now that the ambiance it set, let’s bake!

we started with a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe that i found here. normally, i bake the toll house recipe from the back of the chocolate chip bag. this recipe was simple, easy and very good!

these cookies were the hit of our home…i know because they are all gone!

and what Christmas isn’t complete without a batch of fudge?

my mother-in-law usually handles this job, but since she wasn’t visiting this year i made my own attempt. i will admit that since i had never made fudge before i opted for the easiest recipe. there are so many varieties to choose from, but this recipe turned out great! it can be found here….

the final cookie we made is a Bakerella recipe. you can never go wrong with one of her sweet treats. these are a traditional cookie…and what child wouldn’t stay engaged when these candies are on the ingredients list?….

i made one batch of dough and split it…which worked out perfectly to make 15 peanut butter blossoms and almost 20 peanut butter cuppies. and wow, are they delicious! i think the batter alone would be perfect for a simple peanut butter cookie!

here are the balls all rolled out (in sugar no less!) and ready for the oven…

i’m so bad i could just pop those right into my mouth! but i resisted the urge and baked them. here’s the proof…

once they were baked, the boys added the kisses in the center…

then we added more dough balls and the peanut butter cups to a mini-muffin pan…

these turned out beautifully!…

santa was very happy at our house this year!…

after 6 years of celebrating Christmas in our home, i finally had the bright idea of making 2 easy recipes for Christmas morning breakfast.

yup, i’m a slow learner. 😉

i have made a very simple sausage and egg casserole dish for years, and thought this would make a great warm breakfast in between the excitement of opening gifts. i don’t have a link to that recipe, because it’s my own, but it’s pretty much the same as this one. what makes my recipe different is that i use half and half (not 2 cups – i use 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup) and add a small can of mild green chilies. you can really take that recipe and make it your own. over the years i have added sliced green onions or chopped cherry tomatoes. you can really do almost anything and it turns out perfectly each time.

i assembled the egg dish once the kids were in bed. as you can imagine, they were having a tough time falling asleep on Christmas eve – the sound of me doing anything in our kitchen soothes them to sleep. after it chilled overnight, it was ready to pop into the oven the next morning.

finally, i thought for a sweet addition to the egg dish, monkey bread would be a fun treat for the kids. you can’t go wrong with a recipe from the Pioneer Woman…and this one turned out SO well! you must try it!…

this is her image from the website…but that is exactly how mine turned out. with the craziness of the morning, i didn’t think to snap a photo of the monkey bread or the egg dish. but i hope you’ll trust me on this one – they were both wonderful and easy! i was able to feed our excited family AND enjoy all of the craziness without being stuck in the kitchen.

lesson learned and those 2 dishes may now be an annual tradition in this house on Christmas morning. the new recipes i discovered are a keeper and have made their way into our family recipe binder too!

hope you are having a wonderful holiday season with your family! back soon with my regularly scheduled organization projects!