The First Christmas Celebration

Whew it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted.  I kind of enjoyed my break from the computer.  I didn't really get on at all.  I checked my facebook from my phone mostly (of course I definitely had to do it after that football game last week - we'll talk about that later) and I didn't check my email or anything really.  So I have a lot of catching up to do.

This year was what I considered to be our first official family Christmas.  I say this because it's the first time that Ed and I have had TJ from Christmas Eve into the morning plus we had Deuce so we were really excited for Santa to come visit this year.  My sister came and spent the night with us so she could be there when we opened gifts.
 

We spent Christmas Eve making Christmas themed Oreo balls (Ed's request after I made that batch for his work party) & peanut butter cookies,

and baking & decorating sugar & chocolate chip cookies

while Deuce played with kitchen items.

And of course Mac

We all took turns decorating our cookies.

TJ was eating while decorating.

5 for his jersey number

These were the 3 I decorated

And then I made one for each of the boys.

Ed made a smiley face with his version of a "flat top" hair style.

And Laura made a tree

All of our cookies on the plate for Santa

I cooked a spaghetti dinner and we had a great time!  After leaving out the cookies and making a card we were able to get the boys in the bed by 9:30. 

 

By that point, I had not wrapped one single gift.  Not one.  REALLY!  So my sister and I got to work while Ed sat up with us and watched TV.  He would have helped but I'm not sure what his wrapping looks like so I didn't force the issue.  I just told him he had to stay up as long as I did, lol.  My sister gave up at 1am and I was finished by 3am. 

o.m.g.

I was fully expecting TJ to be up at 6am but was pleasantly surprised when I heard him rummaging around the living room at 8am. 

We had a great time opening gifts.  TJ flew through his, of course, and was disappointed when it was all over. 

And Deuce was content eating a small piece of paper off of just one present.

He did enjoy playing with his very first basketball goal that Santa left him.

TJ made sure he knew how to use it.

I made a breakfast casserole before we took off for a long day of house hopping.  Oooooh, it was great!

Auntie gave Deuce a bath while we all got ready.  Thank goodness for extra hands & a kitchen sink when you need them!

We then headed to my mom's house.  I don't have any pictures from there, we took them all with Laura's camera.  We opened gifts, stayed for a quick lunch and then left continuing east.  We hopped over to Ed's parents house for what was a measly 30 minutes to say hello and exchange gifts because we had to have TJ in Raleigh at his mom's parents house by 4:30.  I was so exhausted by that point, but we weren't done.  After dropping TJ off, we continued east to Clayton to my Aunt Rhonda's house where my dad had come in from VA  My cousins were also there along with my Grandma.  We had dinner in Clayton with my dad's family and Deuce got his first rocking horse from my dad.  Pop was so excited to see him on it that I enjoyed watching my dad almost as much as I enjoyed watching Deuce.

Deuce was passed around by everyone which gave us a nice break to socialize with all of the family that was there.  Plus eat a nice meal without little hands in our food.

Enjoying Mountain Dew with Ryan.  Don't worry it was Diet...

...and the top was on.

Talk about a tired baby Christmas night.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas.  To me, it doesn't seem like Christmas if we don't spend half of the day in the car travelling between houses!  I love seeing family and am so thankful that we can make it all work.  I hope everyone else had as wonderful a holiday as us!

From the Kitchen of Rachel Geer

So Ed sends me an email Monday at work that says, "Wednesday is our holiday luncheon and I have to bring something."  That means, I am giving you two days notice to cook something for all of my coworkers to eat. (Two days is plenty of time.  I thanked him for that.  Once he "forgot" and told me the night before.  Not the day before but the night before.)  Then he proceeds to tell me later, "I told everyone at work you were a good cook."  He works with all women.  No pressure or anything...

So here is what I made.

Ed's request: Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs

I have made these before and he liked them so I obliged.

The required ingredients

First you have to boil 12 eggs for approximately 10-12 minutes.  I have this great egg timer that my Aunt Diana gave me and it tells me when the eggs are soft, medium & hard.  It's great.  After the eggs are cooked, place them in cool water for about 10 minutes so they will be easier to peel.  Peel the egg shells and discard.  Slice the eggs length wise and place the cooked yolks in a bowl.  Set aside the egg whites.

For the filling: add Old Bay, mayonnaise, mustard, water, chives, lemon juice, oregano, onion powder, worcerstershire, garlic powder, salt & pepper to egg yolks and mash with a fork.

Fold in crab meatTaste filling and adjust seasoning as necessary
Fill egg white shells with mixture.  I used a plastic sandwich bag with a small corner cut out to pipe the mixture in but you can use a spoon or anything you want.

Top eggs with sprinkling of paprika.

Yummy!  Ed said they were a hit and were devoured pretty quickly!

Then I got brave and thought I would try a new recipe for Oreo Balls.  I've never made them before and Ed told me the eggs were enough but I just got this desire to make them so I did.

The required ingredients

Using a blender or a hand-held mixer, mix the Oreos and cream cheese together.  I don't have a mixer (I have since asked for one for Christmas) so I used a blender.  I discovered that it is easier to blend a few oreos at one time and empty them in to a bowl.

Next mix in the cream cheese.  I imagine this would be much easier with a mixer...

You should end up with a dough of Oreos

Roll the "dough" in to walnut sized balls, place on wax paper and chill for an hour.

Melt either 3/4 package of white chocolate or milk chocolate chips in a bowl.  Insert a toothpick into each Oreo ball.

Using the toothpick, coat each ball in the chocolate and place back on the wax paper.  Allow to harden.  I put them back in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes. 

Then melt some more chocolate chips of your choice (about 1/4 package) and add to piping bag.  Again, I used a sandwich bag.  Once balls have hardend decorate with the piping.  Use food coloring with white chocolate if you wish.

So I didn't get to try one of these bad boys out before Ed took them to work because I wanted him to have as many as possible.  Plus I made 24 and I didn't want him to take an odd number to the party.  (Yes, weirdo.  I know.)  So I was nervous about how they would taste but he sent me a text that said they were "incredible" and tasted like oreo fudge.  So he saved me one and brought it home.  Seriously delish!  I will be making these again!

Deviled Egg Ingredients:1 doz eggs, 8 oz cooked crab meat, 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning, 3 tblsp mayonnaise, 2 tblsp Dijon mustard, 1 tblsp yellow mustard, 2 tblsp cold water, 1 tsp finely diced chives, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp worcestershire, garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste, paprika for display

Oreo Balls Ingredients:

1 package of regular sized Oreos crushed, 1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, 1 pkg white chocolate morsels, 1 pkg milk chocolate morsels, toothpicks, cupcake holders, food coloring (optional)