Merry Christmas!

At about 7:30 this morning our doorbell rang.  The Warden and I looked at each other trying to figure out who could be ringing the bell at that hour.  #6 ran to the door and answered it.  I could hear a woman's voice say, "Is your mom Julie?"  I was a bit baffled.  "Will you give these to her?"  At that point, I started scrambling for something to wear, but by the time I ran to the door with the tray #6 had run up to me, I had missed her.  It was Morgan's grandmother with an entire tray full of the most amazing warm cinnamon rolls with the words "Merry Christmas" written in red and green in the most beautiful handwriting on the foil.  
I sat and cried.  What time must she have been up to make such wonderful rolls?!  They were still WARM!  She hadn't been to my house before.  She must have had to give herself a bit of extra time for that too.  So touched by her thoughtfulness!  They were FANTASTIC!  Thank you Vic!

I woke all the kids threatening that if they wanted one they'd "better come now, or they might all be gone."  Such an amazing way to start the day!



Every year in the past, we've spent Christmas Eve at the Warden's parents house.  Last year that ended, and we had a party at our house with a number of other families.  As we faced the reality of it just being us this Christmas Eve, and I have to admit, we felt just a touch of sadness.

My family, growing up didn't do much for Christmas Eve.  I remember we all got a new pair of pajamas, and I remember my mom, many years, working hard to get them all made by that night.  That was about the extent of Christmas Eve for us, but for the Warden's family, it was HUGE.  His mom made wonderful food and hosted parties of anyone and everyone.  We were all encouraged to bring friends along.  There were always carols sung around the piano and the reading of the nativity out of Luke.  In more recent years, that reading included costumes and acting the story out.

As dinner was just about on the table, the doorbell rang.  It was some dear friends that we don't see very often any more.  They had joined us in years past up at the Warden's house.  We were so glad to see them.  They had come by to drop of a card and some treats.  We asked them if they'd eaten.  He mentioned that they'd "just been snacking," so we invited them to join us.  They had a number of deliveries still to make, so we told them to come back after.  It worked out perfectly.  We were able to throw together a bit more food while they were gone.

It was wonderful to spend the evening according to Hess tradition!  What a wonderful little tender mercy!  #1 played the piano, we read about the birth of Christ and enjoyed some time together.

Now, I'm off to bed, and everything's set for the morning.  Can't wait to see the kids faces.  Breakfast is waiting in the fridge.  I'm doing this this year.  We'll have ham and funeral potatoes (see cookbook p. 18--tomorrow evening).  Tonight, we had the traditional Hess dinner (last recipe on p. 21, Caesar salad, corn, rolls, and for dessert, the bottom recipe on p. 52, which #6 referred to as "Mex in Japan" tonight.  Hmm.  That might just stick around here.)

I hope whatever you're doing that you have a very merry Christmas!  What a wonderful time to spend with family and remember the real gift that God gave to us--his Son.  Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!

Rosettes

Kids'll start heading home within a half hour.  YAY!!!!

I knew a woman once who had a gorgeously spotless home.  She HATED it when her kids had a day off from school.

I choose otherwise.  At one point in time, our house was gorgeously clean day after day, but it was only because I was freaking out about every little mess that was made.  I choose not to be that fanatical.   My home is never gorgeous or spotless--not any more, but my kids like being here, and I like having them here.

I would love to be able to find the balance between these two things--kids and cleanliness, but so far, even when we get things clean, they don't last all that long.  The kids are good cleaners, but to be honest, they need someone to remind them to do the cleaning.  Sometimes life gets busy, and I slack on my reminder duty. 

Someday it will be clean, but that will only be because the mess-makers no longer reside here.  That will be a sad day.

For now, with a half hour to go, I'm counting down their return.  They'll be here with me for two weeks straight.  We're going to do some fun things.  We have two birthdays during that time and some fun traditions to uphold.  I'm excited!

For today, I'm working on getting the house in order, so they can come into a peaceful, warm, loving place.  I'm also making them a treat...rosettes.

 My mom used to make them for us when I was a little girl.  I inherited the irons from her.

I've found them online for around $13 if you're interested in having some.

Here's the recipe I use if you already have the irons and want to give it a go:

DESSERT ROSETTES
Put a bunch of shortening in a pan (the pan needs to be wide enough that the irons can fit into it) and melt it.  Once melted, the oil should be at least an inch deep.  Yes, these are deep fried.

Add 2 tsp. sugar to 2 slightly beaten eggs.
Add 1 C. milk.
Mix 1 C. flour and 1/4 tsp. salt and stir into the egg mixture.
Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

The batter should be smooth and have the consistency of heavy cream.

Screw the iron of your choice onto the handle and let it heat up in the melted shortening.  You want the shortening to be hot.  I've tried substitutes for this, but it has to be shortening--sorry.

Dip the hot iron into the batter about 3/4 of the way up the side of the iron and put it in the hot shortening until  it's brown.

Remove the rosette to paper towels on a plate.  Let them cool a bit and then dip them in powdered sugar; they should still be a bit warm when you do this.

Eat shortly thereafter.  Enjoy!

Some Things to Share

I ran across a few things that I thought I'd share. 

First, last night for dinner, I was going to make my sister's rolls that are in the cookbook but found that I didn't have any shortening, so I found this recipe.  It's absolutely EASY and delicious!  We spread butter on the top of each roll after they were baked.  It's one I will definitely make again!  My sister's recipe might be more delcious than this recipe, but really I was impressed with the easiness of the one I'm sharing here.

I love Frugal Dad.  He shares so much wisdom.  His is the only blog that I receive emails for.  I figure I get so many emails as it is that most of the time I can't find the good ones among the junk ones, so I don't sign up for many email update kind of things.  His is different.

Okay, so the last one.  I ran across this quite by accident.  We are always looking for fun Christmas traditions.  We have certain outings that we take every year at this time.  We have card traditions and eating traditions and service traditions, but this one I thought was so DARNED cute!  Just thought I'd share.

Hope you're having a lovely day!