Monday, December 20, 2010

Be Jolly By Golly!!


It's time for the Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest and I'm THRILLED because it's been so long since I've had the chance to partake in any sort of blogfest. And what's better than one so Christmasy??

Check out Jen's page to see all entries. So many people have signed up which means NO WORK will be done on Monday!

The only real tradition my family shares each and every year is cookies. My mom makes hundreds of cookies and since I've been on my own, I try to do the same even though I'm nowhere near her assortment and I usually make pretty much the same things she does...
We always put up our trees the weekend before Thanksgiving just to get in the spirit a little sooner.
My own tradition? I shop too late, wrap too late(and so so very badly)and rush too much. But it makes me happy, so what the hey, right?

I don't have a special drink I make, so I scoured the internet to find something fairly simple to do and came up with this:

Noel Spritzer
Found on the Betty Crocker website and super simple. And it involves my BFF, wine. :)




2 cups dry white wine(I used Chardonnay)
1 cup Cranberry-Apple juice
1 cup sparkling water(I had to skip this...see picture below)

Mix and add apple slices or fresh mint sprigs.

A simple spritzer and SO good!

But...if you want to chill the sparkling water in a hurry, make sure not to forget it in the freezer!!



My favorite cookie to bake? Okay, friends, I need you all to lean in and pinkie swear you can keep this a secret. I make the BEST chocolate chip cookies. It's been discussed amongst everyone I know and voted on.
Here's the secret:
Buy Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Follow the directions.
BUT!
Add a box of instant vanilla Jello pudding to the flour mixture and when you mix everything together, make sure it's as smooth as a baby's bottom. No joke. If you don't mix it almost TOO much, the cookies turn out hard, even if you underbake them.
Next....underbake them! Just when the edges start to brown(more of a golden color)take them out.
I know plenty of people do the pudding, but if you don't do it right, it just isn't as good.
Enjoy!

As for my decorations, I'm still not where I want to be. I'm in a small one bedroom apartment so I have to make-do.
Presenting my favorites:



My teeny tree and my Christmas pillow which is so cute.



Part of my collection of Christmas trees



Some more stuff.



Little buddy. :)

And for some fun for you, check out this website where I get a million cookie ideas!

And now, I'm going to relax with a glass of wine before bed. Happy tradition-making!

25 comments:

  1. I believe my wife has that exact same teddy bear! In fact, she has her own teddy bear tree. :)

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your Christmas trees are beautiful. I see why putting the wine in the freezer is a bad idea. I live cranberries with my sparkling wine, too.
    Merry Christmas :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a cozy, warm home! I loved seeing it. Have a happy holiday season.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your cookie secrets ;)

    Wine in freezer is not a good idea for me - I always forget. LOL. Have a wonderful Christmas!

    Be Jolly By Golly

    ReplyDelete
  5. what great decorations, I just love the teddy bear!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOVE the pics and OMG Julie~I'm totally going to use your Choc chip recipe!!!! Woo!!!Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That drink sounds great! I'll have to give it a try. Have a great Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous decorations, and whoa, interesting about putting pudding mix in the choc chip cookies! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can't wait to try your recipe! And that bear is sooo cute! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the frozen spritzer pic. Merry Xmas!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hahaha! Awe I'm sorry! That drink really does sound great! Your decorations are awesome too!!

    Merry Christmas!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing the cookie secret! That's awesome.

    ps: I'm #100 as a follower. Yay!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your teeny tree. It's gorgeous.

    Wishing you a very merry Christmas,
    Lyn
    W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stopping by for the blogfest...

    Your tree is so cute! I love it! And the spritzer is right up my ally (it has wine in it!) - thanks for sharing!

    Happy Holidays!

    -Shannon

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love your choices for your apartment.

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Making cookies with family is so much fun! and your decorations are great! Happy Holidays!
    ~Kelley

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love your trees! We do a bazillion cookies too - so much fun :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like your cookie secret. Thanks for sharing it. Mumm's the word.
    : )

    ReplyDelete
  19. Whoops, I think blogger is hungry. Thanks for sharing your spritzer recipe! Have a lovely Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hmmm...pudding in the cookies. I'll have to try that. Your place looks nice.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

    ReplyDelete
  21. I do the pudding (works great in cake mixes too!), but hadn't heard the other tip. Thanks!

    Happy Holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm definitely trying your "secret" cookie recipe. My chocolate chip cookies never come out just right. Congrats on passing 100 followers!

    ReplyDelete
  23. That drinks looks awfully yummy right about now! :) Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a charming place you have. I just love tabletop trees. Great idea putting pudding in the cookies... Delish!

    Happy holidays to you and your family.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  25. The small table trees are so, so awesome. They are really cute. Your house looks really great!

    Thank you so much for participating in our blog fest!

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete