Christmas Season Starts

This morning I awoke to the ground covered with snow and really cold temperatures.  So its  time to drag out the tree, deck the halls, and start looking for cookie recipes.  Christmas is my most favorite time of the year.  A magical time. It always has been.  My sister asked me the other day if I remembered  when we were young we would come home from church on Christmas Eve all decked out in our finest clothes, Dad in his suit, Mom in her best dress and high heels and she would serve up sausage rolls .  I didn't
remember that but  I remembered how my parents always made Christmas special.  Later on Mom and Dad  used to host Boxing Day and all the relatives from the area would gather for the day.  What fun those days were. Aunts, uncles,cousins,sisters and brothers sitting around the living room playing guitars and accordions singing Christmas carols or old western songs from the past. Others playing crib or just catching up.  The smell of food wafting from the kitchen.  Now my sister holds a relly rally(a gathering of relatives) every year not on boxing day but earlier before Christmas,  carrying on a tradition that I hope will not be broken.  I can't make it home every year for those special times and I sure miss them.
 But times change and you make your own traditions and I'm hoping that I will have all my family and all that entails home for Christmas. So whether they are here or not Christmas comes anyway and I think this year I will make some sausage rolls.


Since I posted this blog I have been on the lookout for a sausage roll recipe.  This is my version of my Mom's sausage rolls which I am sure was a breakfast sausage rolled up in pie dough.  My version keeps the pie dough and makes low sodium  sausage from scratch. My son calls these little yummies..Snauss Babies
                                                              Sausage Rolls

1 1/2  pounds ground pork                                      PIE CRUST (OLD CRISCO RECIPE)
1 1/2 tsp dried sage                                                2 cups flour
3/4 tsp ground black pepper                                   1 cup crisco
3/8 tsp italian seasoning                                          1/2 cup or so water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper   flakes
pinch of cloves (1/16 tsp)
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 egg
Roll out rectangles of pie dough, make a log out of sausage, place on dough, roll up jelly roll style brush edges with another beaten egg.  Cut rolls into 1 inch pieces and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired and bake on middle rack at 375 for about 25 minutes. Serve warm or cold with your favorite dip. Can be frozen raw (I haven't tried that yet)
Makes 42 pieces. Sodium content is about 55 mg per 3 pieces.