Home for the Holidays: Christmas

The decorations are up and the calendars are packed with parties, which means Christmas has almost arrived. I know for some it is the most joyful time of year, but for others it can be the most stressful. The expectations to find the perfect gifts and see all of the family members can be overwhelming. Christmas can also feel not so festive if you are missing loved ones. Furthermore, adulthood can taint this season because it simply isn’t the same magic you remember from childhood. Regardless of where your heart is this time of year, I want to encourage you to pause, breathe, and remember your reason for celebrating this holiday season.

Recipe Box

Like other holidays, one of the major events of Christmas is the large family meal. While Thanksgiving tables may look similar to each other across families, the Christmas table may vary in each household. While some of the most popular centerpieces of the table can range from turkey to honeybaked ham, my in-laws tend towards a prime rib on Christmas Eve. This paired with twice baked potatoes certainly makes for a filling meal. However, my favorite meal that has associated childhood memories with Christmas falls on Christmas morning.

When I was a little girl, my sister and I would make sure to sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve. We would do our best to fall asleep, but we were too giddy with excitement to see what Santa had brought us that year. We would typically wake up super early, but weren’t allowed to leave the bedroom until the clock at least started with a five. That was one of the ground rules set by my parents. We would then round the corner to see what presents were laid out beautifully on the floor. The new toys dimly lit by the Christmas tree paired with half eaten cookies and reindeer food was nothing short of magical.

After all of the excitement of presents on Christmas morning and visits from grandparents so we could model our new gifts, we would quickly get ready to head to our favorite meal of the year: Christmas brunch. Our tradition of brunch on Christmas started decades ago with our family’s love for country ham. We would always try to be the earliest family there so my sister and I could put on our navy “Sweetie’s Helper” aprons and help cook the ham in the sizzling skillet. My grandfather was in charge of the country ham, and what made it especially delicious was caramelizing it in Coke. Don’t knock it until you try it.

Besides the country ham, the large wooden table at the cabin is almost always adorned by cheesy potatoes, biscuits and gravy, and one of my personal favorites, a cranberry apple casserole. This baked concoction is the perfect balance of tart and sweet topped with granola with warming spices. To me, it tastes like Christmas in a casserole dish.

Let’s be real, my sister decorated the majority of this gorgeous gingerbread house.

Cranberry Apple Casserole 

3 cups of Granny Smith apples (approximately 2 large apples), thinly sliced

12 oz. package of cranberries, whole and washed

1 ¼ cup of sugar

Granola Topping

1 ½ cups quick oats

½ cup brown sugar

⅓ cup chopped pecans

⅓ cup flour

½ cup melted butter

Place apples in a greased 9X13 casserole dish. Add cranberries then sugar. Mix the topping together in a bowl and spoon on top. Bake at 325 degrees Farenheit for 45 minutes until the topping is crispy and the fruit is bubbly. 

Travel

While we still have a ways to travel to the cranberry apple casserole at our tender Tennessee Christmas, I am grateful we do not have a multi-day journey like last year when we road tripped from Florida. We left the sunshine state where it was a beautiful seventy degrees and watched the temperature plummet to twenty degrees as we entered a snow and ice storm in Tennessee. Fortunately, we aren’t set to have an ice storm this year, but our bodies are a lot more accustomed to winter weather here in Arkansas.


Since we don’t have as far to travel this year, that means we can enjoy a few more festivities. One tradition in particular that I love is having a Christmas Adam breakfast on December 23rd with my mom’s best friend, Sonja. Since we were little, we would have eggs, sausage casserole, and parfaits in our Christmas pajamas and then exchange ornaments. If you see any ornament on my tree that is shiny, sparkly, or has feathers it was most likely from Sonja. She knows how to be festive and add color to your life. Some of my favorite ornaments have been given to me by Sonja, and I hope one day to have a tree solely decorated with her fun ornaments. 

Celebrating Christmas Adam (December 23rd) at Sonja’s house with breakfast and an ornament swap is one of my favorite traditions.

Coffee

Another recipe that can end up at Sonja’s house or for Christmas brunch is coffee punch. This frozen treat is basically like a giant punch bowl of an Americanized Affogato with chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, coffee and milk. It is honestly addicting, and I have several friends who have asked for the recipe. This drink is also known to sneak in during Easter or wedding showers.

Coffee Punch

1 ½ cups of instant coffee

2 ½ cups of sugar

5 cups of hot water

Mix ingredients together well and let cool in the refrigerator. 

1 gallon of milk

1 gallon of vanilla ice cream

1 gallon of chocolate ice cream

Mix together and serve in a punch bowl. For easier serving, divide coffee in half. Buy ice cream in ½ gallon sizes so it can be served in increments at a party. 

Besides all of the delicious flavored coffee filled with peppermint and chocolate during Christmas, there is nothing like pairing it with gingerbread or other holiday cookies. We try to complete a gingerbread house every year, and this year I actually entered a contest at work. No matter how hard I try, they will never look like the stunning masterpieces on Pinterest, but I think my house has a homey feel to it. 

Our family has a different take on gingerbread cookies and typically opt to make molasses cookies. While the original process of molasses was introduced in India over 1500 years ago, sorghum molasses is very closely tied to the south and southern culture. This is due to the history of growing sugar cane in the area, and it being a readily available ingredient for poor, white southerners and African Americans. Some of those ingredient roots have stuck over the years and now they make sweet, chewy cookies our family likes to inhale with a cup of coffee after the Christmas meal.

Molasses Cookies

1 cup sugar

2 cups plain flour

½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

½ teaspoon of ground cloves

¾ cup of cold butter

¼ cup of dark molasses

1 egg, slightly beaten

Sugar to coat

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Whisk to make sure there are no lumps. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add to dry ingredients. Add in the molasses and egg, and beat with a hand mixer until combined. Use a cookie scoop to form 1 inch cookie dough balls. Roll the dough in a bowl full of sugar and place on a greased sheet pan. Bake for ten minutes and let cool on a cookie rack.

My grandmother’s chewy molasses cookies are one of my favorite Christmas treats.

Comfort

I don’t know if all families open presents after the Christmas meal, but that is the order of our holiday traditions. We have done presents differently over the years, but as adults with a growing family, we have resorted to playing Dirty Santa, White Elephant, or whatever you wish to call the present game where you can steal items from each other. Either way, it is super fun, and I try to buy gifts that I would want to bring home.

It’s astounding as I look back on the memories of presents past and realize that the ones I remember were not the most expensive or latest gadget, but the ones that had thought behind them. One of my favorite presents of all time is a handwritten cookbook of my grandmother’s recipes. Each grandchild has received one over the years, and it is something I will cherish for years to come. Another one of my favorite presents were hand carved ornaments made by my grandfather, Joe. While he doesn’t do woodwork as much anymore, his ornaments are truly a work of art and incredibly creative. 

It is funny how as the years pass that you don’t necessarily remember the latest phone or year you received the Barbie dreamhouse. Instead, those memories tend to blend together into a steady stream of slow, steady paced traditions that at times were unintentional. Those small things like Christmas ornaments or presents wrapped in copy paper boxes are what stick in my memory. It helps remind me why I celebrate Christmas: the simple times spent with family while celebrating the simple birth of Christ in a manger. My wish this year is that you receive the gift of simplicity and rest. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Fold Out Foods.

May your holidays be merry and bright!

Love,

MC and Drew