Cookin' at Christmas

Are you sick of Christmas yet? I'm not - Christmas is a really big deal at our house. We start with this 20ft tree which poor Kirk had to put up all by himself this year. And then we have all our Christmas traditions. We sing carols, we read stories, we sit on a yule log, we eat cookies, we get to open one gift [always jamies] on Christmas eve and we open stockings and gifts on Christmas morning then we have the Traditional Red, Green and White Breakfast.  What is that you ask... well, of course, it's a breakfast where all the items are either red, green or white.

Two of the items are always cranberry bread [red] and zucchini bread [green]. Of course I do make these two staples in my job as Professional Innsitter but it's nice to make them in my home for my family.

My cranberry bread recipe comes from this Better Homes cookbook, a gift for my wedding shower 40 years ago and the Iowa cookbook, a gift from my mom on my 30th birthday, has my best zuchini bread recipe. They are still two of my favorites!

As you can see. Santa helped my in the kitchen this year! Ho Ho Ho! The trick to good cranberry bread is finely chopped berries and this Santa is very good at it.
Christmas Cranberry Bread:
Beat 1 egg, 1t grated orange peel. 3/4 C OJ [I like to use thick concentrate]. 2T oil.
Add 2 C flour, 3/4 C sugar, 1 1/2 t baking powder, 1 t salt. 1/2 t soda.
Fold in 1 C finely chopped berries and nuts if you like.
Bake 350 for 1 hour.
Enjoy on Christmas morning!

                                         What do you have for Christmas Breakfast?

O Christmas Tree

  I love the Christmas Holiday! I love everything about it - the presents, the music, the joyous spirit, the food [especially the cookies] and most of all, I love the  Christmas Tree. This year  I had a day off from my job as an Interim Innkeeper  in Cannon Beach and I got to go to Seaside for the Festival of the Trees with my family. Ho Ho Ho!















We got to sit on Santa's lap. We got to make jingle bell necklaces and of course we got to look at many beautiful Christmas Trees. The "Festival of the Trees" is a fund raiser for Providence Hospital.

Each organization who wants to donate something for the fund raiser enters a Christmas Tree to represent their donated item.These are two of my favorites: This blue one is all maritime themed. Check out the decorated crab pot. The one below is Swedish with simple homemade ornaments of straw and paper. I love all the variations on the Christmas Tree when imagination is allowed to run wild.






O Christmas Tree!

                                                                   

After the Festival of the Trees, we were all tired so we went to the Butterfield Cottage for their Gingerbread Tea. Of course we got to have tea in front of another lovely Christmas Tree!
 

 

                                                     Merry Christmas everybody!