‘Twas the Weekend Before Christmas….

‘Twas the weekend before Christmas, and all through the house…

every creature was stirring, and you better believe my table was set!

With new dishes! Yay! 

I’ve always wanted a set of Christmas dishes. You know the ones with either a Christmas tree or a snowy scene or holly encircling the border of the dish? So when my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, I decided on the dishes! He told me to pick them out and he would get them. I know, he’s a keeper, right!

I searched the entire internet, looking at patterns, reading reviews, and narrowing down my favorites. But then, I saw something I wasn’t expecting: the prettiest solid green dishes with a textured lacy pattern! As much as I’d always wanted the Christmas-only dishes, I kept coming back to these. And the fact that they could be used year round made it even better! I could see these being used on a springy Easter table with pink and other pastels, or in the fall with browns and oranges. And so these were the ONES! They are called French Lace by Pfaltzgraff.

Then three big boxes happened to arrive when my husband and I were both at the house, and it was quite obvious what was inside them. I threw a twinkly grin his way and mentioned the Christmas brunch I had on the calendar. And that honey of a husband, who knows my fondness for dishes all too well, got out a box cutter and proceeded to take every dish from those three boxes, telling me he was never planning to make me wait until Christmas. Giddy, I WAS!

So, our weekend before Christmas began with lovely new dishes, and a table set Friday morning for a Mother Daughter brunch. We started this brunch tradition last year with my sister-in-law and her daughter, and a mutual friends of ours, and her daughter. All of our girls homeschool and have been in co-ops together at different times. No longer in the same homescool groups, we decided last year to make a point to get the mamas and girls together more often throughout the year. For Christmas, we do brunch at my house.

We all chip in on the food with a variety of breakfast dishes.

This year’s menu:

Sour Dough Breakfast Casserole

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Bacon

Cheese Grits Casserole

Ginger Scones with Spiced Cream 

Orange Cranberry Rolls

Fresh Fruit

Juice, Hot Wassail, Cocoa, and Coffee

Following brunch (and a lot of chatting and catching up), the girls decorated Christmas cookies for much of the afternoon while the mamas continued chatting and sipping coffee in the living room. We arranged the cookies on trays to let the icing dry a bit, and the girls went exploring through the woods while the mamas continued chatting and sipping coffee. Noticing a theme here? We later packed the cookies in clear plastic containers with crinkle paper and sealed them with a festive tag and holiday washi tape. I forgot to get a picture of the finished products, but they were cute. We left from my house and went to deliver Christmas cookies and Christmas cheer at the assisted living home where our Nonie resides. What a fun day!!

Throughout the remainder of the weekend, we finished up some errands, office cleaning, laundry, and enjoyed playing cards and Mad Libs with popcorn Saturday evening. On Sunday, we worshiped our Lord and Savior at church with a beautiful Christmas service. It was also our preacher’s last Sunday with us before he moves, so it was certainly bittersweet.

I was *tickled red and green* to get to use my new dishes again for Sunday lunch!! With so many holiday goodies lately, we were already feeling the need for a lighter Sunday lunch, so I served grilled chicken, wild rice, steamed green beans, green salad, fruit, and butterhorns. Ok, the butterhorns weren’t exactly on the lighter side, but they were in the freezer, leftover from my father-in-law’s birthday dinner. I’ve given the link to the recipe before, but if you missed it, here it is again. They are from Denise at Refresh Her. I looooove this recipe!

If you know our family, you know that we almost always have pie with Sunday lunch. But I was already planning a surprise treat for later in the evening, so I pulled out the leftover Blueberry French Toast Casserole for anyone who needed a little sweet to hold them over. I’d made this for our Friday brunch and it was still fresh and delicious with a cup of Christmas coffee a sweet friend gave me. She knows me so well!

I like this recipe for Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole, but with one tweak of my own. I soften and sweeten the cream cheese with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar before adding it. Then, instead of cutting it into cubes, I spoon scoops of it over the bread. That little extra sweetness added in just makes it, in my humble opinion.

We had originally planned for our annual light-looking and milkshakes for later Sunday evening. However, considering the chilly rain, one child with a cold, another with a back injury, and fact that Chik-fil-A (who has the BEST peppermint milkshakes) is closed on Sundays, we opted for watching It’s A Wonderful Life while knitting, working puzzles, and sipping Hot Chocolate Smoothies!

Hot Chocolate Smoothies

There are many recipes and variations for this one the internet, and the ingredients are easily interchangeable. This is what I came up with for what I had on hand, and they were very tasty! 

In a blender, blend 1 1/2 cups whole milk, 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix, and almost 2 cups ice. Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate syrup (wish I had), and anything else fun and yummy you can think of! I did two batches of this for our family of five. Oh, and next time I’m going to try it with peppermint extract!

With all the hustle and bustle and stress Christmas can bring, Joel and I have learned that we have to be intentional about stopping during the season, even if just for a night here and there, to chill and rest together. These are the memories I’ll treasure most.