Merry Christmas to All!

Every year I bake an assortment of cookies to share and enjoy during Christmas and well into the New Year.  I've blogged about a few of my favorite cookie recipes in the past--the Fig, Date and Nut cookies, regular Gingerbread Men, and Rainbow (Neapolitan) Cookies recipes can be viewed on this post.  Over the years I've begin making the King Arthur Flour gluten free Gingerbread men recipe as my daughter-in-law and one of my grandsons is sensitive to wheat.  The cookies are delicious, and we all enjoy them, so I don't bake the regular any longer.   This year I made a batch of Gluten Free Rainbow Cookies, in addition to my regular Rainbow cookies, and they are also almost indistinguishable in taste so they will become a regular addition to my cookie making routine. I found that my Spritz cookie press was not working well this year, so that will be one of my first after Christmas presents to myself.  Only one disc worked well and even that did not make very sharp designs and it was a bit of a struggle to work with when it should have been the easiest cookie to make.

My oldest grandson celebrated his 8th birthday last week! This darling boy was first seen on my blog in 2008, when he was born. How life has changed for us since then!  It has been a joy to live closer to him and to watch him grow.  Like all grandparents, we believe that every one of our grandchildren is the smartest and best-looking child there is!

This week I'll be very busy shopping for, and preparing, our traditional Italian style "Feast of the Seven Fishes."  It is a meal we, and our guests, look forward to all year long!   As an appetizer, I make my Italian Mixed Seafood Salad. It is one of my most pinned recipes, and truly delicious. Another recipe I make on Christmas Eve, that is truly Italian and my husband's favorite, is Baccala Florentine.  It is made with salted cod that has been reconstituted in water, but you can also substitute regular codfish filet. We also have stuffed calamari, fried shrimp, mussels and clams, stuffed lobster tails, salmon, and an assortment of vegetables. 

One thing for sure, is that we will have a white Christmas!  We had about 8 inches of snow this past weekend on the Front Range of Colorado, and it has been unusually cold so the snow is not melting as quickly as it usually does in the warm Colorado sun.  I love snow and it made me happy to see this quiet beauty all around our neighborhood.

A Christmas Day visitor last year!

Will he come back this year?

Love Came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Stars and angels gave the sign.

~ Christina G.Rossetti

May you and your family have a very Merry and blessed Christmas! 

 I will see you in the new year!

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

All Seasons, Blue Monday,  Through My Lens Monday, Mosaic Monday, Life Through the Lens Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Inspiration Monday, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday,Wanderful Wednesday,Wordless Wednesday, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Share Your Cup Thursday,Little Things Thursday, Travel Photo Thursday, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Sweet Inspiration, Weekend Travel Inspiration, Friday Features, Pink Saturday

Thank you to all the blog hosts!