whether or not you celebrate the holiday, i hope every one of you has a day filled with laughter, family, and love.

and just for fun, here are some photos from past christmases!

me in front of our christmas tree (christmas 1987? i was two?)

me & liz

brad and his sister, sarah! (christmas 1985 i believe)

brad and sarah with their own snowman!

christmas 2008

me and liz – christmas 2009

christmas 2009

christmas 2010

we have 3 different family christmas celebrations today – it’s going to be busy, but wonderful!

have a great day.

and since today is christmas eve, i thought this was the perfect topic to prepare ahead of time to minimize computer-time and maximize the family-time today.

we’ve got a busy day – we celebrate with brad’s family on christmas eve, so we’re heading out early this afternoon to go to his uncle & aunt’s house for appetizers, then to church, and then to his grandma’s house for dinner, presents, and a white elephant gift exchange!

ok, on to the survey!

eggnog or hot chocolate?

can i say both? i love eggnog, but i usually only have one glass of it every year – it’s so sweet! and hot chocolate is always good, but i don’t think of it as a christmas drink…

does santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?

santa always wrapped our presents when we were growing up. our parents always got my sister and i a couple presents, but most of them were from santa.

colored lights on tree/house or white?

we always had colored lights when i was growing up – my dad hated white lights. he didn’t think they were bright and happy enough! this year brad and i only have white lights on our tree and i think it’s really pretty.

do you hang mistletoe?

no. i remember having it once or twice when we were growing up, but it was never a big christmas tradition for us…

when do you hang your decorations up?

it takes all of my will power to wait until after thanksgiving – i love christmas decorations! i think we put them up the first week of december this year.

what is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

hmm. this is hard because everything is always so delicious! i guess i’ll have to go with little ham sandwiches on fresh dinner rolls with butter.

i know it’s something i could eat other times throughout the year, but i don’t. those little sandwiches at my grandma’s house always remind me of the holidays!

favorite holiday memory as a child?

i loved our whole christmas tradition. we did our christmas with my mom, dad, and sister on christmas eve. we’d go to 4pm church, then out to eat for dinner and we always stopped to visit my great-aunt sophie. on the drive home my sister and i would watch the sky for rudolph’s nose and then when we got home, santa had come! my dad always made us sing christmas carols before we could open our presents. we each had to pick one (he always chose the 12 days of christmas because it’s the longest song everrrrr) and sometimes my sister and i would have to play songs on the piano before we got presents too! it was pure torture to sit there singing and looking at those presents waiting for us.

what is on your christmas wish list?

i am so so so spoiled and have really gotten all of the material things that i wanted this year!

i got my camera (which i sooooo did not think i was getting!) and i know i’m getting a couple more things that will help improve my photography from my momma….

i guess i’m most excited to see liz and spend some time with my family.

do you open a gifts on christmas eve?

we always did the majority of our gifts on christmas eve when i was little. now we get presents at brad’s family on christmas eve and with my family on christmas day.

how do you decorate your christmas tree?

we have a hodge-podge tree! my mom and brad’s mom both saved ornaments for us since we were little, so we both had a pretty big collection to put on our first tree this year!

snow? love it or dread it?

love it! (at first). by the time march arrives and we’re still buried in snow, i do get a little sick of it. but i love the first couple snows each year.

(and of course i have to document them!)

real tree or fake tree?

part of me died inside when brad and i got a fake tree this year.

we always had a real tree when i was growing up and i loved it. again, my dad hated fake trees with a passion, so we never got one.

now that brad and i have a fake one that we’ll use for at least a few years, i do see the appeal of having one. it’s definitely convenient not to have to go drive to pick out a tree and strap it to the top of the car to get it home. plus, no needles all over the floor.

i’m still not fully convinced though. i’ll have a real tree back in my life at some point!

do you remember your favorite gift?

hmm. this is tough. we definitely got spoiled for christmas when i was little. my favorite gifts were usually books. (yes. i was and still am a nerd.) my camera definitely ranks up there with the pretty awesome gifts! so does the necklace brad got me for our first christmas as a couple.

what’s the most important thing about christmas for you?

spending time with my family! i feel so lucky to have a pretty big extended family and we’re all fairly close. it’s always fun to get together with everyone and see my cousins and aunts and uncles. and now i get to do the same with brad’s family. it’s pretty great.

what is your favorite holiday dessert?

willy wonkas and puppy chow are my favorites!

