Christmas Cookies, The Non-Martha Way!

I love Christmas time, especially now that I am a mommy of two sweet girls! It's so much fun recreating your childhood memories with your own children! Baking cookies is perhaps one of my MOST favorite traditions to do with my children. I'll admit though, I am no Martha Stewart when it comes to baking in the kitchen. It always seems that Martha's kitchen is way too tidy for real life, and I always felt a little sad for the perfectly dressed kiddos on her Christmas Baking Special as they were guided in making the "perfect" cookie so that it would win Martha's approving motto, "It's a Good Thing!" That is not to say that I wouldn't love to have that pristine kitchen with the perfectly baked golden sugar cookies with every last granule of sugar perfectly placed, oh wait a second, that wouldn't be real life now would it! Instead, my actual "perfect" sugar cookie starts here with this little package.
Yes, they are store bought, Pillsbury sugar cookies that I roll out so that we can make our cookie. I have tried a gazillion sugar cookie recipes, including Martha's, and I always find that the dough is too salty, bitter, bland, etc. I like a sweet sugar cookie, after all they are called sugar cookies for a reason, and Pillsbury's are the best in my opinion. There's no need to stand on formality when it comes to baking. Tradition is tradition, and my kids have the best time making these little goodies whether I made the dough or bought it from Butler and Bailey. It's all good to them!

I roll out the dough as any other home made dough, flour it, and use old fashioned steel cookie cutters to cut our cookies. We've tried other kinds of cookie cutters, but these old ones always make the best size for little hands.







The girls go to town bedazzling their cookies with all kinds of cookie sprinkles. It's a big mess, but the end result is just as nice.


Howie even gets in on the cookie baking activity and snaps a few pics of me and helps put the cookies in the oven. We all have read "The Little Red Hen" so it's important to help out if you want a taste of the end product.
Finally the cookies are golden perfection and ready to be eaten. See they look pretty darn good, I think.
And "It's a good thing" that my girls have truly had a great time baking the cookies whether we made our dough from scratch (which we do with other recipes) or bought our dough from the store.
In the end, they are all "Martha" perfect just the way they are!

The True Spirit of Christmas Giving

You may not be a fan of chocolate covered cherries, but I promise, you may look at them in a whole new light after you read this little Christmas story. When I was a little girl, my grandmother who I affectionately called "Mema," would sew beautiful outfits for me to wear not only for holidays, but also for everyday play. Mema was an amazing seamstress and I used to love watching her cut out a pattern on the dining room table with her silver Singer scissors and then carefully pinning the pieces together pulling each straight pin one-by-one out of her pursed lips until the garment she was making was ready to be sewn. One Christmas when I was six years old, I watched as my Mema worked tirelessly to make several beautiful little girls dresses, pants, and finally a red nightgown with lace sewn to the sleeves and a matching robe. I just knew that those beautiful clothes had to be for me, but when I asked her, my Mema replied, "No Amy, these are for another little girl." I understood, but still secretly wished at least the night gown and robe were for me. The clothes my Mema had so carefully sewn turned out to be a gift for one of our cousins who was two years younger than me. I was actually excited after my Mema had wrapped up the gifts that we were taking them to Betty's house for her granddaughter. I knew that I too should be receiving something as equally special as the presents we were giving, and I couldn't wait to see what they were! When it was time to exchange gifts, Joanne received several gifts from us, and I received one gift from my Mema. I was confused, but maybe my one gift was something really special! I tore open the white paper with green and red holly on it and stared at it in disappointment. It was a box of chocolate covered cherries. I was hurt and angry. Why had Joanne gotten three gifts of beautiful clothes and I had only gotten a box of chocolate covered cherries. Boldly, I asked, "Are there any other presents for me?" My Mema took me onto her lap and whispered, "No Amy, this is your present from me. I thought of you when I bought these because they are sweet and cheery, like you." She must have seen my confused look and whispered again, "Joanne's Daddy lost his job, and they don't have much this Christmas, so we are giving them our Christmas." Somehow, at six, I understood what she meant. It was a hard time for Joanne's family and we were making their Christmas more bright by sharing a little of ours with them. I shared my chocolate covered cherries with everyone at Betty's house that afternoon and played with Joanne until it was time to go home. Every year after that, my Mema always gave me a box of chocolate covered cherries. Sometimes there was a ten dollar bill taped to the top, sometimes a dollar, and sometimes nothing at all. But the more valuable and priceless gift that my Mema gave me each year was that box of cherries which symbolized the true spirit of Christmas giving. My Mema was an amazing lady who I loved with my whole heart. Although she is not here to give that box of cherries to me each year, I still receive a box from Howie, who is so sweet to continue the tradition in her honor. And I always remember that on the First Christmas our Lord Jesus Christ was given to us as a gift of Light and Life. It is more important to give than to receive, to serve others in His name than to be served. This is the true spirit of Christmas giving that was taught to me through the simple gift of chocolate covered cherries that my Mema gave to me when I was six years old. May your Christmas be bright and Merry as we remember the gift of our Lord Jesus and the true spirit of Christmas giving!

