My special guest today is Leah Braemel, another blogging friend who comes from Canada. Her very first book, Private Property is out with Samhain Publishing on 27 January 2009. Meanwhile today, Leah is talking about family rituals and she has a very yummy looking recipe for us. Over to Leah…
I want to thank Shelley for inviting me today, it’s my very first ‘guest blog’ so I’m thrilled. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Shelley!”
I love Christmas, I always have. I love the lights and the carols and the joy in watching someone else open a present you’ve chosen specifically for them. So when I had my boys, I wanted to pass that joy on to them.
Every year, we drove to a tree farm to choose ‘the perfect’ spruce or pine to bring home. Every year, our beautifully decorated tree fell down in the middle of the night at least twice, soaking the carpet with gallons of water.
Every year, the boys would write letters to Santa that they would hand deliver to the postmen and -women who collected them at the Santa Claus parade.
The first week of December, I’d bake a gingerbread house and spend the next week assembling it. Every Christmas day, my husband and boys would eye it hungrily, waiting for my approval to bash the heck out of it and retrieve the candies I’d so carefully ‘iced’ to the roof.
Every year, after we’d set out home made cookies and milk for Santa, and spread hay and carrots in the backyard for the reindeer, the boys would sit down for the traditional reading of “The Night Before Christmas” before scurrying upstairs. Then my hubby and I would wait until they were asleep before bringing down the carefully hidden presents to place beneath the tree.
Unfortunately most of those traditions have died off. The Christmas tree farms got edged out as the cities took over the rural areas. Even the pre-cut lots run by the Boy Scouts in the local A&P parking lot and other enterprising tree farmers who would take over empty lots haven’t sprung up in the past few years. But that’s okay because about five years ago, tired of having to mop up after our dog once again toppled the tree, we gave in and bought an artificial tree. Now instead of having to run around the week before Christmas to guarantee a fresh tree Christmas Day, we drag out the boxes and put it up on the first weekend of December and decorate at our leisure.
The letters to Santa and the annual trek to the Santa Claus parade stopped long ago, replaced with Christmas lists that would make Donald Trump’s accountant cringe.
I stopped making the gingerbread house when my eldest suggested, “why don’t you just put the candies out for us to eat?” Since making a gingerbread house from scratch and assembling it are a lot of work, I must admit that was one tradition I was glad to see end. But still, I miss the final product.
Our cherished “Night Before Christmas” book has disappeared, and the cookies we used to set out are now served as an evening snack for everyone to enjoy. The presents are still brought down around midnight, but now the boys (who tower over us) assist in that chore, since my dear hubby and I stash our presents for each other in their rooms.
But even though some of those cherished rituals aren’t observed, others have evolved and flourished. Back when my eldest was about ten, he’d begged and pleaded for a rather pricey remote control car. Santa was naughty that year. Instead of placing the car under the tree, he left a card in my eldest’s stocking with a clue as to where another gift could be found. So began the traditional Christmas Treasure Hunt. We don’t hold a treasure hunt every year – only for those extra special gifts. A brand new computer for the boys one year, another for my hubby a few years later. The whole family gets into the spirit – the ones hiding the present rub their hands in glee while writing obscure poems. The recipient rubs their head in confusion trying to decipher the clues while wanting to open every closet and peer under every bed until they found their carefully concealed present.
The one tradition that hasn’t stopped has been my baking. I love the way the house smells when I’m done, I love the anxious faces waiting until I give the okay to help themselves to the bounty. Usually I spend two days in the kitchen making peanut butter cookies, peanut butter logs, peanut brittle (sensing a trend?), chocolate macaroons, cherry jewel bars, coconut ice, oatmeal cookies, oatmeal squares, shortbread and Nanaimo bars. I’m already getting sideways looks from both the boys and my hubby as they whisper, “When are you making the macaroons?”
