O Holy Night!

Merry Christmas Eve Sisters!

I have decided that Christmas Eve should be considered a separate holiday. It is an evening of anticipation for the next day and also a time of quiet reflection. It's a night to take a deep breath, because everything is done, the hustle and bustle of shopping is over, the gifts are wrapped, the menu is planned, it seems like now we can FINALLY focus on the celebration and not "getting ready". Christmas Eve is a time for Jesus and a time for family. We attend a Christmas Eve service at the church in my husband's home town. It is a midnight service by candle light and it is really quiet and beautiful.

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine
Oh night divine

Hands down my favorite Christmas song, I love when someone can REALLY sing it. My favorite is Billy Gilman, he is amazing! He belts it out here, live, at Disney back in 2000. I think he is 22 now so he was 12 in this clip...wow, his mom must be proud!

So, I wish all my sisters and their families a peaceful and divine Christmas eve, may our hearts be filled with gladness at the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Time for milk and cookies....
Chocolate Hazelnut Spirals

In keeping with the cookie extravaganza of this week, here are the recipes I made for the cookie exchange. I made half of the recipe for The Chocolate Hazelnut cookies gluten free for sister S using the flour she gave us. They have Nutella in them along with ground hazelnuts. I found the hazelnuts, bagged, in the baking aisle right with the walnuts and pecans etc. I was actually surprised to find them so easily, I had visions of having to buy them whole and crack them open (you're right, I just would have picked a different recipe!) Anyway, then I ground them in my coffee grinder. I figured if a little nut-dust was left in the grinder it would just become hazelnut coffee (I'm a genius, I tell you, a genius!).

The other cookie I made was Orange and Chocolate Spritz Cookies and that was just because I wanted to play with my Pampered Chef Cookie Press (LOVE that thing!!).

Orange and Chocolate Spritz

1 cup softened butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp freshly grated orange zest
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
Heat oven to 375*. Combine butter and sugar, beat until creamy. Add egg, extract and zest, beat until well mixed. Reduce speed to low and add flour and salt. Beat until well mixed. Place dough in cookie press and form shapes 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with coarse grain sugar if desired. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. remove to wire rack and cool completely. Melt 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth. Drizzle melted chocolate over cooled cookies if desired. Yield: 3 1/2 dozen

Does anyone else wish that Christmas cookies could be staggered through out the whole year?? I get very overwhelmed with them right now, eating them I mean. There are just too many that look really awesome to make and eat. And then come May or August a Christmas cookie would be so exciting! Maybe we should do a year round cookie exchange...each sister gets a certain month to make and share cookies?? Just an idea!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

better than martha

This week is cookie theme week at 7Sisters, however I (following diligently on my Christmas calendar) was ahead of schedule and posted on mine last week (oops!) . You can find that fun post (with hilarious story and recipe) here. A quick gluten free tip to my fellow anti-wheaters out there... I gave some of the girls a cup of Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten free flour mixed with a tea of xanthan gum for them to bake my cookies. I'm so glad they were all up for making me a gluten free version of their cookies (or caramel, YUM) and took on the challenge, ALL of their cookies taste WONDERFUL!!! Thank you sisters!! :)

♥J described the cookie exchange perfectly in her post earlier this week. I can't say enough about having such wonderful encouraging friends who you know will pray for you and lift you up day by day! So thankful for all my wonderful friends, near and far. :)

Not wanting to deviate from the theme however, I wanted to share what I learned this year about cookie exchange packaging. Because, let's be honest. Sometimes it IS what's on the outside that counts....in this case at least.

So, below is my easy-to-follow, no-fail, six-step guide to memorable and delectable Christmas cookie packaging. Hopefully next year I will really be able to raise the bar using these tips instead of solely relying on a store bought Martha Stewart brand! I did raise the bar from my packaging last year, but I can always do better!

