Christmas Festivities

The holiday season is in full swing around here. I've made several Christmas Morning Orange Cinnamon Roll kits for local friends. When possible I have also attached fun snowflake photo ornaments with pics of the family's kiddos. The cinnamon roll kits have become tradition. The idea is that they do a second rise Christmas Eve night and are baked on Christmas morning, filling the house with the wonderful smell of warm cinnamon, vanilla and butter.

When I was young my mother saved up and took the family to see "The Nutcracker" twice. It was very special for me. Last year I decided that our kids are old enough to appreciate the ballet so I asked my in-laws if we could go together. Every Christmas we see some sort of production and this was just the right one. I could hardly wait for Saturday to arrive. It was a great evening. The dancers, sets, costumes - all of it was amazing! My kids had so much fun. One other neat thing was to see the glass chandelier. We had seen it up close and personal when it was being created in New York. What an amazing thing to see it hanging at the Ellie Calkins Opera House in Denver.

Sunday evening we had dinner with some friends. They made an amazing meal. We had thick and wonderful pork chops that they had marinated in terriyaki sauce over night and grilled. I had no idea they could be so good! There was also a nice almond rice dish and a great vegetable casserole dish. We finished up the meal with a brownie pizza with a brownie base cover with a cream cheese mixture, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, walnuts and chocolate sauce. As if that was not enough we topped it off with whipped cream. I ate more that evening than I usually do in a entire day. The conversation was fun and petting her many dogs (they breed dogs) was a lot of fun, too.

Today I am finishing up last minute stuff. I've made cheese wafers and the cake for the busche de Noel. Christmas proper gets started this evening.

Broccoli & Carrot Casserole, inspired by Paula Dean of Foodtv.com

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli & carrots cooked and drained
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Cheeses (sharp & medium cheddar, swiss)
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups crushed crackers
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli & carrots, mayonnaise, cheese, soup and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon. Mix in 1 cup of crushed crackers and mix again. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Top with the crushed crackers and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes or until set and browned.


Cheese Wafers

1/2 # Swiss Cheese, shredded
1/2 # butter, room temp.
1 1/3 cup Flour (maybe more)
1/4 tea. Pepper

Mix all ingredients together well. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a mounded tablespoon of mixture on a cookie pan. Test it by cooking one . A good cheese wafer is delicate but cohesive. If it is too lacy add a small bit more flour and mix again. Once it is correct cook the rest, topping with paprika for a nice touch. Keeps well for a few days in an airtight container. These are a nice change from so much sugar.

Merry Christmas!
T