Most of the recipes are ones that have been passed down from my mother, but a couple are new – the Nanaimo bars, and the peanut brittle. And the one I’ve sent for Shelley to put up today. I got the recipe for pizza-pan cookies from my youngest’s kindergarten teacher when I helped them assemble a gingerbread house to help raise funds for a family in need. They’re easy to make, and not your usual type of cookie. Instead of rolling the dough into balls or dropping it from a spoon, you fill a pizza pan with the batter and let it cook as one big round cookie. Then when you take it out of the oven and it’s cooled down a while, you slice it just the way you do a pizza. (I usually buy the tin foil pizza pans just for these)
Pizza Pan Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 package (or 1 ½ cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
(You can get inventive and try raisins or M&M pieces, etc.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease two 12-inch pizza pans. Cream butter, sugars, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Add eggs; beat until light. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add to creamed mixture; blend well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Divide dough in half; press each half evenly into the pizza pans.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely in pans on wire racks. When cool, the cookies may be decorated with icing, icing sugar or other toppings. To serve, cut into slim wedges or break into pieces.
Leah
http://www.leahbraemel.com
PRIVATE PROPERTY – January 27, 2009
Excerpt
PERSONAL PROTECTION – May 2009
Related posts:
Congratulations on the release of your debut book in January, Leah!
All my kids tower over me now, too (not hard to do really!) but I still creep around at midnight filling their stockings for them!
by Christina Phillips December 19th, 2008 at 4:10 amThanks, Christina.
And yes, that’s one thing I try to do surreptitiously still too. For hubby too because while I’m trying to discreetly fill his, he’s sneaking around trying to fill mine.
by Leah Braemel December 19th, 2008 at 6:24 amHi Leah!!
by JK Coi December 19th, 2008 at 6:55 amI love your post, I’ve been thinking about my old Christmas traditions and some of the new ones that we’ve made since my son was born. He’s six so Christmas is all about the new Wii game and Bakugan, but I’m looking forward to the year when he’ll be a little older and he’ll realize that Christmas is really about spending the time together.
Hi Leah and Shelley!!
The pizza pan cookies are great! I did a version of those years ago. We spread a cream cheese type icing and then topped with fruit. But today the candy sounds better!
Thanks for sharing your Christmas stories. Mine is 6 so it’s fun to see the things we are starting to do every year.
by Dani December 19th, 2008 at 8:40 amJK and Dani – six is a lovely age for Christmas. They’ve still got that wide eyed innocence and joy about them before the commercialism really kicks in. Or some big meany tries to tell them that Santa doesn’t exist. I miss those days.
And Dani – cream cheese icing, huh, like in a carrot cake? Sounds yummy, I may have to try that on one of my batches this year.
by Leah Braemel December 19th, 2008 at 8:47 amHi Leah!!
Great post!! I love that my kidlets really are excited this year for Christmas. This is the first time they are jumping down for joy and the concept of Santa and family time.
I’m not ready for the towering over me yet. :) I’m just having fun making our Christmas traditions. :)
Next year will be very good I think, my family will be complete and I always like seeing a small baby stare in confusion at lights. LOL.
by Amy Ruttan December 19th, 2008 at 9:08 amHi, Leah,
by Fedora December 19th, 2008 at 9:42 amThank you for sharing some of your special Christmas times! That pizza sounds like it’d be a hit at our house–I’d better go get some of those pizza pans! ;)
Hi Leah~
by Cheryl McInnis December 19th, 2008 at 10:48 amI loved reading about your Christmas traditions, I still drag my kids to a tree farm every year, but since we’re in Nova Scotia there are alot of them around, and I just can’t give up on the smell of pine..I love it!
My girls are 6 and 8 so Christmas is still pretty magical at our house and our favorite traditon is going outside Christmas morning to see the “reindeer” prints in the snow, or mud. ( My hubby uses an old deer hoof, shh!)
Aggh, I forgot to say congrats on your upcoming release…..so CONGRATULATIONS!!!
by Cheryl McInnis December 19th, 2008 at 10:49 amFedora – I hope you enjoy the cookies, they’re quite easy to make.
Cheryl – LOL about the deer hoof, that’s what we used to do – strew about the hay and my hubby would gnaw the carrots. I didn’t have a deer hoof though – that would have sealed the deal for them.
by Leah Braemel December 19th, 2008 at 10:58 amHi there,
Not quite like carrot cake, it’s a lot thinner. Basically an 8 oz stick of cream cheese softened and add sugar and vanilla to taste.
I think the greatest pleasure I’ve gotten this year out of my six year old, is her generous spirit is coming out. In all of our shopping if she sees something that she knows someone would like she has insisted on getting it for that person. We have a few collectors in her family and she’s always on the lookout for their ‘things’.
