25 of The Best Holiday Cookies

Get a jump start on those holiday baking plans now with this collection of 25 of the Best Holiday Cookies...

I know that Halloween was just one week ago and we are all focused on making those Thanksgiving dinner plans right now, but you all- Christmas is next month! I mean, I know, I know. 

Christmas happens in December every single year (nothing new, right?), but if you are anything like me it always seems to sneak up on me even though I am very well aware of when December 25th is each year. ;)

While I am sure I will be super late on getting my Christmas cards out as usual and I will probably still be scrambling those few days right before Christmas to snag those last minute gifts, I can definitely get a jump on my holiday baking plans now. 

A couple of weeks before Christmas each year, Little Miss & I invite my sister and my mother over and we all get together to bake a whole slew of Christmas cookies and sweet treats. We crank up the Christmas carols, pour the eggnog, and get baking. It has definitely become one of my daughter and I's new favorite holiday family traditions. 

Tag! ~ You're It! {Christmas Style}

Okay, I first have to thank Mia from The Chronicles of Chaos for tagging me in such a fun post!  (Want to see Mia's Tag, You're It! post? CLICK HERE to read her answers. :) )

1. What makes Christmas such a special holiday for you and your family?

Well, this year will be extra special as it is our baby girl's first Christmas.  We are getting our tree this week, so I am really excited to see her reaction to it.  Although, I am not looking forward to keeping our very mobile 10 month old from pulling on the tree and the ornaments constantly.  ;)

2. Were you told the truth about Santa Claus by your parents or did you find out another way? And..do you plan on lying to your kids (if you have them or plan on having them)? Oh yes…I went there. 

I pretty much figured it out my own.  Same as I did with the Easter Bunny.  You just see all the clues when you are out at the stores.  Why were all those toys on sale at the stores if all the elves were supposed to be making them at Santa's workshop?  (Same thing with all the pre-made Easter baskets I used to spy at the department store.)  I feared that if my parents found out that I knew Santa wasn't real, they would stop giving me presents so I pretended far longer than I should have that I still believed.  Plus, I have a younger sister and didn't want to spoil the fun for her.  ;)  And yes, we plan on carrying on the tradition of Santa with our daughter.  I did so with my son, and he is not scarred from it.  It is all in good fun.  I couldn't have imagined my childhood Christmases without having Santa and the North Pole in them. 

3. Real tree or Fake tree?

I grew up with a fake tree.  I still remember my parents getting it out every year and matching up the colors on the ends of the branches with the same colored holes on the tree's "trunk".  It was a process that seemed like it took hours.

As an adult, I love real trees.  I love going out each year with my family on the quest for the perfect tree.  I adore the smell of fresh pine that wafts through the house each day after we have brought the tree home.

Our Christmas tree from last year

4. Do you open presents on Christmas morning, Christmas Eve or both? 

Both. It is actually tradition for my entire family to go to my grandparents' house every Christmas Eve evening for dinner and to open gifts from our Christmas gift exchange partners.  My mom's family is so big that we all decided years ago that the adults in the family would pick names each year to get a Christmas gift for.  

Christmas morning is all about the kiddos.  ;)  Then we usually head over to my parents' house some time that afternoon to open presents from them.

5. What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? Favorite Christmas song to sing or listen to? ( I know…technically two questions.)

Alright, it is a tie on the Christmas movie.  A Christmas Story is a classic that I have loved for forever.  Elf is my new favorite classic.  When I went to New York City before Christmas a couple of years ago, I felt the need to reenact many scenes from that movie.  (Ahem...  I many have done the whole leg split thing on the escalator at Macy's, and I may have played hopscotch on a crosswalk- but not all into traffic like Buddy did! ;D)

And I love the song Santa Baby.  I don't know why.  I have just always liked it.  And it is fun to karaoke. ;)

Okay, now for some tagging.  This is a game of tag, so someone else needs to be "It" now. 

Brin from Bold Butter Baby

Julie from This Gal Cooks

Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen

Paula from Call Me PMc

Kristine from The Foley Fam {Unedited}

Can't wait to read each of these ladies' responses!  Make sure you give them all a click and say hello. :)

Why Grapevine, Texas Should Be on Your Holiday Travel List

If you haven't considered Grapevine, Texas as a family holiday destination before, then you definitely need to check out these reasons why the Christmas Capitol of Texas should be at the top of your holiday travel list...

This post was created in partnership with GrapevineTexasUSA. As always, all opinions & thoughts expressed below are 100% my own.

When it comes to making travel plans for the holidays, I know that Texas may not be the first destination that comes to mind. I mean, we usually think of snow and maybe a cabin with a roaring fireplace in the mountains when we start thinking about planning an escape from the usual Christmas festivities. 

But today I am going to share with you all the very reason why the Lone Star state should be at the top of your holiday destination list this year- Grapevine, aka the Christmas Capitol of Texas! 

I had the pleasure of visiting Grapevine near the beginning of last month just as they had started to gear up for their annual 40+ days of over 1400 holiday events. The entire historic downtown area had been transformed into a festive wonderland of lights, wreaths, & evergreen garlands. 

All the shops along Main Street were already getting into the swing of the hustle & bustle of holiday shopping. And this was during the first week in November, folks. 

Grapevine doesn't play when it comes to Christmas. I mean, you certainly don't earn the title of the Christmas Capitol of Texas by not going all in, am I right? ;)

There are hundreds of reasons why Grapevine, Texas is the perfect family holiday vacation spot, but I can't possibly cover them all in this post. You all might be reading this for days if I did attempt that. 

However, I will share with you all my top picks of what to do when visiting Grapevine with your family during the months of November & December starting with my personal favorite- a visit to the Gaylord Texan Resort... 

35 Holiday Entertaining Recipes

Whether you are rounding out that Thanksgiving dinner menu or planning ahead for Christmas, you are going to love this collection of 35 Holiday Entertaining Recipes...

So, I warned you all earlier this week that I would be going all out Thanksgiving on the blog this week, and I am making true on that promise. ;) And with turkey day being less than two weeks away, I think you all are going to thank me (and love me!) for today's post. Because this one is a triple whammy, folks. 








I have teamed up with Aubrey of Real Housemoms and some of my amazing blogger friends to not only help you all out with that Thanksgiving menu, but we are also sharing recipes to help you get a jump start on that Christmas planning.

First up? A dozen recipe links to help you round out that Thanksgiving dinner menu...

12 Fun & Festive Cocktails for Christmas

Keep your spirits merry & bright this holiday season with these 12 Fun & Festive Cocktails for Christmas...

Since Christmas is just a little over two weeks away (OMGEE!), let's list all of the reasons why you just might want to have a few fun & festive cocktail recipes on hand- shall we? ;)

• Christmas tree decorating happens to be just a tad more fun with a bubbly cocktail in hand. (Truth.)
• You decide to throw a last minute holiday cocktail party for friends & want to make a boozy drink or two that is sure to impress.
• You just came back from a full day of Christmas gift shopping (the crowds, the lines, the fight for a parking space, the mounting credit card bills- ahhhhhh!), & you need a serious, yet festive drink to unwind with. Because we are certainly not going to let the hustle & bustle of that crazy busy mall dial down our holiday spirit- am I right?? ;)
• Christmas cookie baking is always a little more merrier while sipping on a holiday-inspired libation.
• The kids have tore into all of their presents, the extended has family has left, & all you want to do is curl up on the couch by the twinkling lights of the tree & watch A Christmas Story for the umpteenth time Christmas day. And having a festive cocktail in hand certainly wouldn't hurt too.

There are probably at least 100 more reasons I could list as to why this collection of 12 Fun & Festive Cocktails for Christmas will become your go-to this holiday season, but I think you all are getting the gist of it. 








Whether you are looking to unwind from the craziness of the holidays or you are planning to throw the Christmas party that everyone will be talking about the next day or maybe you just need a little something-something to get your through the overload of family (& maybe in-laws ;) ), I got you covered with these holiday perfect cocktails I am sharing with you all below...

Slow Cooker Apple-Cranberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Loin Roast

This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at http://www.campbellsauces.com/

Forget the ham and turkey this Christmas dinner, and reach for your slow cooker & a packet of Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces in Apple Bourbon BBQ to make this delicious, tender, and easy pork loin roast...

I love lazy Christmases...  LOVE them.  I would be perfectly content hanging around the house all day in our PJ's, watching our fave Christmas movies on a loop, and smiling as the kids loved on their newly acquired toys and gadgets.  

But I still love that big Christmas dinner.... just not all the work that goes into it.  

No one in our families hosts a big ole dinner for us to go to either.  My parents stopped doing that years ago and took a cue from A Christmas Story and go to the local Chinese buffet restaurant on Christmas Day each year.

Sometimes we join them, but not this year...

This year I will be making this amazing, tender, and flavorful Slow Cooker Apple-Cranberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Loin Roast.