what is your favorite tradition?

we had such awesome christmas traditions when i was growing up (see question about childhood holiday memories above…)

a new tradition that i love is hiding the pickle ornament in the christmas tree! that wasn’t a tradition when we were growing up, but a couple years ago, my mom, sister, and i went to the christkindlmarket in chicago and each got a pickle ornament. since then we’ve always hidden one in our tree!

what tops your tree?

this year it’s a star.

do you prefer giving or receiving?

receiving is fun, of course, but i love picking out the perfect present for each person on my list and then surprising them.

what is your favorite christmas song?

it’s so hard to choose a favorite – i can’t get enough christmas music! i’ve been listening to it since before thanksgiving. i think one of my favorites this year is the 12 days of christmas by straight no chaser.

a traditional favorite is oh come all ye faithful or angels we have heard on high.

candy canes, yuck or yum?

eh. indifferent.

favorite christmas movie?

again, so hard to choose! elf is one of my all-time favorite movies (not just christmas-related) and i also really like love actually.

what do you leave for santa?

milk and cookies for santa and baby carrots + sugar for the reindeer.

do you have a christmas morning tradition?

not really. when i was younger, we’d get up and go to both grandparents’ houses for the larger family christmas celebrations. now, we celebrate christmas at my mom and stepdad’s house with my stepbrother and stepsister and their kids on christmas morning.

do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?

online all the way. sometimes i go to a store to scope things out and get ideas, but i definitely prefer shopping online. i really dislike fighting the holiday shopping crowds…

christmas letter or christmas card?

this year we’re sending out chirstmas/wedding thank-you cards together, but i’ve never sent either before. i love reading christmas letters though!

whew – so many questions, but so much fun.

this definitely increased my holiday cheer by a couple degrees!

***

i hope you all have a great day & a merry christmas eve if you’re celebrating!

well it was good, but it wasn’t quite right. it was a bit too tangy because i used an entire orange peal. and it was missing the delicious spice of ginger that i wanted.

so i tried it again and this time i’ve got a keeper!

i made this to suit my tastes, so it’s not quite as tangy and not quite as sweet as other versions. i left out the orange and lemon peel and reduced the sugar by about half compared to my first try. i also added in minced candied ginger, which was a great decision if i do say so myself!

cranberry relish

by sarah zinkel

prep time: 5 minutes

“cook” time: 2 minutes

ready in: 24 hours

ingredients:

• 1 bag cranberries (12 oz.), rinsed and bad berries removed
• 1 orange, peeled
• 1/4 lemon, peeled
• 1/4 cup candied ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup sucanat

method:

1. add cranberries, orange, and lemon to food processor. pulse until you reach desired consistency. i like mine to be almost liquidy, but if you like yours to be chunkier, stop sooner.
2. in a large bowl, mix together processed fruit, sugar, and sucanat.
3. refrigerate for 24 hours before serving to allow flavors to blend.

this batch is more like it.

not too sweet. not too tart. just right.

and in case you’re scrambling for a fruity side dish for your christmas dinner, can i recommend this?

***

i am back in manitowoc for the long weekend! i arrived yesterday with jake and capone and surprised liz, but brad had to work, so he is arriving this morning! tonight we’re celebrating thanksgiving at my mom’s house since liz had to stay in california last month. i might have to whip up a batch of this cranberry relish to contribute to the meal…

christmas festivities begin tomorrow with brad’s side of the family. it’s going to be a family-filled couple of days and i can’t wait!

*****

how do you prefer your cranberries on thanksgiving, christmas, or anytime? in aluminum can form? relish? or sauce?

i really like relish, but (even though it kind of grosses me out…) i still like canned cranberries too.

i made some last year and loved it.

this year i knew i was going to make it again, especially since my love for birthday cake flavoring has only increased since making ashley’s cake batter cashew butter…

and trying three olives birthday cake vodka.

birthday cake flavored anything is a winner in my book!

so, while i remember jessica’s cake batter bark being awesome, i remember thinking it wasn’t very cake-y and was pretty white chocolate-y instead.

so i bumped it up a notch.

i followed her recipe, but i added 1/2 tsp almond extract to 8 oz of dark chocolate on the bottom layer.

then, i added another 1/2 tsp almond extract and an extra two tbsp of funfetti cake mix to the 12 oz white chocolate for the top layer.

it’s still delicious. but it takes it up a notch. this bark really tastes like birthday cake!

it’s the almond extract that does it.

and trust me – it’s a good thing.

i might have to make an extra batch of this stuff. it’s a crowd pleaser!

