Holiday Snipits

I  know I said I wouldn't be back before 2012, but I decided to share a final Christmas post. It just doesn't seem right for my first post of 2012 to be about last year's holiday!


First, my holiday Treasures.

The season can be tricky for children; it is easy to have a "give me, give me" attitude. Toys and gifts are fun and we indulge in them, but not too heavily. Five gifts for each child on Christmas day was enough. You know what? They weren't asking for more. I also had Ella and Roone write the list of people we were giving gifts TO providing them a visual of all the people receiving gifts from US. They were also my helpers packaging the gifts.

We read about Christ's birth numerous times, memorized scripture and songs. I've heard "O Come All Ye Faithful" sung many times throughout the season!


It can be a tricky season to balance, but we rely on prayer and practical wisdom (if we are tired should we really add one more thing to the calendar? if we haven't had time to take care of our home, shouldn't we stay home and do that? etc.) to help us along. God says to ask for wisdom and He'll be glad to give it!

~

I became quite the baker around here leading up to the Christmas holiday. In my defense most of the items you see here today were given away as gifts to our neighbors and the kids' teachers! A few bites were held back just for us, as well.

Cracker Bark

Caramel Corn

(My children helped by creating gift tags

complete with Peanuts characters.)

Chocolate Crinkles

Cinnamon Corn

Iced Sugar Cookies

We were also given amazing items directly from other baker's kitchens.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

from Adrienne

Oh my goodness.
My evening cup of tea has been replaced
with a cup of hot (homemade) chocolate. 
One evening my husband helped
himself to two cups of goodness.
It might be just too 
dangerous for me to learn how to make this item!

Povitica,

a sweet walnut, Croatian bread

from (my sister) Reba's kitchen

My maternal grandfather was Croatian. His sister taught his wife, my Granny, to bake this bread, my Granny taught me and I taught my sister. I'm so thankful  my sister bakes this bread. I don't have the brain space or chunk of time to do so myself. It takes all day to prepare to bake, which includes the dough rising two times and then being stretched paper thin before rolled with a sweet walnut filling. It's so involved, but a true artistic, labor of love experience. The memories of my home filled with baked Povitica are now a gift my children enjoy. I always knew this bread was special and unique. Not everyone at school was talking about Povitica bread! (Side note: my grandfather's sister found out I learned to make Povitica and gave me her Kitchen Aid mixer to help me with the Povitica process. We all know how much that item costs, and as a young bride I was very, very thankful to receive the gift!)

One last baking item to share.

Although this item wasn't made by my aunt,

it was given with a sweet heart with the intent

that I will fill it with many a homemade item,

 and I will!

This is one of the most special kitchen items I've received.

A cake pan with a personalized lid.

Was that enough sugar shared today? 

I need to begin thinking of the sweet creation I'll  make

for my daughter's birthday next month.