Welcome to the weekend, my friends! We’ve had a wonderful week filled with family time, laughter, card games, and so much delicious food. We bid everyone goodbye early yesterday morning and settled in for a lazy day of rest and setting up the Christmas tree. Our fridge and freezer are filled to the max with leftovers, so I will happily be out of the kitchen until next week.
If you haven’t yet nominated a family to receive $500, this is your last chance to give someone a reason to smile this Christmas. FILL OUT THIS FORM to nominate a family in need. You can READ MORE about the Christmas Giveaways on the website. Five families will be selected this week.
ON THE BLOG this week: Tender mushrooms are simmered in a creamy classic stroganoff sauce to make this flavor-filled Mushroom Stroganoff. Stroganoff recipes really are the epitome of comfort food, aren’t they?
I don’t use the word “best” very often, but this cake? It is truly the BEST Coconut Pound Cake I have ever tasted! Oh my heavens. This cake. It is EVERYTHING I want in a coconut cake.
Flaky pie crust filled with fluffy, creamy eggs, spicy green chile, and cheese adds up to a delicious breakfast any day of the week. Eggs and green chile are two of my family’s favorite breakfast ingredients, so it could come as no surprise that my entire crew loved this Green Chile Quiche.
Italian Cream Liqueur is perfect for sipping, for stirring into hot coffee or tea, for drizzling over a rich cake, or even for serving with berries. Everyone who tastes this comes back for more – every single time. I have a friend who calls this “liquid ice cream” and she keeps it in the fridge throughout the holidays. Yes, it’s THAT good.
What I’m CRAVING: My friend Meseidy’s Asopao de Pollo (Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice Soup) looks absolutely fantastic right now and I enjoyed reading the story behind it too. It’s perfect for chilly winter days and nights.
My FAVORITE THING this week is my giant pizza cutter. I have used the same pizza cutter for at least 10-15 years now and it finally needed to be replaced. I picked this one up last week when I was getting ready to make homemade marshmallows (trust me on this, you want a pizza cutter for that task!) and it worked perfectly. I love the extra-large 5” wheel and it’s wicked sharp too.
What I’m WATCHING: I kicked off my holiday mood this year with While You Were Sleeping. Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman are terrific together in this sweet rom-com set during the holidays. I love a happy feel-good movie and this one delivers the laughs every time.
What I’m READING: Unwrapping the Names of Jesus: An Advent Devotional by Asheritah Ciuciu. This is a new one for our family and I’m looking forward to beginning our Advent readings with it this week. It’s absolutely lovely with a brief daily reading and reminders for focusing on the true meaning of Christmas each day.
We really enjoyed last year’s advent book, Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent by Tsh Oxenreider, so I looked around for a similar one to add to our collection this year. I don’t know that we’ll read them both this year, but I like the idea of alternating with a few different ones over time.
Over the past 18 years of parenting, our collection of Christmas books has grown to nearly fill a shelf. I love unpacking the books each year and flipping through them. The books are nostalgic for all of us now and I find my boys still pick them up throughout the season. Some books are silly and others are serious, but they all bring smiles and Christmas cheer.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 ESV
Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!
Mary
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