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. 

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! :)

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...

10 Gorgeous Salads for Your Holiday Dinner

Brimming with seasonal fruits & veggies, these 10 Gorgeous Salads for Your Holiday Dinner will be a bright & fresh addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table... 

I just love a big traditional holiday dinner with all the fixings- ham, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, the works. But I also like to change things up a bit and add a fresh & bright salad to my holiday dinner table. 

I know that salad might not be the first dish that comes to mind for most when you think of Thanksgiving, winter time, and Christmas, but there are so many seasonal fruits and veggies that are at their peak this time of the year. 

I perused some of my favorite food blogs & gathered up 10 gorgeous winter salads chock full of kale, persimmon, pomegranate, spinach, oranges, whole grains, pears, squash, beets, and so much more. :)

Not only are each of these salads packed with in-season ingredients that you shouldn't have any trouble finding at your local grocery store right now, but they are all full of gorgeous colors and bright flavors. A feast for the eyes and the stomach!

Brimming with seasonal fruits & veggies, these 10 Gorgeous Salads for Your Holiday Dinner will be be a bright & fresh addition to your holiday dinner table... 

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. 

Clover Yeast Dinner Rolls

These soft, pull apart Clover Yeast Dinner Rolls need to make an appearance on your dinner table asap...

I am partnering today with Fleischmann's Yeast & Karo Syrup to bring you all this recipe for my mama's family favorite Clover Yeast Dinner Rolls.

When it comes to the holidays, I think we all have that one recipe or two that when made always bring back memories of our childhood.  For me, that is my mama's clover yeast dinner rolls.

They were made for almost every special occasion, including holiday dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

I remember watching her mix the dough, and then kneading it, and punching it down, and then placing it in a well-oiled big green Tupperware mixing bowl to rest and raise.  And when it was ready, she would roll the dough into little balls and then arrange them 3 to a tin in a muffin pan.

The whole process fascinated me and intimidated me all at the same time.  But there was nothing like pulling apart one of her warm clover yeast dinner rolls and smearing some butter on it, and popping each third in my mouth as the butter melted...

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. :)

Lessons Learned From Hosting My First Holiday Family Dinner

I hosted my family's Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I didn't host an entire crowd for dinner. Just my parents, my sister, and my family.  I had planned out the menu and table setting for weeks.  I was pretty excited to be the Thanksgiving hostess for the first time in years.  My mother always hosts Thanksgiving dinner, and it has always been a pretty small affair for us- just our immediate family.  Not that there isn't a ton of family near us, but we have made Thanksgiving dinner something more intimate for our family over the years.  I learned a few things from this year's hosting experience...

Keep it simple.  My table setting was beautiful, but practically effortless.  A Mason jar filled with popping corn and branches of leaves (these ones are actually fake!) and real branches cut from a tree on my in-laws' farm.  Autumn inspired tin votives I have had for years- I didn't even put candles in them.  Maybe if we would have had an evening dinner, I would have.  But we had an early afternoon dinner, as is our tradition.  I didn't have a fancy table runner- just a large cloth napkin I picked up at Jo-Ann's for 60% off after Halloween.

Get creative and resourceful.  Not stressed out! I fretted for a bit about the size of our dining room table.  We would just be able to fit the 6 dinner guests at the table.  But turkey and all the sides??  No way!   At first, I thought everyone would have to load up their plates in the kitchen and then sit back down in the dining room.  But then I remembered we have a coffee cart!  I cleared everything off the cart and set it up as a mini buffet table in our dining room.  People didn't have to go far to get seconds! 

What I learned about the menu...

Next year, just get a large turkey breast instead of a whole turkey.  None of my family even ate the dark meat at dinner.  Well, except for my son who ate one of the giant drumsticks, but that was more for effect. ;)  Another bonus of just doing a breast?  I can brine it next year no matter what kind of refrigerator space I have then.

