Christmastime is here. Happiness and cheer........2014

Christmas is such a bittersweet time for me.  As much as I love the holiday, I look at it with a bit of sadness because I really miss my mom this time of the year.....so, I try and focus on the good memories of her and how much fun we had during the holidays.   Our family is small and most of us are spread from North Carolina and Georgia to Nevada and California so it rare that we spend the holidays together, so our Christmases are usually small and intimate.

Our plans are simple this year......Christmas Eve with my brother and my aunt and uncle and then Christmas Day with my sister and her family and with a couple of friends too.   Christmas night, I'm going to go see the movie Unbroken even if I have to go by myself, but I'm pretty sure I can find someone to go with me.

I bought myself an early Christmas present this year.  I was browsing a local craft fair with my sister a couple of Sundays ago and came across this unique wine bottle rack.  If you look hard enough you'll see that the bottle of wine is from the band Train's winery and it's called "Drops of Jupiter".  I bought it over a year ago and can't bring myself to drink it.....yet    :)

This year is also the 50th anniversary of my favorite Christmas television program; "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer".

I remember like it was yesterday when it first premiered on television.  I was seven years old, my brother was two and I remember my mom having us ready in front of the television to watch.    For years, until the age of video tape came about we anxiously waited for it to be on television sometime during the holiday season and it was one of the first I bought on video, then DVD for myself.

Here's my list of favorite holidays movies or programs - 

1. It's A Wonderful Life
2. Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer
3. Christmas Vacation
4. A Christmas Story
5. The Holiday
6. Love Actually
7. Elf
8. Scrooged
9. The Santa Clause

There are a other Christmas programs and movies that my family watches, but the ones listed are the ones we make a point of seeing every year.   What's your favorites?

I've also decided to go slow and steady with holiday baking this year and am trying a few new things.  Since I have the time, I'm making a couple of batches of the cookies I'm trying every couple of nights.   I decided to start with a recipe I found on Better Homes & Gardens -

Christmas Sandies

 

 

In years past, I've made the traditional pecan sandies which were also one of my mother's favorites so they were always around at Christmas time, so this take on that cookie intrigued me with cranberries and lemon.  I'm happy to report that they are AMAZING!

 



Thanks for stopping by.....I'll have a post about this year's decoration up later this coming week.