Christmas Traditions

Traditions.  Christmas time is so full of traditions and Caleb and I spent time throughout December talking about the various family traditions we grew up with.  We participated in several of each family's traditions this season as we shared Christmas together.

Stapp Family Tradition:  Family Christmas caroling to church members, friends, neighbors, doctor's office...

Stapp Family Tradition: Christmas Eve gift game - being the first to say "Christmas Eve Gift" to other family members on Christmas Eve...even answering the phone with that greeting instead of a usual "hello"!

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Baking Christmas cookies and delivering them to neighbors

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Lighting birthday candles in homemade cinnamon rolls and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus at Christmas breakfast.

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Lighting birthday candles in Christmas pie and singing Happy Birthday to Tim after Christmas dinner.

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Sparkling cider toasts at Christmas dinner (this year's new flavor was apple-mango - yum!)

Oh, there are many more traditions, but I'm out of time and pictures for now!

Bonus non-tradition pictures: Writing a Christmas card to the Baggenstos family fish, Homer.

Decorating Simply

We decorated our home simply for Christmas this year.  There is beauty in the simplicity of not owning a bunch of "stuff" with which to decorate for the season.  I rather enjoyed the challenge of creating a festive home without buying anything but rather using natural decorations like tree boughs and pine cones.  I supplemented with lots of candles, eager for an excuse to pull out the crystal candlesticks we received for wedding gifts.  

 Instead of letting the extra December mail pile up some where in an unsightly pile, I decided to display the Christmas cards we received to brighten up the house by hanging them on a ribbon.  They looked so neat and tidy in their columns at first, but not anymore!

While I enjoy sewing and certain crafts, I don't have a natural "crafty" bent, so I was proud of myself for actually attempting a craft from a magazine - turning the 1" round slice cut off of the bottom of our Christmas tree stump into an ornament marking each year of marriage.  It seemed so simple yet sentimental!  The first problem we encountered was that we don't own a saw, so we couldn't saw off the bottom of the tree when we got home like you are supposed to.  So, we planned ahead and cut off the extra slice while out in the tree field.  It took longer than it did to actually cut down the tree...and it was hard to keep it smooth and flat.  I carried the wet slice back in my coat pocket, then tried to wash the sap and dirt off in the sink at home.  Now the slice was quite wet, so when I tried to write on it with a sharpie, it smeared.  No problem, I thought; I'll just let it dry out, then write on the opposite side.  The next day, I carefully wrote on the back, only to have water spill on it and smear the writing.  Oh well, it will be a memento of our first Christmas anyway, and I'm almost glad it doesn't look perfect because it will remind us of our humorous endeavor.  We haven't tried drilling a hole in it to hang on the tree yet, so, meanwhile it is sitting on our dining table on display.

Greek Salad

It feels almost sacrilegious to be posting on a non-Christmas-y topic this time of year, but we ate Greek Salad last night for dinner and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe!  Yesterday, after chopping down our Christmas tree, Caleb and I went into Spokane for a shopping trip.  We hadn't been on a major grocery run for almost a month due to our November travels, so we headed out armed with lists galore and hit up Yokes, Walmart, Winco, Costco, Zales (bi-annual ring checkup), The Cozy Quilt (sewing supplies for Christmas gifts), and Michaels.  Caleb was such a help and good sport about all the shopping and we had a lot of fun together. We were so proud of ourselves for emerging from Costco with only vitamins and yeast (such a good deal there) even though we were tempted to buy more of all the delicious little treats we sampled.  :)  Lest you think we have impeccable self-control, we did buy some chocolate-covered cinnamon bears from the bulk candy section later at Winco...

Anyway, on to the recipe!  When we got home, I was so excited to have lots of fresh vegetables that I decided we must have salad for dinner.  I have no idea where I originally got this recipe, but my history with it dates back to my 4-H days when I made this recipe at the county fair for a Sandwich/Salad contest.

                                          Greek Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
raw spinach leaves, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 a red onion, peeled and sliced into half rings
1 large tomato, cut into bite-sized wedges
1 half cucumber, peeled and sliced
12 or so black olives
1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled

Toss the salad ingredients together in a bowl (if making ahead, I like to store the cut veggies together in a small container so they don't make the greens soggy and the onions in their own little container so they don't over-permeate the other veggies).  Then measure the following ingredients into a small canning jar:

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice or wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or yellow if that's all you have on hand)
1 tsp. dried oregano (very important!)
Dash salt and pepper

Fasten lid and shake jar vigorously until everything is well-mixed.  Pour onto the salad and toss everything well if serving immediately to a crowd.  If serving later or in smaller portions, refrigerate dressing and salad separately, dish up salad "naked", and pour a small amount of dressing on each individual portion.  This way, the salad keeps longer in the fridge and doesn't get soggy.  By the way, the dressing doesn't look or even taste very appetizing by itself, at least to me.  But just trust me, try it on the salad mingled with pungent onions, crisp cucumbers, salty cheese - I think it is delicious!