Here we are in December already! Tis the season of gatherings of family and friends, cooking, baking, gift buying and giving and if you don’t plan ahead it can feel overwhelming and exhausting in December. I have to decorate my own home before doing any clients otherwise I would never have the “Christmas Spirit” left in me to do my own.
In order not to dread the season, I began to reassess what was important and how to recapture that feeling of the magic of Christmas that one remembers as a child. The smell of Christmas boughs evokes many childhood memories for me. We would go get a fresh tree and decorating it was a day to look forward to like no other. One year my father and I went into the woods near our home and cut down some tree branches to make our own manger for under the tree. That manger, built in the early 60’s still exists in the family and reminds us all of Christmas pasts. Figure out what your favorite traditions are and don’t be concern about some of the extras as those are the items that keep you up at night and aren’t worth the hassle.
For the past few years several girlfriends and I do an ornament exchange and we ask our guests to donate as well to one of our favorite non-profits The Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County. We all have such a great time and collect several thousand dollars for the charity! So keep that in mind when planning a party to give to worthy organizations. Christmas gives us all a chance to invite and share.
When planning your holidays you often don’t realize that you are planting family traditions in your family. I lived on Lake Huron in Canada in a small town and for years we would plan and organize cookie exchanges, hay rides singing Christmas carols and visiting neighbors along the way, having tree decorating parties and enjoying all our family and friends. After Christmas Eve Mass we would have everyone back to our house and serve brunch and open gift because it became our tradition!
One of the favorite dishes everyone enjoyed was Breakfast Pizza. These are made ahead with hash brown potatoes and some Christmas Cheer.
Breakfast Pizzas- this recipe makes 6 servings
- 1 16 oz. package spicy pork sausage
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 x 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
- ½ cups chopped red bell pepper
- ½ chopped green bell pepper
- 6 English muffins split
- Save some of the peppers to garnish.
In a large skillet, combine sausage and onion. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 4-6 minutes or until sausage is browned and crumbly. Drain sausage mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low. Return sausage mixture to skillet. Add cream cheese to skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes until cream cheese is melted and combined with sausage. Stir in bell peppers. Spread on split English muffin halves. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy!