I’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.
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/StefanieLCR/status/6568156908
I tweeted it too! http://twitter.com/scunning/status/6568138131
I love everything about the holidays… Putting up the tree, decorating the house, Christmas music on the radio, Christmas cookies, Christmas parties, sending and receiving Christmas cards and letters… This year, my mom, sister and I went to see the Rockettes. I hope that this becomes a tradition and I can’t wait to take my girls when they’re old enough…
To ensure happy holiday travel….I dose the children with dramamine whether they need it or not…they sleep for the better part of the drive. =)
I promise not to use the whole $50 on dramamine.
We always have monkey bread with Christmas morning…our kids love it! In fact, I tried making it one time during the year, and it was like I committed a cardinal sin. It’s forbidden in our house to have it any other day but Christmas morning. So, my kids are looking forward to having it soon!
My favorite holiday tradition is putting the tree up as a family. It’s become quite interesting with a two year old and an 8 month old now but I still love it.
Thanks for an opportunity to win!
Tweet Tweet! http://twitter.com/beingmommy/status/6568455261
I love going to church on Christmas Eve and singing ‘Silent Night’ alongside my family.
Also, I make these too but I make a peanut butter sandwich with the crackers and then dip it in chocolate…..so good!
I am a Christmas junkie. I love the decorations,the carols, the cookies, the smells, everything! (Except the crowds in the stores. That’s why I shop early or online.) I especially love making gingerbread men and spitzbuben, a traditional German butter cookie.
We drive around looking at ALL the lights, while listening to Christmas music. We then come home, and open one gift, leave stuff for Santa and the reindeer and go to bed. It is so simple, but we always look forward to it!!
My favorite holiday tradition is putting up the Christmas tree and getting the chance to look at all of the ornaments we’ve collected over the years (30 years worth)! It brings me back to our childhood, places we’ve seen, our Wedding, Honeymoon, First Home, Birth of our kids and so many more moments big & small through the years. I cherish this time and hope my kids have as much fun going through them as I do.
My favorite holiday tradition is Christmas breakfast. Ever since I can remember, my family has forgone the usual big Christmas dinnertime feast and instead has had a monstrous Christmas breakfast, complete with egg casserole, cinnamon rolls, bacon, hashbrowns, muffins, and even chocolate covered strawberries (cause it’s Christmas!). Nice and casual (i.e. we eat on the Christmas plates but use paper towels as napkins!) This way everyone gets to stay in their jammies and we don’t have to worry about getting cleaned up or cooking a big meal. We can just hang out and enjoy each other all day long. Oh! And after breakfast, there are board games and family movies!
I love Christmas! It is the best time of the year, and my favorit tradition is watchng home videos while decorating the tree with my husband! It is such a fun and cozy night and I wish I could do it once a week! Merry Christmas!
~Brooke
brooke.malko@gmail.com
My favorite tradition is a new one of baking cookies with my mom and sister-in-law. We started this year and it was a blast. Can’t wait for next year!
actually, i just want to thank you for this recipe in general. i recently bought a package of the ‘fudge covered ritz’ and about died and went to heaven when i ate one. now i can make my own!
as far as my traditions, sadly, i haven’t made my own yet. i’m still learning how…
I always go home to see my parents and we watch Scrooge with Albert Finney on Christmas Eve. We’ve done this since I was a kid, and its a great tradition!
Our favorite cookie recipe is Peanut Butter Blossoms. They are so easy to make, althought we save them special only at the holidays.
I love that my daughter is playing the piano and is learning all the Christmas carols for us to sing while we work on the tree.
I make homemade sugar decorator cookies every year. My mother always did it with me and I continue the tradition with my kids. It’s fun for them and so yummy too! : )
Hi Beth. I think this might be my first comment, for I am a lurker. haha I love your blog and all these receipes are getting me in the CHristmas mood. I must try those truffles! One of my favorite traditions is having a cookie exchange every year. It lets me and all my girls try out ALL the yummy cookies. Happy Holidays!
The day after Christmas is our day to just be lazy and relax with family after all the hurrying and surrying.
Favorite holiday tradition: hmmmm…. we go to my grandmother’s every year and she makes boiled custard and fruit salad. mmmmmmm amazing.
Beth,
I just read your truffle post, and I can’t wait to try them!
My favorite tradition for the holidays is stuffing my son’s stocking. I love doing it! I love buying just the right stuff for him. And, I love to see his face on Christmas morning when he runs to the living room to see what is in it. There is always stuff overflowing out of it because I never know how much it is going to take to fill it up. I also love baking cookies on Christmas Eve with my son to leave out for Santa. So much fun!
My favorite Christmas tradition has always been stockings. The little odds and ends we received from Santa kept us occupied until everyone else was awake. Now, I’m looking forward to putting together my son’s first stocking.
Since we live so far from any of our family, our favorite tradition is to spend Christmas day at home with just us and no one else. It’s so fun and it’s ALWAYS a relaxed day since we have nowhere else in the world to be but with each other:)
My favorite holiday treat, which used to be a tradition, is a good healthy batch of buckeyes or peanut butter balls… With Ruby’s allergy, that yummy treat has gone to the wayside. However, I just saw your truffles, and they look marvelous!!!
A perfect substitute of chocolate-coated goodness! 
This year we are going to be making make ahead casseroles for Christmas morning, probably 2 or 3 So there is variety. I truly hoping this becomes a tradition.
A favorite Tradition is the first snowfall snowball fight! Every year when the snow is just right and no child is expecting it a snowball gets thrown and ends after 20 minutes of snowballs flying,My kids husband and I love that its all the kids talk about for days,
I love all the festive candies and cookies at Christmas!
Our new little family is still coming up with our traditions, but I love the huge breakfast we have Christmas morning. It is a bigger event than Christmas dinner!
My favorite (somewhat untraditional) holiday dish is y mother-in-law’s potato soup that she makes on Christmas Eve. I use her same recipe but it just never is as good as hers.
Fave tradition….breakfast on Christmas Eve morning, Presents in the evening, and sleeping in on Christmas morning.
I really don’t have a single favorite about the holidays…it really is the coalescence of all the awesome/fun/happy/uplifting things that make me love it so much: christmas trees, christmas presents, baked goods, spiced cider, flavored tea and coffee, music, sweaters, snow, movies…
first of all, i ONLY use Viva paper towels, so i should totally win this giveaway!! my favorite christmas food/tradition is my grandmothers fudge. it is so yummy, and she only makes it at christmas. her sugar cookies run a close second!
my mom side of the family is 400 miles away. My dads is here. then we have “our” family. to make things go a little smoother so we arent all trying to share each others time on the same day, we split it. We have Christmas at my moms around the 18th every year. My entire family gets together just as if it were Christmas day. it also helps them spend time with their extended family and inlaws. We usually do a dirty santa or white elephant gift giving type of thing.
On Christmas eve we spend time with my dads family. We do some sort of small dinner, or finger sandwhiches, gifts for grandkids etc. Then on Christmas morning, its just the 5 of us, waking up to santa and enjoying our day, then having traditional christmas dinner. It may not be everyones cup of tea, but it works for us
My favorite newish tradition is to make Easy Oreo Truffles. They are kind of a pain to dip, but oh so good to eat. And even my extended family loves to eat them.
I love reading everyone’s traditions/comments. We have a few and are continuing to create more. I love some things we’ve done the past couple of Christmas Eves. We ring bells for the Salvation Army that afternoon at the mall. It’s a fun thing to do as a family, for a good cause (of course) and Alex’s cuteness really rakes in the cash on that busy (believe it, or not) shopping day. I love the family Christmas eve service at church…and then we go to the CVS right across the street from the church for a little last minute gift. Mike and Alex split up to pick something out for me (like a $10 limit) and I get something for the two of them. We reveal our presents to each other right before bed that night. Kinda different/silly, but we think it’s pretty fun.
I love when we do our Adornaments on the mini tree. They help us focus on Jesus and the true meaning of the season.
I love making snowball cookies for Christmas. Easy and oh so yummy!
Every year we open one small gift on Christmas Eve and then have cookies and milk before bed.
Thanks for the chance to win this!
We have lots of christmas traditions:
Christmas PJs on cmas eve
going to a tree farm cut our own tree
i buy ornaments for the kids each year.
decorating a gingerbread house
we love christmas!
My favorite holiday dish(es) are all the yummy goodies we make at Christmas time! Especially turtles and buckeyes. YUM!
Of course my favorite holiday tradition is when family gets together. It just doesn’t get any better than that and the rare occasions when our WHOLE family is there are absolutely the BEST! Of course that gives us chances to try out new recipes like these on a large scale.
Great post!
Well, we have many holiday traditions…One is delivering gift bags to MS (Multiple Sclerosis) patients in our area–MS is the disease that claimed both my dad’s life and the life of my husband’s father.
I am most excited, however, about starting new traditions with our 8 month old Christmas star, Edward Timothy David!–his middle names are after his grandfathers.
My parents own a bakery, so we are busy baking there, and baking some more, and then some more. I always have SO many treats by the time Christmas rolls around, but I still try to make a batch or two of truffles at home. They’re my favorite!
So many favorite traditions. Probably the candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve would come in very high.
I started making tassies many a years ago when my MIL sent me all the ingredients and the baking utensils to make them. Each year I make at least one batch and now the girls get involved. Everyone looks forward to them and I enjoy taking some to all the neighbors. They are so time consuming, but I don’t mind because there is so much love in them.
My favorite holiday dish is turnip casserole. It is basically turnips mixed with cream cheese. I could eat a mountain of it. Can’t wait!!
carlamo (at) ymail (dot) com
I had no idea it could be that easy! I think I may actually make truffles for the office – thanks for the recipe (they thank you too, they just don’t know it yet).
I love decorating the tree and pulling out all the old, old ornaments that used to by on my parents’ tree. And I tell my kids who gave us each of them, or whose tree it used to be on, or why the ornament was made/given to us, so it’s like a mini family history time, too.
I’m going to try some of the recipes you’ve been posting! YUM!
My favorite holiday traditions are three things. All small, but to me, just seem to make the day special.
One: Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls. Yes I should make them from scratch – but I love those dang things.
Two: My husband’s Irish Coffee. It is to DIE for. The way he hand whips the cream and puts it all together. No one else does it quite the way he does. Magnificent.
Three: Favorite holiday food is my Mom’s fudge. And cranberries. Yum!!!