L to R, top to bottom: Nel, Mar, Jenn, J

#1. A Catchy Container
You can use a Christmas box, a bell jar, a fancy Chinese take-out box, a tin, (even a Martha Stewart basic box is a good place to start!). At the 7Sisters cookie exchange, the containers were as different as we are! Not only is your pretty container a great way to present your cookies, but the giftee can re-use it in their decorating the next year, store Christmas ornaments in it, etc. etc. And using a pretty container doesn't mean you have to break the bank. You can find these for as little as a dollar at craft stores, particularly if you wait till closer to Christmas Day when everything is marked off! The Dollar Tree is a great place to find tins, and if you were feeling really creative, you could even buy the plain brown cardboard boxes found at craft stores for cheap and mod-podge them!

L to R: J, MJ

#2. Ribbon Wrap
Whether you tie it in a big bow on top, or a simple knot to the side, a pretty piece of ribbon always gets things looking more festive. And it doesn't even have to be ribbon either! Get creative and use some Christmas colored string or thread. If you crochet or knit, save your scraps or leftover skeins and use those to decorate your cookie container!

#3. Personalize
Nel had the most beautiful red birds on her fancy take-out boxes that matched her tags, it was so sweet! She used her cricut machine, but you could use anything from a pretty sticker, to a sweet monogram chipboard letter, to a fancy jingle bell tied to the ribbon. Whatever says "hi, this cookie box is from me, and you'd probably be able to guess it without me even signing my name" :)

L to R: J, Mar

#4. Tag it
#4 ties in with #3 and may even be synonymous in some cases. Take Mar for example, her personalization was all about the gift tag. She painstakingly printed and cut out each of our blog monikers to use on her tags! I can tell it's from her from how she tied on her ribbon (more on that below), and it was in a very sweet tin. If you have gorgeous handwriting like many of the sisters you can hand write your tags, but if you're more like me with a hideous Hancock, you could go the Mar route and print your tags! Don't stop there though, you can mount the tag on pretty paper, or even some shiny tin foil backed by some sturdy cardstock! Remember, your tag and your personalization is going to be your handmade stamp on the cookie package. Make it memorable! (It's funny that I'm thinking of this all now, after the fact, I could have done much better on my boxes - I will blame part of it on an unforeseen size issue of the first Martha boxes I got and then being in a flurry to put them together 15 min before the cookie exchange! eek! Better luck next year, I WILL top myself!)

L to R: Mar, Jenn

#5. Ease of Opening
Ok, so you probably weren't expecting this category, but consider this; you receive a beautifully packaged cookie container from a friend. It looks SO beautiful that you imagine you would just faint at the sight of the cookies that could be inside. But it's so tied down with ribbon that you can't! What to do?! That's why I've included this category. After all, when you get right down to it, it IS about the cookies. Right? Or am I contradicting myself now? Anyway....As you can see from the photo on the left above, Mar had an ingenious idea for her ribbon (and also cost-saving as well, since you use less ribbon in this scenario!)- she tucked the ribbon under the top of the tin and taped it to the underside to keep it in place. Genius! The packages this year were great on this category, the jars were so easy to open and take a look at, the boxes and tins opened in a flash, allowing for easy drooling onto the cookies, and etc!

L to R, top to bottom: Jenn, MJ, J, Nel

#6. Cookie Presentation
So, your giftee just easily opened your cookie container after oogling the packaging. But what do they find? Why, perfectly placed cookies, of course! Use mini cupcake sleeves to hold fudge, and as ♥J did, wrap candies in wax paper. Stagger your cookies if they are in a box to allow for easy and delicious viewing upon opening. Throw some Hershey Kisses in the mix if you have some gaps. Add pretty tissue paper to the bottom, and make sure to use wax paper between layers if you think your cookies will stick together! Be careful about putting strong contrasting flavors together (such as mint fudge and chocolate chip cookies- the chips in the cookies will take on the mint flavor). My Martha Stewart boxes were nice and deep, and I had some extra room after I put the top piece of tissue paper on, so I folded a lovely origami ornament to place on the top of the tissue paper, to be a surprise, and the first thing seen when opening my box!

Speaking of being all wrapped up, the poor Marshmallow had an incident with a pesky icicle and a persistent licker. He is healing quickly, but could use a little love this week.
Did anyone else participate in a cookie exchange this Christmas season? If so, please feel free to link to a photo/blog in the comments, I would LOVE to see and gather more ideas! I sure do need em to keep up with my sisters! :)

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve!!

Linking to:

Yummy Cookies

Ready for more of the yummiest seven sisters cookie recipes!!! Here goes!

This year I made Iced Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies (which I blogged about in a previous post), and Italian Meatball Cookies topped with a chocolate ganache. I wrapped them in a beautiful red tin and gave them out to my seven sisters at our annual cookie exchange/Christmas party. This year it was a blast, maybe because we didn't stress out about making ornaments this year.

Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

(makes about 2 1/2 dozen)

** Edited to add; For the cookies, I added cinnamon chunky style applesauce instead of plain.  Please use the link above to reach the recipe!

For the icing, I did this and it was easier to work with;
*1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
*3 tbs pure maple syrup
*3 tbs water

Italian Meatball Cookies

(This is my husbands dear Grandma Anna's recipe)

* 1 cup shortening

* 1 cup milk

*8 oz cream cheese (softened)

* 1 tsp vanilla

* 1 1/4 cup sugar
* 4 1/2 cups flour

*5 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 cup cocoa

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

* 1/4 tsp cloves

* 1/4 tsp nutmeg

* 1/2 cup nut meats (I used very finely chopped walnuts)

* 1 cup chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache

* 1 cup whipping cream

* 12 oz semisweet chocolate

In a medium saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (Do Not Stir). Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients together until it forms a soft dough. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll the dough into little balls about the size of walnuts. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cool. Make a soft icing and dip tops of cookies into the icing, let set.

Below is a picture of Italian Biscotti that I made with my mother in law for Christmas. It is the most delicious Biscotti I have ever tasted. It goes perfectly with a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Orange Cranberry Biscotti

This year we had to make our Christmas tree childproof since little E is only 10 months old. So instead of putting any bulbs on the tree, we did pine cones and gingerbread men, this is how it turned out. Little L thinks its the prettiest tree ever! Children are so precious.

Little Bit of Love

Our Christmas cactus is now flowering the first year ever!!!! This is a cutting from a plant that is almost 70 years old!!!!

Our Vintage tree....as requested....

The recipes from this years annual cookie exchange...ENJOY!!!!

Chocolate Orange Peanut Bark

Chocolate Crackles

Chocolate Crackles

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (substitute rice flour for gluten free)
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Set aside, and let cool. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla, and then the melted chocolate. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

3. Divide each piece into 16 (1-inch) balls. Roll in granulated sugar to coat, then in confectioners' sugar to coat. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake until surfaces crack, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Chocolate-Orange Peanut Bark

(makes about sixteen 3-inch pieces)

1 navel orange

1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped unsalted peanuts (about 5 ounces)

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Line a 12 by 17 inch rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; chill. With a vegetable peeler, remove zest from the orange in long pieces (reserve the orange for another use). With a sharp knife, cut zest into very fine strips, about 1 inch long.

2. Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water; heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Mix in half the zest and peanuts. Immediately pour onto prepared sheet, spread into a 10 by 12 rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with the remaining zest and nuts and the salt.

3. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. To serve, break into pieces. Bark can be refridgerated up to 3 days.

cookies ♥ cookies ♥ cookies...

From dollhouse to cookie frenzy over here at 7sisters, i'm kickin' off our crazy cookie week...and timing couldn't be perfect-er! (know it's not a word...just go with me) Christmas is only 7 days away...wow! what a coincidence! there's 7 of us! and if you're in a bind for a quick recipe that's been tried and true...look no further...'cause these are the best of the best!