And in her letter to Santa she asked for something for them first. :) How sweet is that?
by Dani December 19th, 2008 at 11:04 amHi Leah and Shelley – Two of my favorite bloggers together in the same place – how cool is that?
Thanks for sharing the ‘hunt’ tradition. I may have to give that a go this year as the oldest (9) might be the perfect age for a little frustration/guessing!! *evil Santa Mommy is grinning*
We started a new tradition this year, and hope it will continue — the making of a Christmas movie. The oldest and I will write the script and storyboard, then hubby and kids will film.
by Wylie Kinson December 19th, 2008 at 11:55 amThe kids love stop-motion animation, so that’ll be our first media choice. As they get older, we may convince them to try acting *snort*.
I’m late to say hello since hubby offered to drop me at the mall for an hour while he was doing a fumigation.
Leah, I loved hearing about your Christmas rituals. I could picture the treasure hunt so well!
My husband and his brothers have a new ritual that started up about three years ago. Every Christmas they order fresh oysters from a nearby oyster farm and spend the day before Christmas going to pick them up with many stops on the way. Usually they coerce my SIL into driving them and roll out of the car very merrily at the end of the day. They’re so funny.
by Shelley Munro December 19th, 2008 at 3:43 pmNice post! Baking is a great tradition and the pizza cookies sound interesting. I’m going to show that to my DH who is our chef!
by MarthaE December 19th, 2008 at 3:46 pmHave a Wonderful Holdiay and CONGRATS on your debut release!
Dani – I’ll give the icing a try. And your little girl’s attitude is one everyone needs to remember.
Wylie! LOL about the movie-making, will you post the results to your blog? I’d love to see them.
Shelley – I’m just trying to picture your hubby the next morning. Or do your Christmas morning pictures all show him holding his head balefully?
Martha – thanks on the congrats, and I love that your husband’s the chef. You’ll have to share one of his recipes.
by Leah Braemel December 19th, 2008 at 3:50 pmThe pizza pan cookies sound dreamy, love the additon of cream cheese.
Deidre
by Deidre December 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pmCongratulations on your first release! I wish you many sales.
Your cookie recipe sounds delish! Thanks.
Best–Adele Dubois
by Adele Dubois December 19th, 2008 at 6:18 pmThanks, Adele – and TJ Michaels just gave me a copy of your Banana Bread recipe which is something I’ve been looking for for a while now. So it seems it’s a day to trade recipes.
by Leah Braemel December 19th, 2008 at 6:34 pmNice meeting you Leah! I’m looking forward to checking out your book in Jan!
Oh the pizza pan cookie sounds so good! I wonder if I can do it with my Splenda (no sugar for me
) but there’s lots I can make using it! So much changes as the children get older! Mine are young adults now and with all the different schedules here, its almost impossible to have a dinner with the four of us together! So I’m looking forward to Christmas when we aren’t working and all together! Last year we had a great Christmas eve with movies and a couple of games (hubby cheated on Scrabble 
) and we laughed so hard. So we making more traditions as the years go by.
by Caffey December 20th, 2008 at 12:17 amHi, Caffey
I’ve heard that Splenda can be substituted, but I’ve never tried it myself. Let me know if you do give it a try and it works out. (I really should be using that myself.)
And your movies and games on Christmas are a GREAT family tradition. Even if hubby does cheat on Scrabble (my DH HAS to if he wants a chance at keeping even with me
)
by Leah Braemel December 20th, 2008 at 2:46 pmSeriously Leah January cannot get here fast enough to get your release!
by Dayanna December 22nd, 2008 at 1:53 pmThanks for the recepy am going to try it after the holidays.
Hi, Dayanna, I’m just as anxious to see Private Property come out. I hope you enjoy the Pizza Pan cookies. Merry Christmas!
by Leah Braemel December 23rd, 2008 at 7:27 amLeah, I am Sooo sorry I missed your guest day and what a great blog Shelley has.
I miss the traditions of our family since I moved to the South more than anything. Every Christmas I say, I’m going to start going home for Christmas.
And I love the hay and carrots for the reindeer. Never heard of that. Of course in a DC suburb we probably wouldn’t have been worried about the reindeer fitting down between the houses in the subdivision.
Congratulations on Private Property!
by Marley Delarose December 28th, 2008 at 8:22 am