She still has her room and loves sleeping in her old bed. She will be working on Christmas Eve but lucky for her, she can remotely work from home in her Pajamas on that day.

Now that all the goodies are delivered and the shopping is complete, I can set back with a cocoa and cookie of my own and relax.
I think me and Ashley will be going to the nail salon for a quick manicure too.

This will be my last post before Christmas. With that being said, I wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas!