Christmas Traditions

For Joyschool yesterday (at our house), we made cinnamon twists as a way to share our Christmas tradition.

I made the dough the night before, so it was drooping over the edges.

Prepared the dough with all the kids there . . . but only one of them would touch the stuff.

Rolled them in butter and cinnamon sugar.

Then placed them on the pan to rise.

And would you believe it? They were gone so fast I didn't have time to take a picture of the finished product. :)

But for any ambitious person out there looking for a yummy treat (or for my family if they ever lose the recipe), here is the recipe: 

Mom's Famous Cinnamon Twists

Caution: Read all the instructions before adding any ingredients. This is a touchy recipe.

1 C.     warm water

1 T.      salt (and yes, this is really a tablespoon)

1/3 C.  oil

½ C.    sugar

2 T.      yeast (dissolved in ¼ C. warm water---separate from that listed above)

2          eggs

approx. 5 C.      flour

mix all the ingredients together except the flour.  Add  ½ the flour to the mix, stir well, then stir in the remaining flour.* DO NOT KNEAD!

*Use the least amount of flour that you can, you want the dough to be light.  Basically, use just enough so you can work with it---it should still stick to your fingers a little bit.  The amount of flour that you add makes or breaks the recipe, so use caution.

Let raise 1 hour or more (it usually takes more).  Turn out on a well floured surface.  Roll the dough 12" long and 5" wide or there about. Spread melted butter over the dough and sprinkle about ½ C. sugar then cinnamon (not mixed, it sticks better). Fold dough in thirds (like folding a letter only longwise) and cut in angled strips about 1" each.  Give them a twist then dip them in melted butter and then in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  Twist again, and place on an ungreased, sided pan. Also, it makes a big difference if you use real butter instead of margarine.

Let the twists rise again in the pan before baking them.

Bake about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Santa Claus!

Tonight was our Ward Christmas Party and Santa Clause made a visit. We were first in line (on a total fluke), so it was perfect!

London decided he was too big to sit on Santa's lap, but he smiled big for the picture.

Brandt was not shy. He jumped right up on Santa's lap and told him what a good boy he'd been all year.

But Khyah, on the other hand, was not about to let go of Daddy.

Merry Christmas to our Santa-loving, Santa-believing kids! :)

Christmas Tree Hunt!

This year we decided to start a tradition of going to a Christmas tree farm where we could cut our own tree down. Overall, I'd definitely call it a success. It took an hour of driving to arrive here:

The kids were all excited to find the perfect tree.

Khyah found the tree just her size, but I'm afraid we all vetoed it.

After about an hour of searching, we all agreed on this tree. (At first, Brandt refused, but Rick adroitly convinced him that this was the tree he chose earlier. Brandt agreed on the condition that he got to saw first---note London's sour expression.)

So here he is, working hard with Daddy.

Then London got a turn.

And voila! We successfully cut down our future Christmas tree.

Rick even managed to tie it to the top of the car, and we didn't lose it on the way home. :)

The end got a little rough with the cold and hunger setting in. And London, I think, expressed our frustration best.

But hurray! We have a tree, and it's perfect, just like we planned.