(this year sister Mar hosted our exchange ♥ this beautiful centerpiece was on her island)

Every year (this was our 3rd) the 7 of us have been together for a cookie exchange/ornament make & take (this year it was minus the make & take...too stressful...oy) and while in years past it's been fun...this year was my fav...not only cause i think with each year that passes the cookies/packaging/presents get bumped up a notch...but because with every year that passes, we grow closer together...we're goin' through life together...we're watching the kids grow up together...we're waitng for new kids together...we're laughing about old ladies and eyedrops, fabric softner and yarn dolls gone bad together (love ya jen)... the blessings, the heartaches, the laughter...and everything else in between... and in the midst of all that i feel closeness, like we really are true sisters in our Christ...He has truly bonded and shaped us together in a way nobody can...and oh i know...life changes, things change, seasons pass...but to have even 1 sister in Christ to call my own is precious... so to have 7♥ is of the Lord...love ya girls....

palmiers (or angel wings) from Ina Garten

brown sugar n' spice cutouts from Bake @ 350'
(one of my new favorite-ist blogs :)

milk chocolate florentine cookies from VeryBestBaking @ Nestle

homemade caramel from giverslog.com
(perfect for the gluten free sisters in your life :)

an check out these soooo-cute free tags
(and lots of other fun printables) from IS•LY

printable apple stationary set from Creature Comforts

crafted during our party...glittered acorn ornaments!....
gotta love the acorns...check out this version at Creature Comforts

linking to...

Good Morning Sunshine

Good Morning Sunday!

What a beautiful day...and a perfect start to my perfect day. My day would be simple things...waking up next to the love of my life, with the sun shining in through the curtains...hearing my daughter talk to herself and squeal in glee...being surrounded by those I love makes each of my days better.

what kind of day do i ♥ ?

Ingredients for the most ♥-ed day...

no alarm clock...the yummy smell of mat stacks @ joann's...crispy honey chicken...a truck load of yarn...pens...lots of pens...nel & lulu's pool...gingersnaps...anything in rainbow order...my girls cheeks...couple pages of redeeming love...lots and lots of DisneyWorld...clean, crisp sheets...breezy fall day with pretty colors...etsy...my kitchenaid mixer...smell of my Honey...homeade pasta...unlimited quiet Bible time with no interruptions for "snacks"...minnie mouse...valentine's day (with tons of cute ♥'s)...already magically organized craft stuff...casting crowns....barnes n noble...time....

all these things together make for a perfect day...

Our Perfectly Magical Day

Lulu and I decided our "perfect day" would have to be spent at Disney World so let's wake up at the Grand Floridian Resort!! (We'll figure out how to pay for it later!) It is a gorgeous day, not too hot, just perfectly sunny and bright. We are well rested and no one is the least bit cranky.

We begin our day with a delicious breakfast of Mickey shaped waffles and fruit, maybe it will even be a character breakfast with Mickey and Minnie. After breakfast we go for a quick swim in the pool which is just the right temperature, and I look great in my bathing suit so it's ALL good!

Mid-morning we hit the parks, we go to Epcot because that is our favorite. Guess what?..there are no lines, there are other people at the park (so it's not creepy) but we don't have to wait for any rides. Everyone is very polite and courteous, no one runs into our heels with their strollers! We have tons of fun and take heaps of pictures. We have mickey shaped ice cream bars for lunch. When we have done everything we care to do at Epcot we head to Downtown Disney to shop a bit and eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Again, there is no wait for a table and the service is outstanding. We are done in plenty of time to go to the Magic Kingdom for the SpectroMagic light parade and fireworks show. We get a great seat right on Main Street and have a great conversation with the family sitting next to us. We watch Tinker Bell fly down from Cinderella's castle...magical at any age.

After the show we board the monorail for the quick ride back to our resort. Everyone is tired but happy. We crawl into wonderfully comfy beds with crisp sheets and fall asleep thinking about our perfectly magical day.

Lulu's smile for the week: Pink flowery fake nails for the wedding :)
Lulu's frown for the week: The bush! (swim team told to run to the bush and back over and over!)

Nel's smile for the week: Supposed to be in the 80's today :)
Nel's frown for the week: Why do Tupperware containers never come out of the dishwasher dry :(