Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Can you believe we’re only a week away from Christmas? I enjoy celebrating Christmas so much. I’d love to hear about your family’s favorite traditions.
Leave a comment on this post to tell me about your favorite Christmas tradition! I’m going to pick 3 comments on Wednesday and send a $50 Merry Christmas Amazon card to each of those commenters just for the fun of it. Giveaway winners have been notified via email. See the winning comments at the bottom of today’s newsletter.
(Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy your emails, replies via email can’t be included in this giveaway, it’s simply too difficult to track entries that way.)
In case you haven’t seen this yet, I’m still laughing over this elf story. We’ve never had an Elf on a Shelf in our home, but I can imagine my siblings and I messing with each other this way.
ON THE BLOG this week: Chocolate Covered Pretzel Fudge is creamy chocolate fudge filled with salty pretzels and gooey marshmallows. If you’ve ever found yourself going back for just one more (and one more and just one more) chocolate-covered pretzel from the bag in the cupboard, this fudge is for you.
Chewy, sweet, perfectly stretchy, and gooey Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats filled with chunks of Reese’s peanut butter cups are a fabulous new way to enjoy everyone’s favorite treat.
This is a melt in your mouth, smooth and creamy Chocolate Almond Fudge; rich with dark chocolate and almonds.
Layers of toasted pecans, a rich gooey filling, and a flaky, buttery pastry crust make this Sheet Pan Pecan Pie a heavenly dessert. Made with either a homemade crust or a store-bought one, this is a pie that you’re going to love.
Creamy Vanilla Walnut Fudge is this year’s latest addition for your holiday dessert table. Paired with a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, a piece of fudge is one of my favorite ways to take a break during the holiday season.
What I’m CRAVING: I’m all about the peppermint cravings this year and this creamy no-bake Peppermint Oreo Cheesecake that my friend Jocelyn made sounds fantastic. I’ve made Peppermint Cocoa, Peppermint Fudge, Peppermint Bark and last but not least, my beloved Peppermint Ice Cream already this year. I honestly don’t think I could ever have too many peppermint desserts in my life!
My FAVORITE THING this week is the Poetry for Neanderthals game. We gave it to the kids for an advent surprise this week and have already played the game several times. We’ve laughed so much at how much goofy fun it has been. I really love games that can be quickly learned and enjoyed by all ages. This one is perfect for that. We can play a round in just 15 minutes or so and it is always fun.
What I’m WATCHING: Shrek. This movie will never go out of style, will it? We watched the original movie last week and we all laughed so hard. Between Shrek and Donkey, we simply can’t get enough. We picked up the collection of Shrek movies as a family Christmas gift and are looking forward to watching them all again with the kids.
What I’m READING: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. I don’t know how I missed this book up until now, but I’ve made up for lost time by reading it three times this week. I love it. I mean, I really love it. This is such a sweet picture book, any bibliophile is certain to love it. The art is just lovely and the story is simply charming.
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa
Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!
Mary
Patti Myers says
Our family tradition is the Filling of Stockings. From favorite candies to personal items, we have so much fun picking out goodies for everyone’s stockings. The enjoyment and surprise on the recipients faces is what we look forward to.
Joyce Szymanski says
Sharing stories about the Christmas celebrations from our childhood, it’s funny that the stories change slightly with each telling!
Kim Henrichs says
Opening up one gift on Christmas eve!
LaVerne Diaz says
We have a family tradition in our family. On Christmas Eve we get to open one present! And take a picture of the whole family by the Christmas tree.
Kathy Young says
From the time our children were able to read and write, we included a package of Thank You notes in their stockings every Christmas. We made sure they were used and sent to those who had given them gifts. We hope this continues with our grandchildren.
Elaine Thompson says
My children are 26 and 29 now. A tradition we started is going to Christmas Eve Mass, then coming home and making our own personal calzones!! Fun time together and good food!!
Louise says
We go to Christmas Eve church, eat out at a Chinese restaurant, drive around and look at the Christmas lights, and then come home and the kids open their Christmas Eve present – and they are never surprised because it’s always pjs! 😂 This year will be so much different because my son is married and they have their first son (my first grandbaby 🥺☺️)! We are going to visit them and be part of their new traditions (which still includes eating Chinese food Christmas Eve!) 😊
carolyn says
My favorite Christmas tradition is the family attending Christmas Eve Candlelight services at our church.
Jennifer says
You definitely stay true to your life, laughter and lots of great food theme! But here in Oregon…..definitely a rarity to be barefoot in the kitchen!!!! For me, it’s slippers or socks!!!
