Christmas Dinner Leftovers

I hope your Christmas was wonderful! We had a very special time with our family. It was sweet to be together and celebrate the birth of our Savior. We enjoyed a delicious lasagna dinner at my sister's on Christmas Eve, a special breakfast Christmas morning prepared by my daughter-in-law, and we had a great meal Christmas evening with all of my husband's family.

We served country ham, a Kentucky favorite, as well as turkey. If you happen to have turkey and ham leftovers and need an idea for how to use them, I thought I would share a favorite dish of our family's--Kentucky Hot Browns. If you've never had a hot brown, you're in for a treat. The recipe originated from the Brown's Hotel in Louisville. There are many varieties of the hot brown but most include toast, turkey, tomato, cheese sauce and bacon. It's not a low-fat dish but the diets don't start for a few days which gives you enough time to do something creative with those leftovers! Enjoy!

Christmas Morning Tradition

I believe traditions are so important in a family. They are what make your family unique and what makes holidays and special days memorable. Christmas seems to offer an especially great opportunity to host family traditions. As a child, one of our traditions was that we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve. We usually got pajamas or night gowns and robes that we opened early so we could wear them to bed that night. Traditions don't have to be major things--they are just what makes the holiday special for your family.
One of the things we always did in our family was have a special breakfast on Christmas morning. It always included Orange Julius, some type of breakfast casserole, and some type of sweet bread. Christmas breakfast was something we all looked forward to and it tided us over until our Christmas dinner which was usually served around 2:00 in the afternoon.

This year one of my daughters in law offered to make breakfast for us. (What a treat!) A tradition in her family that her mother started was cooking sausage with apples and serving it with biscuits. Emily has continued this tradition for her and Jared during the three years they have been married. I love that they are making the holidays special in their own way.

I offered to help out and she asked that I make the Orange Julius and coffee. I also plan to make sticky buns to add to the meal. They are so good, but a little work. If you want an easier recipe for a sweet addition to breakfast, I would suggest these cinnamon rolls. They are so easy and can be made in about 15 minutes plus baking time.

If you have a tradition in your family, I encourage you to keep it up. If not, why not start one this year?

Cinnamon Rolls

1 package crescent rolls
soft margarine
sugar
cinnamon
raisins and nuts (optional)
1 c. confectionery sugar
milk

Remove rolls from package and leave two sections of four rolls connected. Set one section of 4 aside. With long edge closest to you, lightly press the seams together to seal. Spread rolls with soft margarine, sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar, nuts and raisins over cinnamon. Beginning on the end closest to you, roll tightly. Cut into 1 1/2" pieces and place cut side up on small pan (I use the Pampered Chef mini bar pan). Proceed with the other section of crescent rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Make a confectionery sugar glaze by stirring enough milk into sugar to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm rolls and serve immediately. These warm up nicely in the microwave.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Traditions That Live On

Marrying into the White family brought new Christmas traditions and new recipes. Jeff's mother, Katherine, and grandmother, known as Grannie, were both wonderful cooks. I learned many secrets from each of them. Grannie made the best fried apples and creamed corn. Katherine's cornbread was always crisp and delicious. One of the Christmas traditions Katherine made every year was custard. I'll have to admit that at first, the egg smell was a bit too much for me, but over the years I have come to appreciate the thick, creamy taste of her custard. Her secret ingredient was marshmallows. After the custard had coated the back of the spoon, the sugar and vanilla had been added, she stirred in a bag of marshmallows that lended a wonderful texture to the custard.

Katherine is enjoying her first Christmas in heaven this year, so it's up to me to make custard for those in the family who have also acquired the taste for this labor of love. What Christmas traditions has your family handed down from generation to generation? I would love to hear from you!

Custard
1 dozen eggs
1 gallon of milk
1 T. vanilla
2 c. sugar
1 10-oz. bag of miniature marshmallows

In a large pan that can be placed over a double boiler, beat eggs well. Add milk and stir well. Place over double boiler that is on medium heat. Cook slowly. As mixture begins to warm, add sugar. Stir constantly until mixture thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla and marshmallows. Place pan in ice water and stir 2 minutes to cool.

(Note: Cooking this amount takes patience and time! Don't try to hurry the process or you will end up with scrambled eggs.) When you are ready to pour into a jar to store, I would suggest straining it with a sieve to eliminate any small pieces of egg that may have cooked up. Stir custard each time you serve it.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

A Light Worth Celebrating!