You have can never really have too many sides... or pies for that matter. ;)  Oh, and a green side is NOT mandatory like I thought.  I did make some green beans sauteed in garlic and olive oil and butter, but they went mostly untouched.  And I only made them because I realized I had nothing green on the menu plan.  (Want to take a peek at what we had for Thanksgiving dinner?  CLICK HERE to see my entire menu plan, complete with links to the recipes.)

It is okay to make something from a box.  Like the Stove Top stuffing.  Yes, the foodie in me wanted to cut up onions, and celery, and cube cornbread, but my son and husband begged me to just make some good old-fashioned Stove Top from the box.  I conceded, and you know what?  It was great.  My son was so thrilled.  Stove Top is his absolute favorite Thanksgiving side dish.  :)

Let the guests bring a couple of dishes.  My Mom made her mashed potatoes and I specially requested her to make these clover yeast rolls I hadn't had in years.  She was more than happy to make the extra effort to make the rolls because she didn't have to cook the entire Thanksgiving dinner this year.  My sister made a pecan pie as well.  That came in VERY handy later that afternoon as a stream of our nephews and our niece and their significant others came knocking on our door.

And on that note, it is also okay to ask your guests to bring their own containers for taking home leftovers.  I asked my mother to bring some, and it worked out wonderfully.  I could pack up all the sides and turkey in separate containers, and she wouldn't have to worry about returning any containers to me.  

And you can never have too many chairs!  Folding chairs, dining room table chairs, whatever chairs you have.  Bring them all into one room and set them up all around.  We ended up having 14 people between our living room and kitchen at one point during the day on Thanksgiving! 

And no matter how many people you have coming over or how big of a dinner you are making, make sure you set aside time to take a few photos from the day.  This family photo was taken by my sister (with my little point & shoot camera, folks) after we had ate dinner and before more family arrived for pie and coffee.  We took about 20 minutes, and just had her snap pics.  And now this photo will be a part of our Christmas cards this year, and we will always have a family photo from our baby girl's first Thanksgiving.  You don't want to look back on a fabulous holiday and regret not snapping a few pics.

Have you every hosted a family holiday dinner?  What tips do you have to share?  What helped save your sanity? 

It's Time for Turkey: My 4 Essentials for Easy Holiday Dinner Prep

Make your family holiday dinner super simple & hassle-free with My 4 Essentials for Easy Holiday Dinner Prep...

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com.

It is t-minus one day until turkey time, folks! If you happen to be scrambling to put the finishing touches on that holiday dinner menu for tomorrow, then you are in luck because I have a few quick & easy ideas to share with you all today. 

Who says that hosting a family holiday dinner has to be crazy time consuming and stressful anyways? ;) You can make it super simple & hassle-free with a few simple ingredients and a little creativity. I am sharing a handful of my favorite products & tips below for making that happen.

Crock Pot Corn Pudding

This creamy, savory Crock Pot Corn Pudding saves oven space during your holiday dinner prep & will soon become a family favorite...

Last year I made the oven-baked version of this corn pudding side dish for the family.  It turned out delicious, but occupied precious oven space for FAR too long & it seemed to take forever to bake completely.  

Dinner was literally stalled by almost 20 minutes because this darn corn pudding refused to set in the middle! 

Even though it was a royal pain, it was agreed by all that this needed to become an essential side dish for every Thanksgiving dinner from that day forward.

So a couple of weeks ago, I started researching online some alternative ways to make this family fave.  

My first search was for slow cooker versions- shocking, right? ;) 

Now That Halloween is Over... A Thanksgiving Kitchen Tools Giveaway!

Now that Halloween is safely in the rear view, it is time to look on to the next holiday this season- Thanksgiving! :)  Last year I started hosting my family's Thanksgiving dinner taking over the tradition from my mother.  As soon as Halloween has ended, I start brainstorming the family dinner.  There are some must-haves that will definitely be on the table- homemade mashed potatoes, corn pudding, Stove Top stuffing (Yes, Stove Top.  It is the only thing my son special requests that I make each Thanksgiving. ;) )  I always try to jazz it up with a tasty new salad or a deliciously tempting dessert.

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...

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...