Christmas 2007

My nephew, Matthew. (He's watching Rudolph on TV and pretending he's the Elf that's directing the Elf Choir!) -->













<-- Haylie and my niece, Gina


<-- Justin and me!



My father-in-law playing Christmas Carols! -->

Everyone enjoying Christmas Carols -->

A few of the goodies I made for Christmas Eve. Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Biscotti, Peanut butter Temptations, Snickerdoodles, and a Kentucky Butter Cake.

It was a marathon baking/cooking week for me. I was so busy that I really forgot to take pictures of the finished products. Oh well...I did snap a quick picture of some of the treats before everyone arrived.

I sent my guests home with a pan of (unbaked) cinnamon rolls with instructions for baking on Christmas morning. Everyone loved them and appreciated having something sweet and gooey on Christmas morning.

I always make Monkey Bread for my kids on Christmas Eve Morning. This year I saved some of the cinnamon roll dough to use in my monkey bread. This made it so much better than the canned biscuit dough that the recipe calls for. I will definitely make it that way from now on.

For Christmas Dinner our tradition is beef tenderloin. I served it with fresh green beans, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes (everyone likes their potatoes cooked different ways), canned green peas (for my father-in-law) and homemade bread. The meat was very good and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. Of course, the cleanup is always the worst part!

The day after Christmas I stayed in my pj's and did NOTHING! I was so tired, but it's all worth it. I try really hard to provide memorable Holiday's for my family. In my mind, food is always an important part of our traditions.