Braided Sweet Bread

Last year, I posted the recipe for braided sweet bread but the bread was eaten so quickly I never took a picture of it after it was baked and frosted. This would be a great sweet bread to serve Christmas morning. My mom made it throughout the year, but at Christmastime she shaped the bread into a candy cane shape.

Click here for the recipe.

Three Great Christmas reads

Here are three wonderful reads to get you in the Christmas spirit.

1. The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke - a short 18-page story available for free here.

2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - a classic we are all familiar with that is perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit. Also available for free online.

3. Luke II - What better way to remember the birth of the Savior than to read the account of His birth?

*These are the three texts Pres. Thomas S. Monson reads each Christmas season, as he explained in this Christmas devotional.

Polish Tea Cake Cookies (aka Thumbprint cookies)

This is my favorite holiday treat. My grandma always made these every Christmas and my mom always did, too. They are especially tasty if you fill them with homemade jam.

Ingredients:
-1 cup butter, softened
-1 cup sugar
-2 egg yolks
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 egg whites
-2 cups chopped pecans
-About 1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam or preserves

Cream butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla. Then add the flour and salt to the mixture. Roll dough into cookie balls and roll in egg whites and then in chopped pecans.

Place on cookie sheet and press middle of cookie with a thimble or wooden end of spoon. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes and then press middle of cookie down again and bake 5-7 more minutes.

Don't overcook. When cookies are cool place jam in the middle of cookie. Makes 3 dozen.

This is me six years ago showing off my first attempt at making Christmas goodies, including making Polish Teacakes for the first time by myself.

Favorite Christmas Decorations

It was so fun decorating for Christmas this year. It is the first year my son really understands everything going on and he is sooo excited about everything and anything that has to do with Christmas. He loved decorating the tree and his tells us often that his favorite ornaments are the airplanes, which makes his daddy (who is a pilot) very happy.

I always enjoy hanging my Disney ornaments on the tree.

I absolutely love our nativity. My son loves looking at it too and arranging the scene.

We all have stockings that look like these. My mom made them for us several years ago and she has helped me make some for my husband and children.

How about you? Do you have favorite Christmas decorations?

Personalized video message from Santa to your child

My friend Nicole let me know about this awesome site that customizes a video message to your child from Santa. You just need to upload a picture or two of your child and answer a few questions and within five minutes you will have a video for your child from Santa. My son loved it!

Christmas cards

My son had a run-in with an entertainment center a couple of weeks ago and thankfully he didn't need stitches, but the doctor applied skin glue instead. He now has a big purple patch on his forehead. As soon as the glue comes off we will be taking family photos so we can get our Christmas cards together.

I have used Shutterfly several times for various photo projects and plan to use them this year for our Christmas cards. They always do a quality job and I have always received my shipment quickly. Click here to see all of the great Christmas templates they have. You can even order invitations to your Christmas or New Year's party. I also make photo calendars each year for my parents and my inlaws and Shutterfly also has great templates for those. Here are some of my favorite templates I am thinking of using for my Christmas cards:



Are you doing Christmas cards this year? Where do you buy your Christmas cards? If you are interested in using Shutterfly, check out this link for a promotion they are doing.