Grab a cup of coffee or tea, my friends. Get comfy, and settle in for just a moment. I am so excited to chat with you today! (If you don’t have that spare moment this morning, skip straight to the bottom of this post and GET YOURSELF ENTERED in this awesome holiday giveaway for one of THREE $100 Amazon gift cards.)
First things first, have you seen the fantastic new Recipe Index on the website?? As someone who started her blog simply to have an organized and easy to use way to store recipes, this index makes me grin every time I use it. I never imagined that this website would one day hold over 1400 recipes, yet here we are and it was time for a wee update.
The shiny new recipe cards? With their much requested easy print button? The categories that are so easy to search? That fabulous search feature at the top and side of every page? Oh, friends, I’m so happy to share this with you at last. May all of your recipe searches be fruitful now.
Have you checked out The Little Things? On the weekend, I share a glimpse into our life and my thoughts in The Little Things Newsletter. Books I’m reading, things we’re watching, things we’re doing, and whatever I might be pondering: I didn’t imply this was brilliant writing, right? You’ll find the Weekly Meal Plan in the newsletter as well as mouthwatering links to foods that I’m craving. This is my favorite way to connect with all of you and each time you hit reply on that newsletter in your email, it makes me smile. (You can sign up HERE and I’ll drop that newsletter straight into your email each weekend.) I dearly love hearing from you all and I am honored that you take the time to write to me.
There is an updated ABOUT section and a brand new LIFE section too. Check it all out and then get yourself entered in this giveaway for some pre-Christmas fun!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS –> Sponsored by me for you. The end. Merry Christmas. You all make my life a better place. Without you, Barefeet In The Kitchen would not be the coolest job that I never knew could be a job. The fact that I get to do something I love every day is priceless on so many levels. So, I’m sharing my joy with you today in the form of a few gift cards. GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Just leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite holiday memory, tell me about your favorite (or least favorite!) holiday food, or if the holidays aren’t your thing, tell me about something, anything at all, that has made you smile recently. At the end of next week, I’ll toss the names in a hat to randomly choose THREE lucky winners of (3) $100 Amazon gift cards. Good luck!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS: Kimberly, Jan, and Yolanda!
Giveaway ends on Friday, December 9th, 2016, at 11:59pm EST. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of the U.S to enter. Three winners will be randomly chosen and will be notified via email within 48 hours of the giveaway close. Winners must respond within 48 hours of receiving the email or a new winner will be chosen.
Janet Mallett says
Love Christmas baking of any sort. I want to bake and decorate out of my comfort zone and build confidence in my baking skills.
Anne Gamble says
The one that sticks out most in my mind was when my first-born child walked for the first time – on Christmas Day!
Laurie Maurer says
I absolutely love a glass of good eggnog. It makes the holidays!!
Linda S says
Being Italian my favorite Christmas tradition is celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes every Christmas Eve. Great childhood memories carried on for generations! Love your blog and all your recipes. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!
Shelby says
…….Christmas memories….there are some that will stay with me . I recall one Christmas when I was a struggling ( working ) single parent . and I had picked my then small daughters up from daycare…and when I arrived home, I found a HUGE , beautiful real Christmas tree on my front doorstep. Along with an envelop that contained a $100.00 gift card, for gifts or Christmas supper for my two young daughters and myself. Of course, teary eyes and a grateful heart , feeling blessed. Years later, I would provide a special Christmas for a single mom who had a young son that desired a bike for Christmas…and it was provided, …paying blessings forward , even when its is NOT at Christmas is the way we stay in touch with our Father , and He in turn…provides us with what we need, require…and more.
Rhonda Stutts says
I loved all the smells of Christmas, especially my mom baking.
Brenda says
Favorite Holiday Memory: the year my sister woke everyone in the house saying she heard Santa–and it was 3:00 AM. My parents had just gone to bed
Favorite Holiday Food: it’s a toss up between eggnog (which no one else in my family likes) and the Christmas cookies (especially the new recipes I try each year)
Rosalie watson says
We always got a book of lifesavers in our stockings which I carried on the tradition with my kids. My oldest son is 28 yrs old and lives in another state but still wants his lifesaver book!
