We had a calm and peaceful Christmas Eve this year. We took a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, stopping at all the yards with fun decorations. One yard around the corner had an army of blow-up snowmen, another had an elephant. The lights and decorations are a wonder to Caleb.
This evening we went out for our traditional Mexican food dinner at Mi Ranchito. We’ve done this for years. When I was a girl on the farm in California, our Mexican workers brought us delicious enchiladas and tamales every year on Christmas Eve. The tradition continues.
Afterwards we took another walk through the neighborhood, this time in the dark, to enjoy all the lights. Caleb really gets excited about every lit tree and roofline. He’s so fun! Then we came in to hunker down for the rest of the evening. We sang some Christmas carols together, then read the Christmas Story from Luke and Matthew, feeling the peace and hope of what happened so long ago.
Then it was time to open the family gifts I’d prepared. We always have a special gift on Christmas Eve, something meaningful and family-centered.
Caleb got to go first. He opened The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt and he was pretty excited about it. It stayed out on the floor the rest of the evening so he could sit on it. He recognizes all the fruits and foods in the quilt, and he loved seeing the little caterpillar.
This year Claire and Aaron got their Chopped Snake Quilts. I explained to the spouses how the first of these quilts was started when Claire and Aaron were probably 8 or 9 years old. I taught them to sew with the pieces in these quilts. Neighbor friends also came over to learn to sew on these scraps. I’ve been chopping snakes (the long rows of pieces) all these years. This year I finally sewed some of the many rows together.
It was fun to watch them find pieces they remembered or have seen in the many quilts that fill our home and theirs.
The rest of the evening was filled with music and working on a Christmas puzzle, then preparing for morning.
Every year before going to bed, John prepares the “Sticky Buns.” I grew up with a different version of sticky buns, made from scratch. When we got married in 1990, John’s neighbor, Trudi, gave us a bundt pan and the recipe for this kind of sticky bun. We’ve been making them ever since. They are easy and delicious.
Sticky Buns
Spray the bundt pan with non-stick spray.
Place 24 frozen Rhodes dough rolls in the pan.
Sprinkle the dry COOK-N-SERVE pudding mix (not instant) over the rolls.
Sprinkle with 1 c. of chopped pecans.
Combine 1 c. butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in a pan on the stove.
Cook for just a minute or two after it comes to a boil.
Drizzle this hot mixture over the rolls. Cover with foil. Place the pan in the oven (away from drafts) overnight. The rolls will rise.
In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Invert pan on platter. Let cool a few minutes if you can. Then enjoy pulling the pieces apart!
After the kids went down to bed, John cleaned up the kitchen and I went to work on the stockings. I tried really hard to simplify things this year. I tried so hard, I told John I wouldn’t be filling the stockings at all this time, and that didn’t go over so well, so I didn’t spend as much time and energy on this as in the past. It was all good.
We were in bed not long after midnight, with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.
