Preparing for A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is always a busy season for everyone. There are family gatherings, church commitments, shopping to do for presents, for food and of course we have to find time to center our spirit on the significance of the birth of this wondrous baby.

For me, it involved getting a head start when my daughter came to stay with us with baby and her in-laws arrived to do the combined Thanksgiving-birthday-Christmas weekend two weeks ago.

This season I made and learned several new things–making Snow Cream, Apple Cider, Roast Pork Shoulder.

Tonight I discovered that a Christmas ham stays really moist and juicy when cooked at 250 degrees in an oven bag. Yay! And that baked potato gets shriveled and dried outside if you cook it in an electric roaster oven even at 350 degrees for nearly three hours. Boo, but we happily ate it. That was my solution to have it cooking while we were at Christmas eve service.

During this season I honed my skills for Roast Beef and Roasted Vegetables. I worked with friends at our church to hold a Christmas Village. We had about 20,000 visitors over a week. We even had a Nativity scene with real sheep and donkey.

Our kitchen cooked tons of Mac and Cheese and collard greens. Chef Todd and Chef Conner also smoked about 1000 pounds of turkey legs. We packaged food and stripped huge amounts of herbs. So much to learn in such a short, busy, wonderful season when everyone is so mindful of coming together in friendship, support and love.

Rather than have a post on what I cooked. Here are the pictures of our preparations and the days counting up to Christmas celebration. Many were done with family.

We have a family tradition of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. No one gets to sleep until the 1000 pieces are put together.

Some were shared working with friends at church to spread the wonderful message of Christmas and the gospel of Jesus.

Enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS! For unto us a child is born!