Merry Christmas From Our House To Yours!

Dear Readers,

As we close 2009 and head into 2010, I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  Some of you are struggling tremendously with your finances and wish that you could have done more for Christmas.  Some of you have lost loved ones and are struggling with going on.  Others are stuck in a blizzard without friends or family.  I just wanted to encourage you to look up today and remember the real reason we celebrate today.

It's not for Santa Claus or the gifts, it is because of the greatest gift that man has ever received - the Lord Jesus Christ.  Last Christmas, my family had little and Christmas was a sacrifice.  We chose to remember Christ that day and not worry about things.  We found it was the best Christmas we have ever had.  We enjoyed each other and our family.  We have chosen to do the same this year.  We did a few presents but we tried to keep it small because we wanted to celebrate who this day is really all about.

As I look at the little tiny manger under our tree, I am so thankful that Christ came down from heaven to become that baby just for me so that one day He could die and pay for my sin. I am also thankful that He rose again and is alive in Heaven and one day, I will be able to thank my Lord and Saviour for all He has done in my life. That is what Christmas is all about. We pray that you too know Christ as your personal Lord Saviour and that if this year is our last year on that earth that we will meet you again in Heaven someday.


Love,
Dylan, Rachael, Gracie, and Gabriel Coe

It Is Tradition

Probably one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is make bread. To me something very miraculous happens when flour, water and yeast come together as dough and then as bread or rolls or pizza and more.

At Christmastime I make a lot of yeasted breads, both sweet and savory but my most requested bread is for little bears made with a simple sweet dough. Each one is shaped by hand and when they are all baked, they each have their own individual look and personality. I dress them up with holiday ribbons around their necks and cluster them together in a beautiful Christmas basket, and they are always part of my holiday table. One year my mother was so intrigued with them that she made them for a dinner party to which she invited her parish priest. Each place setting had a bow bedecked bear. The guests loved them and thought them too pretty to eat so they took them home. The next day the parish priest called not to say how great the food was, but that he had forgotten his bear! The tradition lives on.

Little Christmas Bears

Makes 6

INGREDIENTS

* 1 1/3 cups milk

* 1 package active dry yeast

* 2/3 cup sugar

* 5 to 5 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

* 2 teaspoons salt

* 1 stick butter, softened

* 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

* coarse brown sugar for sprinkling

* Raisins or currants for eyes

In a saucepan warm the milk to 100°F. Pour the milk into a bowl and sprinkle on the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and stir to blend. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl, if you are doing this by hand, mix 5 cups flour, the salt, and the remaining sugar together. Add the butter and mix it into the flour mixture. Slowly add the yeast mixture, and mix on medium speed or by hand until a ball of dough is formed, adding additional flour only if the dough is very sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Lightly butter a bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Grease two cookie sheets. Punch down the dough and divide it into 24 equal pieces. Use 4 pieces for each bear: Roll 3 pieces of dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter. Place the balls of dough together in a line on one of the cookie sheets, as if making a snowman: One for the head, one for the upper body, and one for the lower body. Divide the fourth piece of dough into 7 pieces for the ears, nose, feet, and hands, and attach to the bear. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing the bears 3 inches apart on the sheets. Cover with a towel and let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Insert raisins or currants into the heads for the bears' eyes. Brush the bears with the egg wash and sprinkle the bodies with the coarse sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks, then tie ribbons around the necks.

Note: You can make more bears by using smaller pieces of dough. These freeze beautifully and can be made 2 to 3 weeks ahead. Wrap them individually in foil and place in freezer bags (add the ribbons after thawing).

©2009 Mary Ann Esposito, author of Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen

Author Bio
Mary Ann Esposito, author of Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen, is the creator and host of the long-running PBS series Ciao Italia, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010. She is the author of eleven successful cookbooks, including Ciao Italia Slow and Easy and Ciao Italia Pronto! She lives in Durham, New Hampshire.

For more information, please visit www.CiaoItalia.com.

Wordless Wednesday: Special Firsts

Gracie's first Christmas program!

CVS and Target Deals - 12/20 - 12/24, 2009

Due to the holidays and everything going on this week, I am taking the week off from posting the deals.  Between Christmas programs, Christmas parties, and family visiting - my week is packed as I am sure is many of yours.  I know some of you will steal be getting last minute deals so here are the deals for you:


CVS Deals - Deal Seeking Mom

Target Deals - Stretching a Buck

This deals are good until Christmas day and then new deals will come out.  I'll let you know when these are available. 