***

is today anyone else’s friday?! i am so pumped for this weekend!! today is going to be busy finishing things up at work and packing to go home. i just hope i can concentrate on the things i need to do – i’m too excited!!!

and a very very happy birthday to the lovely katie! her birthday is exactly a month before mine and we had a joint birthday party back in middle school. it was one of the first boy-and-girl parties. my dad came in while we were sitting on the couch with a boy and he had his arm around my shoulders. my dad asked him, “so you like to hug?” and then he picked him up in a giant bear hug. i was embarrassed and one of my guy friends who was at the party still teases me about that to this day!

*****

do you like birthday cake flavored things?

what’s your favorite kind of holiday bark?

i am partial to this birthday cake bark, but classic peppermint will always have a place in my heart too!

i’m posting a bit late this morning because i didn’t have time to get started on this post at all last night! our friend (and brad’s best man at our wedding) is in town for a job interview so he stayed with us last night and we went out for dinner.

the late start is ok though. i get to work from home this morning because brad’s work holiday party is at noon today so i would have had a ridiculously short day of work if i attempted to commute in and back before lunch…

anyway, on to the good stuff!

i have been eating so much delicious food lately and having so much fun photographing it. i actually had several days of food photos to choose from today, so you get the best breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the past week!

the winner for breakfasts was this bowl of hot oats.

it was my typical oats mix: 1 mashed banana, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, 1/3 cup water, 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds with very cherry berry blend, cashew butter, and granola on top.

i really don’t think i’ll ever get sick of very cherry berry blend in my oats. i love the giant juicy cherries!

*

lunches have been a bit boring around here lately. lots of leftovers going on…

i did throw together this random salad to get rid of a bunch of food before we leave for the holiday weekend.

a bed of spinach with a tomato, some green pepper, half an avocado, cottage cheese, and this awesome dressing that i forgot i had from the farmers’ market.

it’s sweet basil pesto vinaigrette from renaissance farms and it was as good as it sounds! so flavorful and it tasted like pesto and a vinaigrette at the same time.

i think i have a new favorite dressing! madison friends, definitely check this out next time you’re at the farmers’ market.

*

my favorite dinner this week was a b.l.a.t.

actually, a b.s.a.t. (bacon, spinach, avocado, tomato) on wheat bread.

we ate this with some steamed broccoli. it hit the spot! i love ending my day with a bunch of veggies. too often i feel like i begin the day really well with lots of fruit, whole grains, and healthy fat in my breakfast and that i fall apart by dinner time. packing veggies into lunch and dinner definitely help keep up the health habits!

*

and of course i’ve been saving willy wonkas and puppy chow for dessert most nights! good thing i don’t keep that stuff in the apartment all year round…

***

in other news…we gave the dogs their christmas presents a bit early since we won’t be home for christmas.

ok, maybe we both wanted to do something and they were driving  us crazy, so we tried to distract them with these massive bones!

jake is all about his, but capone is unimpressed…

we gave them the bones on monday and you can hardly tell they’ve been chewed at all – these are going to take them a while to get through!

***

like i mentioned before, today is brad’s work holiday party, so i’m at home today. i think i’ll brave the crazy weather as soon as i publish this post and get my workout done this morning.

it was raining outside when i woke up, then i heard a bit of thunder, and now it’s snowing giant flakes!

hopefully the roads aren’t too slippery!

*****

do you get your animals christmas presents?

do you have a ton of produce in your fridge to eat before you travel for the holidays like me?

eek. i don’t know what i was thinking getting so much kale/spinach/carrots/tomatoes – i am going to turn into a vegetable before friday!

my mom used to make pea soup fairly often when we were growing up and i always loved it! as soon as the idea to try making my own popped into my head, i had to give it a try.

i decided to go with simple flavors and not get too crazy with my first attempt.

i gathered all of the necessary ingredients.

simple split pea and ham soup

prep time: 20 minutes

cook time: 5-8 hours

ingredients:

• a bag of green split peas (16 oz)
• a ham steak (~4 cups, cut into cubes)
• a bunch of carrots
• 1 onion
• a couple stalks of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• chicken broth (i used 4 cans)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

method:

1. since i wanted to use the slow cooker, i chopped all of the vegetables and the ham the night before and set everything else out.
2. in the morning, i rinsed the peas, dumped them into the bottom of the slow cooker. then i added the vegetables, ham, spices, and then finally added the broth (vegetable broth or water would work too).
3. cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5 hours.
4. top with plain yogurt and bacon.

this was perfectly comforting and filling. i love that it’s packed with vegetables and has just enough ham to give it an awesome flavor!

i’d say my first attempt at split pea and ham soup was a success. next time i think i might try to make it a bit spicier or add some potatoes. we’ll see!

