A Christmas to remember

Welcome! I was totally late in signing up for this blog Advent tour, but I am glad that Kailana was gracious enough to squeeze me in.

Christmas is my most favorite holiday. I think it stems from wonderful memories of my childhood – warm fires, yummy food and a beautiful tree with lots of gifts from Santa. My mom always knew how to celebrate the holiday right and made it fun for all of us. Now, with two kids of my own, it was time to start our own traditions.

Other than the typical decorating around the house (which you can see pictures of over at my craft blog) we have been heading into Manhattan over the past few years to kick off the holiday season. Just this past Saturday we took a whole entourage with us – six adults and five kids all ate a yummy lunch in Chinatown and then headed uptown to Rockefeller Center to see the tree (Note to self – next year go on a week day to avoid the massive crowds)!  Afterwards we headed down to Macy’s Herald Square to enjoy the awesome window displays.

Another one of my favorite holiday pastimes is reading to my children. I recently reorganized my bookshelf (got the idea from Soulemama) and separated all my children’s holiday books from the rest of our stash. I now have stacked our books neatly in a basket that sits right by our tree – that way we can grab and read a holiday story and not have to rummage around the bookshelf for that “one” book. Our new favorite is Snowmen at Christmas, a beautifully illustrated story about how snowmen enjoy the Christmas season when no one is looking. There are also hidden pictures within each drawing, so it kept my five year old busy for a while. As for me, I’ve been delving into Holidays on Ice by David Sederis for a few chuckles.

Another tradition since my oldest Leah was born is to have a picture of our whole family on our Christmas card. During this past Thanksgiving (which also was unseasonably warm), we stepped outside and my father snapped this picture for us:

I am really pleased with the way it turned out this year and have just finished stuffing all the envelopes and have sent them on their merry way!

Last but not least, there is plenty baking going on in our home. Next week we will be making some biscotti from this Food Network recipe to give to Leah’s teachers as holiday gifts. This weekend I will be busy making this yummy dessert that is the perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee (or hot cocoa for that matter). I have made this Sour Cream Coffee Cake over and over the past eight or so years. Make sure you grease the pan real well with melted butter and flour. If not, your cake may come out in two pieces. It tastes best if made one day before serving and is delicious served for dessert or even for a brunch. Enjoy!

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan with melted butter and flour. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in salt, baking powder and cake flour. Spoon half of the batter into a greased bundt pan. Using the back of a spoon, make a slight indentation in the batter and add the following filling:

• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Spoon remaining batter over the cinnamon-nut filling. Bake for approximately one hour. Remove from pan after 15 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving. Serves 10 to 12 people. 

There is plenty more to see! Check out these sites for over the next few days of the advent tour, including one more stop today:

13 December – Jill (The Well-Read Child)
14 December – Robin (A Fondness for Reading)
15 December – Alyssa (By The Book)
16 December – Rachel (A Fair Substitute for Heaven)
17 December – Literary Feline (Musings of a Bookish Kitty)/ Stephanie (Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic)
18 December – Dev (Good Reads)
19 December – Callista (S.M.S. Book Reviews)
20 December – Tiny Little Librarian (Tiny Little Librarian)
21 December – Carla (Carla Nayland Historical Fiction)/ Susan (Reading, Raving, and Ranting by a Historical Fiction Writer)
22 December – Carolyn Jean (The Trillionth Page)
23 December – Booklogged (A Reader’s Journal)
24 December – Kailana (The Written World) / Carl V. (Stainless Steel Droppings)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!