(Please indulge me a little today. This is a longer than normal post, but I feel inspired!)

This past Friday evening the snow started falling in what looked like layers. Looking out my living room window, it seemed as though I was standing in front of a stage as the backdrop of snow was put into place. It was beautiful as evidenced by this picture Jeff took from our carport. What we didn't know as we drifted off to sleep that night was that the snow continued to fall in sheets and by the time we woke up Saturday morning, we had accumulated 8"! Many power lines were down from the weight of the wet snow and the temperature in our house attested to the fact that the heat had been off for several hours as we nestled obliviously under our blankets.

Jeff quickly set about lighting the gas fireplace and turned the chairs so we could sit close. They say necessity is the mother of invention and the necessity that morning was for hot water for a nice cup of hot tea. Jeff patiently held a pot of water over the flames and in no time, we were both sipping our hot beverages. Ahh, what fun . . . at least for a little while! We spent the day watching cars maneuver down Little Paint Road and even managed a short trip to the church where we discovered the electricity was still on. We headed home and after an attempt at sledding down the neighbor's driveway and making a snowman and a snowball or two, we set about the task of finding candles in preparation of the night ahead. As the minutes ticked away, darkness fell very heavily. There was not a light to be seen outside which almost seemed a little eerie. We were thankful for the many candles we had placed around the house earlier which helped us as we made trips down the hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom. We received several phone calls throughout the day from friends and family who wanted to see how we were doing, offered a room, a shower, a meal.

After passing the evening playing Skip-Bo, we decided to sleep in the living room close to the warmth of the fire and thankful for the candle sconces on the wall that lit the hallway for those middle-of-the night trips down the hall. The morning light was welcome and still very cold. We chose our clothes for church and while Jeff headed off to the home of a nearby church family to shower, I locked myself in one of the bathrooms at church to make myself presentable.

We had a sweet service with those who were able to make it to church. Most were surprised when they heard that we were still without power. We were honored to be guests of one of the sweet families from church for lunch afterwards then returned to the cold of our home and the looming darkness. What had started out as kind of fun was beginning to be dreaded. Thankfully, one of our friends offered the use of a generator which powered a couple lamps and Jeff's laptop computer. We spent a couple hours reading and enjoying the ability to function somewhat normally. Be it ever so quiet, I heard a "beep, beep, beep." "What was that?" "It's the phone! The lights are on! The electricity has been restored!" Yahoo! Celebration!

As I began to put away the candles, mop up the water from the now-thawed freezer, and wash the dishes, the Lord touched me so tenderly about all we had just experienced. This morning this was the Bible reading that went along with a devotion I read. It is 1 John 1:5-8:

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. " Here were a few analogies from our experience in the darkness:

• Our Heavenly Father sent his son Jesus into the world to bring light to a sin-dark world. How I rejoice in the Light he is to me!

• There are many in the world who are still in darkness, fumbling around, trying to make it with light substitutes. Nothing can replicate the Light of God.


• We can fool people and make them believe we are in the Light when in reality, we are stumbling around in darkness. Why? ? There's nothing like the Light Christ brings!


• Those of us who have the Light need to be concerned about those in the darkness. Just as many called and offered encouragement and were a blessing to us, those of us who are walking in the Light of God can be used by God to encourage those who have yet come to know Him. Your influence, my influence in their life cannot be underestimated.


• Some of us are small instruments, some larger (candles vs. generators) yet all have their purpose and are needed. Am I fulfilling my purpose to encourage others to come to the Light of the World?


• When the Light comes, when one comes to Christ and finds the true source of Light, there should be great rejoicing!

The candles are back in the drawer, the food is all back in the refrigerator, and the Christmas lights are shining brightly. As life returns to normal, I'm thankful for the opportunity as we approach the week of Christmas to truly appreciate the light that was born into the world in the form of a baby. I pray you too know him--he is a light worth celebrating!

If you need a good appetizer for a celebration this week, here's one of my family's favorites.

Hot Artichoke Crabmeat Dip
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water drained and chopped
1 1/2 cup crab meat
3/4 cup (3 oz) grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions with tops
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 zest of lemon
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper (optional garnish)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise, mix well. Add artichokes, crab, parmesan cheese, green onions, garlic, lemon zest and black pepper; mix well. Spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Garnish with additional green onions and or bell peppers.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.