Welcome! To the Third Annual Blog Cookie Exchange!

My party is off to a slow start today, but I’ll catch up. It’s the Third Annual Blog Cookie Exchange. If you’re wondering what’s going on, here’s the basic formula:

Favorite holiday recipes
Special traditions
Favorite gift to give
What you wear when you don your gay apparel 🙂

But really, you can write or post pix of anything that tells us how you celebrate the holidays, or your favorite memories, or your wishiest wishes . . . whatEV.

(The Blind Boys of Alabama are singing Christmas carols behind me, on my CD player.)

Recipes are not all that much fun around here this year, because I am doing a “gluten-free” diet as a potential treatment for WTF Disease.

::tangent::it’s a long shot; it is not likely to help, but it’s all I’ve got. I’ll explain more in a less festive post on a less festive day!::end tangent::

This is one that I found and have not yet tried, but I shall:

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. white granulated sugar
1 egg

Preheat

STOP THE MADNESS!!!! I can’t give you a recipe I haven’t even tried!!!! Be right back . . . .

OK. They’re not half bad! Sweet little peanut butter bites. What’s not to like?

oven to 325.

Mix everything together well and form 24 balls with a heaping teaspoon. Place evenly on ungreased cookie sheet and then press each ball down with fork.

Bake for exactly 15 minutes, no longer. Remove from oven and let cool enough to transfer to baking rack. CAUTION: Do not let them cool toooo much before removing from baking sheet, or they will STICK!

And another recipe that I learned last year, although everyone else may already know it:

Instead of making Mimosas with champagne and oj, make Poinsettias, with champagne and cranberry juice. Mmmm.

Now. What else? Oh, remember Nana had a stroke a couple of months ago? Well, as part of her rehab, she was told to make a craft, in an effort to exercise her hands/fingers, etc. So she decided to frame a bunch of old family pictures, mostly of kids and grandkids, and now she has one whole tree in her house that’s a frame tree:

I just love it! Especially this branch:

One of the gifts I’ll be giving this year is this little pocket mirror:

I got them for some of LG’s teachers. Always on the lookout for teacher gifts that they don’t already have a zillion of.

Last night, we enjoyed one of our very favorite holiday traditions: the kid’s Christmas concert. This takes many forms, depending on the age of the performing children. The church Christmas play, “Cookin’ up Christmas,” will be next Sunday, with LG playing a “Rachel Ray” character. Last night was her chorus concert, along with a Chamber Choir and two concert bands from her school. It was all absolutely lovely. Especially the part where the one little girl went up to introduce the next song, an African-American spiritual entitled, “Mary, Mary Had-a But One Child,” but the “-a” after the “Had” threw her — she pronounced it with a long AY — and then she was confused and paused for just a second, so it came out: Mary Had A Butt (pause pause pause) One Child! Jif and I were no good for the rest of that selection, snorking and shaking . . . on accounta we’re twelve. I’m telling you, even if you don’t have kids, find a kids’ holiday program in town. The most entertainment for your money, guaranteed.

This topic reminds me of the year our little church friend, about 4 years old, was eager to show off her newly gained knowledge of human reproduction. The pastor asked the children gathered around for the children’s Christmas Eve sermon, “Where was Jesus born?” Someone said “In Bethlehem.” Pastor was looking for “in a manger,” so she said, “Yes, but . . . smaller . . . ” and our little friend’s voice rang out loudly in the candle-lit sanctuary, “IN THE UTERUS!!” The congregation twittered while the pastor, for the only time in my memory, struggled to find words . . . “Uh . . . yes, but . . . bigger . . .”

I haven’t shown you this gay apparel before, even though it’s several years old. These are my holiday jammies. They’re festive and slippery:

Finally, I’ll leave you with our this year’s Christmas card. The images on the front were both created last year, with help and inspiration from blogfriends:

And this is the message inside, which I sincerely send to you, my friends:

Last Christmas, LG left Santa a camera and a note asking that he take a picture of himself by our tree.
And he did!

The Spirit of Christmas is the reminder that wonderful things that can’t possibly happen . . . do happen.

Wishing you a season and a year of wonderful impossibilities made possible.

Jif, Susie and LG
(and Biscuit, the red-nosed bad dog)

Jeremiah 32: 27

If you posted something for the cookie exchange, let me know in comments. And please visit everyone who comments here saying they posted for the exchange!

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