Eggnog Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat works too)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups eggnog
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg if desired. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, eggnog and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown. Yield: 1 dozen pancakes.

--From Taste of Home Dec/Jan 08 Bonus Book

**I usually have to add extra eggnog to get the batter to the right "pancake batter" consistency

Yummy!

Cyndi :-)

See you all next week.

My super favorite Christmas song is probably "I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day!" by All Star United. It's pretty sweet! Marc remember them? Oh another good one is "Blue Christmas" by Porky Pig :-) And my not-so-favorite Christmas songs are "A Wonderful Christmastime" by the Beatles or John Lennon or something, and also that dumb "Grandma got Run Over By a Reindeer." If anyone sings these around me I will take away your Christmas cheer.

I'm getting more and more excited every day that Tim and Cyndi will be here in like less than a week, and also that it's going to be Christmas, and also about the snow, and also that it's going to be my birthday! I'm turning 25 this year. Weird. I used to think 25 year olds were really old...

Hope everyone is having a holly jolly Christmas season!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I see that picture of Alec there sliding in the snow and it reminds me of my own childhood. What a joy it was to go through the change of seasons and go outside and play in the snow when Winter rolled around! That's something that I really would like Abby to be able to do. I'm looking forward to the time we move up there so she can do that.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is the rendition of Jesu Bambino that Plankeye performed on one of the Happy Christmas albums. Two other favorite contemporary ones are, of course, MWS's Christmastime and The Happiest Christmas. A couple of my favorite traditional Christmas Carols are The First Noel and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

White Christmas

"It won't be long before we'll soon be there with snow." - Bing Crosby (White Christmas)

For you southern folk, you'll be happy to know that the ground is covered with about six inches of the white stuff. The forecast for today: two to five inches of snow.

Woohoo!

- Marc

Let there be snow!

10 days to go! ('Till we get there anyways, not 'till the 25th)
Make sure you guys save some of your snow for us when we get there! Tim says it's hard to get into the Christmas Spirit when it's in the high 70's and low 80's. So we put our Christmas tree up the week before Thanksgiving and are just about continually playing Christmas music here at home and in the car. There are 2 radio stations that are playing continuous Christmas music this year, except for the obligatory 10 minutes of commercials every hour. This week I hope to get our other decorations up too. We're really hoping to see some snow up there too. It's been two years since we've seen any!! It didn't seem to get that cold down here last winter either. But maybe it seemed that way 'cause I was pregnant and my hormones were still all funky? :-P

I can't say I have a favorite Christmas song. They're all good for the most part. Along with the traditional ones, I also like some of the newer 'soon-to-be-classics' like "Mary did you know?" and the "Christmas Shoes". (Except when the radio stations play them like twice every hour.) I think they help to bring our focus back to the true meaning of Christmas, the greatest gift ever: Christ's birth, and his sacrifice to pay for our sin so we could be reconciled to our Father.

--Cyndi

Happy 2nd Day of December to all!

And to all a good night. I was driving people nuts yesterday at work by singing Elvis' Blue Christmas (Grace knows how this is done). I love MWS' Christmastime album but some other songs I like are:

Here Comes Santa Clause - Elvis
Angels We Have Heard on High
Ill Be Home For Christmas

...and those Burl Ives songs...

Theres more, but I cant think of any right now. Happy Sunday!

-Jere

Christmas Month is Arrived

Now, it is finally December 1st. The first day of the month in which we celebrate Christmas. Let the count-down begin! It is 24 days before Christmas. Now that we've all gotten older, the days go by much faster. 24 days is not long. It will be here soon.

I was just thinking about how music is such an important part of this holiday. I can't think of any other holiday that you would even associate music with. Hmmm, let me think... Valentines day music? Or maybe Thanksgiving music? Sorry, but I can't think of a single Thanksgiving day song...

But, I can think of a lot of Christmas songs! Some of my favorites are:

1. Walking in a Winter Wonderland sung by Steve Taylor (remember that one Grace?)
2. A Christmas Waltz sung by M.W.S
3. The Happiest Christmas sung by M.W.S
4. Blue Christmas by Elvis
5. The First Snowfall by M.W.S.
6. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year sung by Johnny Mathis
7. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Johnny Mathis

There are many more I can't think of at the moment. If or when any of you guys read this, you should add your own to the list.

Looking forward to Christmas Eve.

- Marc