Jeanette says
The Holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas are times to be Thankful! It can be a lonely time for some. If you are widowed or if, you don’t have family and don’t feel that anyone cares, please smile at the next person of any age , that you see. A smile can make someone else’s spirits lift, if only for a moment and possibly yours too.
Cathy says
My family travels a lot, so we’ve only had Christmas at home maybe three or four times, but my brother and I still made the most of it. In 5th grade, we went to Austria to ski during Christmas. We didn’t have a Christmas tree, so we spent the whole day scavenging for paper and colored pencils. We taped together countless A4 sheets of paper and drew a gigantic Christmas tree, which we then taped onto the wall. Voila – we had a Christmas tree.
Lisa G. says
One of my favorite holiday memories is when one year we had gotten a Wii game and my mother-in-law, who all the grandchildren called Maw Maw, came to our house. We were trying to show her how to play the bowling game, but she didn’t listen, she just played and beat everybody! We all had so much fun with her, we laughed so hard! Gosh, we miss her.
Gail Brown says
I never thought I liked yams, they were covered in brown sugar and marshmallows on my mother in law’s holiday table. Now that I’ve started eating a more Paleo diet, I love yams and sweet potatoes baked, fried, roasted and in soups. Love your new recipe index too!
Judy Ball says
Went to my 1st Christmas party this yr this afternoon. The Lovely lucky Ladies of Walkerton Indiana, part of the Red Hat Society of the World, were our hostesses. I didn’t win a 50/50 or a basket full of prizes raffle but I did win a big container of beautiful bows n ribbons and my daughter won a metal Santa Claus that sticks into the ground. Very happy day. But best of all it was shared with well over 100 red hatters from all over Indiana.
Starla says
I absolutely love the recipe index. It makes finding things so much easier! Well to be honest, I lost my precious 80 year old Nana on May 2nd of this year, 14 days shy of her 81st birthday. The holidays are a bit sad at the moment because I have never had to be without her. She was like my mom,dad, grandparents all in one. I am so blessed to have had her with me 24 years of my life and I will cherish them forever. We used to get together on Christmas Eve with the family and open presents and we would have a ton of finger foods, yummy drinks and delicious desserts. Then on Christmas Day we would have a dinner for everyone. I am currently struggling with even trying to put up the tree now that she isn’t with me but I know she would want me to continue on and keep going.. so thats what I am trying to do! xo
Jane Housewright says
Every Christmas (back in the 50’s and 60’s) my mom would buy and set out in a pretty dish- ribbon candy. It was so thin; not like you buy today. The colors and the smells added a lovely dimension to the holidays.
Mary Stauber says
My favorite holiday memory is baking Christmas cookies with my mom, it was a week long process, at the end of the week we would box up the cookies to give as presents. Dad would take some into work on Christmas to share with those who had to work on the holiday. (Several ladies said they liked to work on Christmas so the could partake in mom’s cookies!)
Dolly Stevens says
My favorite memory is baking homemade butter cookies with my mom when I was little. You know the OLD screw top tin dough holder u put the discs in?? Well mine never were right and hers were perfect!( of course) when they were done she said the pretty ones were mine!! Only a mom would do that. She kept that cookie device in my very first lunchbox. When she passed I got it from the closet , along with the recipe and still make them 34 yrs later…. And miss her and our fun to this day! Thanks for letting me share!! Have a blessed holiday
Sharon Albrecht says
One of our favorite Holiday traditions is to watch ‘White Christmas’ while decorating our tree. It’s now a family sing-a-long since my girls have learned all the words over the years. Merry Christmas to you!
Lisa Bateman says
My favorite memory is making fudge with Mama every year (if it wasn’t raining. You can’t made fudge in Louisiana when it rains). It was my job to stir the fudge, so she would put a chair in front counter for me to stand on. She’d take over when it got to hard for me to stir. Then when it was all in the pan, she would give me the spoon and bowl. Of course, she would always leave a little in the bowl. She’s no longer here, but I still remember those special times.
Chery says
My father was the one that made the divinity and all of the Christmas candy, it was his specialty, then in our Christmas stockings we got fruit, nuts and his homemade candy. I still think of that every Christmas and wonder why kids these days expect more than the simple joys, like I had as a child.