Jana's Christmas Facts

Season's Greetings! I guess it's my turn to share with you a few of my favorite holiday things! :D

Top 3 Holiday Movies:

Favorite Holiday Cookie:
Gingerbread Men, Hands down! :D

Here is my very favorite recipe!

Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. shortening (butter flavor)
3/4 c. light molasses
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 egg
6 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. baking soda
4-1/4 to 4-1/2 c. flour

Beat sugar, shortening, molasses, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and egg. Mix in 6 Tbsp. water and soda. Mix in flour until like soft dough.

Roll out on floured surface to 1/4-inch thick (for soft cookies); thinner than 1/4-inch for crispier cookies.

Cut into shapes and bake at 375 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes. Eat plain or frost (we like cream cheese frosting).

This recipe is a MUST in our family. It's just not the Christmas season until we spend a day making these as a family!

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Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar

Frosts 9-in. X 9-in. cake.

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Naughty or Nice?
Nice

Top 3 Holiday CD’s or Songs:
Sugar Plums - Holiday Treats from Sugar Hill (Yep! I'm a bluegrass girl!)

What Child is This?
Let It Snow


Favorite Holiday Tradition:
I have two, taking my kids to see the Ogden City Light display (my favorite thing to do when I was little) and Nativity night where the all the grandkids dress up and reenact the Christmas story. So precious!

Least Favorite Part About the Holiday:
Fixing Light Strands and Worrying that I forgot to get someone something

Five Items on My Wish List This Year:
Light Meter
Tripod for my Camera
New Everyday Tablecloths for my Kitchen Table
Accent Table for my Entryway
I would love some new sheets for my bed, too! :D

Favorite Childhood Holiday Memory:
I just loved the magical feeling of Christmas Eve and always looked forward to our bedtime ritual that night. We would open the gifts between siblings (usually creative Dollar Store finds)and receive brand new jammies from our parents. We would set out the cookies for Santa and write him a note to go next to it. And then my dad would read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas". He always ended by ringing a leather strap of jingle bells behind his back telling us that Santa must be across the street. We always knew he was ringing the bells, but the anticipation and excitement was just too magical! :D

Here is what Christmas looks like at my house this very second! Yep. I'm battling with those lights again! LOL!

But here is what it WILL look like when I am finished with it! ;)

Decorating the tree is one of my favorite ways to dress up my house each year.

How are the untangling of your light strands coming along?

Merry Christmas from My Home to Yours!

Jana