***

what’s your favorite cold weather soup?

this one was delicious, but i think chili is still my favorite soup to warm me up!

let me count the ways…..

1. i get to wake up without an alarm.

this one alone would be worth it own post celebrating it. i wake up between 5 and 6am to an alarm every day during the week so it is glorious waking up whenever i wake up. even though that is usually no later than 7:30am. i did sleep until about 10am on saturday morning thanks to a bit too much wine + margaritas on friday night. oops!

2. an awesome perk to those early alarm-free wake-ups = no one is at the supermarket! i stopped at trader joe’s, whole foods, starbucks, and costco and was only gone from our apartment for 2.5 hours. and that includes ~45 minutes of driving time to and from downtown.

i win on that one!

3. plenty of time to make a big breakfast and i get to eat with brad!

yesterday we made egg sandwiches with a side of breakfast potatoes with green peppers and onions. i wasn’t feeling the english muffin for the sandwich though, so i just threw everything onto a massive pile of spinach.

it was soooooo good like this! i got to eat everything together in one bite. i think i’ll have to always do this from now on!

4. naps.

i love naps. i don’t take them often during the week because then i’m up late and exhausted the next day.

but on weekends, they’re fair game.

yesterday, i fell asleep reading on the bed in the guest bedroom and capone and jake were snuggling with me. i woke up with one arm around capone snuggling him and with jake curled up behind my knees. it was perfect.

5. leftovers.

usually by sunday we have plenty of random leftovers from meals eaten out or dinners that i prepared the previous week.

yesterday’s dinner was 100% leftovers.

i had the rest of a box of tomato soup (i used half of it in some sloppy joes that i made last weekend) and some italian bread that needed to be used up with the last of our morel mushroom cheese that also needed to be used up!

brad’s meal was leftover split pea and ham soup with cheesy bread and some leftover pulled pork!

6-10000. football games (even though the packers lost yesterday ), more time with brad, lots of snuggle time with jake & capone, a wardrobe of sweatpants and slippers, writing my sunday sevens posts (i love those!), baking, eating willy wonkas, and so much more!

obviously, i had a pretty great weekend.

how was yours?

i have way more than seven things i wanted to tell you about today, so this is going to be a challenge to pick out the best ones.

1. i got fun surprises in the mail from two lovely ladies this week! kelly sent me a christmas card (with an adorable picture of her pug, olive, on it – i melted!) and three teas that were all new to me! then, the next day, i got this little packages from my friend katie!

she sent me a very sweet card, a coffee cup cozy, and three more new-to-me teas (katie, your teas are being sent out tomorrow!).

2. it finally snowed!!

we did get a teaser of snow in november (or was it then end of october?), but it’s been feeling very un-christmas-like here without snow. now it feels like christmas is really a week away!

3. i was sent a free sample of these baked lentil chips a couple weeks ago and finally tried them this week.

i was really excited about them because they’re so different – baked lentil chips?!? sounds cool!

i thought they were pretty good. they weren’t greasy like a lot of other chips, which i appreciated, but the cracked pepper flavor was spicier than i was expecting. there are a couple other flavors that i’ll definitely keep my eyes open for. i’d love to try more.

4. look at this dog.

he is so spoiled!

i had to laugh at how perfectly he laid his head on the pillow. he was very comfortable too – he didn’t move from the couch all night!

5. speaking of being spoiled…. my husband is wonderful and let me use the rest of our crate & barrel gift cards that we got for our wedding on whatever i wanted!

i ended up going a little bit over the gift card balance so that we could get free shipping – but it was so worth it! look at what we all got!

lots of adorable mini dishes, a festive joy mug, some placemats, some spoons, a grapefruit spoon, which i have been wanting for a while… all kinds of goodies!

6. my sister is arriving in wisconsin today!

i won’t see her until friday morning when brad and i go back to manitowoc for christmas, though.

i haven’t seen her since our wedding weekend in august. she moved back to california two days after our wedding.

i can’t wait to give her a squeeze and then ask her to teach me everything she’s learning in culinary school!!!

