Holiday Baking {a giveaway!}
ByI’m so glad November is over.
The entire month someone in our house was sick, mostly my daughter who caught the flu on November 2nd and was treated for flu and sinus infection on December 1st. We all had the sickies at some point or another which made things difficult for me because not only was I sick or caring for someone who was sick but I also wanted to bake.
ALL OF THE TIME.
My dilemma wasn’t so much that I didn’t have energy to bake even though I wanted to, it was baking without spreading these nasty germs to other family members and friends that I was preparing these sweet treats for them to enjoy.
So, what did I do? For one, I washed my hands endlessly, and two, I used paper towels to dry my hands every single time I washed them. Which was a lot.
I could not stand the thought of using the same towel over and over again, I just imagined the germs manifesting inside of it and knew that using paper towels would be safer for all of us.
And to combat stubborn chocolate or maple glaze stuck to my countertops? I used paper laid out on my work area. It worked out perfectly.
I call this my “mess catcher.”
So now the holidays are in full swing, I seem to be baking something nearly everyday and we are finally, once again, all healthy. Which makes me want to celebrate…with some Christmas cookies.
(and with all of the germs gone from the kitchen, I feel much better about licking every last bit of chocolate off of my fingers!)
mmmmm…..
Get the recipe for these chocolate beauties by clicking here!
Win! Our friends at Viva are giving one of you a $50 Visa Gift card to spend however you wish! To win, leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite holiday tradition, your favorite holiday dish or what you do to ensure your holiday travels go smoothly!
Receive a second, third or fourth entry by tweeting, facebooking or blogging about this giveaway! (please leave the links to each entry separately in the comments!) Who’s going to be the lucky winner?
Winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, December 13th at 9:00 pm. CST.
This post was sponsored by Viva Towels. For fun, fork-free recipes – including videos – and snappy entertaining ideas, get over to the VIVA® Diva Café.
May Canadians enter? My favourite holiday tradition is playing crokinole after Christmas dinner.
We can’t have Christmas morning without breakfast casserole. You know, the one that you can make the night before with eggs, bread, sausage and cheese? YUM!
Hmmmm there are so many!!
I love to bake with my girls (16 & 3), suppose my son (14)enjoys it too. Our together baking is such a joy to all of us. I always make a gingerbread house with them…that I guess would be the best memory. They can do anything they want to it….it is beautiful! Even if it wouldn’t win some big contest! Maybe it will win yours
Merry Christmas!
Valley
Hmm, fav Christmas traditions?? I LOVE the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church…getting dressed up for the service then coming home, relaxing and opening the stocking presents!!!
YAY!!
I shared about this on facebook!!!
I also tweeted about this giveawaay!! @kateinparadise
(p.s. my facebook is Kari Schmidt)
To ensure my holiday travels go smoothly I keep a file on my computer with a check list of things I have to do before leaving and things I have to pack. I use the same list every time I travel. Unfortunately this winter I’m probably staying home, but if I were going anywhere as long as I didn’t get my flight delayed (unlikely!) I’d expect things to go pretty smooth.
Thank you so much for the giveaway!
I have to pick just one??? Baking is probably my favorite. Now that I have three daughters, it’s so much fun for all of us to be in the kitchen. And I don’t even mind the mess {that much}.
I have to pick just one??? It would probably be baking. Now that I have three daughters, it’s such fun for all of us to be in the kitchen together. And I don’t even mind the mess {that much}
I love all the sewing I do. It stresses me out, but I enjoy it at the same time!
My favorite holiday tradition is my mom coming over early xmas morning and the kids opening their gifts and eating breakfast (which alternates between eggs benedict and egg cassarole, depending on whether I’m having xmas dinner at our house that year).
My favorite thing to make is Peppermint Bark. I give as gifts, too.
tweet!
http://twitter.com/erincharp/status/6648743383
My sisters and I exchange hand-made gifts. One knits, one sews, one makes jewelry. All my gifts have something to do with photos and/or Scrabble letters.
My favorite Holiday dish is one that my mother in law passed down to me, it is called asparagus pie and it is wonderful!!
i love christmas morning at moms, all of us running downstairs and opening our stockings. then we have a huge, HUGE brunch before opening the big shebang! LOVE it!
oh, and cookies. i love cookies.
I tweeted it
My favorite tradition is going over to my mom’s on Christmas Day with the whole family and eating dinner then opening presents. And now that we have a toddler it’s even more magical!
samanthajocampen at gmail
My favorite holiday cookies are those sugar cookies in the shape of trees with green or red sprinkles. I dont know what it is that makes me like them so. Theyre perfect. No really they are.
My favorite tradition is buying everyone a new Christmas ornament each year. We always make them personal to the receiver. For instance, my oldest collects Nutcrackers and this year we got him a glass Nutcracker playing the drums, Hubby’s favorite football team is the SF 49ers so he got a football ornament w/the team logo on it, my youngest son is into monster trucks so he got a Grave Digger one, my daughter collects snow globes and she got a snow globe ornament with Santa inside and I got a laptop ornament with a Santa hat on the corner and the screen says “Talk Nerdy to Me!” (I work from home on my computer all the time).
I posted on Twitter here => http://twitter.com/ArikaLewis/status/6648753403
Our favorite holiday tradition is Christmas cookie baking also. We spent the day today baking, decorating, laughing, and hugging. And I agree. Paper towels rock in all aspects of the kitchen. Doesnt matter the tools and fancy gadgets you have,,, a kitchen without paper towels is a bare sad kitchen.
My favorite tradition is talking about all of our Christmas tree mishaps of the past, as we drive to and from cutting down out own tree.
Just tweeted for you..and my favorite part of Christmas is making all those crafts with my two little boys.:)
My favorite holiday tradition was always waking up insomnia-level early (3-ish) with my brother and sisters and playing games until my parents finally decide to get out of bed at around 6:30 am (which was still early for them).
I’ll answer the holiday travels going smoothly one…. We’re leaving this next Saturday and I already shipped the bulky gifts so they’ll be there before we will so I don’t have to worry about packing them. I also already set out my suitcase, so this week as I think of things that I want to remember to bring home, I can just go put them in the suitcase. I’m also BIG on lists, because if it’s on the list then I feel less anxious about remembering everything. So, not a very exciting comment, but there you go.
Making cut out sugar cookies and spending time alone with DH and our little girl on Christmas Eve. We read Christmas stories and set out our special cookies for Santa, its quiet and cozy. kschroeder616 at gmail dot com
http://twitter.com/inthefastlane/status/6648928943
My favorite holiday tradition is to bake cookies with my kids every year and give them to the neighbors!
Every Christmas Eve since I was small, we would all put on our pajamas and then load into the car and drive around looking at all the Christmas lights. I have now continued this tradition with my 4 year old son.
I tweeted! http://twitter.com/melissaaggie98/status/6649052671
Every Christmas Eve since I was little, we have put on our pajamas and loaded into the car to drive around looking at Christmas lights. I’ve continued this tradition with my 4 year old son.
My Favorite Holiday Tradition is all the family together for 2 full days at my house and we each open up ONE gift Christmas eve!!
My favorite Dish is Home ade Stuffing!!
i tweeted about this
My favorite holiday tradition is simply decorating the tree with the kids. They have so much fun and that just warms my heart. Especially putting the pickle on the tree.
SO many different traditions, but my favorite is baking a cake for Jesus (when I was a kid and now with my kiddo!) and having a little party for Him. We sing “happy birthday” and all and our “gift” to Him is giving to others in various ways such as Operation Christmas Child and the like. Oh! and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas while drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows.
Always a fun time.
Tweeted, also.
@cldeib