Christmas traditions

I was laying in bed last night, trying to remember all of the "little" traditions that our family had at Christmas time. What sweet memories.

*Driving around after the Christmas Eve service to look at the luminaries and lights in Joppatowne
*Putting out milk and cookies for Santa, though we didn't believe in him.
*Eating Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast, with extra icing.
*Dad wearing his brown robe and over-sized matching brown slippers.
*Sleeping in so late that our parents woke US up.
*Getting special Christmas dresses from our Aunt Gail, who now buys one for Isabel.
*Having our stockings stuffed so full that the gifts had to be placed underneath them on the floor

What "little" traditions do you remember from your childhood?

for real??

I have been doing some online "window" shopping. No money to spend on myself, but I figure when we hit the Megamillions, I should know what I want to purchase! I stumbled across this top at J.Crew. Not cute. And definitely NOT worth $795.00. Oh, but it does come with free shipping.

picky

I use to drink soy milk, because my stomach was weak. Is weak. Usually, I preferred Vanilla Silk. With Isabel's latest milk intolerance, we have switched her to soy (I know, I know, it raises quite a debate). I generally buy whatever brand is cheapest-8th Generation, Great Value-and stay far, far away from Silk. In a moment of desperation, I had to buy it. We were almost out of milk, and there was one grocery store on my way home from work. It was either spend $3.50 for a half gallon or $4.25. I grabbed what I thought was plain, but turned out to be No-Sugar Added plain. Big whoop. Wrong. Isabel refuses to drink it. Too crunchy for her budding taste...er, buds.

Don't make the same mistake my friends. Your Trader-Joes loving children will thank you.

gift giving

Ever think of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and wonder what that extravagant gift giving would truly cost your "true love." I wonder if Miguel loves me $21,465.56 this year?!?

Check out the link for more fun "Twelve Days of Christmas" tidbits.

Another cookie recipe

These can hardly be classified as cookies, more like mini cakes. But, none-the-less, they are DELICIOUS! So, without further ado, here is my mother's recipe for Whoopie Pies.

Cookies
2C White Sugar
1C Shortening
2 eggs
1C Buttermilk (or a little less than 1C milk and 1T lemon juice-let sit 10+ min)
1t Vanilla
1C hot water
4C Flour
1C Cocoa
2t Salt
2t Baking Soda

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and beat. Add liquid and dry ingredients alternately. Drop teaspoon sized balls onto greased cookie sheets. DO NOT make the cookies larger than tablespoon size!

Bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Cool completely and fill.

Filling
2T Flour
2T milk
1 1/2C Shortening
2 egg whites, room temp.
1t vanilla
4C 10x Sugar

Beat flour and milk. Cream in shortening. Add other ingredients and beat until smooth.

Spread a generous amount of filling onto one cookie. Top with another. You can freeze these; wrap individual pies in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe container. Defrost in the fridge.

Moon Cookies

In case you are interested in trying something new:

(click on the image for the recipe)

My grandmother must have been friends with Jaraslava Pouska, the woman mentioned in the article. My granny got her recipe directly from Mrs. Pouska years ago.

It's time

...time to take up the traditions of the ladies in my family. This Christmas, despite Miguel's protests, I am going to make Whoopie Pies (my mom's recipe, IF I can find it) and Moon Cookies (a Lithuanian tradition, and my grandmother's recipe). Whoopie Pies are a lot of work, so I've never attempted them. I used to despise Moon Cookies, so I've never made them. I am up for a challenge. Bring on the Whoopie Pies. My tastes have changed. Bring on the Moon Cookies.