Dear Readers, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Our family had a wonderful Christmas together. We had Christmas Eve dinner at M’s house. We were all together: my husband, our daughter & son-in-law & Baby J, our son, “M” who is our son-in-law’s mother, and his sister. Then we had dinner on Christmas Day at our house.

Last Christmas Eve, we found out the wonderful news about our daughter expecting a baby. And now this Christmas Eve, we talked about the awesome blessing and joy that four month old Baby J is bringing to our lives.

As I sat rocking my precious grandson to sleep, I thought about how over two thousand years ago Mary rocked her baby Jesus to sleep. One of my favorite Christmas songs says it this way, “Mary rocked her savior to sleep.” Mary must have had so many thoughts going through her head as she rocked her precious bundle of joy. She must have relived her encounter with the angel Gabriel who told her she would have a baby who would be the son of the Most High. She probably relived her visit with the shepherds who came and shared with her and with Joseph about the angels visit with them in the field where they were told “good news of great joy.” This young mother, Mary, had the most awesome experience that any mother could have…rocking and cuddling her precious baby who would bring good news and great joy to the whole world.

I see a lot of Christmas cards that have the word “Peace” on them. Peace is something that people wish we had in this world and something that people want in their own personal life. There is a peace that is so special to me, a peace that no matter what is happening in the world….it’s always there. The Bible tells me about that peace and says not to be anxious or worry about anything, but pray about everything, and thank God as requests are being made to Him. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, keeps my heart and my mind in Christ.

That tiny little baby named Jesus Christ, who was born over two thousand years ago, brought a peace to this world that is beyond human understanding. I am so thankful for that gift of peace.

Family traditions mean so much, especially during the holidays. I can think back to my childhood and visualize our Christmas tree with our family around it. I can remember being with relatives at my grandparents small, two bedroom home, all of us crowded in there having the best time telling stories of long ago and laughing and eating the most delicious food. One of our food traditions that we have now during holidays is a simplified version of a strawberries & jello dessert. When our daughter was little, she didn’t like the sour cream in it, so my mother made a special version with just strawberries, strawberry jello, & Cool Whip. We still make it 20 years later, and I think of my mother nearly every time we make it. She passed away several years ago, so that simple recipe is a special family tradition. When Baby J is older, I wouldn’t be surprised if he likes “Mema’s Strawberry Dessert.”

Jude has some good thoughts about family traditions. Click here to read more.

This pie crust dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Here are the ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg well beaten
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
  

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Combine egg, water and vinegar. Pour liquid into flour mixture. Blend with a spoon just until flour is all moistened. Roll out pie crust as needed.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons cold milk

Put flour, sugar, and salt in a 9-inch pie plate and mix together. With fork, whip salad oil and cold milk and pour over dry ingredients in pie plate. Stir and press with you fingers to form pie crust. Prick with fork and bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

This is an unbaked pie crust:

• 1 cup finely rolled graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 14 cup melted butter

My mother passed away in 2000. But I can remember while I was growing up and while she was still able to cook, she would fix this salad at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mix the following for a refreshing salad:

• 1 cup pineapple chunks (if you use canned, be sure and drain)
• 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup sour cream (if you don’t like sour cream, you can use Cool Whip)
• 1/3 cup coconut (if you don’t like coconut, leave it out)
  

At Christmas time, it looks pretty to add some maraschino cherries on top.

Homemade gifts have that special touch to them. Here are a few ideas:

• One thing that our daughter made for us a few weeks ago was a personalized box frame with pictures of Baby J on all four sides. She got the unfinished box frame at Hobby Lobby, painted it and put captions for each picture and Baby J’s full name on top of the lid. It’s a gift that we treasure.
• One year, our daughter made homemade soap and gave each person soap in the shape of their initials.
• A plate full of an assortment of fresh-made homemade cookies. You can get pretty Christmas plates at Dollar Tree, by the way. And if you don’t have time to make all the cookies from scratch, Pillsbury & Toll House refrigerated cookie dough is great for part of the cookies. You can always add a pecan half, a small piece of Christmas candy, or Christmas colored sprinkles on top of the cookies.
• Meg has some ideas for several homemade things, too. Click here to see more gift ideas.

Last year, I remember hearing of two or three people who died from falls while trying to hang Christmas lights. That’s so sad! According to the Home Safety Council, falls are the #1 cause of home injuries and deaths. Here are some good safety rules:

• Never hang lights alone. Always have someone to help watch.
• Hang lights in the daytime, not at night.
• Make sure the ground under the ladder is level and firm.
  
• The base of a straight ladder should move one foot out from the house for every four feet of ladder height. (a tilt of 75 degrees)
• Keep your body centered on the ladder. If you need to reach areas to either side of the ladder, move the ladder rather than leaning too far.
• Be careful of sharp bushes or trees nearby with protruding limbs.

I started making these 25 years ago, and you probably have the recipe, too. But in case you’ve forgotten about this recipe, or if you’ve never seen this recipe, here it is:

• 1 package Reese’s Miniature Peanut Butter Cups

• 1 roll of refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough

Using miniature muffin pans, place balls of cookie dough (each ball equivalent to one cookie) in the muffin pans. Bake according to directions but do not overbake. While the cookie dough is baking, unwrap the miniature peanut butter cups if you haven’t already done so. Just as soon as you take the pans out of the oven, place a peanut butter cup on top of each cookie and mash down. The cookie dough becomes the shell for the peanut butter cup. If you want to add a festive look, add some colored sprinkles on top.