Friday Things #448
1. Hello friends! I hope youโve had a great couple of weeks and that your Thanksgiving holiday was just as youโd hoped. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with our immediate families and the kids were enthralled with watching the parade this year. Yet somehow I managed to take ZERO pictures on Thanksgiving!
2. Iโm not sure who was more excited about Thanksgiving breakโฆ me or the kids! It was so nice not to have to rush out of the house in the morning and have some relaxing days at home. Looking forward to the upcoming Christmas break! :)
3. Currently craving a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks; do you have a favorite cold weather drink other than hot chocolate?
4. We resurrected our tradition of driving around after dinner to look at Christmas lights this week. It feels so cozy and I just love it. The kids get so into it and oooh and aaaah at the different decorations.
5. Do you have any special holiday traditions in your family? Iโd love to hear about them, I always love new ideas :)
6. Have you started any holiday baking yet? I tested some new recipes that Iโm excited to share with you, and Iโm feeling a batch of chocolate babka coming my way
7. This really puts into perspective enjoying the present moment weโre in (it can be so hard!) >> How to Cherish Life
8. We watched Bancroft (on BritBox) over the last couple of weeks and, oh my goodness, it was SO GOOD. Kept us on the edge of our seats until the very end. Highly recommend!
9. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie? There are a few classics I still havenโt seen, believe it or not!
10. TGIF! The pups got groomed right before Thanksgiving and were looking their finest :)
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We watched a new-to-us Christmas movie this year โ Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick, on Disney+. It was actually pretty good!
One of our traditions is that my husband and I always go to Biltmore (in Asheville, NC) at Christmas to see all the decorations in Biltmore House. :-)
Happy Holidays to you and the family. One the longest on going Christmas traditions in my family was making dozens and dozens of tamales from scratch. It was always all hands on decks for mixing up the masa, preparing the corn husks, making the red chili sauce, searing the pork and spreading the masa. It seemed endless at the time, but the results were unforgettable.
As far as favorite Christmas movies, I tend towards the classics such as: Miracle on 34th Street (1947), ย Itโs A Wonderful Life, Christmas In Connecticut, and the more contemporary, A Christmas Story.
Also, I love a steaming mug of Chai Tea, the spice blend is so delicious. I just baked some White Chocolate, Toasted Pecan with Coconut cookies for friends this morning.
Having a December baby accidentally handed me my first Christmas tradition as a mom. That year my daughter received a few โ1st Christmasโ ornaments and a tradition was born. Each year, I gift her an ornament that displays something significant from the year. 2020 was a tough one, but I found a cute ornament with Santa and Rudolph wearing a mask. She has told me repeatedly that it has always been her favorite gift. It was also special for her to take those ornaments and fill up her Christmas tree in her first home. Hard to believe I will give her the 31st ornament this year.
My favorite Christmas movies are Love, Actually and While You Were Sleeping. ย
As for traditions, my mom always made oyster stew for dinner on Christmas Eve, then we went to church When we came home we opened one present, ย then the rest on Christmas morning. Then we had breakfast and later would go to my auntโs home for lunch and exchanged gifts with them.. ย in the evening we had a light dinner. My mom always hid the gifts and one year she hid one so well she couldnโt find it. ย She finally found it hidden in the linen closet in the spring โ so I got a very late Christmas present. ย
I donโt make a lot of cookies for Christmas, but always a sour cream sugar cookie with frosting and sprinkles and sometimes peanut blossoms. ย
Hi Michelle, have you taken your kids to Clinton for their annual drive thru Xmas lights? Itโs really a lovely light show. Its only $10 per car. The lights are always set up by volunteers and they do a great job. Proceeds go to charities so its a win-win! Favorite Xmas movie? Miracle on 34th Street. (The original, not the remake!) Love your column! Happy holidays!
My fave Christmas movies are the original animated The Grinch and Home Aloneโฆalso Shrek The Halls. ย They never get old. ย So far Iโve watched The Grinch.
As for baking, Iโve made 2 lots of your fabulous Maple Walnut Fudge and a White Christmas Cake (my motherโs recipe). ย The cake is in the mail to a lady who runs a cat rescueโฆshe asked if anyone did extra baking so she could buy from them as sheโs far too busy. ย So everyone said theyโd do some for her for free. ย Iโve gifted one lot of the fudge to friends who spend 6 months in California before they left, another is going to another friend and Iโm taking some with me to Calgary where Iโm spending Christmas with an old friend and her family.
As for traditions, as kids we used to open one gift on Christmas Evenso I still do that.
Just sharing an idea, every year my niece and nephew would come early in the morning on a Saturday in December and we would have our Annual Cookie Bake. I spent the entire year looking for ideas for new cookies to make, chocolate confections, crafts etc. One year weโd have special aprons, another Iโd try a new kid friendly recipeโฆbut, we always made their favorite cookies, varieties of fudge and a gingerbread house for each one to make and personalize. At the end of the evening, when it was time to go homeโฆall cookie makers were given trays and they took their cookies, fudge and other sweet creations home with them. Oh the memories! Make sure you take lots and lots of picturesโฆcause those little ones grow so fast ! Our Annual Cookie Bake stopped as they went off to collegeโฆLast Christmas, I made a story book in Shutterfly about our Annual Cookie Bakes..complete with recipes and lots of pictures and gifted each one with a book. Itโs quite the memory book !
I agree with you on enjoying not having to rush in the mornings during Thanksgiving break. Youโll definitely appreciate as your kids get older, the long breaks from school, to not rush, take it easy, & not worry about homework! Have a great weekend!
I donโt like coffee, but I love Starbucks Peppermint Mocha!
Odd questionโฆwhat car seat do you have that your daughter can see out the windows so easily? My daughter is a little older than yours and it isnโt worth looking at lights because she canโt see out very well. Thanks!
Hi Kristy! Itโs a Chicco NextFitโฆ It has 9 different reclining positions; now that she is facing forward, we have it pretty much sitting straight up. I hope that helps!
Happy Holiday Season! We have lots of things we do each year. Our town does a drive by parade where all the trucks are lit up with hundreds of lights, it goes right by my daughters house so we are all gathering (we have two daughters and two grandbabies) there to ice sugar cookies, have an appetizer buffet type meal and then go out to watch the parade with our hot chocolate. Itโs so much fun.
Another tradition I had when our girls were at home was to save their stockings until Christmas night. Itโs something my girls are continuing to do with their families because they love that there was always something else to look forward to on Christmas. Kind of made the excitement last all day long rather than a few hours in the morning.
I bake several sour cream coffee cakes and deliver them to local friends right before Christmas also. This year Iโm also doing decorated cupcakes to pass along to others.
LOVE this time of the year!
Holiday movies I like are The Bishops Wife (Cary Grant is perfect in this movie,), Shop Around the Corner (James Stewart is so patient), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), The Christmas List (1997), The Christmas Card (2006), The Nativity Story (2006) and Bachelor Mother (1939). Plus I always watch Meet Me in St.Louis too. Iโm looking forward to doing some Christmas baking this year too.
Maria, I love every single one of your suggestions. You should also watch Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck. Adorable
Every year my grandson and I make salt dough ornaments. He enjoys painting them when they are dry. We put his name and date on the back. He gives them as gifts to his friends and family.