Snow Day!!!

It started last night with a few flurries that turned into a snow shower which quickly turned our world into a white wonderland. I logged into my e-mail account and had a message that said: School Closure for December 13, 2010‏
Due to icy road conditions in most parts of Knox County, The Knox County Schools will be closed Monday December 13, 2010.
Woo, Hoo! This was Emma-Caroline's first actual snow day since she started kindergarten this year. We let the girls sleep late (actually the adults too), and when they awoke, they squealed with delight at the surprise waiting for them outside the window.


Emma-Caroline was so excited that she threw on her brand new snow boots and coat over her pajamas and headed outside. She didn't even notice that we hadn't cut the tags off she was so excited.

A little breakfast later, some actual snow clothes, coats, gloves, snow boots, and sled and we were outside to enjoy the white winter goodness outside our very own door!
The girls made snow angels, threw a few snowballs, and slid down the hills of our house to their hearts content.

Wow! Snow Days are still the BEST!

The Holiday Express and a Special Visit

This weekend, Continental Airlines delivered special visitors from New York City. Howie's mom, Grandma Beverly, and his sister Rhonda came to visit us here in The New Avery House.
They brought with them some colder New York City temperatures and a little bit of New York City Snow. It's been wonderful having a little bit of a winter wonderland to enjoy with our family.
We have also enjoyed reading lots of books and visiting while sitting nestled by a cozy fire that Howie so masterfully built for us.
We always like to show off our own Knoxville City to our New York City family and so on Saturday, we took a special ride on the Holiday Express in Downtown .
I have to say that THIS. was. one. of. the. BEST. things. to do at Christmas time in Knoxville!!!
Boarding the train was like getting on the real Polar Express, and in my mind that is exactly where we were.
Through this little photo essay, come with us on our magical journey on the Holiday Express. You'll have a magical time!
The train was beautifully decorated with Christmas ornaments and trees which added to the magical experience.
These two little sweet passengers were so excited to be on the Holiday Express!
And so was this Mommy!
Grandma Beverly and Aunt Rhonda were also excited to ride the Holiday Express!
As the train whistle sounded both of my girls were super thrilled!
They could not contain their excitement for the train ride or . . .
the yummy goodies of cookies, goldfish, candy and hot chocolate. Yummy!
Emma-Caroline was mesmerized by the view outside the train window.
And just like in the Polar Express, the conductor came by to punch our tickets and . . .
to take a quick picture with two sweet little girls.



Midway through the ride, we stopped for a Christmas story and . . .
a visit from the Man in the Red Suit!
Sophie was sooooo excited as she waited her turn to see Santa and . . .
to receive her "First Gift of Christmas!"
The girls also got to take a nice photo with Santa before deboardieng the Holiday Express. As we left we took a quick family picture with one of Knoxville's famous landmarks as our backdrop, the Henley Street Bridge.
We had a wonderful day full of love and excitement. We will be back soon with more fun and holiday happenings!