It Does Take A Village to Raise A Child....

A Fisher Price Little People, that is!

Small Talk Six: 6 Gifts That You Regifted

I really enjoyed joining Small Talk Six last week so I going to keep this meme going for awhile.

This week's topic is 6 gifts you or someone in your house received that you’ve regifted or donated in the past.

I do have a tendency to regift often.  Sometimes the gift is perfect for my family but we have more than one or we just don't need it right then. I have the tendency to not like to waste space so if it is still in the box and hasn't been used in a year, I regift.  It's the frugal thing to do, you know?  :-)


1.  Barbecue Grill Fan - this was a neat gift but unfortunately for my husband who received it, he could never use it.  We have a very tiny grill that sits close to the ground so he never gets hot while grilling for our family.  My brother received it for his birthday because he can use it and likes eclectic gifts like that.

2.  Photo Albums - it often seems like I get tons of photo albums as gifts.  I have more than what I can use so I often fill these with pictures of my children and send them off to my in-laws for Christmas.

3.  Children's Clothing - on rare occasions, I receive clothes that I just won't put my kids in.  Sometimes it is 1970's plaids and stripes or what looks my sister-in-laws tablecloth.  These are often donated to thrift store in hopes that someone else can use them.

4.  Toys - I have two very large boxes of unopened toys that I have received over the years from my grandmother, as swag, and other places.  This year each one of this kids that work with me in the children's Christmas program will receive one of these toys.

5.  Cereal or Other Food - once in awhile we receive food from others or free coupons and I love to drop these off with families in our church that really need these items.  These are things that we have plenty of and know that other families could benefit from.

6.  Candles and Blankets - My mother-in-law once told me that we could never have too many blankets.  She came to my house this last month and changed her mind.  Every time we receive a brand-new blanket, we look to see if any room needs it and if it isn't handmade by a special family member we regift it.

It is not that we do not appreciate any of the above gifts, there are just people that could use them more than we can.  If an item is handmade for our family, those items are not regifted because they have special meaning and time invested into them.  The other items also have much thought and meaning but there is also only so much my house can hold so I have found that going through my items we have saved on birthday, Christmas, and other gifts due to regifting. 

It is also fun to be a blessing to another family or person by giving of the items that we can not use.  This Christmas season, go through your closets and see if you have anything that can be regifted or donated.  You never know - it might help someone else out this holiday season. 

Would you like to participate in Small Talk Six?  Take a look at MomDot to find out more information! 

Feel free to link to your Small Talk Six link below:

Welcome Home: Our Family's Journey to Extreme Joy

Sometimes our struggles seem to overwhelm us and can even cripple our ability to do much for God, others, and even ourselves.  Our life circumstances get us down and we no longer want to go on.  We sometimes feel all alone and like no one understands or cares about our situations.

Kimberley Woodhouse shares her life experiences in her book, Welcome Home: Our Family's Journey to Extreme Joy.  This book is written in a candid, honest, and sometimes almost blunt way. Kimberley's journey begins when her and her husband try to have children.  After many miscarriages, she was able to have a son.  It was a hard and difficult pregnancy so when she found out that she was pregnant again, she was shocked.  Both of Kimberley's children have been a blessing however her daughter, Kayla, has a strange medical condition that changes Kimberley's life forever.

Kimberley shares how learning to help her daughter and the trials that they go through not only change her perspective on life, it also draws her closer to God.  I love how Kimberley shared her headstrong times so those reading her book could be encouraged and realize that they are not the only one that has to learn to lean on the Lord.

This is not a story of a super woman - this is a story of a woman who leans on the Lord during the hard times and learns that God is a Super God who controls all situations.  This story uplifted me and strengthened me not only in my faith but in the fact I am not alone.  While I may never experience what Kimberley Woodhouse went through, I have my own struggles and hard times.  Hearing how others cope or how they have learned to trust God through hard times can help encourage us all to keep going, to get up tomorrow, and keep trusting because God's way is best.

I think this book would be a great addition to a stocking or a family member that loves to read.  Kimberley writes in an easy way that only takes a second to be involved in her story.  The book is not long so perfect for someone who is busy and doesn't have lots of time to read.

Welcome Home: Our Family's Journey to Extreme Joy can be purchased at Amazon.com and your local bookstore.

Disclosure:  Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.  This is still my honest opinion of this book.