It is crazy easy- just 15 minutes of prep in the morning and then the slow cooker and Campbell's Apple Bourbon BBQ Slow Cooker Sauce does the rest! :)

$500 Christmas Shopping Spree Giveaway! {& 10 of My Favorite Holiday Gift Guides}

So, what would you do with an extra $500 in your holiday shopping budget this month? 

You just may find out when you enter and win the $500 Christmas Shopping Spree giveaway that I am hosting this week with a few of favorite food blogger friends. ;)

That's right, folks. We all pitched in to help make one of your all's Christmas mornings just a little brighter and a tad bit easier on your wallet as well.  

Need a few ideas on what to spend that $500 on should you win?  Well, you are in luck, friends! I gathered up a few of my favorite holiday gift guides to share with you all today... :)

12 Festive Holiday Morning Breakfast Recipes

From simple & easy to impressive & well worth the extra effort, you are sure to find the perfect Christmas morning breakfast idea for your family in this collection of 12 Festive Holiday Morning Breakfast Recipes...

In case you all didn't get the memo yet, Christmas is less than one week away! And surprisingly, I am not in panic mode right now. For once, I was on top of it all this month. 








The gift shopping & cookie baking are all squared away. The Christmas cards were sent out over a week ago (pssssttt... usually I don't get around to getting cards sent out at all, so this is truly a Christmas miracle!). I have even met all of my holiday deadlines for the blog. 








In fact, this *might* be my last blog post of 2018. But I may end up churning out at least one more post for you all before we say hello to 2019. ;) Stay tuned, folks...








Today's post is about a little something that I hold dear & near to my heart every holiday season- Christmas morning breakfast. 

Once the chaos & excitement of the gift unwrapping is done & over with and we are on our second viewing of A Christmas Story on TNT, I like to whip up a special breakfast for the family. Like these 12 Festive Holiday Morning Breakfast Recipes I am sharing with you all today.







From pancakes to french toast casseroles to cinnamon rolls, you are sure to find the perfect holiday morning breakfast idea for your family in this collection of festive recipes...

Who's Ready for a Christmas Cookie {Recipe} Swap?

I am so excited to be co-hosting this fabulous Christmas Cookie Swap!  Baking cookies for the holidays has always been a tradition in my house.  When my son was younger, he would love to pull up a chair at the dining room table and decorate countless sugar cookies with sprinkles, and sugars, and red hots.  Now that he is a teenager he isn't as interested anymore.  I am looking forward to when baby girl is a just a wee bit older, and I can pass this holiday tradition on to her.  

Julie from White Lights on Wednesdays (you may remember her from me being her October Blog Angel ;) ) approached me about this fabulous idea for a Christmas Cookie Swap.  Only this one is unlike any cookie swap I had heard of before...  You don't bake cookies and send them to your swap partner.  You snail mail them your recipe, they make it, and then post the results on their blog!  I knew I was 100% in.  Every Christmas I bake the traditional favorites, but I always try to throw in one new cookie recipe into the mix. There are a few other lovely bloggers who will also be co-hosting this fun little swap...

Julie @ White Lights on Wednesdays
Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen

Carrie @ My Favorite Finds

Deb @ Cooking on the Front Burner

Michelle @ Michelle's Tasty Creations

Kim @ The Sunflower Supper Club

Make sure you pop over to these fabulous ladies' blogs and say hello! :)  

So here's the deal if you want to party.  Click the sign-up button below, fill out the form, and pick your favorite Christmas cookie recipe.  There is a place to note if you have food allergies or dietary preferences in your house that your sender should be conscious of (your partners will have the same diet preferences as you, is possible).  Everyone will send their recipe to their assigned partner.  The person you send a recipe to will not be the same person you receive a recipe from.

By signing up you agree to mail a hand written copy of your cookie recipe to your recipient.  You also agree to make the recipe sent to you and share photos and the recipe in a blog post.  If you do not have a blog, you can still participate!  Simply send your photos, recipe, and thoughts on the experience to whitelightsonwednesday@yahoo.com and one of the co-hosts will share your "post" on their blog.

Are you ready to start baking & get in the Christmas cookie spirit?

