Another Christmas

So another Christmas has come and gone.  All the pressure is off, the gifts are opened, the turkey has been cooked and served and I can at last relax.  Relatives  are on their way as we speak so I'm gearing up for yet another day of feasting on all the things we look forward to all year. We like to start with turkey buns with stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce, a few sausage rolls, some Mexican spirals and of course all the cookies and pumpkin pie. So we might gain a couple of pounds but it is definitely worth it to spend some time with friends and family around the food table.

Sweet Potato Cranberry Bread

Since I've been home from Vegas I have gained 4 pounds. It is because I have been scarfing down bread.  I don't usually eat bread but we went to Saskatoon and tried some Sweet Potato Cranberry bread. Mmmm.  It was so good I came home and made some and then I made some more and some more and more still. This is a great recipe because if you don't eat it all you can use it to stuff your turkey. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did....well still do.

SWEET POTATO CRANBERRY BREAD
3/4 cup potato water
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
2 tbsp honey
salt (I put 1/4-1/2 tsp)
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup dried cranberries
I put the ingredients in the bread maker,wait for the beep to add the cranberries, put the machine on dough mode.  When ready make buns or loaves, let rise until doubled in size then bake 350 degrees in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Christmas Purr-fection

I always strive for a perfect Christmas.  I start planning in November, writing and rewriting lists.  Lists of cookies I want to bake, lists of breakfast, lunches and dinners I want to serve. Even lists of what Christmas quilts go on which bed.( I think I have too much time on my hands). My tree is always decorated just so, the house has wreaths and Christmas fru-fru all over the place, the Christmas china comes out to grace our table which last year I had set 9 days before Christmas and then ended up having to wash the dust off everything.  The Christmas cakes that I baked 3 years ago will come out of the freezer(again) and be offered to visitors with a little something something to wash it down. But that's the price of being perfect.  My son seems to have inherited my qualities?? of perfection. Yesterday he decided to decorate his tree. Striving for his purr-fect tree all it took was a string of lights and a cat.
Hope you have a perfect Christmas too.