Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We'll be up early opening gifts at our house and then bouncing back and forth between Matt's family and mine.

And to think that next year we'll be doing this with a 10 month old baby girl too! There is nothing like Christmas with kids. :)

Hope your day is filled with Christmas cheer!

Cookies for Santa: Cream Cheese Cookie Recipe

For as long as I can remember, we've made these cookies for Santa to put out on Christmas Eve.

They are SO so good, and so easy!

If you're looking for a new family tradition or want to switch up what you're giving to Santa each year, give these cookies a try!

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter- softened

1- 8oz. package of cream cheese- softened

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 box yellow cake mix

yields: 50-60 bite-size cookies

Directions:

Using an electric beater or mixer, mix butter and cream cheese together.

Add egg yolk and vanilla.

Add cake mix (1/3 of box at a time). Blend. (May need to mix last 1/3 by hand)

Wrap in wax paper and chill for at least 30 minutes.
If you're in a time crunch, toss in the freezer for a few minutes... you're just hardening the dough a bit to make it easier to create the cookie dough balls.

Shape into balls the size of a quarter.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Merry Christmas Eve, friends!

Ryan's Visit(s) with Santa

We didn't really intend for Ryan to sit on Santa's lap more than once this year, but by the time everything was said and done, the little guy visited the big guy 3 times!

The first visit was a trial run of sorts and looked like this:

Poor guy. He was so excited as he was waiting and walking up there with Noah and Maddox... not so much when we put him on Santa's lap. Even Santa looks concerned, hah.

But then we talked about Santa, we read about Santa, and we waved at Santa any time we were shopping at the mall... and the more we talked about him, the more comfortable Ryan got.

So the second visit with his cousins looked like this:

Sweet Riley girl! ...it was her first visit ;)

And then his third "official" visit that we had planned from the beginning turned out to be okay too:

His little crossed hands means he's still not totally sure, but as long as he can see us, he knows he doesn't have to cry. Sweet guy.

Both of our mom's came for Ryan's official visit with Santa and we made sure to get lots of pictures while we waited:

a little coloring while he waited

Cherry Spice Cake Trifle

When Matt and I went on our anniversary getaway recently, we both talked about things we really enjoy doing that we haven't done as much of since Ryan was born. 

For him, it was working out. For me, it was cooking and creating new recipes. 

Before Ryan was born our evening time usually involved Matt doing an hour + workout in our room or at the gym while I enjoyed my time cooking in the kitchen with my favorite pandora stations playing. 

Since Ryan's been born, we've both spent way less time doing each of these things and we didn't even realize how much we missed them until we got away and had some time just the two of us.

All of that to say, we've each decided to create time for each other to do what we each love- me creating new recipes and Matt getting his workouts in.

This recipe is adapted from the Southern Living Thanksgiving magazine that I read while we were away for our anniversary. As a matter of fact, Matt was at the gym at our resort while I was reading recipes and changing them to suit my own tastes/style of cooking. ;)

Cherry Spice Cake Trifle

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 Box Duncan Hines Spice Cake

Filling:

1 (13oz) jar cherry preserves

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1 (12oz) bag fresh cranberries, divided

Custard:

1 (3.4oz) box instant vanilla pudding

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Topping:

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups heavy cream

6T powdered sugar

Directions:

Cake:

Bake spice cake according to box directions. Allow to cool. Slice into small, square pieces.

Filling:

Bring first 3 ingredients and 2/3 of the bag of cranberries to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, but continue to boil, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes or until berries begin to pop. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining cranberries. Transfer mixture to a bowl; cool completely (about 30 minutes). Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours.

Custard:

Prepare pudding according to package directions. Add in remaining four ingredients. Mix until well blended. Refrigerate with filling, 8-24 hours.

Assemble Trifle:

Layer about one-third of cake cubes in a 4-qt. bowl. Top with one-third each cranberry filling and custard. Repeat layers twice. 

I reserved enough cranberry filling to garnish the top of the trifle (see picture)

Topping:

Beat vanilla extract and  heavy cream at medium-high speed until foamy; gradually add powdered sugar. Whip 3-5 minutes at med-high speed until soft peaks form. If peaks are not forming, turn up speed on mixer. Dollop over trifle. 

Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Serve immediately, or chill up to 8 hours.