SIGN UP BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW
{Sign Up is open through Nov. 23rd at 11:59pm}

Summer Blog Challenge, Day 62- Handmade Gifts

Okay, so I know that it is officially August today.  Christmas in July is over, but today's Summer Blog Challenge is to share with you all some handmade gifts.  So I am sharing the foodie gifts I made for my husband's brothers and sisters last Christmas.  Last Christmas was our first Christmas on a major budget.  Coming up with Christmas gifts for six siblings while on a very tight budget forced me to become a bit creative with our gift giving.  (Yes, you read that right.  I have six brother and sister-in-laws. ;) )

I decided to make each of the six families jarred mixes for the holidays...

This is the Cinnamon Hot Chocolate mix I made & funneled into Mason jars.  I included little instructions on how to mix up a mug and gingerbread man marshmallows in resealable bags.  I tied cinnamon sticks to each jar with ribbon. :)  

CLICK HERE to get the recipe I used.

I also whipped up some cookies mixes in jars for each family.  I printed out and attached instructions for what to add to the mix and how to bake them.  I also tied little metal Christmas cookie cutters to each jar with ribbon.

CLICK HERE to get the recipe I used.

To decorate each of the jars, I bought wide holiday ribbon at the craft store.  I cut pieces of the ribbon to fit each jar and attached them with hot glue.


Do you make handmade gifts for the holidays?  What is one of your favorite gifts to make?

Cranberry White Wine Sauce

Forget the canned stuff for your holiday dinner! This classy Cranberry White Wine Sauce takes just 4 ingredients and 15 minutes to make...

In case you all have been too busy to notice, Christmas is just two days away.

Two days, folks. Who all is ready? ;)

I can honestly sit here and say for once that I am ready. I did just finish wrapping up the last of the gifts last night, but I am done. Everything is ready to be placed under the tree and then ripped open in less than 48 hours. 

I believe this may be a first for me, friends. 

So now that the whole gift wrapping business is done and crossed off my holiday to-do list, I am focusing on my Christmas dinner menu. 

I actually wasn't planning on hosting a big family dinner for Christmas this year, but my husband kind of changed all that thinking when he came home from work the other day with a 20 pound ham in a bag.  

This thing is huge. So naturally, I decided that hosting family for a big Christmas dinner would be in order. 

Cranberry-Ginger Eggnog French Toast for One

Grab some leftover rolls or bread & the eggnog from the fridge, and whip up this decadent Cranberry-Ginger Eggnog French Toast for One in less than 10 minutes...

Picture this for one second, folks- it is the morning after Christmas Day. You are up early, and the house is quiet. The kids are sleeping in after waking up super early the morning before to raid the gifts under the tree. 

You have a cup of coffee brewing & are just enjoying the stillness of the morning after the Christmas craziness of the day before. The only thing missing is a warm plate of french toast sitting in front of you.

But you don't want to drag out everything to make french toast. Or stand over the stove flipping the egg soaked pieces of bread. Plus, the delicious smell of homemade french toast is just sure to wake up the entire family, and there goes your much deserved quiet morning to yourself.

But wait! I have the perfect solution for this little day after Christmas dilemma of yours. ;) How about french toast just for one that you can make in your microwave? 

Grab some rolls or that loaf of bread leftover from Christmas dinner & the eggnog from the fridge, & whip up this decadent Cranberry-Ginger Eggnog French Toast for One in less than 10 minutes...

White Chocolate Cherry Macadamia Cookies

Chock full of creamy white chocolate chips, tart dried cherries, and crunchy macadamia nuts, these thick & chewy White Chocolate Cherry Macadamia Cookies would make the perfect addition to Santa's cookie plate...

So who else feels like we were catapulted straight from Thanksgiving dinner right into the Christmas season almost overnight? Granted, Thanksgiving did arrive a little later than it normally does this year, so maybe that is why I am feeling as if I have been scrambling this last full week before Christmas. 

We finally went out and picked out our Christmas tree and got it up and decorated last Friday. 

We didn't bother putting lights up outside this year because it seemed to rain almost every day that my son & I actually would have had the time to tackle the task. And by the time the weather cleared up, the lights would only be up for a couple of weeks so why bother with all that effort?

And while it may seem that I am grumbling a little (maybe there is even a little hint of bah-humbug in there?), it has been kind of nice to just be able to focus on the essentials for the holiday season for once. 

The tree may have been put up a little later than normal, but it IS up. The gift list has been checked off and the shopping is officially done. 

And I was still able to host my annual Christmas cookie baking party with my family. Things may not have went exactly according to my usual plan, but memories are being made and cherished family traditions are still being continued.

So what does the recipe for these White Chocolate Cherry Macadamia Cookies that I am sharing with you all today have to do with any of the above? ;)