7. i tried out a new kitchen gadget this week.

i’ve been wishing for a frother for a while now, and when i was at bed, bath, & beyond doing some christmas shopping, i found one for super cheap so i snatched it up!

i frothed some almond milk to make a latte yesterday morning and it worked perfectly! just like starbucks….almost.

***

i hope you all have a great sunday! our plans today involve watching the packers play and relaxing! i’ve got a couple recipes to write up for next week, and then we need to finish wrapping our christmas presents.

i am  happy to report that the treats are going over well. brad brought a tin of them to work yesterday and he brought home the empty tin last night – i declare that a success!

i was also surprised to hear that a lot of you didn’t know what willy wonka balls are (we actually just call them willy wonkas…), but then i realized that they probably go by another name.

they’re peanut butter crispies rolled into balls dipped in chocolate and they are delicious.

if you haven’t had these before, then you are in luck because i’ve got the recipe for you today.

full disclosure – i have no idea where this recipe came from, but my family has been making these for as long as i can remember!

willy wonkas

time: 1 hour (rolling them into balls takes a while)

yield: ~40 1-inch balls

ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups peanut butter
• 3.5 cups rice crispies
• 2.5 cups powdered sugar
• 8 oz. chocolate (i used half semi-sweet + half 70% dark chocolate)

method

1. stir together butter and peanut butter in a saucepan over low heat until completely melted and combined
2. in a separate large mixing bowl, mix rice crispies and sugar
3. stir melted butter and peanut butter into rice crispies/sugar
4. let cool a bit and then roll into 1 inch balls (this part can get a little messy, fyi!)
5. place balls in refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill and set
6. melt chocolate in a double boiler
7. dip balls into chocolate and let cool

i’m storing our willy wonkas in the refrigerator so they don’t melt. plus, i love biting into cold chocolate!

i don’t really know why these are christmas treats in our family, but we usually make them during the holidays.

i love the combination of chocolate + peanut butter. i’d love to make these with brown rice crispies and almond butter or nutella sometime.

yum. that sounds too delicious!

***

i’m really excited to have a pretty relaxing day today! i’m heading out soon to finish up some last christmas presents and to do some grocery shopping including a trader joe’s stock-up. other than that, i see a gym trip and then lots of sweatpants-wearing in my future.

*****

have you ever had willy wonkas?

do you call them something else?

i was feeling a little bit left out on all of the holiday cookie/candy making this season since i hadn’t done any yet!

i definitely made up for it though. immediately upon waking up, i grabbed the list i prepared the night before and headed to the supermarket to get my supplies.

the lady who checked me out at the store laughed and asked me if i was doing any baking that day. i guess it was kind of obvious…

as soon as i got home, i got right into it! i don’t even remember what i made first, but it included lots of licks…

i broke out 4 kinds of jam…

…to make thumbprint cookies for the very first time!

(had to take a picture so i remembered which flavor was which when the cookies were done!)

sooooo many dirty dishes…

which made me realize that i need more baking supplies. i only have enough to make one batch at a time. that made my baking day highly inefficient!

and finally…

lots of cookies and candies!

my baking booty included:

• peanut butter blossom cookies using julie’s recipe

• chocolate gooey butter cookies from courtney
• jam thumbprint cookies

• puppy chow (a family favorite!)

• chocolate covered cake balls

• willy wonka balls (another family crowd pleaser)
• peppermint bark

• cake batter bark (inspired by jessica, but i gave it my own twist to make it extra cakey.)

and i think we’re set on the holiday treats.

don’t worry though. as much as i wish we were keeping all of these delicious treats to ourselves, i packed up a couple tins for brad to bring into work and i’m bringing in a container of treats for my lab-mates too.

we definitely made sure to keep some of everything to enjoy at home over the next couple weeks as well!

i’ll surely have a handful of puppy chow tonight to celebrate the fact that it’s friday!

*****

have you done any holiday baking?

what’s your favorite holiday treat?

what are your plans this weekend?

tonight, we’re having dinner with some friends at aranda’s. tomorrow i’m making a grocery shopping trip to my favorite stores that are not so convenient now that we live farther from downtown: trader joe’s, the co-op, maybe even costco! we’re also planning to make more progress on our wedding thank you notes (we’re so close to done!). oh yeah, and watching the packers play on sunday too!

i think it’s going to be a good weekend!