I love it I when I see you in my inbox…and usually read your email first before a reading million of my other recipe website emails!
Keep up the with the great recipes and encouragement!!!!
P.S. After seeing this post, you reminded me to make that peppermint bark again! ALWAYS a big hit! THANKS!
Marylou Austin says
Love your recipes and I use them often. A Christmas tradition for the past 20+ years for my family and friends is we have Mexican food. We are all caucasian but we all live in Southern Arizona so this food is a favorite of ours.
Shirley Smith says
My sister passed away in October and I have had a hard time getting into the holiday spirit. Your images from Ohio have helped a bit. One of my favorite holiday traditions is going out for Mexican food on Christmas Eve Eve. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Lynne Bohman says
Because of my husband’s family history from Sweden and Norway, when our children were young we celebrated Santa Lucia Day. Our only daughter would be dressed in white with a red sash and she’d wear a crown of lights (battery-operated candles) delivering hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls to others in the family.
Another tradition our family had was reenacting the birth of Jesus while the account was read from the Bible.
Now, some of our favorite traditions on Christmas Eve is that our dinner is made up of appetizers/hors d’oeuvres, we work on a Christmas puzzle and we binge-watch Christmas movies!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Susan M says
Ever since my children were small ( they’re now 32 and 34)
on Christmas Eve we would all read “ A Visit from St. Nicholas” after climbing in to bed. Each person would read a paragraph, taking turns until we get to the end where we all join in for a rousing “and to all a good night”!!!
These days we do it via face as my daughter is a nurse and very often is working on Christmas but it is still my favorite part of Christmas and brings us together in a very heartwarming way.❤️
Kim Schartner says
My 3 favorite Christmas traditions are: going to see the local light shows.. this year was Buchart Gardens in Victoria BC. Another one is making peppernuts.. the recipe is a family favorite used for years. Caroling to our neighbors is also a highlight and tradition!
Kim Schartner
Shari Kelley says
We always make frosted sugar cookies and have family help decorate them. It’s a lot of fun and we end up laughing a lot! Good memories.
Renee says
Thank you for the picture book suggestion. It looks like a wonderful book for a book lover.
Our family’s favorite Christmas tradition is the Christmas Eve box. It always contains the obligatory Christmas pj’s, snacks, and a game or movie (or both). Everything in the box is used on Christmas Eve.
Wenfy Jourdain says
Hi Mary, this is the first time I am leaving a comment to your posts. I love the recipes and your view on things. I am leaving a comment on one of my Christmas traditions that stemmed from my marriage to the father of my five children. It was an abusive marriage that was very controlling and manipulative.
Early on, when my children were young, my ex came home around Christmas time drunk and wanting to fight me. I got my children dressed and took them to the nearby city to look at the Christmas lights. I bought them hot chocolate and charros. This became an annual event (the drunkenness also). My children are all adults now, I was fortunate to leave my marriage after 26 years (11 years ago). To this day, my children take their children to look at lights with hot chocolate with charros. They never found out the origins of the tradition until they were adults. It makes me feel good that I took a bad situation and turned it into something good. Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
Carol Sweeden says
Christmas Eve take the kids out for a drive, the neighbor comes over and leaves a note from Santa with new PJ’s, so then Christmas morning the kids look great for pictures….
Elva Munro says
Putting up my artificial tree and decorating it with my cat. We (together) select ornaments from our collection to go on the tree. He gets to play with a few of his favorites and we have treats to toast the final tree decorations.
I love your recipes! It is great trying out new things.
Henriette Hall says
Hi Sweet Mary,
My 2 Grand-Daughters begin their ‘chores’ 2nd week in December and usually they add up to around
$60 to $75 by the 17th. The 2 are left with how they would, or what they would, like to contribute.
The girls have been doing this for several years. They are now ages 10 and 18.
The contributions this year are :
From Drennan, the 18 year old…she has purchased blankets. The store was kind enough, after learning
what she was going to use them for, let her purchase at wholesale prices. Drennan met with Rev. Morrison,
the local Preacher here on the Island, and he helped her deliver them to some of the folks in need.
Tris, the 10 year old, made a little over $75.00. She got some heated pads for dogs and cats that needed them for post operative surgery at the Adoption and care facility for all animals. ( even Donkeys, goats, and pigs ) She also bought ink cartridges for their office printer that she say on their “wishlist”
I am proud of these girls. It is an important lesson learning to Give.
Happy Holidays to you and yours My Best Henny