Christmas Baking
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As Christmas nears, my mind turns to thoughts of…well, Christmas baking, among other things. I’m not sure how much baking I’ll be doing this year, what with the whole “trying to get rid of that last 30 pounds” thing, but I can still daydream.
And I may still have to make a few things. The nice thing about Christmas snacks is you can make them, enjoy a few, then, give the rest away! Share the love…and the calories!
We’ll definitely be making some peanut butter balls and peanut butter fudge. The peanut butter balls are Josh’s favorite and I’ve already promised and it wouldn’t seem like Christmas without the fudge. (The cheese ball in that post is Brianna’s favorite.)
I think I’ll try to stay away from the spinach dip, magic cookie bars, and Heath Bit o’Brickle cookies. I love them, but they’re not totally necessary for my Christmas enjoyment.
I’m making roasted broccoli and red pepper (yum!) instead of broccoli casserole this year, so that will save on some calories, but there will be some sweet potato casserole…oh, and cheesecake. Always cheesecake.
And, of course, none of this would be possible without some sweet tea.
What will you be baking this year?
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
I wish I had taken pictures guess i still could. We at the Johnson Tribe home are making molasses cookies, buckeyes, holiday pretzels, peppermint bark, popcorn cakes.. I think that is everything we have been working to give as gives as well as Candy cane felt mice, Red beans and rice mix, Coffee filter angels and pine cone ornaments. I am with you I am finding myself staying away from eating them as well. Yes I love the sweets but I find as I get older or is it wiser I am ok not tasting everything! =)
Yeah, these pictures are from last year (or maybe it was the year before??). Right now, I'm still in daydreaming phase.
Mmmm…peppermint bark. Yum! I'd forgotten about that.
Yes peppermint bark is so easy annd so yummy!!! but I have to say my grandma molasses cookies are my fav.. The key is having fun and enjoying making traditions with our kiddos!!!
I love to bake. We always bake a lot and give most of it away. Sharing calories is the way it should be. Heehee! I haven't completely planned everything yet, but I always make each person's favorites. Fudge for my son, thumbprints for my husband, Russian tea cakes for me (small and fewer calories by size) and sugar cookie cut-outs for my daughter who LOVES to decorate them. I'd like to do something more creative this year, but that's already four things that we'll be baking.
I have ten things on my baking list (I will not be losing 30 lbs). It ranges from red velvet cheesecakes, to classic sugar cookies, to gingerbread cake with cheese filling. I bloged it here https://inax5.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-top-ten-pick-for-this-years.html
Sounds like some yummy stuff! No peanut butter anything here though. (My daughter is allergic.) We've been baking gingerbread cookies though and the kids have mentioned making peppermint-candy chocolate fudge.
Jessy
Our Side of the Mountain
PEANUT BUTTER BALLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! <-tehe, don't mention that to Brian!
I am not having a bake day this year. I will stick to my cheese ball and spinach casserole and try to skip too many sweets. Except for the peanut butter balls of course! 😉
I want to make some gingerbread cookies… my children want to decorate them. Plus, homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and a gingerbread layer cake with maple-whipped cream frosting for Christmas Eve. (It's Jesus' birthday cake… and yes, we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.)
I was trying to do the Avoidance Thing this year, in regard to holiday baking…but that obviously isn't going to work. Isn't it interesting how our Christmas memories can be shaped around food? Ask anyone in my family. They can barely remember what they got for Christmas in years past but they can recite and request the menu by heart (with the words YOU HAFTA' MAKE…in front of each item). It will require discipline on my part. Truth be told, I never have really liked holiday food, but I'm a stress eater. I remember the year I made chocolate chip cookie dough and froze it by bucketfuls in my deep freeze, thinking that I was getting ahead. Yeah. Let's do some math here: 360 balls divided by 30 days 'til Christmas = 12 frozen balls into my mouth each day = 5 pounds each week. Not this year.
We'll be making peanutbutter balls, fudge, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, red velvet cookies, pumpkin cookies and chocolate chip….oh and potato candy too!
The cooking frenzy starts here on Dec. 20…the Elves go delivering their goodies on Dec. 23 -24th.